The voice disappeared again, and for a few more precious minutes, David remained in paralyzed stasis. The scent of sock cotton and tea soap were his primary senses, with little else besides darkness to occupy him. He could ride this out, he decided. Only then did he feel the change coming on.

            Heat. All around. Oppressive, overbearing, like that which was felt by pressing one’s cheek to hard-packed beach sand under direct sunlight. Even amongst the crushing, unforgiving weight of Nina’s socked foot, David was not primarily concerned with the physical force any longer. He was practically numb to it. As had been true previously, his focus was placed squarely elsewhere now. Specifically, the smell.

            And boy, did it smell.

            Ariel’s heat spell was working splendidly. Nina’s flesh through the thin sock cotton was turning balmier by the second, as if the ecosystem inside her shoe had abruptly been transported to the climate of the amazon rainforest. Already, a thin strip of dampness was forming in a line down her instep. David couldn’t help but wince internally at the salty addition to his world.

            “What the heck?” Nina muttered to herself as she stood in the back office of the store. She shifted her weight from one foot to the other, squinting at the floor. “I’ve only been here like an hour. Did I stand over the vent or something? God, what’s the thermostat say right now?”

            It didn’t take long for Ariel’s spell to take fuller effect with exponential speed. That one strip of slight dampness in the sock quickly spread out across the sloped arch of Nina’s foot. From there, the moisture grew thicker, sponging heavily in the thin cotton layer. It was only a matter of time before David found himself marinating under the thudding mass of the sweat-logged sock and, of course, Nina’s hot, humid foot above.

            The heat and reeking sudor of her peds was only ramping up by the minute. Briefly, Nina considered stripping away her shoes, until she began to tug the footwear off, only to be hit by the instant, rancid aroma of her poor feet. She gagged and shoved her foot right back inside, slamming David anew and unknown back into the insole. Gross as it was, she couldn’t risk turning all her coworkers off with this newfound foot odor issue.

            Could it be the new insoles, she wondered? Surely not. David wouldn’t purposefully give her a problem like this as a gag, would he?

            Meanwhile, David was floating somewhere between consciousness and unconsciousness. The air was completely rotten, dense with the concentrated, brackish flavors of Nina’s foot. Nothing he’d ever smelled in his life compared to this torment. If he was capable of passing out, he was almost sure he would’ve been knocked cold by the odor, but somehow, Ariel’s magic managed to keep him trapped in the waking hell of this day. It was almost impossible to believe this very same giant dark-haired girl above him just last night had truthfully commented on how her soles tended never to sweat or smell. What a sad irony that was now.

            The shoe was turning into a swamp. Miniscule pools of sweat were beginning to form and soak into David’s body. He could actually experience the stinging salt of her foot juices seeping through his body. Not to mention the ever-present wallop of vile, reeking, warm flesh cooked by sock fabric and magic words. It sunk so deeply into him, half his “body” weight now consisted of Nina’s sweat.

            The smell reminded David of every pungent, fancy, aged cheese he’d ever tasted, mashed together in one place and then drowned in steaming vinegar. Worse, given his new sensory perception, it not only felt like he was smelling this horrid concoction at every instant, but tasting it as well. And unfortunately, inhuman insoles didn’t have gag reflexes or throats, which meant David was forced to endure the sensation of running his invisible tongue hard along Nina’s sole without ceasing, constantly swallowing her sour sweat through his porous body by the bitter mouthful.

            Liquid sloshed in long, tortuous droplets from one end of the woman’s instep to the other, audibly squishing continuously every time she took a step. It sounded like she’d stepped in thick mud, albeit simply by moving her shoes about. Nina turned as pink in the cheeks as Ariel had been the night before. She only hoped no coworkers could hear it.

            David had almost no room left in his brain to hate that redheaded bitch who’d caused all this. All he had now was Nina and her titanic, offensively sweaty foot in the ever-rising temperature of what was fast turning into a literal hellfire pit.

            There was no doubt about it any longer. This was not only the most disgusting, but the purest sensation David had experienced in his entire life. All his other senses, save for smell and taste, had fallen dumb: bowled over by the sheer, unstoppable might of Nina’s musty, pestilential feet flavored of the grainiest salt and earthiest skin. The distilled, molecular essence of the woman’s feet and their wretched odor was being transmitted directly into his brain now on a mainline. There was nothing except David, the giant foot crushing his body into dark oblivion, and its wet, mangy, horrendous taste.

            “How’s it hanging, loser?” Ariel’s voice appeared again in David’s head. “Getting your fill of stink?”

            “A-Ar… Ariellll…” David managed to form words in thought, but hardly had the strength of will or energy now to really scream at his sister like she deserved.

            “Ha! I guess that answers that question. Maybe now you’ll have a better frame of reference for when I’m around. My feet are nothing compared to your best friend’s, huh?” Ariel teased. “Got anything to say for yourself now, “little” brother? Any more funny comments to make me laugh?”

            “F… F-Fuck y…” David attempted.

            “Ooh, aren’t you so clever!” Ariel laughed. “Seriously, you must’ve spent all day down there thinking of that one. Have fun drinking up Nina’s nasty sweat and gunk for the rest of your nasty life!”

            “Mmmff! ARIEL!”

            “Hey, he speaks! Nah, I’m just kidding, David. We’ll have some more fun with you before the day’s over. I’m at Nina’s house now, just waiting for the pair of you to get back for a new game,” Ariel said sweetly. “So I guess I’ll see you and your bitchy friend again soon!”

            David screamed out in the void, threatening his sister to leave Nina alone, but there was no further answer. He was abandoned yet again in oblivious torment beneath his best friend.

            Nina twiddled her thumbs in the office, watching the clock now with anxious intent. It was almost time for her shift to end, and then she could head home for a nice, relaxing shower to cool off her unfortunate feet. As soon as the minute hand hit the top of the hour, she clocked out and bustled quickly for the street. She decided to take the bus home this time, considering how relentlessly sweaty and hot she’d apparently gotten from the walk to work, which was the only real explanation she could come up with for the gross phenomenon.

            The curvy, dark-haired beauty returned home to find her door already unlocked. Cautiously, she stepped inside, placing most of her body weight upon one foot in particular. She could feel the sweat collecting in thick, syrupy pools around the crevices between her toes. The entire insole slurped loudly with the sound of wet suction.

            “Ugh, so not cool!” Nina complained as she peered into her apartment. However, she wasn’t left to fear for long, because she quickly spied Ariel, of all people, seated comfortably on the nearby couch, with her legs crossed and her fingers twirling coquettishly in her red hair.