The microwave timer buzzed. Devon opened it, and spooned the heated leftovers onto two marble plates, carefully placing silverware on each. He then opened the fridge and removed two bottles of Angry Red IPA. He handed Desmond a plate and one of the bottles. As the two picked up their silverware and began to eat the food, Devon inquired, "Hear anything back from Ariel yet?"
"Not yet.”, replied Desmond, "She's probably busy tonight."
A silence pierced the room for a few moments before Devon nodded and stated, "I like her."
"Yeah, she's a nice girl. A little awkward though to be honest...but kind.", Des replied.
Devon finished chewing the food in his mouth before continuing.
"She's like the only one on the team that doesn't want to kill us.", he stated.
Des looked at his brother and emitted a weary sigh.
"I've told you a billion times; none of the girls try to kill us.", he said slightly agitated.
"I believe you…they might not try to kill us," he replied, "…but they still want to. Shantel does."
"No she doesn't."
"April and Beanstalk do."
"No they don't."
"Kea does."
Des paused for a moment as he heard that name, and then snickered, "No, she only wants to kill me...but that's a long story. She likes you."
Devon shook his head. "Kourtney definitely does."
Des placed his fork and knife back on the plate and rubbed his forehead as if he had caught a sudden, vicious migraine.
"No, she doesn't.", he said. He then turned towards his brother and looked him in the eyes. "Do you really think that?", he asked.
Devon looked at his brother in bewilderment.
"Remember the time she destroyed our home and put us in her shoe.", Dev said with a hint of frustration in his tone. "Remember when she took a pic of us stuck to her sock and posted it online…and even after all that, she didn't even give us a fucking interview…Said that we didn't keep our end of the bargain."
Dev took a deep breath and shook his head before he went back to eating his food.
Desmond was still staring at him. "You don't really believe she hates you, do you?", he whispered.
Devon continued eating.
"I know, I know. She's a Titanide and all…but she doesn't hate you Dev."
Devon took a sip from his bottle.
"Everybody knows she kinda likes you, Dev…like, really likes you."
He glanced at Desmond with a sarcastic look, then continued eating.
Des smiled and said, "I'm serious…call me crazy, but I think you should consider asking her out."
Devon spat out his food in shock as he heard that suggestion, almost like this was a scene from some cliché comedy. As he turned towards his brother, preparing to implore that he get his head checked after making such an insane statement, Desmond's phone rang. The caller ID listed "Lemuria Davis".
"It's the coach.", Des said, as he immediately got up and ran out to the patio to take the call.
Devon dreaded the reason why she was calling. The Lionesses was scheduled to play against their archrival, Meteor State. Their current season so far had been 12-0; thus, the team was determined to keep that streak alive, especially against the MTSU Panthers.
Goosebumps crawled down Devon's spine. Chances are, the coach was calling them, wondering why they were not at the game. Since ITSOG's "official" debut, Devon's love for the game had quickly been replaced with fear and paranoia. He and his brother had been present at all twelve games so far this season and each provided a…unique experience into the world of Gigant Basketball.
When Desmond finished the call and returned to the living room, a solemn look overcame his previously bright smile. He exhaled deeply and began to explain the nature of the phone call.
"So…that was Coach…she was not happy that we chose to skip today…but she's not pissed."
Devon gulped. "Did they lose?", he asked, fearing what the consequences would be if the answer was yes. The team have come to refer to ITSOG as their "good-luck charms", attributing their amazing win streak and improved morale to the brothers' “services”. He knew that he was taking a big risk not showing up at the game, but yesterday's practice had really exhausted him and Des. Thus, he figured, as long as he met with one of the players tonight (preferably someone like Ariel, who preferred not to take advantage of tinies, and thus, would just do the interview no strings attached), everything would be fine.
"No, they crushed MTSU. 97-4. April and Beanstalk were the MVPs tonight.", Des stated in a slightly weary tone. "She wants us to go meet them tonight."
"But…doesn't April live at Olympus and… and Beanstalk live…"
Des cut him off, "She wants me to go to Beanstalk's place…and she said that Kourney will pick you up and take you to April's."
Devon's eyebrow rose. "She…wants us to split up…and do two separate interviews?"
Des shook his head. "Yeah, she said that plenty of photos were taken during the game and that the girls had just finished the interviews with the official news reporters. She then said that if we want to put a little post on our blog, we'll have to earn it…as usual. She told me that Beanstalk and April scored the most, so they’re the ones who deserve the most R&R."
He took his plate and Dev's, and dumped them into the sink.
"She also informed me that, as our punishment, she advised the girls to stay in their uniforms for our "meeting". Gonna be honest, brother: it's about to be a long night."
Devon's face held a sour look. Ever since his initial encounter with Kourtney Powers, he had despised ITSOG's arrangement with the basketball team.
***
After Kourtney had destroyed their Burrow, a bittersweet realization for the young 21-year-old who was currently being smothered between the thick, fragrant cotton of her gym sock and the rough, matted surface of her Nike sneaker. The gym, Des figured, was situated on the east side of campus, a 1hr30min shuttle ride for men coming from Jack's Treehouse. On the one hand, being that Kourtney was a Gigant (a Gigant that stands at 6'1 no less), she will probably reach it a lot faster on foot than they would've on the shuttle. "Assuming that she ran over there", he thought to himself, "she'd probably reach the gym in about 15-20 mins."
Judging by the constant pressure from her foot, he guessed that, most likely, he was currently stuck directly underneath the ball of her foot. In this area, while he could smell her cheesy foot scent, the major issue that plagued him rather was the weight of her steps upon his tiny figure. While the soft, moist fibers of the white sock cushioned the load, Des still did not enjoy the inability to move or adjust his body. Each time she raised her foot, the young lad rose with it, sticking to the sock’s sweat like adhesive; each time she slammed her foot down, his back bruised as it hit the sole. The pain was sharp yet fleeting; as he'd hit the matted fibers of the sole, he'd then feel the plushy fibers of the sock acted as cushion for the pain. As he endured this experience, he only feared how Devon was doing in the toe section.
The toe section of Kourtney's shoe provided Dev with a vastly different experience than the one his brother was enduring. Lodged snuggly between her big toe and her long toe, Dev was enveloped by the thick musk. All of her long, arduous days at basketball practice fused with all of the competitive tenacity and ferocity she exhibited on the court during her games ultimately coalesced into this swampy environment. This environment engulfed Dev into a thrashing of all five of his senses. He could not inhale the air without smelling the prevalent pungence of Limburger and old corn chips. He could not inhale it without allowing the taste of that same aroma into his mouth, assaulting his taste buds with the salty, sour sweat-flavored sock cotton, dust, and dead skin. He could see nothing. Nothing but worn white cotton, with yellowed and grayed smudges surrounding and blurring his vision. He tried to hear auditory cues to signify how far they were away from the gym, and how much longer he had to bear this Hell, but the sounds of rumbling as her titanic feet collided with the Earth beneath filled his ears. As strange as it was, despite the offensive smell of her foot, the sour taste of her sweat, the sight of the dirtied fibers, and the sounds of her sheer enormity looming over him, Devon felt…comfortable. Like he was trapped in a container filled to the brim with pillows. Soft, smelly pillows…but pillows nonetheless. Occasionally, Kourtney would scrunch her socked toes. To Dev, the scrunching of her toes felt like two fuzzy elephantine blankets coming together, sandwiching him in between its plush fibers. He couldn’t help himself; he kissed the surrounding, monolithic mounds that were Kourtney’s toes. At his size, he was not sure how much she would feel; however, he did note how curious it was that, every once in a while, as he kissed her toes, he felt her toes wiggle gleefully, and he could’ve swore that he heard a slight giggle from above. As much as he hated to admit it, even though the environment itself was hellish, this feeling alone was…pure bliss.
***
Kourtney took her time returning to the gymnasium. She knew that Coach Lemuria, while wanting her to participate in the usual drills, was prepared to show her leniency today. Lemuria herself was an Amazonian, and thus, no stranger to using tinies on a regular basis as insoles. Having heard this morning from the players that there were two boys who wanted to volunteer themselves as such, in return for some material to post on their blog, Lemuria couldn't help but let a wide grin creep up her puffy cheeks. She figured that, not only would this help improve morale among the players, but also could help the coaches unwind after a long day as well. Thus, her mind was made, and she sent out Kourtney to give the boys a "test run". She knew that, if a Titanide like her would approve of the boys, then surely the rest of the team would too. She originally thought about dispatching one of the larger Titanides on the team like Kea or Shatel, but fearing that their immensity (even in socks) might end up being too much for the young volunteers, she decided that sending Kourtney would be the right move.
"Don't take too long, but definitely feel them out.", Lemuria instructed her player in her dominant yet kind voice, "They might feel funny under your foot for the first time, and most of the time they do, but what I want to know are two things. Number one: "How durable were they?" and number two: "Did they pamper you?" These two things are key."
Kourtney chuckled, "It's like you think this the first time I stepped on a tiny before."
Lemuria looked at her and replied, "See…there's a difference between stepping on one and using one as an insole…a huge difference. Plus, it's also important that they are willing insoles, and not those ones you buy that low-key don't want to be ones and are just doing it because they got caught or they're trying to make a quick buck or…"
She stopped herself. She knew that Kourtney was ready; it was three years since she first signed her to join the UCH Lionesses, and since then, Kourtney, like the rest of the players, had become somewhat of a daughter to her. Lemuria knew that, of all the Titanides on the team, Kourtney was probably going to be the toughest on the boys.
***
Kourtney reached the base of the stairs to the gym as she checked her phone. "10:04 am"
She sighed and gazed upon the massive structure standing before her. With a more traditional Greek ambience in mind, the school board built the exterior of the gym with marble, bricks and cement. The result was a magnificent structure reminiscent of the ancient Greek temples. Like those temples, the Haixia Stadium (named after the legendary UCH alumnus Haixia Zheng) was believed to be a temple of its own kind where swarms of mortals came to worship supreme deities of unfathomable power.
Kourtney remembered looking at the coliseum as a little girl, hoping that some day, she would get the chance to play and be revered as one of its legends. Now, 14 years later, here she was: a starting guard for a team that went undefeated in the league last year, and almost took home the gold but was stopped abruptly in their tracks by the best school in the country, the legendary Sea Coast State.
Kourtney exhaled deeply, and took a seat on the steps leading up to the gym.
***
Des and Dev suddenly felt as if the dimension that had trapped them was being torn open by the deity that reigned over it. They were greeted by the bright light of the sun and a fresh, pine breeze that carried itself from the nearby trees to filled their lungs.
As the brothers were both enjoying the sweet, succulent taste of freedom, an earthshattering laughter pierced the heavens above. Just then, a blinding flash ambushed them, followed by a loud, quick snapping noise. As their eyes readjusted from the sudden assault of brightness, they saw a phone as large as their Burrow street block held at their eye level. Showing on the screen was a large white sock, fibers intertwining each other and riddled with white and gray lint bulbs. In the middle of the photo laid two miniscule figures, one at the center and one at the top. The one in the center was faced towards the material, and despite its size, any viewer of the photo could tell that he looked badly beaten. The other figure was in a much more pristine condition (relatively speaking); he was faced outward towards the camera, his eyes squinted and his mouth twisted. If one were to look closely at his face, one could see, stemming from his mouth, a large white string of cotton, a souvenir of his experience with the giantess.
"Aww, y'all didn't smile.", Kourtney whined, "Gonna have to count that against y’all in my evaluation, I'm afraid."
She carefully plucked the two boys off of her sock and dropped them onto her lap.
"So…", she said, "Coach L asked me to evaluate y'all's little business…what’s it called again?", she asked, tapping her right temple, feigning like she was pondering a serious question. “Oh yeah…In the Shoes of Giants.” As she was talking, the guys could tell her attention was focused on her phone.
"Y'all each get a B in Durability; I'll be honest: I was hella tired from practice, so when I picked y'all up, I wasn’t as rough with you as I was originally planning to. That being said, I still gotta give credit where it's due. I’ve seem tinies twice your sizes die from a lot less than a smelly sock and an old sneaker. You guys held on and survived. That's an accomplishment right there."
As she was about to continue, she heard a squeal from Dev. "What's that?!", she exclaimed with irritable impatience.
"Please don't tell me you're gonna share that pic of us?", he replied louder, already knowing the answer to his question before it even left his mouth.
Kourtney burst out laughing at the question, and then continued where she had left off, as if her laugher answered his inquiry perfectly. "Now, in terms of pampering, that's where shit hits the fan.", she said in a solemn tone.
She nudged Desmond with her pointer finger. "You. You get an F. If you were rubbin' and kissin', I wasn't feelin' it.", she remarked in a slightly sassy tone.
"So, what's that average to? A 'D+'? A 'C-'?"
"Wait!", Dev intervened.
Both Kourtney and Des stared at him. Kourtney looked at him with contempt, Des with exhaustion and shame.
"He rubbed your feet yesterday too.", he stated in his brother's defense.
"Correction: he rubbed my left foot yesterday.", Kourtney replied in a sarcastic, contemptuous tone, "he still owns one to my right foot."
"I know…but…"
"But nothing.", she said as she shrugged, "Now, about you."
With that, she reached for Dev, and pinched him between her thumb and pointer. She lifted him up to her nostrils and took a deep whiff. Dev grasped her thumbprint and held on tightly, trying to avoid the seemingly bottomless vacuum that was Kourtney’s nose. Some of her foot stench still lingered on his skin and in his clothes. She yanked her head back, her mouth twisting with disgust. "You definitely need a shower.", she remarked. As Dev looked down, he suddenly felt her fingers drawing closer to her pink lips. Each of the monumental, rosy pink lips were as thick as he was tall. Tears flooded his eyes. He struggled as hard as he could, and screamed, "PLEASE DON'T EAT ME!" She pushed her lips up against his body with a force that was both hard and gentle at the same time. Like the downpour of a recent storm, her saliva soaked and drenched him, leaking into every last one of his crevices. The softness of her lips caressed every inch of his body. The smuckering sound pierced his eardrums, and afterwards, he saw that her lips formed a smile. He looked up at her eyes, and saw that one of them winked at him.
"Alright…", she said, placing Dev and Des into her left palm while she used her right hand to put her sneaker back on, "I think we've wasted enough time. Time to introduce y'all to the coach."
Dev stood with his mouth agape. He then turned to his brother slowly. Des, who had previously looked worn and tired from the trip here, now exhibited a look of glee and joy. He gleamed a deviant smile towards his brother. "Shut up.", Dev murmured.
"Don't say anything.", Des chuckled.
They felt the sudden gravitational shift as her colossal body stood up. Even from the perspective from her hand, Kourtney still vastly towered over the young men. The familiar booms returned as she made her way to the gym's entrance. Dev couldn't help but stare up at her. Her dark mocha skin contrasted the radiant sunlight perfectly. Her long, fizzy black hair fell from side to side in a motion that was almost hypnotic. Each time her eyes wandered down to the contents of her hands, they twinkled as she saw him. Her bright smile, which had only an hour ago signified doom, now signified something entirely different to him.
As Kourtney opened the door, she couldn't stop thinking about how lucky she was today; throughout her life, she had trodden over many tinies. However, never before, had one shown as much…exuberance under her feet as Dev did. Dev may not have known it right now, she thought, but he was now hers.