“No, no. It’s Willems. Will-Ems. Not Williams. Tyler Willems. I was told he was supposed to be finishing his… his sentence today?”

The dark haired receptionist tapped at her keyboard once more as the young woman’s voice trailed off, fingers blazing across the silent keys as she searched before looking back up to find the face staring back even more anxiously than when she’d first approached the desk.

“Yup, I’ve got that here. My apologies, Miss. It’s been quite hectic today, as I’m sure you can appreciate.” The receptionist spoke bluntly and to the point, but not in a cold or dismissive manner, which did go some ways towards easing the young woman’s stress, although she didn’t show it.

She tapped a couple more times, then spinning around and reaching around to her rear. Several documents came with her as she swung back, already thumbing through them, eyes darting from one page to the next. “And of what relation are you to Mr. Willems?”

Shuffling on the spot, she tugged at her skirt a little as she responded. “I’m— I’m his… girlfriend…”

Although she didn’t speak particularly loudly, the receptionist clearly got the message and returned to her station, tapping away once more. She didn’t speak again for a few minutes as she continued her work, leaving the civilian alone with her thoughts as the large atrium bore down around her.

The last week had been absolute hell for Jemima. Ever since her boyfriend had been caught and charged, she’d dreaded the inevitability of him receiving a shrinking sentence, no matter the length. That feeling only intensified as things moved on, her fears confirmed upon the release of his judgement and transferral to an available and appropriate Shrink Correctional Officer. Ever since then, the naturally reserved young lady had withdrawn even further, hardly speaking to anyone and barely having caught a wink of sleep all week. As a result, Jemima had spent most of her days getting chastised at her workplace for ‘daydreaming’ and acting unprofessionally, or finding herself bumping into passersby as her mind wandered, all as the fears of what Tyler might’ve been going through swirled around her fragile mind.

In some ways, she thought she’d almost feel better knowing what he might be experiencing. At least then she could stop tormenting herself with the worse possible outcomes her brain would more than happily pitch to her. Often at the most inappropriate times. Then again, there was no guarantee that wouldn’t just make things even worse. So perhaps the circumstances of the last week were for the best

“Okay, that’s all fine. Your boyfriend’s sentence is scheduled to be up in the next few hours, so when he’s returned I’ll be sure to contact you. If you’d like, you’re welcome to wait around here until then. However, if it’s easier, you can leave a number with me,” the woman gestured to various benches dotted around the room and then tapped upon a pad resting atop the raised plinth separating them.

She wanted out of this place as soon as possible. That much was clear, even to the receptionist. But Jemima was simultaneously unable to deny her desperation to have Tyler back the instant he was free. “I’ll… wait around,” she replied, quickly adding a yelp of thanks so as to not seem rude, but the stern looking woman had already returned to her multitudes of work, not returning her gaze as she was addressed.

Turning back around from the central desk, Jemima weighed up her options. Given the time of day, the large room was still very much bustling with Officers and civilians alike, and so she struggled to spot anywhere that was neither occupied nor accompanied. Almost all the benches were totally unavailable to someone of her disposition, save one on the far side of the room, and already many others seemed to drift past it. As if threatening to rob her of any solace she might seek.

Thumbing her skirt once more, she cast her beady eyes around again until it was plainly obvious that the distant bench was the only place open to her. So she made for it. Shuffling across the room and keeping her head firmly down as she ignored everyone washing past her.

As Jemima finally came to rest upon the wooden sanctuary, her heart drummed rapidly, demanding several deep breaths from the young woman until her stress softened.

She hadn’t noticed whilst nearby, but already the desk at which she’d spoken to the receptionist seemed to be suffering an absolute onslaught of requests. No more than twenty people crowed and queued around it, all quite eager to have their situations dealt with. No wonder the lady hadn’t minced words once she’d finished their conversation, Jemima thought to herself.

She couldn’t blame her. That many people giving that much attention would’ve caused her dark-haired head to burst.

Outside of the central focal point of the desk everyone appeared to coalesce around, the rest of the atrium wasn’t any less busy. The entire room was filled to the brim with a regular hum of conversation, along with the clacks and bumps of all manner of footwear. And of course, given the large population of Shrink Correctional Officers someone could reasonably expect to find in their headquarters, the vast majority of which looked to be those unforgettable boots.

Since Tyler had been arrested, Jemima had been incapable of drawing her eyes away from any pair she’d encountered. Whether it was the SCO she’d passed on the town centre, the group of SCOs she’d seen relaxing in the park, or even the one she’d given her seat up for on the bus. It was awful. Powerless to stop her own instincts, and having no idea whether focus of her emotions on what might’ve been trapped within any one of those notoriously well-worn prisons.

Before she could mope and spiral even more, the twitchy brunette spotted a figure approaching her. Walking at a brisk pace and clearly directed straight towards her seated position. Jemima panicked a little. The uniform was obvious and the sound of her approach, undeniable. She was an Officer. An SCO.

Was she sat somewhere she shouldn’t be? Had she caused some hassle with her questions to the receptionist. Oh god, maybe she’d accidentally been causing trouble! Was she about to be arrested?! Would she be shrunken down and handed a sentence of her own?! Oh, no. Surely, she’d not done anything. It couldn’t be-

“Hey, is that seat taken?”

“I… is what?” Jemima was caught totally off guard, managing only a reflexive question of her own as her sinking stomach pacified for a moment.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to intrude, but… are you saving that space for someone?”

The young woman speaking looked around the same age as Jemima, perhaps a little older but not by much. And her voice was… surprisingly soft, kindly even, considering the intimidating reputation Jemima had been lead to fear from all SCOs. Old or young. Tall or short.

“Oh. N-No, I’m not.”

The girl smiled warmly, nodding, disarming the worrisome expression she was faced with. “Perfect. You don’t mind if I take a seat then? I hate standing around in this place, always puts me on edge, you know? Makes me feel like I’m in trouble, or something?”

Already, even though the stress had not entirely dissipated, Jemima could feel herself smiling. Unexpected though she was, this girl didn’t seem anything approaching a threat. At least not from how she looked or acted, Shrink Correctional uniform aside.

“Y-Yeah, I get that. I know what you m-mean. And n-no, h-help yourself…”

Without further pleasantries, she dropped down onto the space beside Jemima, causing the surface of the bench to bounce a little on impact. Her legs kicking up off the floor as she landed neatly.

“Phew, feels good to be off my feet at last. Can you believe how hot it’s been over the last couple days? Like, I knew it was supposed to get a little warm, but this bordering on disinformation. Maybe we should suggest some kind of SCA sentencing for weathermen behind that one, huh?”

Jemima chuckled politely, hearing what could’ve easily been her own internal monologue parroted back to her, excluding the mildly unsettling mention of the Association and sentencing. Although, even the briefest of mentions of the girl’s feet had caused her nervous stare to subtly drift downwards. Reaching the tightly sealed rims of her boots before Jemima was able to tear them away and steady herself.

The figure beside her squinted ever so slightly as this, cocking her head, seemingly unsure what to make of her strange bench-fellow’s reaction and shifting gaze. But she didn’t decide to press the matter, instead getting comfortable, crossing one leg over the other then shifting upright to leant back into the furniture and let out a deep sigh. As her foot lifted up off the ground, she could feel her sore sole partially unsticking from the insole of her boot, taking her tiny, unwillingly smushed passenger along for the ride.

During a short burst of silence, Jemima took the chance to properly examine the person beside her. Naturally she tried to disguise her wandering sight as well as possible, but that wasn’t saying much given her poor form when it came to subtlety.

The young woman certainly was pretty, that much was obvious. Though not conventionally so, which almost made her appearance all the more engrossing. Her features were sharp and piercing, from her pronounced cheekbones to her slim jaw. And accented by her huge, captivating, emerald eyes. The few times Jemima had already met them, it’d been tough not to entirely lose herself within the gaze meeting her own.

Framing her face, the fiery locks rippling over her ears served to emphasise her remarkable icy skin, even more so than it already stood out without the clashing temperatures. Her hair looked incredible well kept, much like the rest of her, and suited the young woman so well, Jemima wouldn’t been surprised were it dyed that way. However, given her perfectly matching eyebrows, she doubted the likelihood of that.

The rest of her bench partner was hard to parse at this angle. She looked a bit taller than Jemima. Svelte and considered, with a distinct confidence in how she held herself. Not quite the overt bravado or smugness with which some SCOs appeared to act, instead much closer to her clearly just seeming in control. Something the observing girl couldn’t really relate to. Especially not at this moment in time.

Eventually the unnamed girl turned bodily towards Jemima and lifted up a pale hand, brandishing it along with another warming smile.

“Ruby,” she said, moving the hand a little closer, making her intentions even more blatant.

“Oh, it’s nice to meet you,” Jemima said, cautiously grasping her cool palm and giving a rather weak shake. Her own clammy grasp made her cringe, hoping it would evade Ruby’s notice. But the young woman didn’t seem to react.

Ruby chuckled a little as they separated, still smiling and now shaking her head in jest. “Nice to meet you too, suspiciously nameless girl.”

The brunette blushed and withered, instantly reeling from her own mistake.

“J-Jemima!” She blurted out a bit too forcefully, drawing the eye of several passersby. “My name’s… Jemima.”

“Well it’s nice to meet you, Jemima. I’m sure you can guess, but I don’t get the chance to meet many new people in my line of work - well, besides the ones that, you know, don’t get a choice in having to meet me, if you get my meaning - so it’s good to make your acquaintance.”

Once again, the inference Ruby alluded to made the drifting path of Jemima’s eyes particularly obvious, this time carving their way down to the printed SCA crest upon the side of the boot nearest her. Ruby noticed this again, but didn’t press the subject.

“Oh y-yeah, that makes sense,” she muttered, trying to engage and brush over her own drifting attention.

Ruby’s lips pursed loosely, eyebrows raising in turn.

“You’re not really the… talkative type, are you?”

“I, well…” Jemima sighed. “No, I guess not. What gave it away?”

The brunette let out a wry chuckle at this, brushing her hair to the side and looking around nervily. Ruby remained quite still, smiling contently as she leaned to observe Jemima more closely.

“Don’t worry about that, Jemima. I’m really not bothered. In fact, most of the girls I work with hardly ever stop for breath, so this is actually a bit refreshing. If you don’t mind me saying.”

“No, not at all.” It was Jemima’s turn to smile now. Perhaps not as calmly as the red-haired girl opposite her, but still.

“Well, if you’d rather. I can talk and you can listen?” She said, before hastily adding, “only if you’d like me to talk, that is. If you’d prefer, I can shut up and leave you be. Goodness knows I’d hate to be more of a pain than I’m probably already being.”

Jemima didn’t speak for a moment, having allowed her eyes to slide off Ruby temporarily, as she was wanton to do in any social situations lasting more than a few words. Part of her would just rather sit and wait for Tyler. But being alone with her own thoughts in this place, the belly of the beast, would surely do her more harm than good. In fact, since speaking to the kindly SCO, she was surprised to realise she’d hardly even thought about her boyfriend. Probably for the first time in almost the whole week, save for sleeping. Excluding the nightmares. Of course, she began to internally chastise herself for such behaviour, but it did feel refreshing. Even if only for a moment.

“It’s, erm… it’s nice to talk to you, Ruby.”

And the seated Shrink Correctional Officer was blushing. Only a little bit, but on her tremendously pale skin, it was hard to hide and seemed to show up all the brighter.

“It’s nice to talk to you too. But please, I’m not joking, do tell me to shut up if I start rambling. I swear, I honestly can’t help it. Runs in the family.”

Jemima giggled, again brushing her concealing hair aside.

As the two had conversed, Ruby’s own attention couldn’t help but drift around, with her becoming more and more aware of the body steadily peeling off her elevated foot. It didn’t seem to be from any effort on her captive shrinkee’s part, given she’d felt him remain obediently still since stomping him flat on her way to the building. However, now, gravity seemed to be doing the hard work for him.

Moments later, she felt the expected low clunk vibrate around her insulated boot as he came free and smacked back onto the soggy insole. Exhaling a little too forcefully through her nose, Ruby tried not to draw attention to it, hoping Jemima hadn’t heard the noise and instead pushing herself up to swap legs. Allowing her unoccupied foot to hang freely over her knee, whilst the other pressed down into stone floor with an inaudible squelch. Sealing him back in place.

She extended her toes for a moment, wiggling them as his flesh sank back into hers, just to ensure his placement was comfortable, then returned to ignoring his plight.

“Actually, I-I wondered if maybe, I guess, I could ask you something? If that’s alright?”

Having returned to the conversation at hand, Ruby suppressed a frown, finding the young woman’s constant timidness truly surprising even now. In her experience, that level of reservedness seemed saved for newly assigned shrinkees, not polite, amiable girls such as her.

“No, not at all. Please, ask away,” she said, opening up her arms with a chuckle. “I’m really an open book. Maybe a little too open at times.”

Nodding, Jemima allowed herself a deep intake of breath before continuing. Steadying herself and hoping she didn’t come across as rude for what she had to ask.

“Okay, well then… why do you d-do it?”

“Do what?”

She took another shaky breath before continuing. “Do this? Yanno, the whole… the whole…” Then in a hushed voice, Jemima leaned in. “…shrinking thing?”

The question might’ve seemed quite innocuous to the redhead, but to her, it felt like an enormous anvil lifting off her as the words slipped out. Rising up from her chest, still threatening to drop back down at a moment’s notice, yet rising all the same.

Sure, ever since Tyler had been incarcerated, she’d been unable to stop thinking about what life might be like for him. But to herself, the young woman just couldn’t understand why someone would do something like that to another person. Like all the horrible things she’d heard and even worse that she’d imagined. How could someone would do that to another living, breathing human being…

The relief she felt was quite something, and yet Ruby appeared to be even more thrilled by the question than Jemima was to have asked it.

“So that’s why you were… huh, makes sense, I guess,” Ruby smirked, appearing to speak to herself now.

“Why what?”

“Why you keep looking at me like I’m behind a shop window,” she chuckled, turning fully to the woman opposite her now, resting her left leg flat upon the bench. “As if I’m some kind of weird artefact you’ve never seen before. Or like, some unusual food at a restaurant or something. I mean, you’ve hardly been able to stop looking at my boots ever since I sat down.” Emphaising that fact, Ruby raised her presently horizontal boot a little off the bench and patted it firmly with her free hand.

Jemima squirmed a little at the last point, and even more so at her actions.

“Oh it’s alright, I’m not bothered,” Ruby said calmly, reigniting her warmth as she leant forwards and placed a hand upon Jemima’s. “Trust me. I get plenty of looks from people when I’m out and about, and I much prefer the ones you’re giving me right now. Seriously. That look of uncertain confusion definitely beats fear and hatred. Unless you’re one of the officers that thrives off that, but… I never quite got that side of things myself.”

The brunette was frowning now, rubbing her temples and looking down. Towards the ground. Towards Ruby’s right foot.

“Why do you do it then? If it’s not about making people scared or making them hate you? Like, how c-could you do that to someone? It… it seems so cruel.”

“Because it’s my job, Jemima. I wish I had a more exciting or provocative answer, but it really isn’t much more complicated than that.” Ruby still maintained a compassionate smile as she spoke, half considering raising her hand up to the girl’s shoulder, however thought better of it before actually doing so. “Sure, some girls really just want to mess people up. Like, really fuck with them, if you’ll excuse the language. To be pointed at someone who deserves punishment and then make their life a living hell. And they really do thrive off it, it’s not an act. It gives them purpose. At least, from my experience. But me, well, I never thought this’d be my career, as much as my sister and mother used to go on and on about it. However, now, I suppose I’m really just… good at what I do.”

Jemima didn’t seem the slightest bit sold. Her lips pursing so tightly they almost vanished entirely.

“Look, I know this job seems to attract a lot of girls that are… well, just mean, I guess. But for some of us, we’re just good at the job. And, speaking for me at least, think it really does make the world a better place. Or at least, our tiny part of that world. Emphasis on ‘tiny’, I suppose,” she chuckled, hoping to lift the mood a little.

Though it didn’t seem to be working.

Now it was Ruby’s turn to frown, as the redhead leant backwards, removing her hand and eying the brunette cautiously. Incidentally pressing her occupied foot down into the ground as she shifted. Pasting out her trapped shrinkee, whose arms seemed to be pinned wide by the ball of her foot. Poor thing’s face had to be right up by her toes now.

She didn’t want to assume, but from her experience, there seemed to be something she was missing. Something the girl beside her was neglecting to mention, even if it felt rude to probe. However, it was in her nature as an SCO to be certain the young woman wasn’t a potential danger to herself or anyone else. And so, probe she did.

“I don’t mean to intrude,” Ruby began, tentatively, eying her cautiously. “But are you alright, Jemima? Ever since we brought up my job and stuff, you seem a little… I don’t know, a bit distant? I can stop talking about it if you’d like. I did only want to answer your questions.”

Jemima looked up now, a little watery eyed, her body trembling. The SCO’s already large eyes widened further now, taken aback by the response she was witnessing. Clearly the girl was distressed or bothered by something, but it was still difficult to pin down exactly. Perhaps it was a past sentence? Possibly a previous encounter with an SCO? Was she under duress? Or maybe even…

“No! That’s not it!” Jemima blurted out, definitely too loudly, drawing some strange glances from some of the passing Officers within the atrium.

She glanced about frantically, clawing at herself to speak plainly, even if it felt like scratching off her skin and baring herself to the look of genuine concern she’d never expected to see on the face of a Shrink Correctional Officer. Only then, following a deep, rattling breath, did she admit what she’d wanted to cry out ever since that week had begun. The thing eating her from the inside out. “I want him back. I miss him so fucking much. And, and… I want to know what he’s going through. Right now, it’s the only thing I can do for him, even if it’s horrible, and cruel, and just.. urgh!”

Ruby recoiled a little further, trying to hide her own surprise so as not to unsettle the despairing girl. “Woah, woah, roll it back. Who’s this? What’s happened? I can call someone, just wait a—”

Struggling to keep a hold of herself, Jemima was visibly shaking and rapidly wiping tears from her eyes. Soaking her sleeve in the process. And yet still managed to throw her hand around Ruby’s wrist as the SCO motioned to stand up.

Drawn back onto the bench, Ruby moved to throw an arm around the girl whilst caught in half a mind to find someone else to gather some aid, but in her current state, she thought better of it. Clearly the brunette needed some help, however more physical contact wasn’t necessarily the answer. Especially not if it risked endangering herself in the process.

“It’s.. it’s Tyler…”

“What’s Tyler?” Ruby prompted quickly.

“H-He’s my b-boyfriend…”

“Okay. Is he in trouble? Do you want me to get help? Because I can. Let me go and I’ll grab someone.”

Jemima frantically flailed her arms, seemingly frustrated either at the redhead’s questions or her own inability to answer them.

“No! N-Nothing like that… it’s just t-that…”

She trailed off, but finally Ruby seemed to realise where things were going. Her lips tightened back to their pencil-thin state and her eyes slipped down to her own boots.

And it finally clicked.

The panicked state. The constantly, fearful glanced at her SCO uniform and patented footwear. The questions and concerns about her career and morals, all as she pined for her partner. It didn’t take a genius to put two and two together, bright though Ruby was. Although saying it aloud was something in and of itself, and couldn’t be avoided now.

“He’s got a shrinking sentence, hasn’t he? Your boyfriend. Tyler.”

Jemima looked at her, eyes sparkling, and nodded. Resigned from speaking again, she hastily turned away and began to whimper into her near-sodden sleeve.

Ruby exhaled and sat back, stretching her legs out from the bench and feeling her own assigned shrinkee unstick from the well-worn insole of her boot and remain compressed into her heated foot. Things were feeling particularly sweaty in there now, especially compared to when she’d gotten dressed hours earlier, yet he still remained quite still. She wasn’t sure if it was obedience, fearfulness, or just plain unconsciousness, but either way, he was far from her priority right now.

“That… actually makes a lot more sense. Right, well, I wished you’d told me sooner. I’m not that intimidating surely. At least, I’d hope not. Not at your size anyway.”

Jemima made a strange noise at that, part way between a sneeze and a hiccup.

“Eh, maybe I am. Look, I get it. SCO and all that. If it’s easier, I’ll leave you be, Jemima. If I’m doing more harm than good, I’m sure I can find somewhere else to sit until they’re ready for me. I really don’t want to cause you anymore pain than you’re clearly already in. And talking to someone in my position is probably the last thing you need right about now.”

Emphasising her point, Ruby pushed herself upright and gripped the arm of the bench in preparation to rise back onto her feet. She glanced across before acting, just in case Jemima planned on making a response. 

The sniffling girl didn’t say anything for a few moments, still working her way down her stained arm. Until, with a hard snort, she just about gathered herself.

“I… I d-don’t get it. W-Why are you b-being so nice to me…?”

Ruby nearly snorted, working hard to suppress the laugh she nearly let out. “W-What do you mean, ‘why am I being so nice to you’? How do you expect me to treat you?!”

But Jemima didn’t say anything. She gave the SCO a pitiable, withering look. Up and down her uniformed body, then returned to her sulking with a hearty sniff.

“Jemima. Please. I might be a Shrink Correctional Officer, but that doesn’t define me or who I am. Do you think all bartenders are the same just because they serve drinks? Or all cashiers? Or postal workers? I’m not lying to you. What would be the point? Nor am I going to pretend like some people I work with haven’t got a few screws loose. But that’s not me. I’m not here for some sadistic thrill chasing, or to live out some weird, fucked up fantasies about trampling tiny people just for the kicks. If I wanted to keep people locked up in my rank boots and torment the hell out of them, I could do it, but what would be the point in pretending otherwise? Pretending that I didn’t do it for that alone? Huh?” She became quite dramatically animated as she spoke. Mounting her defence passionately even if the girl beside her refused to meet her gaze.

Whether Jemima was still even listening, Ruby didn’t want to let this point stand.

She could live with the girl disliking what she did or hating what the SCA stood for, but to think she was all the same as those girls that needlessly requested endless extensions just to torment their shrinkees more and more, or did everything in their power to cause suffering above and beyond the need for rehabilitation…

It was almost impossible for her to put into words. Particularly ones that might make sense to someone like Jemima. But for Ruby, she felt like she lived two completely distinct lives. One in which she was Ruby, affable redhead and her father’s daughter, through and through. And another in which she was Officer Connors, efficient and effective administrator of shrinkee rehabilitation on behalf of the Shrink Correctional Association, like her sister, and her mother before them.

Though both people might inhabit the same body, she was capable of being one or the other, and neither was defined by the other’s actions. At least not to her. Sure, if she met a former shrinkee of hers on the street, it wouldn’t surprise her to see them withdraw from her, to refuse to acknowledge her, or even to run away. But she bore them no ill will. It was her job. And she did what was needed.

“Come on, Jemima. Surely you understand what I’m saying, right?”

“I… well…” She paused, steadily grasping back a hint of the composure she’d lost. Then turned to meet Ruby’s emerald gaze fully. “I think so… it’s just… i-it’s hard.”

“I get it. I do,” Ruby replied, positioning herself back on the bench as she spoke.

Neither of them said a word for a few moments now, instead sitting in the temporary silence. Jemima mulling over Ruby’s proclamation, and the latter simply hoping she’d made a little more sense to the timid girl at her side. She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath, only for them to open sharply as the brunette spoke once again.

“I-I just wish I knew how he was… if he’s okay, a-and what he’s going through. Maybe that wouldn’t make me feel so… so…”

“Helpless?” Ruby offered up.

Jemima nodded weakly, allowing her head to sink once more. Though the redhead wasn’t satisfied in allowing the girl to slump back into her misery just yet.

“I mean, hell. If that’s what you want, just take a swing at any passing officer and you’ll be under a pair of extremely stinky SCO feet by the end of the day; I can promise you that. That’d give you a pretty good idea.” 

Jemima’s shocked, bordering on terrified, expression spoke for itself, prompting a quick retraction from the chuckling SCO, whose face dropped a little.

“I’m joking, I’m joking. Phew, sorry about that,” she said, hoping to have lifted the mood. “But seriously, do you actually want to hear about what an SCO does with their shrinkee? Like, for real?”

The conflict was as clear upon Jemima’s face as the emblem was upon Ruby’s boots. But, sure enough, given a few momently more, she nodded. Not looking wholly pleased with herself as she did so, but a little more sure of herself nonetheless.

“Yes. M-Maybe that’ll help… help me understand…”

“Man, you’re a strange girl,” Ruby laughed, wiping her brow as she sat back, finally relieving the pressure upon her booted shrinkee. “Then again, they do say fear of the unknown can be worse than actually knowing I guess. The mind is great at convincing you of the worst thing imaginable when you don’t know all the facts. That’s actually one of the things we get trained on in the academy, when it comes to threatening our shrinkees with worse outcomes.”

Ruby wasn’t certain this was a good idea. The girl had already shown, pretty clearly, the fragile mental state she was already in, and assuming she was here for her boyfriend, surely he’d be able to tell her anything she wanted to know once he was returned to her anyway. But, then again, if she could do something to help…

“You’re sure?” She asked, raising a flaming eyebrow.

“No. But… what’s the worst that could happen?”

“Guess we’ll find out, won’t we? So go on then,” Ruby opened herself wide once again, smiling widely. “Ask away. I’m all yours…”

Far from instantly jumping into the deluge of questions that’d been flooding her mind for the past week, Jemima paused for a few moments more. Now refusing to look anywhere besides Ruby’s boots. Although she didn’t realise she was doing it, the young woman was even straining her ears, as if she might hear some distant sounds of misery seeping from those leather tombs.

Ruby gave her a few moments, but it wasn’t long before she piped in again. “Seriously. Ask away, Jemima. Get it off your chest, if you think it’ll make you feel any better.”

A deep breath from quieter of the two preceded her next words.

“Well… erm… I guess…” She knew what she wanted to ask, but couldn’t quite… “H-Have you got one right now?”

“A shrinkee?” Ruby clarified, repositioning her arms at her sides, to which Jemima nodded sharply. “Yeah, I do. As a matter of fact, the only reason I’m actually in today was in order to apply for an extension to their sentence. I wouldn’t normally do it, but I just can’t consider them rehabilitated yet.”

Trying hard to avoid reacting all that much to the casual nature with which Ruby spoke about condemning a person to spending even more time in her possession, Jemima was surprised to learn that an extension was even possible. But still, it made sense. Sort of. A bit.

“Wait, you can d-do that?”

“Extend their sentences?”

“Yeah,” she said, eyes sliding back and forth between her face and her boots, now knowing what was sealed within them.

“Of course you can. I mentioned earlier, didn’t I? Some girls will just keep extending sentences to heap more and more misery on their shrinkee when they find one that really pushes their buttons, but they can start having them rejected once the SCA catches onto what they’re up to.”

Jemima nodded along, but didn’t interrupt. Her mind starting to race.

“I actually knew someone from the academy that got suspended for it. Camilla Yale. We’d actually been kind of close during training, but she went absolutely nuts once she got a hint of power as an actual Officer. Whilst I was trying to follow the rules, make an impression, get my footing, pun unintended, she was just speeding through shrinkees until she got one that she really enjoyed messing with and then basically just enslaved him to her from that point on.” Ruby had begun to absentmindedly tap her right foot now. Specifically the foot occupying her tiny passenger inside her humid boot. “Poor guy was originally supposed to have a two week sentence, I think, and ended up stuck with her for almost six months. By the time they caught onto what was happening, he’d spent almost a week trapped inside her smell-shield sock whilst chained to a toe-ring… by his neck.”

Even Ruby grimaced at this recollection, even if Jemima was too entranced to react all that much. But the redhead didn’t think much of it, given she’d actually see the pictures of the aftermath, so maybe it was still a little more raw for her.

“And I’m sure I don’t need to explain to you that being confined to an SCO’s sock is not the same as being stuck in any normal person’s sock. Plus those things are made out of latex and stuff, so they’re basically air-tight… and really hold in the smell…”

Trailing off, it was Ruby’s turn to pause, dwelling on her own words as her companion remained silent. It’d been quite some time since she’d last thought about Camilla, but the memories she had of her returning in such an abrupt fashion wasn’t exactly on her agenda for the day. Then again, neither was the lengthy therapy session she’d already provided to Jemima.

“S-So, you’re getting an extension?” The girl beside her said, getting things moving again.

“Yes, I am. And it’s not something I’ve actually had to do all that often,” she admitted, now tapping her other foot and giving the smothered boy a momentary reprieve. “I’d only decided earlier today anyways. Normally we can give the Association notice digitally if we’re requesting an extension, but I’d left it a little late for that, so had to inform them in-person.”

“Why did you need to?”

Ruby frowned, tilting her head. “Need to what?”

“You know… extended the… t-the thing?”

“Well, I just feel like he needs it, you know? He was actually quite good up until a day or so ago. Surprisingly obedient for someone on their first shrinking sentence and never having smelt enhanced SCO feet before, so I’d assumed things were working. But today he’s been so deliberately frustrating and disobedient that I could tell he’d just been suppressing any resistance in the hope I wouldn’t notice. And after everything I’ve done to him this week, turns out using him to floss out my toes was a bridge too far… apparently. Go figure.”

Ruby then chuckled dryly, perhaps in slightly poor taste, but did so all the same. Whether Jemima felt like saying it openly or not, she could tell the conversation was already tipping the redhead a little more towards the type of person Jemima had expected when she first sat down. More Officer Connors, and less Ruby.

“He doesn’t actually know he’s getting an extension yet. But I guess that’ll be obvious once I take off my boots later and he realises he’s still mine.”

Still not wholly sure asking the SCO for actual details on her treatment of people was a good idea, it felt a little too late to back out now. And so Jemima persisted. Asking any and everything she could remember having crashed into her brain over the last week. No matter how much she dreaded the answers.

“W-What’s it like for him? In… in there?”

Ruby turned to face her, breaking out of her descriptive trance.

“You mean, what’s it like for a shrinkee to be worn inside our boots? An SCO’s boots?”

Jemima nodded. And Ruby laughed again, with a little less mirth now.

“Erm, well I can’t say for certain what it’s like for your boyfriend in particular. As with anything, everyone’s bodies are different, as I’m sure you can imagine. And that extends to Officers of the SCA too. Different sizes, different shapes, different… smells. However, I guess I can tell you about mine, if that’d help in some way?”

“If you d-don’t mind?”

“Of course I don’t mind, Jemima. But I’m more worried about setting you off again. Cause, like, it’s not going to be nice for anyone under my feet. I’m sure that’s pretty obvious, right? So giving you anymore than that might be bit much, given… you know. What’s going on with your boyfriend…”

She wasn’t wrong. Even the brunette herself wasn’t entirely sure she wanted to hear what Ruby had to say. But she’d come this far. And even if she was going to see Tyler again today, there was no guaranteed he’d even want to talk about what he went through, so this was probably her best chance to hear this kind of information. And before she realised it, her eyes were back on Ruby’s boots yet again.

“Please. I… I want to know.”

The uniformed girl smiled, placing a hand back upon Jemima’s own before withdrawing it and placing both of her own atop her lap as she repositioned herself. She leant back and bent one leg so it was resting upon the bench between them, which allowed her to raise up the other and plant her boot firmly into the space separating the two of them. Specifically the one that currently contained both her foot and the shrinkee that was smelling it.

Jemima jumped back a little in surprise, half expecting Ruby to begin loosening its straps as if to remove it.

“Relax. I’m not taking it off, or anything,” she chuckled. “Just figured it’d be easier to explain certain things this way. Right, so, where should I start? I guess I won’t bore you with any of the nitty-gritty about the boots themselves, cause I think that information’s publicly accessible, if you want to know. Safe to say, they’re custom built to be air-tight, and to maximise how smelly a girl’s foot can become along with the suffering of anyone unlucky enough to find themselves stuck inside it.”

Then using her right index to point at various parts of the boot, Ruby started to rattle off certain features, like the mechanism beneath the insole that could both heat up the boot or massage the sole of her foot, along with the optional remote-activated straps that sealed the boot itself and the tank built into the sole that excess sweat would drain into. At which point Ruby made a mental note to empty her tanks, as they were reaching their max capacity due to the current weather.

Though she didn’t say it, Jemima was realising that maybe her fears had actually been a little understated, now she heard just how kitted out SCOs were for making people’s lives as hellish as possible, with little more than their feet.

“But yeah, that’s all the basics covered. I suppose you actually want to hear about my feet then? I mean, that was what you originally asked for, assuming I’ve not already scared you off from it?” Though Ruby was still smiling, she didn’t seem to understand just how close to the truth her jovial comment was.

Jemima simply nodded, whilst her mind rocketed back through her perviously settled worries.

“Okay, well unfortunately I can’t actually tell you based on my own experience. I’m not sure if you know this, or if I’m even supposed to tell you, but all SCOs are actually insulated from their own smells. No matter how hard we might try, we just can’t really perceive them anymore. It’s a weird byproduct of the virus that causes the extreme levels of scent and perspiration our feet can reach. So yeah, I can’t tell you that. Though even before I became an SCO my feet could get a little on the pungent side. If that’s of any use at all?” The brunette didn’t seem to indicate that it was. 

“However, if we’re going by any of my shrinkees’ reactions, including the current one…” she tapped the boot meaningfully, “…then it’s not good. Like, really really not good. I don’t think there’s been a single day this week where he’s not begged me to avoid smelling them. Feet or boots. And not just politely asking not to, like full-on ‘pleading on hands-and-knees’ type of begging.”

“Did you listen to them?”

She cocked her head to the side, a little surprised at the question. “What? When they asked not to go near my feet?”

“Y-Yeah.”

“Of course not. It’s my job to reform them, Jemima. And my admittedly extremely smelly feet are supposed to be the main tool in doing so. It’s like if a teacher stopped teaching her students just because they didn’t want to learn algebra. If I gave in to every shrinkee that didn’t want to smell my feet or get smothered inside my boots, I’d have been out of a job years ago.”

This time Jemima didn’t manage to hold her tongue.

“But it’s so cruel!”

“It’s necessary, Jemima. And it’s not like I keep them inside my boots twenty-four seven. I did give this one a bit of a break on Wednesday, when I was working out. Just kept him in the underarm harness instead, as I’m not totally convinced SCOs should keep shrinkees underfoot during exercise. Seems a little too risky, if you ask me. But still, it’s not like that harness makes anything more pleasant than being my insole already is. Sweat is sweat, and I’ve got plenty to go around.”

Jemima was really struggling to keep up with everything last thing Ruby was tossing at her now. She was really living up to the rambling she’d preemptively apologised for when first taking a seat beside her, only now it was far less tolerable given the subject matter. And all throughout, the brunette really couldn’t believe just how casually she spoke about everything. About walking all over another human being with them trapped inside her apparently horrible boots. Or having someone strapped to her armpit whilst she worked out and sweated all over them. It was inhumane. It was disgusting.

“I know I’m not the best explainer in the world, so if I’m not quite giving you a good enough idea of what stuff is like, I can always show you instead?”

“No, it’s— what do you m-mean, ‘show me’?”

At that moment, Ruby felt her insole padding spring back into motion, strangely spurred on by something as Jemima had spoken particularly loudly, enough to draw some passing looks. But she thought little of it. Pressing her sweat-engorged foot back down onto them and hoping to give them enough stink to settle down.

“I mean, it’s not something an SCO does every day, but technically speaking, if you consent here and now, I’m legally allowed to remove my boots with you in private and give you a bit of a first-hand experience of just what my feet are like…” Drumming her toes within the boot, she half-wondered if Jemima might even accept. “That is, assuming you consent to experiencing just how strong an SCO’s feet can smell. And whilst you might think you can imagine it or handle it. Trust me. You can’t.”

Feeling her heart now beating up towards her throat, Jemima was recognising the girl sat before her less and less by the minute. The kindly, considerate figure that’d first sat down what could’ve been hours before was morphing into exactly the person she had feared all week.

Even now, Jemima recalled had intently she’d listened all through Ruby’s earlier testimony. About how she believed in what she did, and how she didn’t derive any pleasure or joy in what her job dictated she do, no matter how much other girls did. And still, to this moment, Jemima believed her. She understood what she said and she believed the redhead was honest in her claims. But now, listening to the uniformed figure sat opposite her, she couldn’t shake the sinking feeling that she’d been speaking to two different people. And even if the former didn’t enjoy what she did, the latter definitely got something out of it…

“No. T-That isn’t… I don’t w-want that. Please.”

Ruby smiled, now lowering her booted foot back to the floor. “Shame. I was quite looking forward to making you wear my boot like a gas mask.”

But before Jemima could react, understandably repulsed, Ruby jumped back in. “Joking. Joking! Seriously, Jemima. I told you. I wouldn’t do that. I’m not like those girls. I promise.”

Even the half-hearted ‘heh’, Jemima offered was barely a noise at all. She decided she didn’t want to hear anymore about what SCOs did, or what Ruby’s feet smelt like. It was sick. And she just wanted Tyler back. And this wasn’t getting her any closer to that.

“I don’t t-think I want to hear anymore more of… that.”

“That’s okay. I figured I might have gone a little far going by the look on your face,” Ruby tried to defuse things with that smile of her, but it wasn’t working this time. “I-Is there anything else I can answer for you? Whilst I’m here?”

No. It had taken enough time, but Jemima had finally come to her senses. What was she thinking? That asking one of the people who was trained to make people suffer the way her boyfriend was currently suffering would make her feet any better? How stupid. No, she was quite done and just wanted to go home with Tyler.

Moments away from getting to her feet and slinking off to wait until she was called, one final thing jumped to her mind. And whilst she wasn’t sure why, surely it couldn’t prompt the redhead into another frenzy of descriptive vileness.

“I… well, I did wonder…” Jemima breathed heavily, trying to choose her words correctly. “Do they tell you who you’re… rehabilitating? You know, when they g-give you them? Or is it… anonymous?”

“Yeah, of course. It’s all sent to us on the app. Along with any details that might help us enhance their rehabilitation. Phobias, fetishes, intolerances; anything like that.”

Her breathing was only increasing in weight now. Subconsciously piecing things together in her mind as her heart raced, surely loud enough for even Ruby to hear it. Even the blood in her ears was drowning out the surrounding background noise, as she focused on Ruby, and Ruby alone. Meanwhile the redhead was getting a little uncomfortable with just how intently Jemima was staring and breathing.

“Jemima, are you—“

“—Who is your current person? Who have you been torturing? W-What’s their name?”

“I…” Ruby stumbled, trying to recall. She knew it was some boy, sentenced on a petty theft and assigned to her a week earlier. But she couldn’t recall his name, having not used it once during the prior week. “I don’t remember. Why? What does it matter to you? And I told you, I’m not torturing anyone—”

“Because! Tell me. Please!”

Finding Jemima now uncomfortably entering her personal space, it took all of Ruby’s restraint not to suppress the girl there and then. Having to fight hard not to have her training kick-in. “Okay. Okay. Jesus, calm down. Let me get my phone… shit.” And so she drew her phone out and hastily signed into the app. Shooting the brunette wary looks as she did.

Once into the SCA app, she pulled up the files for her current shrinkee and spoke aloud once the relevant information appeared. Speaking as she comprehended it. “There. Just some Williams kid, I don’t know? Wait, not that. Not Williams—“

Jemima’s heart almost exploded.

“—Willems? Yeah, Willems. That’s a weird name. But yeah. Whoever that is. Happy now?”

“…Tyler…”

Ruby looked through Jemima, and then back to her phone. Neither of them noticing the attention the previously timid girl’s outburst and behaviour was starting to attract. More than just the occasional scowl or odd glance.

“Yeah. Tyler Willems. What of it… oh…” And their gazes met one another. “Oh fuck…”

And as it clicked, moments later for Ruby than it did for Jemima, both of their eyes fell down to the redhead’s boots. As if seeing through the material itself, to the shrunken boy smothered inside.

Before Jemima could move, Ruby was on her feet and gesturing to a passing pair of SCOs. Already well aware of what might happen now everything had clicked into place. How stupid could she have been. Both her and Jemima here on the same day. At the exact same time she was originally supposed to drop off her shrinkee? How on earth had she assumed it was just a coincidence?? How come she’d not expected this???

“Don’t do anything stupid, Jemima. Please, let’s be calm, okay? Be reasonable.”

“Give me him back… give me Tyler back, right now…” Her tone was low now. Repressed. Boiling. “Right… fucking now…”

“No, Jemima. I won’t. I already told you, my duty is—“

“—I don’t care about your duty! I want him back! You’ve done enough to him already.”

She was on her feet as well now. Not approaching Ruby, but shaking with such force, the SCO couldn’t believe she hadn’t rocketed up into the skylight above them. And below both of the young women, Ruby could feel Tyler plainly able to hear something was happening, yet doing her utmost to keep him pinned and docile.

With her phone now behind her back, whilst her other arm was outstretched towards Jemima, she flicked across the app and activated the mechanisms inside her boot, causing it to begin heating up and massaging her smelly sole. Forcefully squeezing the tiny boy up against her skin at the same time. She hoped that’d keep him adequately occupied and deservedly miserable.

“I’m sorry. I really am. You’re a sweet girl, Jemima. And I like you. I do… But my responsibility is to the rehabilitation of my shrinkees. And your boyfriend needs more time.”

Just as Jemima snapped, propelling herself at Ruby, she was snatched up by both of the approaching SCOs and dragged back down onto the bench. Each one had placed their arms beneath hers and lifted her bodily as she’d launched, quite easily restraining her down. The redhead didn’t recognise either of them at first, but was glad she hadn’t needed to do anything further, or things might’ve gotten ugly.

“Let me go! She’s got him! She does!”

“Calm yourself.” The first of the pair spoke, softly but firmly. “Don’t do something you might regret, Miss.”

“Or do. And let us show you what happens…” The second added. Her voice being a whole lot more sneering and provocative than the first.

The brunette still continued to struggle for a few moments until she tired herself out and looked up at Ruby, who now stood between her two fellow Officers. The redhead didn’t look happy. The blatant conflict on her face was obvious for all to see. And yet she still looked a great deal less defeated than Jemima did.

“I’m sorry, Jemima. But please. Let these two escort you out, and I promise, you’ll have your boyfriend back in no time. But for now, let me do what I do best. And please, don’t try and get in the way of that, or you might end up experiencing a shrinking sentence first-hand.”

The rage that’d possessed the girl she’d spoken too so amicably up till now collapsed and left only tears as it departed. But Ruby solidified and frowned. At this point, she couldn’t let this influence her. She had a job to do. Having met Jemima or not, it made no difference. Her shrinkee wasn’t rehabilitated and she wasn’t finished.

“P-Please don’t… I don’t want—“

“Please escort her outside,” Ruby spoke over Jemima to the two holding the brunette down. “And could we see about someone to walk her home? I’m not sure she’s in any fit state to do so alone.”

The sneery Officer huffed at the suggestion, whilst the other nodded firmly. “Of course. Come on, girl. Let’s get you up and out of here. That’s it. With me, come on.”

Ruby remained where she was for a minute or two. Stood completely still until she was absolutely sure Jemima had made it to the exit and was lead away by the cool-headed blonde SCO, whilst the other returned to where she stood, looking over her shoulder and smirking. “Few more seconds and that could’ve got real nasty for her.”

She didn’t respond, still watching to be sure Jemima didn’t return.

“Shame, really. My boots’ tanks are overflowing, so I could do with a new shrinkee to help me empty them out,” the sneery looking girl added with a giggle, before walking off and leaving Ruby alone as the mechanism inside her boots continued to whir soothingly.

———

Unable to tell the time of day, or if he was still even alive inside his perpetually reeking prison, Tyler felt the unbearable heat to his rear begin to cease as the boot stopped relentlessly pummelling him up into the warm, sticky sole of his giant tormentress. Whilst he’d heard the slightest bit of commotion from above earlier on, even with how hard it was to focus under a constantly pungent assault, he’d been unable to hear anything since.

Yet as the boot shook and shifted, he recognised the memorable feeling of his cell being removed. And give it was the end of his sentence today, that could surely only mean one thing!

Tumbling out of the massive boot he’d spent hours simmering inside of, Tyler flopped onto the floor and began to soak into the carpet below him. Simultaneously blinded by the light of the room he now found himself in, as well as wincing from the remarkably colder air outside of the SCO’s shoe than the super-heated environment within it. And still, the unquestionably foul scent never left him. What had once seemed to be an exclusive part of Ruby’s boots and feet now seemed to cling to him just as much as it did to them. 

No matter where she she put him or what she did to him; he still smelt like her. Like her awful feet.

But at least he was done with that now. His week was up, so he must just be dealing with some other SCO or random bean-counter until they grew him back.

“Get on your knees. Now.”

Instinctively, he did so, without even registering the commanding voice that demanded it of him. All whilst trying not to be too weighed down by the heavy fluid soaking his skin.

“And look at me when I’m talking to you. You know better than that by now.” The voice continued to boom, now worming its way into his head and not quite fitting with what he’d been expecting.

He tried to lift up his head, but the light of the room was still too dazzling after hours spent inside Ruby’s boot, so he kept his gaze low. Able to make out only the emerald carpet below him and the hints of nail polish nearby.

And then he stopped.

H-He knew this carpet… A-And… and those crimson nails, they looked like…

“What is it? Can’t bear to look at me without my foot on your face?”

Before the tiny boy could reply, Ruby dropped her sole back onto him and flattened him down into the floor as the carpet wheezed beneath her tremendously sweaty foot. And even after only a few seconds, already she could see the sodden imprint she was creating on the ground.

Tutting lightly, the redhead carefully peeled her foot up and moved it to the side, allowing him a full view of her looming down on him, whilst he squirmed pitifully in the footprint she’d left behind.

“Now. Let’s try again, shall we? Unless you’d prefer to go back in my boot? This time, we can make sure that face of yours is really stuck up in between my toes. Pretty sure the last girl I had to rehabilitate said that was far worst than just being flattened under my sole…”

That seemed to do it, as this time he appeared to try a great deal more to meet her demands. Still addled by her scent as he was. Clearly he wasn’t about to forget the experience of having his face used to mop up the worst of the sweat between her toes anytime soon. 

And once back on his knees and blearily staring up at her, he tried to speak.

“R-R-Ruby, w-why is… how are y-yo—?”

“I decided to extended your sentence.” She replied bluntly, quickly reaching down and lifting him from the ground, then bringing him up to meet her gaze more directly. Ruby’s large green eyes reflecting his own damp appearance back at him. “You clearly aren’t rehabilitated, as much as you might like to pretend that you are. So you’re going to be with me a bit longer until I’m satisfied you’re reformed.”

Ruby made a deliberate choice not to let him know it was only for another week at this stage, in the hopes that spending a potentially limitless amount of time with her was enough to grind down his confidence a little.

“B-But I’m good! I’m r-reformed!”

His protests seemed almost genuine, but she knew better. Bringing him right up to her lips and breathing her warm, fruit-scented breath into his lungs. “Oh are you? Well, I think me and my big, stinky feet will be a better judge of that. Don’t you?”

Releasing him from her grasp, he plummeted back to the carpet as she picked up her discarded boot and dragged it back onto her foot. Though not before admiring just how pink her sole had gotten after the extended massage and intense heating her boot had provided. With her skin being so pale naturally, it only made the bottoms of her feet come up all the pinker once they got a real sweat on. Not to mention the little indented outline he’d left upon her plush skin. 

Once sealed away, she planted each of her feet down and stood up above him, casting his tiny frame into shadow. “Ready to see how we’re going to judge your rehabilitation this time?”

Tyler was already back on his knees, hands clasped together and begging.

“Please, Ruby. Don’t do that t-thing with your toes again… I-I’ll do anything to a—“

“Anything? Good lord, that’s a dangerous thing to say to an SCO, isn’t it?” Ruby laughed openly at this, shuffling each of her boots nearer towards him. “Surely I don’t need to remind you that I can do a lot worse than just making you sniff my pretty toes? Hell, I didn’t even make you lick them before…”

Pausing briefly, he seemed to realise his error quite clearly. Still prostrating before her massive frame, right between her boots, he continued to speak as she barely paid his words any attention.

“O-Okay, you make a fair p-point. Maybe we can just… not test me… I mean, can’t I have a bit of a break after being in t-there all day?”

“Being inside ‘where’, all day?”

“Y-Y-Your beautiful boots, Ruby! They’re b-beautiful! A-And they smell so g-good, I really l-love it…” The fact the words even left his mouth made his sense cringe up, though not before adding a few quick kisses to the toes of her large, black boots. Each of which still radiated heat even without them airing out.

“Good boy. And no. I need to see how obedient you are, and thanks to a little conversation I had earlier, I think I have the perfect place for you…”

Without further elaboration, Ruby walked past him and over to her wardrobe, causing the ground to shake as she paced. He knew she kept all her non-SCO clothing inside there, along with all the kit and items the SCA had given her to better train her shrinkees. Much of which she’d still never tested, however now she had a good reason to make use of one item in particular.

Tyler remained exactly where he was. Kneeling and silent. Full conscious that any attempt to run or disobey would surely only put him in a worse position than he already was. And right now, still being stuck with Ruby, that was honestly hard to imagine…

Ruby didn’t return for several minutes as she rustled around in draws and pulled out random clothing, as well as plenty of SCO kit she might one day find a use for. Until she eventually seemed to locate whatever she was searching for and returned to Tyler, who was still in the sweaty footprint she’d made earlier.

“Now, first test. Can you tell me what this is?” She spoke, twirling something thin and red around her finger as she crouched down in-front of him.

It was difficult to tell as whatever she was holding continued to spiral around her digit in a blur. Clearly some kind of clothing, or maybe just something she planned on using to torture him further. And as such, he offered up both those suggestions, drawing a wry chuckle from her as he did.

“Weirdly, you’re technically right on both counts,” she said, finally letting the fabric stop rotating as it came to rest and hang from her index finger. “Though you might wish you weren’t.”

It still took him a few moments before he properly identified the crimson thong she’d been spinning, emblazoned with the same three letters that were printed upon her boots and most everything she’d been granted by the SCA. So quite understandably, he gulped.

“Now, I actually have two pairs of these, believe it or not. The other is black and has the perfect little space to restrain a shrinkee so that they’d be trapped right between my butt cheeks if I was to wear them. Their face actually lines up perfectly with my asshole once they’re strapped in… though, you probably don’t want to know how I found that out…”

Her mind briefly rolled back to a past shrinkee that’d had a severe aversion to her plump, often sweaty, backside, hence the perfect chance to test out the black thong in all its glory. Although, in hindsight, Ruby probably should’ve avoided any particularly greasy foods before testing them out. The embarrassment that followed punished her for her haste, though it smelt like the tiny girl had been punished quite a lot more than she’d been.

Tyler was already shaking his head, clearly not wanting to hear her inner monologue, and so she pushed on. “So what do you think this red pair does?”

“I really don’t kno…”

But he faulted, unable to answer before she turned them inside out and showed him the interior of the material.

Whilst much of it appeared to be the same lacy fabric as the outside, the notable exception was the four leather shackles positioned in the front of her underwear. And once he pictured himself being restrained into those bindings and forced spread-eagled as they’d ensure, he realised the real purpose of those compared to the black pair. And although he didn’t speak again, his face said everything.

“Looks to me like you’ve already got a pretty good idea,” she teased, picking him up once more and this time, she didn’t plan on just holding him up to tease him.

Ruby found the little resistance he mounted fairly amusing, but when faced with the power she had over him, it was pretty much pointless to even try and stop her from doing as she wanted. Taking each of his limbs, one by one, Ruby easily strapped him in place until he was helplessly pinned to the underwear and staring up at her as she admired her handiwork.

“Okay, okay. You’ve had your fun, b-but please… I have a girlfriend, Ruby. Don’t do this to me. It’s not right! It’s l-like… sadistic…”

But she was already slipping down her uniform and removing her current underwear, which was lightly stained around the front and back. It was a hot day, and she’d already been enjoying herself a little too much.

“Oh I know, Tyler. I know about Jemima.”

“Exactly! So don’t… w-wait, you… know about—“

“Yes. We spoke earlier. About you actually, even if we didn’t know it at the time. And don’t worry, she’s fine. Had a bit of a run-in with some other SCOs, but lucky for her, I think she’s avoided any charges. But it got me thinking, and you know how dangerous that can be for someone like you. And this is where those thoughts have brought me.” She poked him square in the chest as she moved to holding the underwear with one hand. “To you being there. And me… being here…”

As she spoke, Ruby lowered him just enough to come face to face with her enormous labia. So much so, that there was no way he couldn’t smell her scent, even if he wasn’t swallowed up by it just yet. And all the while, her free hand caressed down her pale body.

And now he really started to fight, even if it was too late.

Lowering the underwear to the floor, Ruby stepped each of her booted feet into the spaces reserved for her legs and stood there for just a moment. Looking down on him, whilst he got a view very few shrinkees had ever witnessed. Although, she doubted he felt particularly lucky right now. Not as much as he would’ve were he normal sized.

As she leant down and took hold, the crimson fabric slipped back up her pale legs, bringing him closer and closer to her waiting sex, Ruby laughed openly at the miserable face he was making as he tried to sink back into the material. Like that was going to save him. And only once he was mere inches from her did she pause, remaining unusually silent when she might otherwise have taken the chance to tease her shrinkee one more time.

Peering down at him as she held back the elastic lining the crimson fabric, Ruby hesitated. Seeing him spread-eagled in her underwear before now wouldn’t have caused her to bat an eye, yet knowing his connection to Jemima didn’t make her job easier. Maybe for some SCOs, that’d be even more motivation. To sexually humiliate a shrinkee like this. Driving them to enjoy the displeasure of their own tiny person, along with the knowledge of the distress it’d cause their significant other. But not her. However, that was Ruby talking, and right now, she didn’t need Ruby getting in the way.

Officer Connors held firm and fashioned smuggest grin she could muster as she caught his eye.

“It really is nothing personal, little guy. But it’s my job to oversee your rehabilitation, and if my feet aren’t up to the task, perhaps this…” she used her free hand to slowly spread her waiting lips ominously, “…will be. Now, open wide and let’s see how good of a boyfriend you really are.”

Relishing the last of his pleading, whimpering wails, she waited only another second more before releasing the elastic held by her forefinger and watching him speed towards her waiting sex. Feeling him slam into position and muffling instantly as her sensitive flesh swallowed him, allowing her to remove her other hand as both moistened lips collapsed in and engulfed his little face.

Taking a quick look at herself in the mirror nearby, it was quite difficult for her or anyone else to see him from the outside of the crimson underwear. But Ruby knew he was there. She could almost hear him muffled up against her pussy. And good god could she feel him.