The world outside of Alicia Everly's apartment had grown increasingly more terrifying to the shrunken Jeremy Cooke since the Protectorate Bill had been passed. Sitting in the center of his cage, he wrapped himself up in the giant brunette's old sock despite the summer heat. On one side of him, his de facto owner's giant tanned legs thundered down the side walk, and on the other the gigantic world passed him by.

He didn't like the idea that he had grown used to seeing other shrunken people being worn as accessories, but it was undeniable that shrunken people had become more and more of a status symbol once their subhuman status was codified. People smaller than him dangled off of bracelets, were lowered into cleavage on necklaces, and based on one terrifying ad he had seen while Ms. Everly was looking at a website; put inside of clear platform shoes so they were literally underfoot. People the same size as him were regularly carried in purses, pockets, and stuffed anywhere the giant could think of.

In the past six blocks he had seen a middle aged woman his size poking over the waistband of a college girl's cut off shorts, her head not even reaching the midriff baring sorority shirt the girl was wearing. That poor woman had been followed by a young man at a cafe showing his friends that he had stuffed a former teacher into the laces of his sneakers, and all of them were laughing their heads off. He had seen that and the countless others like them many times, but it was what he saw coming Alicia's way that sent him cowering beneath the sock.

He had seen the gigantic young woman thundering down the sidewalk from far away, wearing nothing but a sports bra and a pair of running shorts. Her ebony skin was covered in a thin sheen of sweat that glistened in the midday sun, her toned muscles flexing with each of her strides. What should have been an arousing sight of a barely dressed gorgeous giant, sent a shudder down Jeremy's spine, reminding him of the times that both Brittany and her mother had abused him during similar workouts.

And then he saw the leash running parallel to her pumping legs.

Looking down, Jeremy had been expecting to see a dog galloping alongside its owner, its tongue lolling out in a happy smile. It would have been terrifying enough to be reminded of how easily a household pet could gobble him up, but it wasn't a dog running beside the giant woman. Huffing and puffing, her pale skin turning red as she tried to keep up with her mighty owner's impossibly long strides, was a fourteen inch tall overweight girl, probably the same age as the runner holding her leash. They could have been roommates or neighbors before one of them shrunk.

Then the tiny woman stumbled, which caused her enormous 'protector' to yank on the leash, and grunt, “Keep running, fatty.”

Between her struggling shallow breaths, the poor shrunken girl replied, “Sorry, ma'am.”

“Damn right you're sorry,” was the giantess's reply, “When we get home you're going to give me an extra twenty push ups.”

Jeremy could still hear the giant runner's words echoing in his ears as she moved down the block, threatening her pet-sized person not only with more exercise but all the same humiliating tasks that he was regularly forced to perform. Whimpering to himself, the tiny man pulled Alicia's sock directly over his face, trying to block out the gigantic world around him. Breathing in the giant woman's stale foot funk helped more than he wanted to believe as the passing buildings and people became nothing more than indistinct shapes and colors through the cotton screen.

The sound of an apartment buzzer was the first time the huge reality beyond the sock managed to penetrate his tiny world, but Jeremy remained hidden inside of it, trying to stop himself from shaking. Alicia's sandals clapped across a concrete floor, and then he heard an old metal staircase rattling as she ascended through the warehouse turned apartment building. Two floors later and again her footsteps boomed like thunder, followed by her knocking against a wooden door.

A squeal of excitement made the shrunken man's ears ring as soon as the door opened, and then his whole world was sent flying in one direction. The sock did barely anything to cushion him against the cold metal bars of his cage, but at least he landed on the pliable surface of his sponge bed. Despite the sock around him, his nostrils were still assaulted by a mixture of fresh fruity soap and an undercurrent of sweat.

“Oh my God, I'm so sorry that I'm sweaty,” Nikki's voice reverberated through his cage as she continued to hold Alicia in a firm embrace, “but you know how much packing sucks.”

“Ugh, you have no idea,” Alicia replied as they finally broke apart and Jeremy's bed was sent sliding about once more as she walked into Nikki's apartment, “You don't even realize how much shit you have until you start debating whose fucking plates or towels you're going to keep, and whose you want to sell on Craigslist or donate or whatever the hell you're going to do with them.”

“Still, nice debate to have,” the huge blonde's voice took on an almost sarcastic sing-song tone.

“That's true.”

Jeremy's cage landed on something, his whole mobile prison suddenly shaking as it connected with whatever surface it was deposited on. He was still adjusting to sitting on solid ground once more when a wine bottle being uncorked sounded like a cannon going off next to him. The soft trickling of liquid hitting a glass came next, followed by Alicia gulping it down like someone dying of thirst.

“Ugh, torrontes?”

“Mhm, it's so good.”

“Do you have anything else?”

“Wine? No, but I think I have some beer left over from last week.”

“Well, someone has to help you clean out your fridge,” Alicia announced, her voice drifting away from Jeremy as she walked into the kitchen.

Suddenly, he heard the door to his cage opening, and he shuddered within the sock.

“Aw, he's so cute in here, hiding in your sock.”

“What?”

Thick all powerful digits grabbed on to his makeshift blanket, and he gripped on to the cotton as tight as he could. “Aw, is the little toy boy afraid of the big scary world?” Nikki asked as she yanked the sock free from his grasp with a simple flick of her wrist.

A moment later, he found himself staring into the pale face of the gigantic platinum blonde, her hair piled atop her head in a sweaty bun as she loomed over his world. Beyond her sweat stained t-shirt, he could see the cavernous converted loft apartment, now filled with seemingly nothing besides moving boxes. She dropped the sock on the counter next to him, and winked at him, “You're not allowed to hide from me anymore, toy boy.”

Alicia strutted back over to the kitchen island, and Jeremy's eyes were drawn to the beer in her left hand. Her ring finger, and the glittering diamond sitting on it, were nestled right along the neck of the goose that served as the brewery's logo. As she lifted the beer to her lips and took a long sip, he watched the diamond catch the sunlight drifting into the apartment, and draw Nikki's gaze.

“Wow, is that it?”

“Mhm hmm,” Alicia assented with a soft moan, and switched the beer to her right hand before extending her left so Nikki could inspect it.

“It's almost as big as your little guy's head,” the blonde said breathlessly, leaning down and twisting Alicia's hand to see it from every possible angle.

“You'd know what he charges by the hour better than I would.”

The two gigantic woman began to prattle on about the ring, how proud Nikki was that she had set the pair up, and even though Alicia had just been proposed to, when the wedding would be. Jeremy simply wished he could curl back up into Alicia's old sock and ignore their booming voices.

The soft sound of bare feet slapping against stone drew his attention back to the outside world, where Nikki's once proud intern was standing outside of his cage. She still towered over Jeremy at a mighty nine inches, but the fire he had once seen in the shrunken brunette was long gone. Her tanned skin had turned pale, and her long hair had been hacked away leaving her with an uneven pixie cut, while the rest of her body hair had grown in thicker than any of the giantesses standing above her would allow on their own bodies.

“Hey,” she said softly, leaning against his cage, her comparatively tall frame not even enough to make it shudder.

“Hi,” Jeremy replied meekly.

Looking up toward Alicia's immense engagement ring, she shook her head, “Her fiance doesn't like you?”

“He thought it was gross that she kept a twenty year old kid on top of her dresser.”

“Typical,” the larger girl snorted.

“What?”

“The guy's immune and he still feels threatened by a tiny dude who licks her shoes clean, it's pretty fucked up.”

The tiny man found himself smiling, “I never thought of it like that...”

“Small victories,” she replied as she slumped down next to his cage, and pulled her knees close, “So, she's handing you over to Nikki?”

He took a deep breath and nodded.

“You know she's moving to California, right?”

“What?” Jeremy perked up, and found himself moving toward the wall of his cage, “That's good, right? I mean, California would never...”

The former intern shook her head back and forth, “Last month.”

“Fuck,” he drifted down to his knees.

“Yeah, when she interviewed for the job I was excited, like, I thought... I thought maybe I'd be able to wiggle free one day, hitch a ride on somebody's shoe to get out of the office and end up anywhere better, but then...”

“They passed the law.”

“No,” she said, her voice growing hollow, “I realized that I could end up with somebody worse. I thought about you, and how Alicia isn't even the one who found you originally, right? After you shrunk?”

Jeremy swallowed a lump in his throat, “No, she wasn't.”

“Like, if I got away from Nikki and out onto the streets of LA, what's to stop some bored rich immune bitch from Malibu or wherever from picking me up and carrying me around like a fucking purse dog?” Looking up at the huge platinum blonde as she sucked down a glass of wine that Jeremy could drown in, she said, “At least, Nikki lets me read things she's working on, so it's sort of like I'm practicing law. What would I do if I got picked up by somebody who didn't know I used to go to law school? Clean lint from between their toes while they bitched about their day?”

“R-right,” Jeremy stuttered, and he blinked back tears as he once more was forced to remember that he didn't finish high school. The closest he had gotten to Prom Night was painting Brittany Sachs's toenails, and the idea of going to college was now so alien that it seemed like it was the dream of a completely different person.

Before Nikki's tiny intern could continue, their blonde owner's voice overpowered their conversation, “Aw, look at them down there, already talking to each other.” The immense woman's hand reached down and ran over her slave's body, “Are you telling him about how much you love helping me out, Kimmy?”

“Yes, Miss!” The shrunken intern's voice became bright, almost bubbly, an almost mirror image of her giant owner's.

“That's my girl,” Nikki cooed before bringing her finger back up to Kimmy's face, “Give me a kiss.”

Kimmy wrapped her hands around Nikki's perfectly manicured finger and then pressed her lips against it, making sure to exaggerate her motions so that neither giant woman above her could miss them.

Nikki's hand then invaded his cage, and he felt like his head was about to be crushed as she ran it against his hair, ruffling it, “And how about a kiss from you, my new little toy boy?”

Jeremy felt his whole body tense up as he stared into the sky where Alicia stood with a bemused look on her face, while Nikki had a beautiful and terrifyingly genuine smile on hers. Slowly, Jeremy stood up, and then just as he had seen Kimmy do, he wrapped his hands around her index finger, and kissed the soft flesh of her fingerpad. The huge blonde cooed with delight instantly, and then he was wrapped up in her fist, being carried into the sky.

Soft pink lips that tasted of wine smothered his whole head as Nikki kissed him, and then gently nuzzled him against her big flushed cheek. “Are you sure that you want me to take him? I'm sure after a few days of him polishing his shoes and massaging his feet after time in court, Scott will fall in love with such an adorable little guy.”

Alicia shook her head and then wrapped Nikki up in a big hug, during which Jeremy found himself pressed against his now former owner's back, forced to suck in her scent one last time. “No, Scott's been pretty clear on how he feels about tiny people. I think, maybe after we're married a little while I'll be able to convince him but who knows.”

As they broke apart, Nikki gently squeezed Alicia's hand, while the fist holding Jeremy fell down against her side. The shrunken young man found himself brushed against the yoga pants she was wearing as he stared down far below at her Asics sneakers, the black and pink pair looking almost brand new.

“Speaking of which, I really need to get going back to Scott, so I can help him pack up my apartment, and let you get back to your packing.”

“Promise you'll call if you need any help with the wedding,” Nikki said sweetly, while Alicia's wiggling toes drew his gaze. He had just painted them last night, but he could already see the right pinky toe was starting to chip.

“Of course, and let me know about California as soon as you're there.”

“Definitely.”

Jeremy was set back down on the counter before they hugged again, his body overcome with a pins and needles feeling as he stared up at the colossal women before him. The kitchen island barely shook as Nikki walked Alicia to the door, and because of that he didn't even know she was walking back until her shadow was falling back over him.

“Come here my little Kimmy,” Nikki's voice thundered, and Jeremy turned to see his fellow shrinkee immediately hop up and rush toward the blonde's waiting hand. As soon as Kimmy was settled in the giantess's palm, Nikki was walking away and issuing instructions to the tiny girl, “You're much stronger than your new little friend there, so I'm going to have you pack my shoes away, alright?”

The 'new little friend' found himself frowning as he listened to Nikki talk about him. He tried to remind himself that Alicia's boyfriend was the reason he was here, that some giant immune hot shot lawyer couldn't handle him seeing her naked. Yet, then he thought about what the rest of his life would be.

Kimmy had been an intern at Nikki's firm when she shrunk, and she was three inches taller than him. It was hard for him to ignore the fact that though the shrunken woman was paler than he was, she had also been more muscular than the last time he had seen her. She was stronger, better educated, and all around more useful than he could ever be. He was the cute dumb puppy that was taken in by Nikki because Alicia couldn't keep him anymore.

“Fuck,” he muttered as Nikki's shadow fell over him once more.

The huge blonde leaned down over him, not quite getting down to his level but taking extra care to get closer than Alicia ever had. “Alright, my little toy boy, I have to go back to packing, so right now, you just get settled here, and then later tonight, you and Kimmy are going to give me a nice foot massage, hm?”

“Th-thank you, miss...” he called back, trying to imitate the cutesy voice he had heard his fellow shrunken prisoner use.

“That's a good boy,” she praised him, her finger again almost snapping his neck as she ruffled his hair.

Jeremy watched as she rose back up to her completely dominating full height, and then simply turned on her heel and walked toward a pile of distant cardboard boxes. With little else to do, Jeremy wandered back over to the sock that was sitting in the center of her kitchen counter, beside two now empty wine glasses and a half finished bottle of beer. Wrapping himself up in Alicia's old sock, he stared up at the beer, while it's immense goose logo stared back at him.

Sitting down in front of it, Jeremy wondered if he'd ever actually get to taste one.

That thought haunted him over the next several hours, and he once more found himself thinking about all the college experiences he'd never have. All the ways this disease, this horrible new world that he lived in, had robbed him of so many things. He wouldn't have experiences that he didn't even know he wanted to have yet because he would never know enough about the world to know they were out there.

A numbness came over him as he listened to Nikki move around her apartment, packing it up as she sang along to half-remembered pop songs. Even when he was standing at her feet later that night, massaging the right while Kimmy worked the left, he couldn't think of anything. He tried to conjure the anger he had felt the first time he had been told to massage a giant woman's foot, to match the same fire he had seen in Kimmy when he had first watched Nikki set her down on a table, but nothing came.

Jeremy didn't feel anything again until Nikki had deposited him and her shrunken intern into the drawer of her nightstand that evening. The larger woman wrapped her arms around him, and he cringed as he felt her body hair rub against his.

“It'll get easier,” she whispered.

“I don't... I don't know.”

“You've been through this before, haven't you?”

“Yeah, yeah, I've been handed off before...”

“What was it like?”

“It wasn't long after I was first captured, it was actually close to when I was supposed to graduate high school...”