"We need to have a talk."

Those words blindsided Ashley King the moment she passed through her front door, barely leaving her any time at all to savor the welcoming blast of cool air that marked a wonderful contrast to the hot, humid summer air just outside. Her neck instinctively craned upwards and to the right, the immense tanned pillars of her big sister's bare legs immediately greeting her gaze. A grunt cleared Ashley's throat at that. Melody vastly preferred much more modest clothing, so the slightest hint of bare skin anywhere below her waist meant that the larger sibling had yet to change out of her uniform after returning home from the Institute. She didn't even need to continue looking upward to know that those powerful, toned legs would eventually lead into a short plaid skirt. That the plaid material would eventually lead into a white button-up, short-sleeve blouse that clung tightly to Melody's ample chest. Even higher would be Melody's pretty face, those amber eyes cast tenderly and lovingly down upon her comparatively tiny and very literal little sister.

God, but she hated that stupid uniform. It was bad enough that Melody had to tower over her, but even discounting that, Ashley always felt a sense of inadequacy when faced with a less than modest view of her sister. Not that Melody purposefully drove those feelings in or anything, God no. Her big sister had never tried to make her feel inferior, and Ashley had every intention of keeping her feelings to herself. Melody was 162 feet of pure, loving support, and it would wrack her with undeserved guilt if she knew how she made her little sister feel. Better, ultimately, to just deal with it. It wasn't as if she had any reason to feel down on herself, anyway. The two were strikingly similar, for the most part, Melody was simply a little...better, when it came to physical attributes. If Ashley was a 9, Melody was a 10. Nothing to fret over.

Still, Ashley had to resign herself to allow her eyes to continue upward. Mentally, she couldn't help but check off each assumed feature as her gaze wafted over it. For a moment, she felt that she really needed to stop doing that, until she at last locked eyes with her big sister and the pen in her head came to a halt. The look she was faced with was not the adoring look she was accustomed to, what should have been the biggest of "gimmes" on that checklist. That look was...God, she could barely attribute a description to it, it was so....foreign. "Sad" was her closest approximation, as Melody had never really looked at her like this before.

"Is something wrong?" Ashley asked, concerned. "Did something happen?"

"You could say that," her statuesque sibling replied, a trace of sadness in her voice as well.

Melody took a step forward from her position leaning against the near wall then, a light tremor emanating from the step as her foot, encased in calf-high black socks thudded heavily against the white tiled floor. In no time she was kneeling down, one hand moving toward her while the other hung between her shapely thighs in an attempt to preserve some modesty. Initially prepared for the hand to land flatly on the floor before her so that she could board, Ashley was taken aback when, instead, the enormous had reached directly for her. Initially frozen, she offered little resistance as Melody's thick, strong fingers curled around her body and smothered it in a tender embrace, sparing only her head which popped out of the fleshy confines. Any relief offered from the oppressive heat outside was lost as Melody's own body heat began to surround her.

"Mellie?" Ashley asked timidly as her sister began to stand, the familiar vertigo taking effect, but there was something else accompanying it in her stomach this time. Something was wrong. Melody didn't pick her up like this, not with any sort of regularity and not without reason. She always offered an open palm to her, not this...grabbing thing.

"We're going to the den," Melody declared flatly, holding Ashley close to her side as she moved down the hallway before swinging to the right at the first corner and walking into the den. Turning her head to view the room, the first thing to catch Ashley's attention was that the coffee table had been moved from its usual location and now rested tens of feet farther from the couch.

The second thing was that she and Melody were not alone.

On the far end of the couch sat Claire Lindon, one of Melody's two best friends, captain of the regional Omega soccer team, and all-around Alpha Girl (or, Ashley sometimes mused, would that be Omega Girl?). Ashley knew that Claire stood at the center of both her Institute class and her soccer team, and was generally capable of exerting some level of control over most any of her peers. It was certainly a position she enjoyed. Arrogant, but not without reason, and closer to absolute confidence than arrogance. It was Ashley's experience that she could easily back up any show of perceived arrogance. She had a high opinion of herself, and paired it with high expectations. Like Melody, Claire was also clad in her uniform, though she opted for white socks instead of black. Her defined legs were crossed, her arms resting beneath her more modest chest as she turned to face the two siblings. Her face was unreadable, her long, black hair falling over her shoulders and resting on her chest.

Sitting in the recliner that sat perpendicular to the couch was Jenna Reynolds, the second of Melody's best friends. The closest thing to a "nerd" Ashley had ever seen amongst the Omegas with the exception of maybe Kyle, the girl was studious, but held a consistent intensity that was higher than that of her two friends. Jenna was famously open about her opinions and inclinations, in one way or another. What little she didn't say, one could infer from her mannerisms. She could frankly get scary at times, from what Ashley had observed of her here and there, but it was tempered by a fiery sense of compassion for those she cared about. She was also easily the "girliest" of the three friends, being the smallest in stature and with none of the sportiness inherent to Melody or Claire, along with general interests that fell more in line with Ashley's. Adorned in her uniform as well, she also sat with her slim, fair-skinned legs crossed and clad with white socks that matched Claire's. She had been looking at the siblings the moment Melody turned the corner, her wavy, strawberry-blonde hair framing her face down to her shoulders. Her eyes were narrowed, her expression cold.

Normally, Ashley would be elated to see the two girls. They had always treated her well and looked out for her, always offering her any help they could. Just a few weeks ago, even, some guy had gotten a little too fresh with her at a party held by Alexis Banner at the mixed center. The guy had been cute enough, but he had gotten far too hands-on with her to the point of uncomfortableness and hadn't taken the hint to slow things down. Fortunately, Claire has been hovering close by and picked up on things, and her creep of an admirer soon found himself being plucked up off the dance floor and unceremoniously dropped into the nearby pool. Jenna, for her part, had always taken an interest in how school was going and had tutored her numerous times throughout the years. The two were also frequent shopping buddies, as much as an Omega could shop, anyway. They mostly relied on holograms to try various outfits before putting in a special order for them. Still, the mixed center was a wonderful place that featured rooms for the Omegas to try outfits on, along with specially constructed clothing shops lacking in ceilings that allowed Jenna to look in and retrieve her as needed to look at an outfit. Ashley idly wondered how many pirouettes she had done in the woman's palm in anticipation of an appraisal of her chosen garments.

When it came down to it, Ashley felt that she really had three big sisters instead of just one. It was why she usually felt so bubbly upon seeing them all gather up with her. That feeling was the norm for her, which was why things felt so...wrong this time. There was no sense of elation or bubbly-ness as Melody made her way to the couch, Ashley still locked in her grip. Despite the warm flesh surrounding her, the room itself felt cold and unwelcoming. What was going on? Why were they looking at her like that? Something was off.

Soon enough, Melody was taking her seat on the couch right next to Claire. The fist that held Ashley now suspended her above her sister's chest, with enough distance to allow her to take in the entirety of Melody's billboard-sized face. The fingers that entrapped her loosened, allowing her some freedom of movement as she leaned into her sister's palm.

"Mellie, what's wrong?" she asked, studying her sister's face she continued to look at her with those same downcast eyes. Her gaze shifted to the right, meeting Claire's brown eyes as they continued to focus on her, her face still unreadable, her lips tight. A further look to the right showed that Jenna as well continued that same glare, those glacial blue eyes affixed squarely on her. Why were they...why were they staring at her like this?

"Mellie, please," she began, "talk to me, what's-"

"A report came in this morning," her sister interjected softly, though still with enough volume to easily drown out Ashley's words. "One that none of us could, or wanted to, believe." Her expression was grave, now, though Ashley barely noticed as her mouth went somewhat agape. A report?

"Did something....did something happen?" she asked worriedly. Had something happened to one of the girls' Beta friends? Was that why they looked so serious?

"Oh, something definitely happened," Claire remarked, her voice harsh and a sneer on her face as her neutral expression finally broke. "I'm surprised you even felt the need to ask."

Despite Ashley's position on Melody's warm palm, that cold feeling from earlier was continuing to intensify. It felt as if that coldness was beginning to pervade her very body, even, as if icy tendrils were steadily making their way through her skin, to her very core. Ashley gulped. She didn't like this.

"I mean, it had your name attached, and all," Jenna spat scornfully, and suddenly those icy tendrils tightened around her heart. Her body trembling, she turned her head to briefly meet Jenna's glowering gaze. Slowly turning her head back to left, she once more made eye contact with Claire. That sneer remained, her eyes dark. And then she looked at Melody once more, at that doleful gaze.

"We know what you did to that boy, Ashley," Melody declared, her voice one that Ashley had never heard from her before, but one that was easy to place. This was the first time she had heard it, but Ashley knew immediately that she would never forget it.

That horrifying anger which dripped from her adoring, titanic sister's words.

 "W-what I did?" Ashley stammered out, her body withering under the oppressive gaze of her immense sister and her friends. Ashley didn't understand what was going on; why there had been a report, much less why she had been named. She didn't understand why her sister's words had been said with such anger, why her eyes were focused on her with such apparent contempt. She hadn't done anything wrong! "I d-don't know w-what you're t-talking about!"

"Are...are you actually going to play ignorant?" Melody whispered in disbelief, her eyes widening. "Are you really going to sit there and tell me...tell us that you weren't involved with that Beta boy yesterday?"

Beta boy? Was...was she talking about little Jack? Ashley began to calm down, then, began to collect herself. That couldn't be right. Something must have gone wrong somewhere, a wire must have been crossed.

"Mellie, no, I...I mean yeah I was with a Beta for a bit yesterday but...I mean, I didn't do anything to him, or anything," she explained, composing herself.

"You didn't do anything?" Melody asked, her eyes narrowing with suspicion. "You're absolutely certain of that?"

"I am, Mellie. There must be some sort of misunderstanding or something. You know I wouldn't-"

"Wouldn't what?" Claire snapped, drawing Ashley's attention to the gigantic soccer star and her intense glare. "Throw a Beta in your shoe and then just...walk off with him? Or is that a misunderstanding?"

Ashley was taken aback by that. That was...sure, she had put the little guy in her shoe, but that....no, she was sure of it now. There was definitely a misunderstanding somewhere along the line. Someone must have seen her put the cute little thing in, or maybe taking him out, and gotten the wrong idea. That had to be it, really, what else could it be?

"No, hey, that...I mean yeah, I did do that, but I wasn't mean to him or anything! I didn't do it to hurt him, I wouldn't do that. You guys know that!"

"So why did you?" Jenna monotoned quietly from her right.

"It was just...just for fun, you know?" Ashley explained, an admittedly nervous smile on her face.

"Fun," Melody repeated, her solemn tone accompanied by a bodily tremble that shook Ashley's platform and prompted her to hold on tightly to the soft flesh she sat on. "How was this...fun for him, exactly?"

"Well I mean, I've seen the lil' guy around for a while now, when I was in that area, talked to him some. I catch him staring at my feet when I wear sandals, even if he doesn't have to. So I just thought it would be fun, y'know? For both of us."

And it would be a decent excuse to get to know him better, she thought. He was a cutie.

"And what," Claire breathed, "did he think about all that?"

"Oh, he loved it, just like I knew he would," Ashley intimated with a blushing smile. "I asked him if he enjoyed it, after I took him out. He could barely stutter out a "yes", it was so cute!"

Another tremble from her sister rocked the wide palm she was resting on, and for just a moment she thought the same motion had struck Claire What was their problem? In any case...

"So see," Ashley started, "it was really nothing. Do we need to talk to Mom to get this whole thing straightened out or something? It was just some harmless fun, see? No reason to get bent out of shape about it!"

"Harmless?" Claire suddenly hissed, that snarl returning. "You think what you did was harmless? He has fucking bruises, Ashley!"

It was Ashley's turn to shudder, then, as she processed that with her mouth hanging agape. Bruises? She had hurt him? But he hadn't said anything...she certainly hadn't intended to do that to him!

"That was...that was an accident," Ashley responded softly. "That wasn't supposed to happen. It shouldn't have..."

"What shouldn't have happened, Ashley, is that he shouldn't have been in your fucking shoe in the first place. You shouldn't have put him in a position to be hurt like that." Claire's scolding was stern, powerful. Ashley couldn't help but narrow her eyes. Was Claire of all people criticizing her on this? Seriously? "What were you thinking, Ashley? To believe you could just throw the guy in your shoe, go for a walk without-"

"Oh, please!" Ashley exclaimed with an angry shout, actually managing to cut the larger girl off with the surprise caused by her outburst. Melody or Jenna sitting there chastising her for something she had done accidentally, that would have been one thing, but she wasn't going to sit there and take it from the person who kept a...a fucking boytoy. "You don't...you don't get to talk to me like that! You don't!"

"Oh?" Claire asked caustically.

"Th-that's right! Not with...with what you do to that one guy! To..." Ashley paused, what was his name again? "...to Sean!"

That earned an arched eyebrow from the black-haired girl, and a strained silence filled the room as Claire's brown eyes focused on her.

"Tell me, then, Ashley, what I do to Sean," she eventually replied derisively. "Tell me what you think I do, I'm really curious."

"You," Ashley started with a gulp, "you put him in your shoes. You go walking, running with him in one. You've even taken him to practice with you, I know you have. I've heard about it." A small smile appeared on Claire's lips as Ashley spoke, but she remained silent, and that was all the smaller girl needed to continue. "Y-you've put him in your shirt, in...in other places. And," Ashley paused, another involuntary gulp overcoming her, "you swallowed him, once." Ashley's breathing had gotten a bit heavy with her outburst, her cheeks flushed, and a silence once more took the room.

"My, my," Claire eventually mused, that smile still on her face, "looks like I need to have a conversation with someone about privacy." A soft chuckle escaped her, and Ashley found herself being jarred from a sudden shift by Melody. A brief look at her sister's face gave the impression that it was an uncomfortable one, her amber eyes shifting away. Jenna, meanwhile, was still affixing her with that same uncomfortable gaze.

"You are right, of course," Claire continued calmly. "I have done those things with him. But if you think that makes me a hypocrite, you're sorely mistaken. There's one big difference between my actions and yours, Ash. Something I have that you don't, and that's the reason I have no problem at all with..."talking to you like that". It's why we're having this talk. Do you want to take a guess at what that difference is, Ashley?"

Ashley couldn't help but hmph. That was a dumb, easy question. Just one look down at the soft, fleshy palm that she sat on, a look at her massive sibling peering down on her, judging her. A look over at the also titanic Claire, the gargantuan Jenna. All three of them looming over her, like the loomed over everything else. The answer was obvious.

"I guess because you're an Omega, and I'm not," she answered flatly. Claire's smile vanished, her eyes softening for a moment before narrowing.

"Ashley," Melody stated softly "that's not-"

"Don't bother, Melody," Jenna interjected sternly. "If that's what she wants to think, let her. It's just one more lesson to teach before the day is done."

..Lesson?

Ashley once more looked to Jenna, and within a second of studying her friend's face, she wished she hadn't. She recognized the face she wore now. Those predatory eyes, that anticipatory smirk. Both directed squarely at her. Another first for the day.

"Let's get started, Melody," the strawberry-blonde suggested, her gaze not breaking.

"Get...started?" Ashley asked, confused, turning to face her sister once again, finding comfort in her gentle eyes.

"You got very lucky, Ashley," Melody explained softly, sadly, "on several fronts. The least of which is that you're two years too young for this report to really effect you. Just two more years, little sister, and this would have been a Class C offense. You would have been taken from us for a month, Ashley, and given to an Omega somewhere out of town. Kept in a little terrarium with nothing to do but exercise and read. Occasionally taken outside for community service."

A nervous gulp halted Melody for a moment as Ashley processed that. She would have been taken....jailed for what she did? But...why? She didn't understand what she had done wrong, it had just been...she had just had fun with the little guy, she hadn't even meant to hurt him!

"And once a week," Melody continued, "you would have been disciplined. For anywhere from 20 minutes to two hours, you would have been at the mercy of your warden, subject to any disciplinary action labeled as appropriate for Class C or below."

"And the thing is, Ashley, I...we don't think you should get to escape from that. Not entirely. Because there are so many things you need to understand, Ashley, about what you did. About what you could have done. About what could have been done to you."

"Mellie?" Ashley found herself muttering. What...what was this? Why had that coldness returned? Why was her body tightening up again?

"We're going to do a session, Ashley. Right here, right now. Thirty minutes, Class C restrictions."

Ashley's throat was dry, her body steadily trembling. This...Melody had to be joking, right? Her big sister couldn't be saying this, planning this. Melody didn't...

"You're going to spend ten minutes with me," Melody stated,"...then Claire." Ashley looked at Claire once more. Her face had become terrifyingly unreadable. "...And then Jenna." A violent shudder struck Ashley then, as she turned to face Jenna, a feeling of terror overcoming her as she again looked into those hungry eyes.

Suddenly, she found that she was ascending. Melody was lifting her hand, along with its passenger. Ashley continued to lock eyes with Jenna like a deer caught in the headlights, but eventually managed to break it off. As she turned to look at her big sister once more, though, her face was impacted with two soft, pillowy objects.

Melody's lips. Pink, full, infinitely soft and speckled with trace amounts of saliva. They pressed lightly into the side of her face, lingering for just a second before being removed.

"I love you, Ashley," Melody stated sincerely. "You're one of the most precious people in the world to me...and to Claire, and to Jenna. Even if you hate me...hate us after this, I'm still going to love you. I always will. And it's because I love you...because we love you, that we're doing this. Because we never want you to make this mistake again, for your own sake."

And then Ashley was being lowered once more in awful, dreadful silence. She was frozen, with no idea what to do, what to say, as she simply continued to look up at her towering sibling's face as it continued to move farther and farther away. As Melody leaned over momentarily, to place her palm on the carpeted floor before using her thumb to casually and effortlessly slide her smaller sister from it's soft, comforting surface and onto the floor, in front of her right foot and separated from it by only a few feet. Ashley regained her footing, but stood stock still as she observed Melody's face and torso disappear beyond her towering knees. Claire and Jenna could still be seen, however, both observing her with their same expressions. Ashley wanted to run, to try to make a break for somewhere they couldn't get her, at least until her mother returned home, but her body wouldn't listen. All she could do was stare.

"Start," Claire stated suddenly, without emotion.

Melody's boulder-sized toes curled inward then, beneath the taut black cotton of the sock. Momentarily mesmerized, Ashley simply looked forward, tilting her head in curiosity at the motion. She had no time to react as the massive foot suddenly slid forward, as the toes unfurled as such to strike her in the stomach and send her onto her back. Her eyes went wide as the white, infinitely high ceiling above was suddenly and steadily replaced with a much lower one, a ceiling of black cotton.

The bottom of her sister's foot.

"Mellie..." Ashley croaked dryly, her voice returning as that ceiling began to lower in what seemed like slow-motion. "Mellie, please don't," she pleaded, her voice quiet and scratchy. "Mell-"

Ashley's words were interrupted, her voice forced into silence as the sole of her big sister's foot landed atop her, smothering her, sandwiching her between meaty sole and beige carpet.

 This wasn't happening. It couldn't be.

Even with her face being firmly planted into the expansive, cotton-covered sole above her as it gently but firmly ground into her, Ashley still wanted to deny it. Even as that black canopy, slightly damp and reeking of the day's activities imprinted her with its scent, she wanted to deny it. And even as it lifted - ever so slightly, and just for a moment - before once again pressing down onto her, unphased by her raised hands, every fiber of her being wanted to deny what was happening.

Because her sister didn't do things like this. Melody didn't do this. Mellie didn't.

Her big sister has never used her size to her advantage when dealing with her. She had never asserted even an ounce of her strength. Never acted like Ashley was below her, never picked on her, never...never....

Never dominated her like she was currently doing. Never showed her exactly how weak she was. How inferior.

As the foot lifted once again, Ashley saw her chance. Rolling sideways as quick as she could, she hoped to clear the width of that oppressive appendage, maybe take off under the couch before Melody once again forced her body in the ground, before she could realize what had happened. Ashley almost wanted to cheer as she rolled over onto her stomach and beyond the shadow of that meaty pendulum. Now she just had to-

"To your left," a voice - Claire's - informed, and Ashley cried out in anguish as Melody's foot immediately found her, pressing onto her back and once more compressing her against the carpet. Much like with her previous position, Ashley found herself unable to move as the foot steadily ground into her once again. Not enough to truly hurt, a small mercy allowed to her perhaps, but enough to make moving an impossibility. Enough to make her breaths fast and short, forcing her to continually take in that acrid aroma.

Once more the foot lifted, and Ashley's eyes widened as she watched that ominous shadow leave her, passing over to the left. Was...was that it? It hadn't been ten minutes, Ashley knew that much. Had her sister had a change of heart?

Ashley smiled. Of course she had. Melody couldn't do this to her, not to her precious sister, no matter how tough she talked. Her Mellie didn't treat her like this, and obviously she had realized that herself. The immense foot then thudded to the ground to her left, a black wall resting just a few feet away. Ashley's smile widened. Any moment now, she would be scooped up from his degrading position by her Mellie's soft, familiar hands. She'd be brought back up, on even level with her sister once again, and into an apologetic embrace. Her sister would apologize for what she did, tell her it was a mistake, that she would never do this again. She'd understand that she was simply having fun with little Jack, that she would never have hurt him on purpose. Ashley began to calm down, comforted by those thoughts. That's right, any second now, and she'd be away from all of th-

And then that foot began to slide, towards and directly into her. Ashley yelped as that oncoming black wall pushed into her, forcefully rolling her once more onto her back. For just a moment, she was able to look around once more. Her eyes immediately sought her sister, eager for any sign of recognition, of rescue. All that greeted her was the last sight she had seen before being overcome by that dreadful foot: Melody's knees far above her, and nothing else.

Her sister wasn't even looking at her. Wasn't even attempting to.

"Mellie?" she called out desperately. Maybe she was just..just composing herself. That had to be it, surely? She must have been crying over what she had done, and just...couldn't look at her. Not ye-

The foot was back. Blotting out the sky as it had first done, encompassing her vision as it once more lowered down upon her.

"Mellie, stop!" she cried, but there was no answer. No recognition of her plea. It simply continued to lower, and it was then that Ashley noticed that it was not her sister's sole coming to meet her this time.

It was her big toe, it's form masked but recognizable, it's length almost a match for Ashley's own prone form.

"Mellie, no! Ple-"

Her pitiful cry was interrupted, again, as the digit landed atop her, as it mashed into and smothered her underneath it's cotton-covered girth. As with her experience with the sole, Melody appeared to be showing a modicum of restraint - the pressure was uncomfortable, but not enough to hurt her despite how easily she could. But as the digit rubbed into her, forcing her face into the fabric, she realized that Melody's lesson had no need for pain.

She simply needed to dominate her. Completely. Utterly. It was why she had switched from her sole to a single toe: She didn't need her sole, this toe was enough to impose her will upon her. It was enough to strip her of the illusion of equality with her sibling. To show her that she was nothing compared to her sibling, that Melody could ultimately do whatever she pleased with her, and that there was nothing she could do to stop her.

And she had no idea why. Why was her sister doing this to her? She had said that Ashley had things she needed to understand, but she understood nothing.

"Mellie!" Ashley cried as the toe lifted somewhat. She could feel tears beginning to well in her eyes. She didn't like this. She didn't like this Mellie. The Mellie that picked her up without asking, who got angry at her, who did...who did this. She wanted the old one back. "Mellie, please stop!"

********

Melody wanted to cry. She wanted to stop this. But she couldn't. She had to make sure her sister understood everything about what she had done, and that started with the act itself. She needed to see for herself some of what she had put that poor boy through, and that was Melody's role in this. Claire and Jenna had their own lessons to impart, but it started with her. Her sister couldn't do something like this again. Not with how the laws worked. There would be no pity from the system if this happened again, but that was ultimately a minor concern. No, there was one thing Melody feared even more. One thing she never wanted her sister to experience herself.

Sighing, shuddering, Melody lifted her foot and pivoted it to the right. Instinctually remembering her sister's position, she lowered the stretch of her toes down onto her before gently curling them around her small form, lifting her into their embrace. Melody couldn't resist - she gave her precious little sister an affectionate squeeze, though she could tell from the resulting cry that Ashley had not taken it as such. God, she did want to cry, but she had to keep her control for the time being.

Another sigh, and she returned her foot to its more natural, outward facing direction. She gingerly released her little sibling, allowing her to fall softly to the carpet once more and now positioned perpendicularly to her. One more reposition, and the range of her toes now rested across Ashley's length, her big toe now covering her chest. She was sick of rubbing her foot in Ashley's face. Curling her toes once more in an embrace, she delivered another affectionate hug to Ashley's squirming body before sending her to the floor once more. Five more seconds, and another pulse. Five seconds, another. This would do for now. Her 10 minutes had to be almost up, then she could-

"Mellie!" that pitiful voice cried once more, and Melody cringed, just as she had done at every shout of her name. Still, though, she kept up her steady pulses. She wished she could fast forward through this, through all of this. She wished she had never seen that report, had never-

"Mellie, why won't you look at me?"

Melody wanted to wretch at that. At everything about that. She wanted to look at her sister, to let her see her face but...no, she couldn't. She couldn't bring herself to do it, to look at her pitiful form. Her resolve would disintegrate the moment she did, she knew that much.

"Mellie, please just...just look at me!"

Melody whimpered softly. Ashley was clearly sobbing now, and Melody wanted to join her.

The feeling of her hand being touched caught her attention then, and a quick look revealed it being embraced tightly by another. Looking to her left, she couldn't help but give its owner a small smile. Claire briefly met her gaze, returning her smile with one of her own before once more casting her eyes down upon Ashley as the crying girl again cried out for the blessing of a simple gaze. That smile melted into a pitying frown, a frown that had accompanied Claire's vigilant, pitying gaze from the moment Melody had first placed her foot upon her sister.

Briefly, Melody allowed her gaze to wander over to Jenna. Seeing that her friend was pushing herself into the back of the recliner, her eyes shut tightly and her face impassive, Melody allowed her own smile to continue for just a moment. She was thankful for that.

"Claire, please help!" Ashley cried from below. Melody's eyes widened a bit, her smile disappeared. Had Ashley noticed Claire's pitying gaze. Had she...had she given up on Melody?

Shifting her gaze back to Claire, she whimpered once more as her friend turned away from both her and the smaller girl. A sharp sob from under her toes followed.

"Jenna! Jenna help!"

Melody had to suppress a sob of her own. Her sister really was getting desperate now, if she was seeking help from the girl she had seemed the most afraid of. Jenna promptly turned her face to the left, making it clear there would be no intervention from her.

So Melody continued on, delivering a regular, soft scrunch of her toes. Cringing at every call of a name, wanting to match every sob with one of her own, until finally Claire uttered the most merciful of words.

"Time."

 "So how about it, Ashley? One to ten, how much 'fun' did you have down there?"

There was no chance to answer, of course. The probing finger that had been accosting her since just a few moments ago, spurred into action by a word from Jenna, found her face at that moment. The tanned pad forced itself into the side of her face, turned and mashed her head into the palm flesh on which she sat. As with Melody, Claire seemed to be taking great care not to hurt her beyond whatever force was required to halt her movement. They seemed to be content in simply humiliating her, in driving in her helplessness. That would change, though. She knew it.

Ashley had been given almost no time to recuperate after her time with Melody had ended, that merciful call from Claire finally releasing her from the hungry grasp of her big sister's toes. That awful appendage had promptly distanced itself from her, scooting as close to couch as it could, leaving Ashley alone for just a moment to quietly sob to herself, to catch a breath of fresher air. A shadow had soon overcome her, and Ashley couldn't bring herself to resist as a massive hand enclosed around her.

When it opened, she had been before Claire, still sitting on the couch. The pitying look that she had caught on her larger friend's face as her big sister had her way with her, the one that had inspired her to desperately and futilely cry out for her help, had vanished. The young woman had held a more stoic expression then, one that had made her gulp. She knew Claire's game face when she saw it.

Melody had come to mind then, and Ashley had eagerly looked to the left for her. She had needed to see her sister, to look at her. She needed to be looked at. And for just a moment, the two had made eye contact. Only a moment though, as Melody had quickly turned away, but not before Ashley had noted her sister's own wet eyes.

She had had no time to think that over, though. Claire's finger had promptly intervened, gingerly turning her head to meet it's owners gaze, demanding her attention. A robotic "Start" from Jenna had renewed her humiliation, and Ashley had soon been on her back, that finger mashing into her stomach and causing her to squirm in an instinctual but futile attempt to escape from it, eventually leading into her current position.

"I asked you a question," Claire stated. Her voice, as it had been when she had first asked that demeaning question, was surprisingly lacking in condescension, opting instead for a certain moroseness that was uncommon for the soccer queen. Claire was an arrogant person, and that arrogance typically pervaded her speech. It was rare for her to sound so gloomy.

Nevertheless, Ashley didn't want to antagonize her given the temper she knew she had. She attempted to provide an answer, only for the finger to glider over her mouth, mashing into her lips and making her words indecipherable.

"Whoops," Claire casually exclaimed, pulling her finger away, "sorry about that. Try again, Ash."

"A...a one," she sputtered out, catching her breath and enjoying the brief pause. A light, almost imperceptible smile began to tug at a corner of Claire's lips.

"I had a feeling that would be the case."

The fingers on the hand Ashley occupied rose up at her side then, looming as one collective wall for just a moment above her before they began to curl downwards, driving their tips down along the length of her body and once more smothering her face with the pad of an index finger. Asserting their dominance over her, just as Melody had done.

"As crass as it sounds, Ashley, I'm glad to hear that. I'm glad you didn't enjoy it," she stated in that same low tone. "It would have been a serious mistake on our part if you had. The lesson would kind of be lost if if you enjoyed what he didn't, don't you think?"

Ashley's eyes widened under the smothering pad. What was she talking about? The little guy had told her he did, did they...did they not believe her? Was that why they were doing this? Treating her like some...some toy? Because they thought she was lying?

"Or," Claire continued, lifting the fingertips that ground her body into her friend's palm in slow succession, starting with the one mashing into her face, "do you still want to cite that little lie he told you after you had your fun?"

"He wasn-"

Ashley's frantic yell was snuffed out by the return of that fingertip, it's friends each impacting her with the same deliberate succession with which they had left.

"He was the one who filed the report, y'know," Claire noted with a frown, and if it hadn't meant getting a mouthful of finger flesh, Ashley was certain her mouth would be agape. Why?

"I told you earlier, Ashley, that there's one important difference between what I do to Sean and what you did to that boy. Do you have another idea as to what that might be yet? One that isn't an answer a child would give?"

The fingers lifted from her once more, allowing her to meet Claire's gaze again. Those brown eyes were narrowed, focused squarely on her with a frightening intensity, demanding a response.

"No," Ashley whined with a shake of her head. She didn't. A sigh escaped Claire's lips, washing Ashley in her hot breath, tinged with the myriad scents of the day's food and drink.

"Consent, Ashley. Simple, attainable consent. Something you didn't bother to get, did you?"

"B-but I kn-"

"There's no 'but' involved in this, Ashley. Did you or did you not receive actual permission from him? It's a yes or no question."

Ashley couldn't help but wrap her arms around herself. She needed some level of comfort, looking into Claire's eyes. Watching those horrid pupils contract, studying her as if she were under a microscope. Daring her to answer with anything other than what their owner and, as the pieces began to click into place in her mind, Ashley herself knew to be the only right answer.

She hadn't. She hadn't even asked.

"I didn't," she answered blankly, still processing. Still piecing things together, as a creeping shudder shook her - that slow realization of what that meant. What she had done.

"That's right," Claire deadpanned as her eyes softened once more, "you didn't."

Those fingers returned again, successively driving into her body. There was no lingering this time, though. No sooner had her titanic friend's pinkie pressed into her lower leg than the finger pressing into her face removed itself, the others following suite...only for the index finger to return once more as the pinkie left, it's friends following behind. This motion continued, repeatedly kneading Ashley into the skin below with a constant barrage, her friend treating her body like a flute.

"That report was something else to read, Ash. To watch," Claire commented as she continued her casual oscillations. "Reading...listening to him talk about how he didn't even know what was going on when you plucked him up, when you dropped him in your shoe. When you tilted it to send him to the toe. The fear in his eyes...in his voice, when he talked about how scared he was when your foot came to join him."

Ashley shuddered amidst Claire's steady kneading. God, she had fucked up. Badly. She had been so very, very stupid, and Jack...he had suffered for that, even while she had happily gone on her way. Moreover, the gears were starting to really turn in her head, as she thought about what she had done. About the way her big sister had utterly subjugated her with her own foot. About how Claire was currently toying with her, as if she were a little doll. How effortless that domination had been, both for them...and for her.

"Did you know that he was begging you to let him out?" Claire asked, eliciting a whimper from Ashley between presses. No, no she didn't. She hadn't heard a peep from him. She wanted to yell up to Claire, to tell her that, to let her know she'd have taken him out if she had. "I want to believe that you didn't, Ashley. That between your toes dropping down on him and the shoe itself, his voice simply couldn't reach. I do believe that, really. All three of us do. You were stupid here, Ashley, but you're not malicious. Not that there was much difference in the end result."

Ashley sniffled, and couldn't help but curl her toes within her sneakers as Claire's bouncing fingers continued their work. He had been in there....begging her to stop, and she...she hadn't even heard him. Like...like Melody, she had functionally ignored the mewling creature...the mewling person tormented underneath her feet. Those gears continued to rotate, her thoughts continued to process. It suddenly struck her, then, just how easy it had been to ignore those pleas. How horrifyingly easy it had been, to the point that she hadn't even been aware that she had done it.

"And of course, he mentioned the moment when you let him out. When you asked him that little question of yours...well, I think you can guess why he lied by now, can't you?"

Ashley's face happened to be free of confinement at that moment, of the pressure brought forth by that superior digit. She met Claire's downcast gaze, and managed a small nod before face was once again compressed under the tanned pad. He must have been terrified of her, of how the monster that had...had kidnapped him might have reacted if he displeased her.

"Not really 'harmless fun' now, is it?" Claire asked as her pinkie once more lifted from her leg. To Ashley's surprise, the fingers didn't return this time, instead opting to curl away and flatten, leaving the girl on a now perfectly straight plain of comfortable flesh.

"No," Ashley replied apologetically, "no it wasn't." Even without the bruises she had left. that was all far too much. Claire gave her a soft smile then, and for the first time since she got home, Ashley felt slightly at ease. Still humiliated, embarrassed, and degraded. Still hurt over how her sister had treated her, how Claire was treating her...

Still terrified at how Jenna likely would treat her.

But it was something. A small sign that at least one of them still viewed her with some level of their previous affection, and not the little...the little toy she had been treated as. She didn't want that. Anything would be better that being thought of as...as that.

"Turn over on your side, Ashley," Claire gently commanded. "And face to your left." Ashley nodded slowly, turning as instructed.

By chance, she once again caught site of her sister, still sitting where she had been but angled slightly to face Claire. Those powerful legs were pulled up into her chest and encircled by Melody's toned arms. Beyond the twin towers of her knees, Melody's eyes peeked over at her, red and apparently still wet. Her big sister apparently noticed the attention, and weakly raised a hand, giving her a pitiful wave.

"Mellie..." Ashley found herself muttering, that earlier desperation for her attention still peeking through. She wondered how her sister saw her now, after shaming her beneath her foot. After her pathetic, futile cries. Could she really go back to treating Ashley as she had been after all this? After exerting that much power over her little sister while expending so little actual effort in the process? Could she ever take her seriously as a person again?

And she wondered, too, how she herself should view Melody. Her big sister had finally done it, after all - exerted her dominance as the older, bigger sibling. The better sibling. She had shown Ashley a side of her that had only ever existed in her nightmares. Once this was over, and assuming that Melody was even willing to return to their former pretenses of equality, that feeling would still linger, stronger than ever. That feeling of absolute inferiority in the face of her truly god-like sibling, one she could never hope to compare to.

Two fingers suddenly closed around her then, Claire's free hand going to work. She was lifted slightly, gently, but kept in the same position. She quickly found herself deposited slightly above her previous position, her head now suspended off the edge of Claire's hand, close to the thumb. Before she could really settle, that free hand suddenly blanketed over her, sandwiching her softly between the two appendages with her head popping out as her friend brought them before her face, as if in prayer. The joined hands began to tilt forward, halting once they were pointing straight behind Ashley. In front of her, Claire's intimidating thumbs rose up and pointed toward the ceiling as a large, brown eye looked between them, focused squarely on her. To Claire, it most have appeared as if she were looking down the sights of a firearm.

"You know, Ash," Claire started, "a few years ago, I almost made the same mistake you did."

"What?" Ashley muttered. She had? And why did Claire look so....sad mentioning this?

"Not in the same context, really," Claire softly exclaimed, "I didn't find some little Alpha or Beta cute or anything. No, it was a bit different for me, but the same overall principle was at work."

Claire slid her right hand forward then, while still keeping it in contact with its partner. The effect on Ashley was nauseating: Every inch it moved forward spun Ashley's form within the flesh vice, rotating her several times until the movement eventually halted and left Ashley dizzy and disoriented, pinned near the wrist of the right hand by the fingers of the left and still facing Claire.

"What you did, Ashley, and what I almost did...what it essentially boiled down to is the power we had in our situations. The power to force our own desires upon someone else, because it made us happy."

The left hand began to slide forward then, as the right slid backward. Ashley's world spun once again, eventually coming to a halt in a similar position as before. The only difference being that the fingers and the wrist had switched places.

"We both became enamored with the neat little fantasies in our heads," Claire continued, and if it weren't for the dizziness, Ashley could swear that the larger woman was looking right past her. "You, with the idea of a little guy you found cute being in your shoe and loving every second of it. Me...well, I'll just say that I had the bright idea that I could run someone's life better than they could while I was barely a teenager."

There was a bitterness attached to that last bit, an innate sense of disgust. Ashley opened her mouth, about to ask about what had actually happened, but once more Claire's monolithic hands were in motion, sending Ashley spinning along for a moment.

"And the thing is,Ashley, when you're as big as I am to you...even more-so when you're as large as I am compared to a Beta; When you yourself tower over that boy and every other member of his species...it becomes easy, to force your desires upon them. To ignore their agency, to replace it with your own. To assign thoughts and goals to them. And then they aren't really the same person anymore, are they? When we take over."

Another slide of the palms, another several seconds careening against them. Ashley found herself deeply hoping this would come to an end soon. One more of those, and she felt she would throw up. She was getting very nauseous.

"Ultimately, the only difference between the two of us is that I managed to talk to the right person before I made my move. I realized the mistake I was about to make before I made it, and put my br-...put that person before my own wants. So if there's any one lesson I hope you take from this Ashley, it's that one. To be careful, to not allow yourself to attribute what you want to someone else's desires again. To let them make their own decisions. Because you never know, Ashley. The little guy might have been up for some fun afterall, if you had just asked."

The hands sandwiching Ashley tilted to the right then, the left parting as the right leveled off into much the same position it had been in prior to that little escapade. Ashley shook her head and sat up. She needed to regain her bearings from all that spinning.

"With that said, though," Claire started again, her voice resuming its normal level, "I believe we have the matter of some bruises to-"

The black-haired woman had no chance to finish her statement, though. A single word rang out from behind Ashley, its cheeriness contrasting sharply with the oppressive mood that had been the hallmark of the past twenty minutes. The same cheeriness sent a shiver down her spine, inflicted her with an immediate tremble that would not subside.

"Time," Jenna practically sang.

"Thanks, Mrs. Reynolds!" Ashley chirped, her hands eagerly grasping the sealed plastic container from the pad of her host's finger. She quickly grabbed the corner tab of the pink lid, and with one quick motion popped the top of the compartmentalized container, the contents eliciting a lick of her lips. A nice, thick slice of devil's food cake inhabited one section, a plastic bottle of milk and a plastic-wrapped fork in the other. This was why she always preferred going over to Jenna's house instead of Claire's: Mrs. Abby was nice enough, but there wasn't a single sweet in that house. Mrs. Reynolds, on the other hand, always kept a dessert container or two on hand just for her.

"You're very welcome, sweetie," Jenna's mother replied, and Ashley looked up from her little treat to see the woman's billboard-sized face begin to lift away, her ruby-painted lips curled in a kind smile as she rose from her kneeling position at the dining room table and to her usual towering height.

"I hope you don't eat those often," a distant, masculine voice commented. It had been sly, mocking, with a hint of something else that Ashley couldn't quite place. Looking in the direction from whence the words came, Ashley found herself looking at a man, likely in his 30s, staring at her from the pocket of Mrs. Reynolds' charcoal blazer. "You'll ruin that lil' figure you got goin' for you."

Ashley had never seen something so large move so fast. No sooner had those last words left the stranger's mouth than Mrs. Reynolds' hand found him, her thumb and forefinger latching onto the sides of his head and dragging his body out of the pocket and high into the air. Ashley's eyes followed his ascent as she removed her fork from its trappings. Mrs. Reynolds' glare towards the man squirming between her vice-like fingertips was one Ashley had rarely ever seen from her. She seemed to be really angry at that guy, and her words confirmed it.

"Did I give you permission to speak to her?" the looming mother asked, a palpable sense of disgust on her voice. Some more squirming, some yelling. Ashley eagerly took her fork to her cake, taking a delectable-looking piece onto it as she continued to eye the scene above in curiosity."That's right, I didn't. And you are never going to so much as look at her, much less speak to her, again. Is that understood?" Some more words Ashley couldn't quite make out, and Mrs. Reynolds snapped her hand around. The man promptly vanished into the confines of her enclosed fist.

"Who is that?" Ashley asked, taking the piece of cake into her mouth, delighting in the moist, rich treat.

"Trash," a contemptuous voice behind her stated, and Ashley turned around to see Jenna looking up from her tablet, eyes focused angrily on her mother's fist.

"Jenna!" Mrs. Reynolds scolded, and Ashley's larger friend looked back to her tablet.

"It's true, though," she muttered, "after what he did..."

"What'd he do?" Ashley piped up, taking another bite of her cake. A sigh emanated from Mrs. Reynolds, regaining her attention. The massive matron was looking down at her tenderly, her lips pursed. A large, soft object suddenly met her back, and Ashley instinctively leaned back into it as it began to gently rub. She wasn't sure why Jenna felt the need to offer the rub, but she wouldn't decline one.

"He did some very bad things to a lot of people, Ashley," Mrs. Reynolds softly replied, "and when he's done spending the year with me, he's going to jail for a very long time."

"Oh."

Ashley still didn't really know what he had done, but Mrs. Reynolds didn't seem to want to talk about it. He must have really hurt those people, though.

"Now," she started again, her lips curling into another gentle smile, "I believe you two have some studying to do, so I'm going to leave you to it. I'll be right over there in the living room if you need anything, okay?"

"Yes, ma'am," the two girls answered at once, and Ashley pivoted around in her sitting position to face Jenna as Mrs. Reynolds left the table and Jenna's stroking finger left her back. Setting aside her container after one more bite of her cake and a swig of her milk, Ashley grabbed her tablet and notebook from her lap.

"Alright, it's conjugations you're having trouble with the most, right?" Jenna asked, pulling her eyes from the copy of Ashley's Spanish textbook that was loaded onto her platform of a tablet. A few moments later, and Ashley was busily adding to her notes.

"Done with the charts, Jenna," Ashley stated a short while later. She was already starting to understand things a little bit better, and Jenna was always good at recompiling her notes in such a way that she could study them better. Something felt...off today, though. Her friend seemed to be only halfway paying attention to her, often looking away, and prone to extended moments of silence.

Moments like this one.

"Jenna?" she called up again, peeling her eyes from her notebook to look up at her friend. "I'm done."

Nothing. No reaction. Jenna was simply staring straight forward, into where the living room would be. She seemed slack-jawed, her glacial eyes wide and focused. Ashley called up once again to no avail. Jenna seemed to be on another planet entirely, and Ashley wasn't sure what to do. She'd never really seen her friend like this before.

But then, finally, there was a change. A small curl of her friend's lips, the tell-tale signs of a smirk. Her eyes remained focused forward, though, and Ashley finally decided that she had to know what had Jenna so enthralled, and so turned her head to find the target of the older girl's stare.

The sight of Mrs. Reynolds greeted her, in the living room as she said she'd be and facing the dining room as she sat on the couch. Her attention seemed to be thoroughly subsumed by her tablet, and Ashley knew she was an avid reader. But what was it that had Jenna's attention? She didn't notice anything that stuck o-

Then she saw it, as the mother's toes lifted up within her sandals. A person....that man from earlier, was where the digits he had been. She couldn't really make out his face, but it was definitely him, and he seemed to be holding his chest. And then Mrs. Reynolds' toes lowered upon him once again, shielding him from view, and Ashley couldn't help but notice those punishing digits dig in. He really had done something bad to be treated like that, Ashley realized. Was this what Jenna had been looking at?

Ashley once more turned to face her friend, and upon looking at her face once more she found herself suddenly shaken. That small smile had grown into a wide grin, one that exposed her perfect white teeth. Those eyes continued to focus upon her mother in the other room, Jenna herself remaining oblivious to her little friend.

"Jenna?" Ashley asked again. She didn't like this. Something was wrong here. As nothing but silence greeted her, Ashley's concern only grew. Those eyes, in particular, struck her the most. They looked so....greedy. So hungry in their unwavering, unblinking focus.

"Jenna, you're scaring me," Ashley mewled, and finally there was a response. Jenna's eyes blinked in rapid succession, her grin faded. Slowly, her gaze shifted over toward Ashley, and while initially cold it seemed to warm upon focusing on her. It became soft, tender. The gaze she was used to.

"Ashley, no," the larger girl comforted, bringing an finger to bear against her and gingerly stroking the side of her face. "There's nothing for you to be scared of. It's just me."

"But the way you were looking at that guy..."

"It's nothing, Ashley," and with that Jenna began to slowly lean toward her, a slight smile on her lips as her chin came to rest on the table's surface in front of Ashley with only a few feet separating her from the tip of the larger girl's nose. Ashley followed the fair features of her friend's face upward, eventually looking her in the eyes once again. "It's just...it's just how I look at bad people, okay? At bad people who do bad things to people who don't deserve it. At people who are mean to Betas, who hurt them. So you don't have any reason to be scared, alright?"

Ashley smiled, easily reassured by her massive friend, and brought a hand to rub Jenna's stroking digit.

"I'll never look at you like that, Ashley. Ever. Because you're my friend. And because you're not a bad person, are you?"

"Nope!" Ashley replied cheerily.

"And I know you'd never, ever hurt a Beta."

"Never!" Ashley confirmed with gusto. And she wouldn't. She would never do that. The thought itself made her uncomfortable; the thought of hurting something so cute and small. And as Jenna's grin grew wider, and she playfully tilted her head forward to poke at Ashley with the tip of her nose, sending Ashley falling backward lightly in a fit of giggles, one more thought came to mind.

Who would ever do that?

********

She would. She had.

And now, as she sat in Claire's offertory palm, wishing that she could simply sink and disappear into its soft confines, those eyes were focused squarely on her now.

"Just a little bit more, Ashley," Claire whispered from behind, possibly as some sort of comforting response to the fact that Ashley had been shivering since the moment Jenna had called the end of her time with Claire. An ultimately futile gesture, in the face of those eyes. of those approaching talons. She whimpered as they began to curl around her, their cold embrace a sharp contrast to Mellie and Claire

"That's right, Ashley," Jenna stated lowly, almost at a whisper herself as her hand began to pull her shivering form from Claire's relatively safer grasp, "just a bit more. Just a few more things you need to understand, about how you hurt that poor boy."

 "Please, Jenna," Ashley fearfully pleaded, her body continuing to shiver and shake even while entombed from the shoulders down in Jenna's grip. "You don't...you don't have to do this. I know I...I know I fucked up. I violated Jack. I hurt him. I understand-"

A pink, fleshy pad - Jenna's thumb - pressed into her face then, cutting her sentence short as the digit softly ground into her face.

"Shh," Jenna hushed from beyond her thumb. "No more talking, Ash. Not from you. Not unless I ask you a question. Is that understood?"

Jenna's harsh tone brooked no room for argument. Ashley attempted to respond, but found that, as had been the case with Claire, the finger pad pressing into her face rendered talking useless. A new sense of panic began to pervade her thoughts. She knew Jenna, knew she didn't like to be kept waiting. That she didn't like the slightest hint of insubordination. Ashley continued to speak, attempting to eek out an affirmation, but nothing escaped beyond that thumb. And while Ashley could see nothing but that ridged flesh, in her mind she just knew what waited beyond it. Jenna was likely starting to get annoyed, and she could just see those eyes beginning to narrow, those lips beginning to curl into a snarl with each passing second.

"Just nod or shake, Ash," Jenna suddenly commanded. "I promise you that I can feel the difference." Ashley complied without a second thought, only noticing after a few seconds of nodding that Jenna had essentially and casually forced her into grinding her own face into the digit. "Good."

The thumb lifted away, allowing Ashley to lock eyes with her friend once again. Jenna continued to affix her with that same intimidating gaze, but Ashley couldn't help but find some sense of relief in the fact that her lips were still thin and straight.

"But you're right, Ashley," Jenna started with a nod, "you do understand a bit. About what you did. About how awful it is to have that illusion broken. Don't you?"

"I do," she said with a gulp. She did know, now. The feeling of a carefully maintained sense of equality being shattered, casually and effortlessly. For the first time, she wondered if he didn't have Alpha friends of his own. He must have frequented the mixed area for a reason, after all. And now she wondered how he might view them now, after being shown just what they could do to him if stricken by the slightest of whims. After being shown that his relationship with those possible friends rested ultimately in their much larger, more powerful hands. It was with a sniffle that she wondered, too, if her actions wouldn't cause those friendships to crumble under the weight of a new-found sense of inferiority and helplessness. "Jenna, I have so much to be sorry for, I know. So much to apologize for, and I-"

"You're right," Jenna coldly interrupted, "you do have a lot to be sorry for. To apologize for. And once this is over, Ashley, I think it's only fair that you try to make things right with him, don't you?"

"I do," Ashley quavered. She knew she would have to make this right. She didn't know how, but she would.

"That's what I like to hear from my friend," Jenna quipped, the corners of her mouth curling upwards just a bit, and only for a moment before those features darkened once again. "But there's one last little thing to go over with first, Ashley, and I told you that. Our lesson is one in hurt, and not the emotional kind. Not the mental kind. The physical kind. And it's a lesson I want to see stick."

Ashley's body was wracked by a sudden shudder, and she could feel her face contort into an expression of terror. She knew Jenna was going to hurt her. Knew it. And when she was hurt, when she was in pain...that was when it would appear - that awful, sadistic smile.

"You said you didn't mean to hurt him, didn't you?" Jenna asked with a tilt of her head, her lips hanging open ever so slightly as she continued to gaze down upon Ashley. "That you didn't mean to leave him battered and bruised?"

Ashley nodded with another sniffle. Of course she hadn't meant to. She would never...

"Did you think you were being gentle with him, Ashley?" the larger girl asked, the question tinged with condescension, those glacial eyes narrowing as she asked. "That you were just...giving him a full-body massage, or something?" Once again, Ashley nodded guiltily. In her head, that was what she had pictured. In her head, it had all gone so well. Her head was a stupid thing. "So how does that happen, then? How does a 'massage' turn into bruises, hm?"

"I think that's something worth exploring," Jenna declared, and the fingers that entrapped Ashley began to slowly unfurl as the hand itself began to level, leaving her to shiver in her open palm. "So we're going to do a little...hands-on experiment." Jenna free hand appeared then, the thumb and forefinger pointing directly at her. "Have you been hurt so far, Ashley? By Melody or Claire?" Jenna asked tonelessly, those pincers beginning to move forward.

Ashley's mouth opened as her response formed in her throat, but that response quickly morphed into a terrified "eep!" as those approaching digits shot forward suddenly, gripping her sides between them.

"They haven't, right?" Jenna asked. "I know you've noticed it. That despite their treatment, you haven't felt an iota of pain. Am I wrong?" A shake of her head was Ashley's immediate response. Those fingertips resting at her sides had her far too scared to hesitate. "Have I hurt you, Ashley? Am I hurting you?" Another shake of her head. So far, no, she had done nothing. So far. "That's right," Jenna continued, "and believe me, Ashley, that's not an easy thing to accomplish. It's not something you just casually do, to not hurt someone so much smaller than you. It takes work. It takes concentration."

"Describe to me how it feels right now," Jenna commanded. "How my fingers feel at your sides."

"They..." Ashley began, swallowing once more as she chose her words. How they felt..."They're just...they're just kind of there. Touching me, but not really...not really anything else."

A slight nod from Jenna, and then those fingertips began to press together, eliciting yet another violent shudder as Ashley felt herself being grasped in a familiar, gentle firmness.

"And now?" Jenna asked, with a falsely curious tone. Another gulp. Jenna knew exactly what she was doing, what her response would be.

"It's...it's like when I'm being picked up sometimes. Firm enough to grip, but...but comfortable, sort of."

"Good," Jenna remarked, her lips forming another smile. "Now, how about this one..."

Another compress, another familiar feeling, though this one she had come to know only within the last half hour. The feeling she had first felt underneath Melody's foot and toes, that had carried over into Claire's kneading. That firm, uncomfortable mashing that left her near breathless.

"Well?" Jenna queried with another tilt of her head, that thin smile still there.

"It's...it's hard to breathe," Ashley forced out as her trembling renewed. It hit her, now, what Jenna was doing. She was building, and Ashley was certain she knew what her larger friend was building up to. It was about to happen, what she feared the most.

"It's interesting, really," Jenna softly mused, "the little series of lines this whole thing works on. When I handle you. When you handle a Beta. How each line gives way to an entirely different end result. So here's a question for you, Ashley: How thin do you think it is?"

"H-h-how thin w-what is?" Ashley stuttered as her trembling intensified.

"That line, Ashley," Jenna sternly informed, "between you having trouble breathing...and screaming in pain." Ashley whimpered once more, her instincts causing her eyes to slam shut as she braced herself for the oncoming squeeze.

"Open your eyes and answer me, Ashley," Jenna ordered, and as much as she wanted to resist the command, her eyes slowly opened to take in Jenna's studious glare. How thin that line was...

"Very?" Ashley questioned, her voice low.

"Yes. To the point where the change is almost imperceptible to the person applying the force. Which brings us to my follow-up question, and don't you dare shut your eyes and go silent on me again: How thin, then, is that line between a simple painful squeeze, and one hard enough to leave a mark? A bruise?"

Ashley gulped, for what felt like the hundredth time that day. "Very."

"And how thin, Ashley, is the line between a little bruise and a fractured bone."

Oh, God.

"Very," she answered.

"Between a fracture and a break?" Jenna continued, her expression darkening rapidly.

"Very," Ashley repeated with a whine. Even without Jenna's vice-like grip at her sides, Ashley felt that her breaths would be fast and shallow. She was beginning to recall Mellie's words to her, before this awful ordeal started: The she needed to understand what she had done, and Ashley felt that she had begun to do that. But there was more to what Mellie had said, and it made Ashley sick to recall it: Not just an understanding of what she had done, but an understanding of what she could have done. And as if on queue, Jenna continued once more.

"How thin, Ashley," Jenna nearly whispered, her eyes narrowing into slits, "between broken bones and a mangled corpse?"

"I'm sorry," Ashley croaked even as her stomach seized up and her eyes began to water. She didn't know why she said it. It was simply the first thing that came to mind, even as her body tensed up between Jenna's fingers. As a feeling of nausea and sickness overcame her. As she realized how close she had come, despite how careful she thought she was being at the time, to carelessly taking a life. How close she had come to becoming a...a...

"A murderer," Jenna stated with exasperation as her fingers left Ashley's sides. "A little less luck, Ashley, and you would have been a murderer."

Ashley couldn't help it, upon hearing it spoken. Her stomach lurched, and a surge of acidic bile rushed up her throat and out her mouth, covering her mouth and neck in the nearly digested muck of her lunch.

 A forceful cascade of water broke Ashley from her daze, forcing her eyelids to snap shut. The lukewarm water poured over her face, soaking her honeyed locks and washing her face free of her embarrassing regurgitation. Her prone body was suddenly edged forward just a smidgen more, allowing the cleansing waterfall to do its work on the bile resting on her neck, as well as dampening the shoulders of her t-shirt.

A squeak from above signaled an end to the torrent, and Ashley opened her eyes. Above her, she could see the metal faucet of a sink. The hand she rested on suddenly jerked to her right, just in time for a lingering droplet of water to whiz past her head and into the ceramic bowl below. Tilting her head forward, Jenna's face once more became visible. Her expression was flat, her eyes narrowed slightly. The hand below continued to move, eventually clearing the sink and hovering over what Ashley recognized as the bathroom counter top. Her current resting place tilted to the right, and Ashley found herself lightly rolling off the columns of Jenna's fingers and onto the quartz landscape below.

The hand left her there, resting on her back once more, and returned to the sink. Idly, she watched as Jenna once more turned the water on, pumped a dollop of soap onto a hand, and began to wash. Jenna's gaze was on her hands as she washed them clean, likely of the mess Ashley had made that had dribbled down her neck and onto her hand.

"You know, I still have a session to do," Jenna stated simply, not even looking at her as she continued to wash.

To her own surprise, Ashley actually let out a soft, gasping laugh at that. Of course she did. Thinking back, recalling those recent miserable events, no one had ever actually told Jenna to start, had they? Not like Claire had done before Mellie's foot arrived atop her, not like Jenna had done before Claire treated her like a little toy made of putty. No, Jenna had ultimately just talked, hadn't she? Just told her how stupid she was. How awful. All as a prelude to whatever hell she had in store for her.

"Just get it over with already," she croaked up as the water stopped flowing once more. Jenna's eyes briefly shifted to look at her, to consider her, before her attention turned to drying her hands on the crimson towel that hung next to the sink.

"Now why would you actually ask that of me, Ashley?" the looming woman casually asked as she wiped her hands dry. Finishing, she turned her full attention to Ashley once more.

"I'm just tired of waiting for it, Jenna," Ashley blubbered, her tears returning as she continued to think of what she could have done to Jack in her utter carelessness, what she could have become. "I'm sick of sitting here, scared out of my mind about what you're going to do to me! Of sitting here close to pissing myself! So just...just do it already!" Ashley's breathing was deep as she finished her pained outburst, and it only got deeper as Jenna's towering form began to lower, as her face moved in closer and closer until it was hovering mere feet away from her prone form.

"What do you think I'm going to do to you, Ashley, that has you so scared?" she asked softly, her warm breath washing down upon Ashley's body.

"Hurt me," Ashley answered with a shiver as she looked up and into the blue eyes that hovered above her.

"Hm," Jenna sounded, and her sullen face began to rise once more. Her hand appeared once more, scooping Ashley up into yet another embrace within her closed fist with only her head popping out and lifting her level with Jenna's chest. "So you want me to do this, then? Get this whole thing over with?"

"Yes," Ashley begged, a sense of horror seeping through her body as she realized what she was asking for.

"We can do that, then" Jenna replied simply, before the tip of her tongue emerged from the corner of her mouth, thick and coated in saliva. Watching the muscle slowly glide along Jenna's lips as the young woman's narrowed eyes began to open, Ashley's breathing began to intensify.

"Close your eyes, Ashley," Jenna commanded with a whisper as the tongue retreated back into her mouth, and Ashley complied with a whimper. She wanted to throw up again. Why had she invited this? This...whatever Jenna was going to do to her? Had she lost her mind from the combination of humiliation and self-disgust? God, what was Jenna going to do? There were so many things she could do, and...oh, God, it was just the two of them in here, wasn't it? Mellie wasn't here, Claire wasn't here...no one was here to protect her, to take pity on her, to-

Something touched her, then. Something wet, and somewhat sticky. Something soft and yielding, that pressed softly into the side of her face and enveloped it.

Something familiar, something warm. Something that had preceded this whole awful affair.

A kiss.

Slowly opening her eyes, Ashley's vision was crowded by Jenna's unpainted lips as they lingered on her. What was...?

Jenna separated, then, leaving a small smattering of saliva on her face, and Ashley soon found herself being pulled away from Jenna's lips.

"Jenna, please stop messing-"

"No 'messing', Ashley," Jenna softly interrupted, cutting her mewling short. "We're done. That's it."

Ashley was being lowered, and within seconds was below Jenna's chin as Jenna pulled her closer and closer to her neck. The mighty fingers that gripped her began to unfurl as the hand she occupied tilted backward slightly to accept her weight, and soon her freed body was being pressed into the fair skin of Jenna's neck in the familiar feeling of the larger girl's preferred embrace.

"I don't understand," Ashley sniffled into the soft skin. And she didn't. She knew Jenna. Knew what she wanted to do, knew of her proclivities toward people who had...had done what Ashley had done. Knew that she received gratification from those tendencies. Why wasn't she...

"I was never going to go beyond our talk," Jenna answered, her voice rumbling from just beyond Ashley's location. "I was never going to hurt you, Ashley. I could never...would never do that. I'm terrified of the very idea of it. Of hurting you, of hurting anyone I love, of hurting someone who just...who just doesn't deserve it, Ashley. Because you know how I am, don't you? How hurting people makes me feel." Ashley nodded into the skin she was being pressed against. Of course she did. She had seen it all over her face.

A gulp sounded in Jenna's throat, the action sending a pulse through her neck.

"That disgusts me," Jenna confessed lowly, her embrace becoming somewhat tighter. "The thought that I could hurt you, or some innocent person, and actually enjoy it. That's...I don't want to be that type of person, Ashley."

"But I'm not innocent," Ashley commented sadly, even as she nuzzled into the fair skin she was being held against. She had still violated that Beta, had hurt him. And she could have done worse.

"Ashley," Jenna started, pulling her away from her neck and entrapping her gently between her fingers once more as Ashley was brought before her face, "the only thing you're truly guilty of is not thinking. And I don't think you're ever going to make that mistake again, are you?" The question had been asked gently, but Ashley still vigorously shook her head. "You're a good person, Ashley. You're kind of dumb sometimes, but I've known you long enough to know that there isn't a malicious bone in your body. I was actually glad when you threw up, because that one involuntary action told me...told all of us that you understand the gravity of that possibility, and told us how much that bothered you. You aren't some monster."

"I've seen real monsters," her friend continued, a slight sneer peaking through her sad visage. "Monsters who would have fucking smiled at that lesson in lines. Monsters who would have wished they had crossed the line between life and death. Every day, from around the world, I see them. Rapists, murderers, cannibals, among other things. People who break the bones of a Beta just because they can. And you don't deserve anywhere close to what they do."

Ashley grunted at that. The words were comforting, somewhat. It was...nice, to hear that distinction. That she wasn't like those people. That her friends didn't think of her as one of them. But there was still so much more to this, so many thoughts rattling around in her head. About what she had done and could have done. About what had been done to her.

"Ashley," Jenna stated, catching her attention once more. The older girl was sucking on her lower lip now. "I know you have a lot on your mind. A lot to think about. But we want one more talk with you, and I mean just a talk, as a group. Your mother is going to be home soon, and we need to talk before that."

Her mother...God, she had almost forgotten about her mother in all the anguish of the afternoon. A renewed sense of dread overcame her. She had likely seen the report as well, and...and Ashley didn't know how she would react. Would she have another titan humiliating her soon, even as this apparently drew to a close?

"So let's go back to the den," Jenna declared as she slowly turned to face the doorway, her eyes still focused on Ashley. Eyes that were suddenly becoming increasingly wet. "And no matter what happens, or what you decide going forward...please, above all else, remember that we love you, and that we always will."

"Please, believe us when we say that, if nothing else."

 It disturbed Ashley, just a bit, how much she was basking in her current position of being relentlessly cuddled into her sister's cheek. After Jenna had returned to the den with her, it was like a switch had been flipped within her friends as they had begun to shower her with renewed affection. Claire had been the first to take her, bringing her in close for an affectionate nuzzle with the tip of her nose rubbing gently into her torso while proclaiming her love for her, much as Jenna had done in the bathroom.

"And please, Ashley," Claire had begun as she nuzzled into her smaller friend, "please don't take all of this as some order to stay away from Betas, to avoid them. We want you to talk to them, to get to know them...to be friends with them, and maybe...maybe more, if someday things go down that road." Claire's nose had removed itself from its nuzzling position at that, and passed beyond her head as her plush lips came into view. As Melody and Jenna had done before her, Claire, too, had delivered a short, affectionate kiss to her.

"We just want you to be safe about it, Ashley," she had continued, her lips lifting from her even as the tip of her nose returned to Ashley's torso. "We want you to be careful with them, not just physically, but mentally. And if you...if you want to have fun with one again...and they reciprocate..."

Jenna had giggled sharply at that, drawing a look from Ashley. Jenna, still chuckling to herself, had pointed in the opposite direction, and Ashley's gaze had followed it directly to the face of her sister, which was reddening by the second. She had seemed to be blushing, but Ashley hadn't been quite sure why...

"Well, come talk to me, okay? And we'll talk about how it can be fun, and safe, for the both of you."

Oh. That had explained it.

Ashley had felt her own cheeks begin to burn at that, earning an amused smile and chuckle from her affectionate friend as she'd lifted her face away from her cupped hands. That chuckle had subsided though, and that smile had faded into a more somber expression.

"I hope that you'll do that, Ash. I hope that after today, you'll still want to be my friend, along with Jenna's. Because we want to be yours." Claire's other hand had approached then, and Ashley once again counted a protruding index finger as a probing companion as the soft tip began to gently stroke at the side of her head. "But we're not blind to what we did today. We know you have a lot to think about...a lot to consider, after how we treated you. But I hope you believe me when I say that we took no pleasure in it...that we don't want what we did to define our relationships going forward."

"But you still did it," Ashley had commented weakly, averting her gaze. She did believe what Claire had said...that they hadn't enjoyed what they had done. Ashley felt that she could trust them on that. But they had still done it...dominated, humiliated, and terrified her.

Just as she had done to Jack. And as betrayed as she felt in the wake of her ordeal, as hurt as she had been at her sister and friends asserting their power over her, and as helpless as it had made her feel...a part of her felt that it was no less than what she deserved, to see firsthand what she herself had done. She had done something awful to him, something that could have easily taken a turn for the worse...and she understood that, now. As painful as the lesson had been, she understood it.

"I know," Claire had responded sadly. "And what we did...that's something we're going to have to live with, too. With the consequences of. And we're willing to do that, Ashley, even if it means you hate us. Even if it means you never want to see us again after today. Because as painful as that idea is to us, it's a consequence we're willing to bear if it means we can prevent something like this from ever happening again."

"If it means," a voice had added from behind her, "that you never have to go through a real session." Jenna had leaned onto the nearby arm of the couch then, a look of tenderness on her face as Ashley had eyed the approach of her gigantic hand. Another finger had joined her, and Ashley had found her head sandwiched between two ridged pads, both softly stroking at her. "If it means you never have to go through that with someone who doesn't know what a sweet girl you really are, who could very well not believe or even care that any pain you caused was accidental. Who might not shy away from sharing that pain with you."

Ashley had whined at the thought of that. The thought of some giant she didn't even know carrying out those same humiliations without care or mercy...of treating her like a criminal. Of being kept like a little trouble making pet in a glass cage. That terror she had felt while in Jenna's clutches had bubbled back to the surface then, a shiver had run down her spine. She had barely noticed when the two fingers halted their ministrations and pulled away, but the four larger digits that proceeded to scoop her out of the fleshy bed she had lain upon had been hard to ignore.

It had been with a mix of fear and elation that she had been turned to take in Mellie's angelic face, her full lips curled in a gentle smile as the mighty hand she had found herself on brought her closer and closer to them. Another soft kiss had awaited her at her destination, and to Ashley it had felt like the end of a race through a gauntlet of punishment as her face practically sank into Mellie's lips. To think that the same action that had marked the beginning of this horrifying lesson could relax her so upon revisiting itself upon her...

"If it means," Mellie had stated after pulling her away, "that you never have to deal with the pain of hurting someone like that again...with the devastation that would have come with one errant press." And it was then that she had been pressed into her current position, buried in Mellie's yielding cheek by the hand at her back.

And God, Ashley loved it, regardless of the disturbing feeling that simple pleasure brought her. That feeling of being some household pet that was overly eager to absorb the affections of its owners after it had made a mess that needed to be cleaned up, that had had its nose rubbed into it as a means of curbing future misbehavior. And she was sure that later, when she was on her own again, she would likely throw up again while reflecting on that. While reflecting on easily the worst day of her life.

But right now, she needed this attention, this love. Regardless of the future, in this moment she was content in being treated like a loved one again. In being with her Mellie again.

"You're such a special person to me, Ashley,' Mellie stated, her adoring voice cracking, "and I love you so, so much. You're my little sister, and you always will be, no matter what you do going forward. You'll never be anything less to me...not ever." A sudden warm wetness washed through Ashley's still damp hair then, and she reflexively looked upward to find the cause. A soft bleat escaped her lips as she saw the watery trail that led up the slope of Mellie's cheek and toward the eye that rested above. Ashley couldn't help but nuzzle into that soft skin once again. "Ashley, if there's anything you take from this...about our relationship, about how it works...please let it be that I'll do anything for you. Anything."

And for the life of her, Ashley didn't believe she had ever heard something so simultaneously comforting and horrifying. Because she believed what Mellie had said, with all her heart. The proof of it was still imprinted on her, after all, mashed in by the weight of her sister's foot, of her toes.

They continued with that, for a moment, the cuddling. Ashley continued to receive her sister's affections, and returned them. But something else was weighing on her, and had been since Jenna's comment about her mother. Something she needed to know.

"Mellie?" she quietly called against the loving cheek.

"Hm?"

"Does everyone," Ashley started, pausing for a moment to take a breath, "does everyone at the Institute...know what I did?"

A deep swallow was Mellie's immediate response, the halting of their cuddling session was the next. Slowly, she was pulled away from the cheek, and brought once more before her sister's face, those amber eyes cast lovingly upon her.

"They do," she replied sadly, and Ashley groaned.

"They're going to hate me, aren't they?" Ashley asked with a sniffle. She could see it, in her head. The likes of Alexis and Kyle looking down at her in utter disappointment and contempt for her abuse.

"They're not going to hate you, Ashley," Mellie stated softly. "You made an honest mistake. You've learned from it. There's no reason for-"

"What will they do the next time they see me?" Ashley interrupted, suddenly at near panic. "You guys are...are the three I'm closest to, and even...even then..."

"They aren't going to do a single thing," Melody declared, her voice powerful and authoritative. That declaration was overflowing with a certainly that seemed to wash over Ashley, settling in and calming her nerves. The hand she occupied pulled away from her sister's face, and it was with slight awe that she watched Mellie's other arm lift toward its owner's eyes as Mellie wiped them dry with the sleeve of her shirt. Ashley's gaze couldn't help but fix upon her sister's thick, toned bicep as it pressed tautly against the constricting sleeve. God, Ashley wished she had inherited their father's build and athleticism at times.

"I mean that," Melody continued as she removed the arm from her eyes. Those amber eyes, now dry, were focused fiercely upon her. "If they say anything to you...do anything that makes you even slightly uncomfortable, Ashley, you tell one of us. You tell Mom. And I promise you, they won't do it again. You've been through more than enough, and there's no point to any more."

Ashley couldn't help but smile, just a little, at the passion of those words, at the protectiveness.

"Are you...are you going to tell them...what you did to me?" Ashley asked, still concerned.

"No," Melody replied with a shake of her head, and Ashley found some relief in that. "There's no reason for them to know, and the three of us won't be saying a word about it. You've gone through more than enough...enough humiliation, and you understand what you did. The only thing left for you to do, Ashley, is to make things right for that boy. And I don't think I even need to say that, do I?"

Ashley's shaking of her head was immediate. Not out of any sort of fear of reprisal, there had been no intimidation in that question. No, she knew she had to do that. She wanted to. And if today's awful experience had given her one thing, then maybe it would be a means to express to Jack just how sorry she was.

But still, there was one more immediate concern on her mind.

"What about Mom?" she asked with a hint of fear. She truthfully had no idea what to expect from her mother. Grace King was an immensely stern woman, both at work and at home in her duties as Head Instructor at the Institute and as a mother. She did not hesitate to discipline when needed, and while those punishments typically gravitated towards groundings, revocations of privileges, or extra worksheets she would make out of Ashley's textbooks...well, Ashley had never done anything like this before. Never violated and hurt someone like she had. Would her mother come to the same conclusion her sister had, that she needed to see firsthand what she had done?

"Don't worry about Mom," Mellie stated with a reassuring smile. "Just...just let us talk to her, okay? Claire told you earlier, that we have consequences to face. And there are consequences for what we did, Ashley, even beyond our relationship with you. So we're going to tell Mom what we did...and I know Mom. I know that any anger she has towards you is going to go straight towards us when I tell her what we put you through."

Ashley was at Melody's cheek once again, at a speed that made Ashley almost dizzy. Once more, she was embraced against that soft wall, and she wasn't alone there for long. She felt a sudden increase in pressure from Mellie's hand at her back, followed by another, pressing her ever so firmly into the cheek. Managing to look behind her, Ashley smiled at what greeted her. Two more hands had joined Mellie's, stacking atop one another. One fair-skinned, the other a matching tan.

Nuzzling once more into her sister's cheek, Ashley closed her eyes even as the sound of a turning doorknob reached her ears. For right know, she'd allow herself to relax, just a little. To let things settle. She had a lot to consider later on, about what she had done. About what she could do going forward.

She had a lot to consider about what had been done to her, about what had been said. She wanted to keep being Mellie's sister, to keep being friends with Claire and Jenna. But those relationships were cast in such a different light now, one that was immensely unkind to her. She realized, now, just how dependent she was on what they wanted when it came to those relationships. How dependent she was on the recognition they were willing to offer her. That they could change the fundamentals of their relationships in a heartbeat, if the mood struck them, and there was nothing she could do to resist that. Because they were the ones with the power to do just that; moreover, they had even done so.

Yes, she had a lot to think about. A lot to make right. And she would. But for now, she would take the love was offered to her, while there was still some to receive.