Trading Post

Nothing ATM. I wore a Threaded Armor to bed, gave it a mild soaking. May repeat this morning since I get access to the big machines for laundry.

It seemed like there was another brand that my cousin and I tried back in the late 90's. I see that at Albertsons and King Soopers too.     Illicit (Breaking Bad)

39. Little Games “Okay, your turn to run,” Gabby grinned, and Tess couldn’t help waiting for the other shoe to drop. She knew there was going to be something, but she had no idea what it was going to be. “You won’t catch me!” Tess boasted, but she wasn’t quite small enough to believe that. It was the chase that was the important part. “Oh I will. ‘Cause you’re four now, and you’re not good at walking. Whenever you try running you forget what way you’re going and go like at random until you fall down.” Tess blushed as she realised she was getting littler again. This was way more than she ever wanted, but it was still a good feeling when she couldn’t fight against what her cousin said. She didn’t want to be a baby, but she wanted to experiment and find out how far her brain could be pushed, so she would keep on playing for now. She ran away again, and did her very best to keep moving faster. She stumbled a little, and looked down to watch where her feet were going. She was sure it hadn’t been this hard before. But when she looked at her feet, she wasn’t going to fall down again. She could get farther from Gabby, and soon she would be near the elm tree, so she could run around the back of it and come back to the other side of the garden before Gabby could turn around. It would have been a good plan, but when she looked up she was nowhere near the tree. She was outside the kitchen window, on the paved half of the garden again. And Gabby was coming towards her, really fast. Tess gasped and turned back towards the trees in the far corner, but then her feet shot out from under her, all her breath escaped. She was still trying to get to her feet, a bit unsteady, when Gabby grabbed her and pushed her onto the wooden bench seat. Less messy than the grass, but Tess knew she wasn’t going to escape a lot of tickling. * * * Tess managed to get her breath back, and picked herself up off the ground. Gabby’s hand actually reached out to help her this time, and when she looked up to see what had changed, she noticed Ffrances standing there with a couple of drinks on a tray. Tess had lost count of the number of times Gabby had caught her now, and the other way around. She kept on thinking, each time, that if she caught her cousin one more time then she would have won. But then Gabby would want a turn too, and it wouldn’t have been fair to stop her. The garden was warmer than it had been for most of the last month, but she still appreciated a glass of hot, sweet tea. It was their second refreshment break, but she found herself chugging down the drink as fast as she could so that they could get back to playing. “Do you girls want to keep on playing out here?” Ffrances asked. “I’m going to put dinner on soon, so you can come inside and watch Shaaark! on TV if you prefer.” “It’s a little bit cold,” Tess mumbled. “But I want to win.” “How about one more chance for you to beat me,” Gabby said with a smile, putting her drink back on Ffrances’s tray. “Best out of five?” Tess nodded, and Ffrances grinned at them as she gathered up the tray again. “Okay, you chase each other a few more times. I’ll make dinner and then bring it out to you, we can eat on the deck here, and watch the sunset. Sound good?” “Yeah,” the girls both answered at once. Despite all the rivalry of the game, they were the best of friends now. “And Tess? You’re not allowed to be mean to Gabby. Remember that she’s younger than you now.” “I know,” Tess said, thinking about what Ffrances had said before. She saw a little scowl from her cousin, and knew that Gabby was more likely to be the one doing something mean. But all the things she’d tried so far had turned out kind of fun, so Tess didn’t think she needed to stop the game yet. But the next time Gabby made her clumsier, or smaller, she would tell her that it had to be the last. They raced off around the garden again, stumbling and falling. Ffrances watched for a couple of minutes before she was satisfied that they were both having fun. And then she went back inside the house. Tess was chasing Gabby this time, and she caught her soon enough. She tickled the back of her knees this time, just enough to make Gabby acknowledge that she had been caught, and then it was her turn. “I bet I’ll catch you straight away,” she said with a wicked grin. “You’re too little to run. You’re three now, and you need to hold onto something when you walk. You can only manage two or three steps without falling over if you don’t want to crawl.” “Fine,” Tess laughed and stuck her tongue out for a moment. “But I olny… only did this cause you want to be a little girl, you got to not keep making me littler. I want you to have fun but I’m not gonna be a baby. No more littler, okay?” She didn’t try to say anything else, but turned around and ran before Gabby could launch herself after her. She tumbled to her knees right away, but she was expecting it and shuffled along on her elbows before pushing herself back up and lurching a few more unsteady steps. Gabby barely moved to start with, laughing because she was so sure she had won. It was only when she got over the laughter and tried to actually give chase that she realised she couldn’t run either. They were both in the same boat, with the same handicap pulling them back, but it was easy for Tess to get away because she accepted that she couldn’t run, and was willing to use her few precious steps to jump across the thorns in the middle of the flower bed before she was back to crawling for a moment, and similar tricks. It was nearly ten minutes before she realised that this wasn’t as much fun anymore, and allowed herself to slow down enough that Gabby could catch her. She still found herself shrieking involuntarily as her cousin tickled her, but she at least knew that she was definitely winning now. She had let Gabby win, so she was still in the lead in her own mind. The tickle torture seemed to go on forever, and Tess didn’t know how long it had really been. But soon enough Gabby let her up, and said something mean about how she was really bad at this game. Tess knew that was silly, but she still pouted a bit. Now it was hard not to be upset whenever she heard her cousin say something that wasn’t nice. Maybe that was what happened when you were little; another reason she didn’t want to try it again. She was angry, even though she knew it was silly to be angry about, and she was sure that she was going to win this time. She wouldn’t give Gabby a chance. It turned out that chasing like this was harder than running away. It took her a long time to catch up with Gabby, and when she did it was by standing still for a second, holding onto one of the bigger trees to keep her balance, and then launching herself forward as fast as she could when she saw there was nothing in between them. She grabbed for Gabby’s foot, and managed to land both of them on the edge of the flower bed. There was almost no spot on their clothes that wasn’t muddy now, but somehow that didn’t bother Tess like it normally would have, and Gabby didn’t seem to care either. Gabby’s turn took almost as long as the last. Catching up with each other was getting tough now, and Tess wondered how long it would be before dinner was ready. “Now, Gabby!” Ffrances’s voice interrupted just as Tess was trying to position her hands to protect her most ticklish spots. “I saw a minute ago that Tess was being nice to you. She wasn’t tormenting you once you knew you were caught, so maybe you can try being nicer.” “I am! She tickled me lots already. It’s fair.” Ffrances didn’t take her word for it. She tried to clean the dirt off both of their faces again, but Gabby refused and was too eager to start running. So Ffrances took Tess down to the side of the house and made an effort to clean her up, as well as asking if she was really okay. “I’m too little,” Tess answered, blushing a little. “Do you want to stop? You can grow up again if you want.” Tess thought for a second, and shook her head. “I promiseded Gabby,” she said. “It’s kinda fun, and I got to do this so she’s not lole… lolo… lonely! I don’t mind. But no more. I told her. No more littler now.” She was blushing again as she noticed how hard it was to remember big words, but she couldn’t help smiling as well. Knowing that she could change so much was kind of exciting, even if she was too little to think about why. And she’d always been the kind of person to laugh at her own mistakes. “Okay, so you found your limit? Like, that’s the regressed age that’s most comfortable for you? So how old are you?” Tess thought for a second. The questions were just a little bit too complex for her, and she didn’t know how to answer. But she knew her age, so after a few moments counting she held up three proud fingers. “Good girl. If Gabby tries making you any littler just call me, and I’ll help you get back. Okay? So, you’re happy to go out and play chase again?” “Umm,” Tess mumbled, and took a step towards the kitchen door. She didn’t have the words to say, especially not the big ones, but a couple of tentative questions from Ffrances revealed that she wanted to use the bathroom before continuing. Ffrances made sure that she washed her hands first, wiped her arms down, and took her shoes off before going back inside the house. It only took a few minutes, but it was enough to prove to Tess that she wouldn’t like to be a child more than once. She felt protected, but also helpless, and that was something she would never be comfortable with. She didn’t want to need help; but discovering the potential of what Ffrances could do made it worthwhile, and so she could put up with it for another half hour if it helped Gabby to fulfil her fantasies. 40. The Final Countdown Tess raced out of the house and quickly chased Gabby down. She couldn’t walk anymore, now she couldn’t hold onto the shelves and door handles the whole way like she had in the house. But they both had the same problems, and Tess didn’t mind rolling across the flower beds, at least while the changing seasons had stripped them of their colours and they were just filled with brittle stalks. She managed to tackle Gabby at the back of the garage, laughing all the time. This time, Ffrances was out in the garden, folding out what looked like some kind of blanket on the ground. Tess thought this was probably the last time she would catch her cousin today, so she decided to be just a little mean. Gabby had been having so much fun, tickling Tess more and more every time until a grown-up told them to stop. And maybe that was what Gabby wanted. Tess didn’t know. But she wanted Gabby to have fun, and to have an excuse to be mean if that was what she was hoping for. So she held Gabby down and tickled her mercilessly, under the arms and everywhere else she could think of. It didn’t take too long; she wasn’t really the kind of girl who would do that. But it lasted long enough. “You can’t win, baby,” Gabby said, trying to do her evil grin. And that just made Tess nervous, because she’d already told Gabby that this was as little as she was willing to go. “I’m not a baby,” she reminded her. She’d always said that she would put up with being a bit littler, but only a few years. Besides, she didn’t know what Gabby would try next. It seemed like the only way to make her clumsier would be to stop her moving at all, and that would take all the fun out of the game. Not knowing what Gabby was planning was a little scary, even more so than taking one more step along the same path. But it was exciting too, wondering if there was anything Gabby could have planned other than making her smaller. “Yes you are! Tess! You’re two now, and you’re just a little baby. You can’t hold it when you need to potty.” “That’s not fair, you’re being mean,” Tess answered and turned towards where Ffrances was preparing for dinner. She thought for a second, and realised that the magic words really could do that. She tried to feel if she needed to make tinkles, and she couldn’t tell at all. It was completely numb, and the only reason she knew she was safe was that she’d only gone to the potty a few minutes before. She stumbled again, she still couldn’t walk, but she called out towards Ffrances. “Auntie Ffrances!” she yelled, and amusement from noticing herself talking like a little kid tempered her annoyance just a little. It was still funny that she was calling Ffrances ‘Auntie’ without thinking, even if she was desperate to grow up again before that last instruction made a difference. “She said I’m two! That’s not nice!” She still felt bad for calling a grown up, but she knew that she had warned Gabby before, so it wasn’t really unfair to do that. Still, her guilt wanted her to say sorry. And then she saw that Gabby was kneeling on the grass, where she’d fallen over too, and had a big damp patch on her jeans, slowly growing. She looked like she was about to cry, just like a real toddler. When Ffrances came running over, Tess did her best to explain what had happened. But the adult could work it out on her own quickly enough. “It looks like somebody had an accident,” she said, wagging her finger in Gabby’s face. This was what a grown-up looked like when she was really serious, and it was clear that Ffrances wasn’t going to tolerate any more messing about. Even while she tried to soften the blow, teasing about putting the girl back in diapers. But Gabby, it seemed, was far too young to get the point. “I didn’t!” she protested, almost yelling despite how close Ffrances was. She started making fanciful denials, claiming that it was Tess’s fault for tickling her until she wet herself. Tess felt bad even though she knew that wasn’t true. And the more Gabby said, the wilder it got. Tess was bullying her, she was being mean because she was older, and this was all her fault. She sounded so desperate that it would have been easy to sympathise, and to believe her. But Ffrances just stepped a little closer, repeated her question, and demanded that Gabby tell the truth. And she did. She said that she’d wet herself because she was too little to hold it, and admitted that she needed to be put in diapers like a little baby. She was blushing crimson by that point, probably even more embarrassed than Tess had been about wetting her bed over the last couple of months. And Tess could imagine why; Gabby had said she wanted to be little again, but she hadn’t said how little. Could this be what she had wanted all along, and she was finally saying what she’d thought she had to keep to herself? But Gabby wasn’t quite done yet. She acted like she was still trying to defend herself, and insisted that Tess should be in diapers too. She didn’t even try to deny that it was her fault, just admitted telling Tess that she wouldn’t be able to hold it. “Tess, is this true?” Ffrances asked, and waited for the faintest hint of a nod before she continued. “She told you to be younger and wet yourself, after you’d already said you didn’t want to be any littler? Yes? Well, I don’t think that’s very fair. In the circumstances, I think I’m going to keep her in diapers until bedtime, to make sure she understands what she’s talking about, and how it feels. Do you think that’s fair? Good. Now, I know you didn’t ask for this, but you’re in this situation now. You probably have some idea of whether or not her words will affect you as strongly as she hoped. Things like that can vary, and might not work if you can’t imagine it well. But I feel like I should ask, would you like to go through a little humiliation with your baby sister? For solidarity, if you want to think of it that way, or so that you can know how it feels to be so completely helpless?” Tess was starting to shake her head, but hesitated. She didn’t want to be a baby, that had always been a nightmare for her. But at the same time, she couldn’t help wondering how it would feel to have so much of her control taken away. It was still breathtaking to realise just how much hypnosis could do. But she could surely discover that some other time. When Ffrances had an idea that wasn’t so gross and needed a volunteer; or if Tess could think of something she could ask to be made to do. “Not now,” she mumbled, and finished shaking her head. “Okay Tess, you’re seven again, and Gabby is your baby sister. You’re still carefree and excitable, but you no longer have trouble doing the things that Gabby took away as you got younger, and you feel proud every time you do something by yourself.” Tess nodded and smiled, feeling all her confidence coming back. It was still younger than she was happy being, but perhaps it was a good compromise between the hypnosis she was so eager to learn more about, and the littleness that she wanted to avoid. But then she saw Gabby again, sobbing to herself, and felt guilty. Tess felt like she’d interrupted something that Gabby really wanted, and that seemed selfish. “And you, Gabby?” Ffrances continued. “You’re one and a half years old. You can’t stand up without help. You can’t hold something without dropping it.” And as she continued listing things Gabby couldn’t do, Tess felt a wave of relief. Even if she was too embarrassed to ask, after her performance this afternoon it was pretty clear what Gabby wanted; and she would get it anyway.

I parade around upstairs in just nappy and plastic pants every morning, without a worry. Morning changing goes on in the spare bedroom, but only because our bed's still full of my wife. I think our lack of concern about this sort of thing goes back to my accident - after I came home from hospital she had to change and dress me for a while before I was well enough to do it myself. In bed I'm in a onesie over my nappy - usually an Australian Wonsie onesie in fact.

A fresh Huggies overnight for bed.