Frostwyrm

english grammar is mostly vibes based anyway. Took me forever to not capitalize every noun. lmao. And yeah, I feel like if you're at that point in a relationship, you've gotten into groove pretty well. It's certainly an ideal for a Little to have someone that puts on some cartoons while they take nap.

insert joke about german being superior anyway I get what you mean though, and I do feel its possible to have that if all parties involved are okay with it. I just feel like consent is king, y'know.

While not in a relationship, I can see it work like that. Though, if we're being realistic, it would probably work within boundaries set by both parties, right? Otherwise we're just talking abusive behaviour. It's a fine line to tow either way.

Thank you! I originally figured I'd have them meet only at his home, but this seemed like a way more fun scenario to explore.

And the next chapter! I'm currently on vacation and am hoping to churn out just enough to get the story truly rolling. It will probably slow down quite a bit when I get back to work, but the plan is to make it not that long anyways. Now, on to our deuteragonist! Chapter 2 Finlay Arriving! Marcia had been nothing but thankful over the phone. She’d apologized a thousand times over, and told Finlay that she owed her. She owed her big time, even. Not of a single person would she have expected what Finlay did. Now, the trouble was that all that didn’t help and Finlay still didn’t know why she’d taken the fall for the prank. She wasn’t a model student by all means, and her record was far from spotless. Finlay didn’t like most teachers at her school. Mrs. Hopp was cool, Mr. Winters was, for lack of better word, chill; and the new biology teacher had been, quite frankly, hot. And that was all the good she could say about the personnel hired by that fat lard of a headmaster. Most teachers didn’t like her either, as was now confirmed that she got the suspension. Effective immediately. No chance of return. Most people got like three strikes or something, Marcia certainly had. But Marcia had a strange charm about her. No matter what stupid shit she pulled, people would forgive her. It had gotten to the point where Marcia had expressed doubts about her own placement on the alignment chart. “No good person gets forgiven and goes back to doing the same shit again and again. Right, Finlay?” Had been the question in the room. Finlay’s agreement with Marcia’s assessment was of no concern to anyone. Because, as easily as Marcia could be forgiven, Finlay could not. By existing near Marcia she was corrupting the star of their school. It didn’t matter how good she did, didn’t matter how hard she tried to play ball. Someone close to her messed up? Everyone else immediately thought she played a role or was the reason. To some extent, that was the truth, but it had never been all her idea. And so it was with Marcia’s crowning achievement of stupidity that Finlay got an indefinite suspension. By all rights, their roles should’ve been reversed, but as Marcia wondered whether she was a good person, Finlay knew for sure she wasn’t one. And that made doing the right thing way easier. However, being the sole perpetrator of the world’s stupidest prank meant that her family was also mad at her, hence them sending her off to another town, in another part of the country, to “figure herself out”. When her mother had come up with the idea she’d wondered if it was going to be like a military academy to straighten her out, or maybe she would be sent to a ranch with horses and taking care of the animals would redeem herself. She could even ride one in a tournament and fall in love with a hot stable boy. Alas, her mother had come up with something far less profound and fantastical instead. An uncle. Her late father’s brother, whom she had never met, but got told how hard of a worker he was, how he’d isolated himself from the rest of the family because of that. Her father had only ever mentioned him if he wanted to inspire his kids to work hard. Of course, said uncle hadn’t come to her father’s funeral, so she was in no particular mood to meet him. Yet the trouble at home meant she couldn’t stay there either. Her mother wanted her gone and it was either this or her mother would “straighten you out myself”, as she’d put it. Finlay was not in a mood to figure out what that could mean, to nobody’s surprise. So, with her mother setting everything up, Finlay took off from her home. “I’m so sorry. We can’t let this happen! Finn, I’m gonna tell them,” Marcia had pleaded over the phone. “You’re not. We talked about this. Just... get your house in order, Marci, you know what the teachers say... You got a bright future ahead of you.” She felt cool telling her friend something like that. In fact, Finlay felt like she was the coolest and smartest person on this planet. Marcia, having a very different opinion, just called her a stupid fuck and thanked her again. And that was how Finlay Jennifer Arley-Mars ended up on the ride of her life! Except it hadn’t been all that exciting. Between the plane flight and the following train ride, it had been, in fact, insanely boring. Now, of course, her uncle still lived in a city with no airport and, bless the infrastructure, the only trains coming in and out being of a freight variety. So this surprisingly spontaneous odyssey came to a rather abrupt end in a whole other city. Or rather, would have. Her mother had done the work of telling her where her uncle lived, and told her to get a taxi for the final stretch. “You got your babysitting savings, just spent those. It’s high time you learned to handle your own affairs anyway,” her mother had said, which was very helpful indeed. Except, of course, it wasn’t. Just as her mother had taken a percentage share of her well earned money as “rent” every single time she’d gone out to take care of the kids in their block, she pawned her daughter with nary a thought given on how the journey might turn out. There was a word for a mother like Finlay’s, and the longer she spent on her ride to nowhere, the closer she got to accepting that it would be appropriate. Saying out loud, in the middle of the trainride, was a whole new stage of teenage rebellion previously undreamed. “What a bad mother...” Though she did find herself lucky enough that her seat neighbour overheard her. A girl about her age, with blonde hair and bright blue eyes. Her teeth ever slightly crooked, though she did her best to hide that fact by keeping her mouth as closed as humanly possible during any interactions they had, and when she didn’t manage, she subtly tried to cover it with her left hand. The girl, Susan, apparently was visiting an old school friend of hers. “We used to be the thickest thieves in elementary, but I had to move states. Sucks, but I searched his name and wouldn’t ya know it, found his entire social media array! We hit right off, as if it hadn’t been 8 years. Heaven we were so small...” Susan was a nice girl, but she’d severely underestimated the cost of the trip as well so they had to put their money together and share the ride to this foreign northern town. “I’ve never seen this much snow...” Finlay muttered to herself as the car took to a narrow road, hugging a cliff to one side and overlooking a pine forest, painted white, like frosting on a cake, on the other. “It gets really bad in winter, apparently. Some of the smaller towns get completely isolated,” Susan explained with a grin on her face. Susan liked murder mysteries in closed rooms, happening isolated from society. It was the sort of excitement a white girl from the suburbs craved more than anything else, or so she said. At some point, Susan ran out of things to talk about or gush over, so, inadvertently, the topic came back to her uncle. “Did you ever meet him?” “Nah, my mom said we should... reconnect? It’d be healthy and I get to be away for a bit. It’s a win win, honestly.” Finlay had no interest in sharing the actual reason with Susan. “Is he a good guy?” This was a question Finlay didn’t like. “I... don’t know. I know he apparently works a lot, and he never bothered to come to my dad’s funeral, or talk to us before that. My dad tried to stay connected, but phone or e-mail or letter all stayed unanswered. I know he called my mom, but only to tell her not to involve him with the funeral. At least that’s what she told me.” She found herself sighing. “I think mom just wanted to get rid of me. I don’t know, I’m sixteen, I’m barely around anyway, but she’s just...” Trailing off, she found herself staring at the forests. “Parents can suck so hard sometimes...” Susan observed with the keen eyes of a metaphorical eagle. As far as ugly truths were concerned, she was right about that one. “But, you didn’t talk to him about this trip?” “Mom arranged everything, she said. Just gave me his address, paid for... almost the entire trip and sent me off.” Susan’s brows furrowed. “Your mom sounds irresponsible.” Finlay shrugged. Her mother was her mother, she barely cared to put the work in. While never calling Finlay unwanted or something, the girl sure never got any appreciation out of her mother. “Honestly, I’m gonna make it work regardless... I’m not gonna be a prisoner to this... snowy prison, I guess.” Susan laughed, maybe at Finlay’s lofty goals, maybe just to lighten the mood. “Oh, you’ll be in a bright spot. I’ll give you my number and then maybe we can meet up later. So you’re not entirely alone in the scary new city in this snow white county.” A nice enough gesture that led to Susan Halloway being added to Finlay’s friend list and vice versa. A first friend in the new world, so to speak, and Finlay felt like she was off to a good start. The hometown of her uncle was known as Winter Falls, an apt name for a city where even the buildings seemed to huddle together against the cold, at least towards the center. Most of the city was just sprawl, houses upon houses, stroads upon stroads. The taxi drove them to the city’s beating heart, where several office buildings rose up, surrounded by many smaller houses. Here, it looked almost like a far bigger, far more important city than it was. She hadn’t even heard of Winter Falls before her mother had brought it up though. She wondered what she would end up doing here. Probably get a job at McDonalds or at a restaurant and have her uncle pester her about everything. She assumed him to be one of those cold hearted businessmen whose office everyone avoided, but they had the reputation to “get the job done”, whatever that job entailed. He wouldn’t bother enrolling her in a local high school, since she so spectacularly ended her career on that front anyway. There weren’t even pictures of her uncle save for some of his childhood. And what she’d seen when going through her father’s phone some time after his death had been that her uncle had always been very intent on dressing super mature, wearing suit and tie even before he hit puberty. Which made her feel a bit weird about meeting him now that he was an adult. With her baggy jeans and large sweaters, she’d never really bothered that hard with her looks. Just enough that people wouldn’t think she was some sort of unhygienic idiot like some of the guys from her old school. Or Stacy Hinkle. Avoiding deodorant because the chemicals altered your DNA was such a stupid thing to believe... Nevertheless, Finlay doubted she would hold up to the standards of a guy like that. He sounded so different from her father. Her father, the only good parent she’d ever known, had been the cool kind of dad that had supported her basketball career, even becoming a fan of her school’s team. He’d talked about the stuff that interested her, laughed at her jokes and made her feel like she was worth something. He even made her mom tolerable to be around. Everyone had always said that. A dad like that can only have a brother that’s just as cool, or super lame and stuck up. Everything she had heard, sadly, pointed to the latter. Leaving the taxi and stepping into the cold, she felt the cold bite into her with its icy teeth. Even with the sun out, the light breeze was enough to blow any hint of warmth away. Should I have come here? she wondered, despite knowing it to be futile. Finlay never had a chance. “Remember to call me,” Susan spoke out as they made their way out into the city, there they found a young man waiting for Susan. They hugged and laughed and told each other some nonsense that made them both smile. “This is Daryl, we’ve been in cahoots since diapers!” Susan proclaimed, the pale boy turning towards Finlay. He tried to stand up straight, smile, even opened his mouth to say something. But his voice failed him. He looked far more confident than he was, Finlay figured. . So the breaking of the ice was an honor that belonged to her. “Hey. I’m Finlay, you can call me Finn though. Most of my friends call me that.” “Finn? Isn’t that a boy’s name?” He asked, tilting his head slightly. Finlay shrugged. “Yeah, my parents just kinda went for Finlay because they liked it and Lay is a terrible nickname.” It being more of a boy’s name never bothered her, and why should it, she liked the name. Daryl gave an understanding nod. “Yeah, Finn does sound better than that.” They parted soon after, with Daryl taking Susan to his place, talking about his new video game console and she wondering if he still sucked as badly at ego shooters as he did back in the day. If nothing else, maybe Finlay could also get to play with them in the days to come. That’d be a nice change of pace, even if she had never touched a video game console in her entire life. Maybe, just maybe this city would be a new start. With none of that bad luck, none of the people around her looking at her queerly. Even as the cold bit into her, with her jacket and gloves barely doing the job she had bought them for. Which left her stranded in the city. The sun was hours off from setting and the people around her started to get a move on as the first waves ended their work shifts, bringing life where none existed previously. Thanks to having split the taxi cost, she had some leftover coin to spend before moving to her uncle’s place. Arriving at the new city, she was sure to help the economy by throwing tens of bucks into it. Maybe they would even name a street after her? Gathering her belongings, the backpack, with her favorite plush toy peeking out and her lucky basketball hanging off the side, and the large trolley case holding all that remained of her old life. Stickers from a variety of cities were plastered across it, all from games her team had played and mostly won. The path into the city was not very friendly to pedestrians. They were so narrow and the constant traffic by their side made everything feel so hectic. Quite a few people gave her angry stares as they walked by, annoyed at her traveling gear. She decided to look online for a place to go shopping, and found one near a big clinic. An old mall. A relic of commercialism in a bygone age, Finlay had to admit that the only ones she knew were now like abandoned temples at the heart of the city, built to worship gods everyone had but forgotten. This sounded more profound than saying that the two old malls in her hometown had been repurposed by local kids and teens to do as much vandalism as humanly possible without much intervention from the local police. So, getting off the bus, she had to take in the size of this chapel of capitalism first. The Winter Falls Mall, as it proudly proclaimed itself to be on it in a font that used way too many stars to be aesthetically pleasing, was a behemoth. It looked like the place where it had been built had once been a park, all green with forests and lakes and just pleasing to be in, now shaved away. A massive parking lot sprawled out in front, with people having to walk through the traffic of cars parking and leaving in a manner that looked almost unregulated and chaotic. Her first thought was to wonder what the police statistics of this place must look like. The building itself stretched itself out. Labels were plastered all over it, presenting with great pride such elevated labels as Starbucks, Adidas. They even had a McDonalds, the absolute madlads. Sarcasm aside, Finlay found some shop labels being of interest to her so she made her way to experience her first ever not-dead mall. Readying her phone, she took some pictures on the way, hoping to upload them to her social media later. Oh these suckers back home thinking she’d end up in a backwater, they would bask in the glory of her walking across a parking lot for several minutes, the cowards! The fools! From the inside, the actual thing was kind of impressive, with all the tiny shops so close together, fighting over the little space they got in this gargantuan structure. Be it clothes or foods or hobby stuff, one was spoiled for choice, which only lead to her being able to sigh. Her budget restricted her to window shopping only. At least, if she had some friends, they could’ve done something with what was offered without spending a dime. But here she was, on her own, growing hotter every minute she spent inside as her jacket was neither designed for temperatures as cold as the outside nor as warm as the inside. Stuck between the worst of both worlds, she opted to go without a jacket and relax a bit as she hopped from shop to shop. Looking at all the things she would buy if only she had the money wasn’t all a bust, she could come back in a few months time. Maybe she’d find some employer who’d take in a high school drop out and do something with her wage that wasn’t paying rent to uncle. Maybe he didn’t even want rent, if she was lucky enough. It took her another hour of just wandering around before she finally decided to buy herself something. A cappuccino to warm her soul and rouse the spirits before she finally could make off to her uncle’s place. Her choice of place to settle down ended up a little park they’d set up underneath a glass dome, or maybe it was a remnant of a larger park? Would make sense, this entire place just had the right vibe for that. There were a few people there, sitting by an artificial lake with a little fountain shooting water as high as the third floor at the center. Here, she enjoyed her caffeine and wondered once more what exactly the plan was. Why couldn’t it have been a horse ranch? Maybe with a rich boy who’d tease her and they’d develop a rivalry that would turn into a blossoming love story for the ages? Would that have been too much to ask? Finlay sighed and took a sip, taking in the people around her. There was an elderly couple sitting on a bench opposite to her, looking right at the fountain, they giggled and held hands as shy as if they were on their first date. A mother with grey strands in her shaggy hair looked on tiredly as her little boy explained to her how he got to sit in a firetruck today, only for her to respond: “I was there, baby. You don’t need to... here we go again...” A group of tweens enjoyed colorful shakes closeby, idly talking about some people at their school they liked or didn’t like or maybe both? And lastly, the person closest to her. Wearing the cutest little snowsuit with a little fox on the chest, sitting in glittering snow and smiling so cutely, this little girl stood out mostly for looking so adorable and tiny, though she must be pretty young, way too young to be alone on her own even. Maybe she belonged to the mother? Maybe she was the grandchild of the old couple? Either way, she was looking at the mall with as neutral an expression as one could have, though she managed to make looking bored exceedingly adorable. Moments passed, before the babysitter in Finlay decided to speak up, moving a bit closer to the little girl. “Hey,” she intoned and after a second, the little girl’s eyes met her own. What bright and innocent eyes, they kinda reminded her of her father’s in a way. “...hey?” the little one answered hesitantly. “I’m Finlay, I kinda noticed you’re kinda on your lonesome here.” The little girl looked at her curiously for another moment, without saying anything. Her eyes started darting around, as if to look for her parents. Finlay answered that uncertainty with a smile. “I saw they had a proper playground on the other side of the mall,” Finlay started again, hoping to get her attention. “...And what’s it to you?” the girl asked, eyes narrowing. Oh, a feisty one, Finlay figured, maintaining her composure. “I’m seeing a little girl all on her own in a big, scary mall. I’m a bit worried. You shouldn’t be out alone, you know?” The cute tyke somehow managed to narrow her eyes further. Stranger Danger in full action, Finlay reckoned. Which was fine and maybe even good, the world wasn’t kind to children. And a place like this probably even less so. “... I’m Harper,” the little one said after a second. “And I can look after myself, thank you very much.” “Harper, huh?” That made Finlay smile. Her uncle shared his name with such an adorable, if cautious, angel. “And I’m supposed to take that you came to the mall all on your own then?” “Exactly.” This was the height of irony, Harper had to admit. Not only did this little lass share a name with her uncle, she also definitely snuck out on her own. Finlay could just see it. The little girl probably was a bit older than she looked, old enough to have the confidence to come here on her own, but not old enough to understand how risky that was. When she got home, her parents might call the cops, be super worried and all that. If Finlay was a normal human being, she’d probably make sure mall security would find her and figure out how to inform her parents. Everyone would leave having learned a lesson, most of all her parents for leaving their kid unsupervised. Finlay, decidedly, was not a normal person. In fact, she considered herself quite a bit superior to all the other girls her age. And so, she’d take this bull by the horns. And if she played it right, the parents would, by sheer chance, have found just the right babysitter for their little one while this girl would have made a new friend. It was, to be fair and humble, the perfect scheme and she came up with it almost instantly. Again, Finlay knew that she was not like other girls. “Well, if that’s the case, then how about we stick together for a bit? I’m sure two girls can have a fun day at the mall, right?” To be honest, the way little Harper narrowed her eyes as she grew suspicious was super adorable, If one were to dress her in a little detective outfit with one of those bubble pipes it would be the cutest thing. Maybe she’d get her to play dressup at some point. If only this turned out alright. And even if not, she would like the irony of taking care of this little girl named just like the tyrant she would soon find herself placed under.

It's been, like, ten million years since I last wrote a story, but recently inspiration hit from a weird space and we got this! I hope to not drag this out forever, since I got a very concise idea of where I want to go and hopefully will be able to stick to a semi-decent schedule when it comes to posting stuff. For now, enjoy the beginning of this weird little tale! NOTHING EVER HAPPENS or A Story About Ten Thousand Mishaps Chapter I Harper Arley Of course, this was happening because of the orange juice. Why Harper had thought to drink that infernal stuff instead of just ask for some tap water when the outcome was this predictable, he would not be able to explain to anyone. Of course, he loved orange juice. Couldn’t get enough of the stuff even. But in this particular situation? Terrible choice. His eyes darted to the other side of the waiting room, where a woman sat. Her hair was dyed violet and her face was done with so much makeup it looked like it was covered by a mask. Her kid, a kindergartner dressed all up in clothes displaying his favorite cartoon, was sitting at the small table in front, playing with the toys the doctor’s office kept for children. The woman, herself, her eyes remained on the magazine she’d picked up: “Lady’s Day”, it was called and she scoffed and shook her head as she went through the pages as if it was the most thought provoking read. These magazines were yellow pages, all rumor mongering and celebrity gossip, of course. But, nevertheless, with her attention so put on the pages and the little kid so engulfed in smashing his little knights against each other in bouts of what had to be the most glorious combat, Harper’s attention shifted to the door. He could go there, relatively calmly, then on the outside he’d have to move down the hallway to the headdesk, ask the assistant there for the keys to the toilet and then get to the other end and actually make it to the toilet. Even crossed, his fingers moved incessantly, twirling around each other as he figured out how to best approach the problem. If he made a dash for it, he could probably make it. But then he’d alert the woman, and he sure didn’t want to do that. The idea of her even thinking that he might have trouble making it to the toilet made him feel flushed and embarrassed. No, that wasn’t an option. So... walking over then. Or, rather, that was what he wanted to do, yet his body played him for a fool. The moment he shifted ever so slightly, a pang of pain ran through him, as his bladder ached for release. If he got up, he might not make it. So he’d have their attention on him, while having an accident. They would figure him out. So, if today of all days he had chosen to go for his usual underwear and a change of clothes, this would be the death of him. But, to his dismay, his choice to be safe and not sorry, had to pay off already. Harper inhaled, closed his eyes, leaned back a bit and then let go. The warm gush spread against the padding, which first held firmly, then grew softer as his legs squished apart, expanding. Poofing out, even. A second later, he exhaled, and opened his eyes. Her kid was still playing ,but the woman was looking at him. Her gaze was like steel, cutting through whatever social contract like a pair of scissors as her expression shifted from curious, confused, to realizing something and then quickly thinking what best to say. And Harper understood that she knew what just happened. As he looked down, the damn thing seemed so obvious. The bulge between his legs felt and even looked so vast, he could’ve done away with the pants at all and achieved the same amount of stealthiness. Of course, he’d chosen some extra baggy clothes today. A sweater that reached down to his thighs and a pair of pants that had pockets in its pockets and more pockets still. It should’ve been perfect, but now he felt his confidence dwindle. The one thing he hadn’t wanted was for anyone to figure out that he, a grown man in his mid twenties, was wearing or needing diapers. They remained in their positions just like that, with the woman eyeing him, and him trying to find anything of interest on his shoes. After what had to be two lifetimes and half an eternity, the doors to the waiting room opened. “Harper Arley,” a familiar voice came. The nurse, Mathilda, was a welcome face to see. “Alright,” he answered immediately and jumped from his seat, the height always a bit startling. He didn’t want to sit on any smaller chairs, since those were for children, but that also meant that whenever he got on or off a chair, he’d inevitably make a scene. Which was the last thing he wanted. But now the other kid stared right at him. The lad could not have been older than ten, and still, even seated, managed to look decently imposing to Harper. Standing there, knowing he wore a soggy diaper underneath his clothes made it feel all the more apparent to him. Nevertheless, he decided to trod onwards, to Mathilda. With that unflinching look and her attention on the little tablet in her hands, the nurse was well known to Harper. She’d been here at the clinic for as long as Harper could remember, had watched over him every single time he’d come here. Even now, with the child’s and the woman’s attention following him, he felt approaching her making him feel better, safer. Her expression was unchanging, so he hopefully just imagined it being this obvious. “Doctor Sprossling is sick, but Doctor Collins will see you instead. She’s fairly new, but has a good head on her shoulders,” Mathilda explained as she closed the door behind them. The clinic was a place Harper visited once every quarter. He, and as far as he knew, at least four others went to Doctor Sprossling for observation. One couldn’t call it treatment, as they were mostly here so that the doctor could ensure that they didn’t, specifically, need treatment. “And she knows?” He asked, after a bit. “Sprossling Syndrome...” Mathilda shook her head. “She knows, she knows. Wrote a paper on it, even.” They wrote papers on his condition now? As Harper waddled to keep up with the much taller nurse, he found himself curious. “Did you read it?” She giggled. “Of course, she gave me a copy... It certainly had all the details we know. Gathered in one place.” That wasn’t as helpful. All the details they knew about Sprossling Syndrome were with Harper and the other folks and kids that had grown up, were growing up and would grow up. Or whatever one might describe happening. "Now, are you well? You seem a bit nervous today.” He blushed, though the question confirmed that she, hopefully, hadn’t realized why his gait was as stiff as it was. The padding was sodden, and that thanks to him accepting the orange juice from nurse Taylor beforehand. The younger nurse had mistaken him for one of the regular kids, and he had failed to correct her... “I’m...” he started, halting himself as he thought over what to answer. His job was going well, his little apartment was nice, his life was quiet... “I’m doing fine. On the whole. Lots of stress at the job, but paper is patient. It’ll work itself out.” She nodded. “Makes sense.” Mathilda didn’t talk much. Or rather, she didn’t talk much to people who weren’t Harper. She’d held his hand when they’d first taken a blood sample and helped him change out of many a pair of pants ruined during the long wait. A children’s nurse through and through, she’d stuck out for “Sprossling Kids”. The way to the doctor’s office was colorful. The city’s children’s hospital had spent the money it earned partly thanks to him well. He remembered the hallways before the renovation, the water damage from the rain, and the faint smell of mold. All that was gone in favor of a colorful interior, cartoon images of children playing plastered on the wall and the otherwise clean hospital floors having colorful balloons painted on. The weight of the colors filled him with some sense of glee, raising his spirits as he walked towards uncertainty. From what he gathered, most adults marked the interior down as “cute”, but he felt like it had meaning, like it was something special only he truly understood. It wasn’t a feeling he could put down, but what it was, was a reason why he preferred still being a patient here despite his now advanced adult age. The office they went to wasn’t Sprossling’s. The doctor held a special place in the clinic and had their furnished their room like that of a curmudgeonly university professor, with stacks and stacks of books. It was also very close to the bathroom. The room they went to now wasn’t. Which made him hope today’s session would be short, at least. A hope which was only amplified once he stepped into Doctor Collins’ room. Unlike the antique charm of Sprossling’s office, which allowed him to at least preserve some dignity of visiting this place, this was just as colorful as the hallways. The exam table had a small set of steps leading up to it, and on the wall by it were friendly looking cartoon animals cheering for whomever was lying on it. There was a box stuffed to the brim with toys in one corner and a whole shelf with kid’s books. Mathilda showed him to the exam table. “You can sit down, doctor Collins will be with you shortly. Do you want something else to drink?” She asked. He wondered about the wisdom of that. Knowing he should decline he opened his mouth. “I’ll just get you some juice,” Mathilda said with a wink, utterly misinterpreting his thoughtful expression. He couldn’t well tell her that he didn’t want any more juice. How would that look? What would she think? So instead he gave in and sat down as she left, awaiting this new doctor and contemplating the office. At the tail end of the exam table lay the saddest looking dog plushie Harper had ever seen, one that clearly wanted to be hugged so dearly. Yet, Harper, being an adult, refused to fall for such an obvious trap. His wait was interrupted by Mathilda bringing some more orange juice in a clear glass. He’d complained about getting kid’s glasses often enough over the course of his years coming here and now that he was alone, without his parents, he was glad they still acquiesced to his whims. However, he still had more of the blasted juice that was so thoroughly responsible for his ruined underwear. Out of defiance, he drank the glass in one gulp. And, once again misinterpreting this action, he soon found himself with another glass, and then a third... and a fourth. “You are incredibly thirsty, didn’t you get anything to drink on your way here?” She chided, to which he blushed. “...I,” he stammered. There was an empty water bottle in his backpack and before that he had drank two cups of coffee with lots of milk and ate some cereal with even more milk. He sure as heck had enough to drink before. “I’m fine.” She, of course, sighed and shook her head, thinking something he refused to attempt to grasp. And with that, Mathilda left. It took another five or so minutes before another person entered, with a dark shirt underneath a pink vest with a white coat above. The name tag she wore read “Dr. Collins - Pediatrician”. The woman was shorter than Mathilda, with pronounced cheekbones and a widow’s peak adding to her black hair’s silhouette. She came in looking at a tablet herself, mumbling something before finally looking up at him. “Harper Arley, I presume?” She asked, a smile growing on her face. “You are slightly bigger than Doctor Sprossling had alluded to.” “...Do I even want to know what he “alluded”?” He asked, warily. In response, she chuckled. “Nothing to worry about, now... Mr. Arley, right?” Harper nodded. That was appropriate. “I’m going to do your checkup, but with a caveat,” she said, pulling up a chair to the exam table and sitting down on it, closing in on eye level. Regular people were so tall... She smiled. “We will only need further exams once a year. For your regular checkups, you’d best go to a local pediatrician afterwards. The data accumulated shows that Sprossling’s isn’t a dangerous disease, if an elusive one. All I can tell you is what you already know. You’re a grown man in a child’s body, and no medical procedure we attempted helped. We know that if we do nothing, you are, from a physical perspective, a healthy child, and from a mental perspective, a healthy adult. There isn’t much more we can do and personally... I advised against more therapies. And I’ll advise you the same. We’ve had you going through medications, through hormone therapy and god knows what else. Quite frankly, the last few tests showed you are better off without us interfering.” He looked at her, a bit unsure how to exactly respond. No more clinic visits? That sounded great. And he wasn’t too sad about there not being a solution. He’d really lived with this condition since everyone around him hit their growth spurts and he’d made the best of it. Built a life, with his own apartment, his own colleagues at work accepting him despite his shortcomings. So, yes, he shrugged. “I’m fine with that.” She nodded and started the examination. She checked him through, starting with his hair, mumbling something about dandruff, which had gotten worse over time. He was still looking for a shampoo to deal with that. His skin was irritated in some areas, she said. Psoriasis had been a companion for the better part of the last four years. The checkup required that she looked at everything, of course. As he pulled up his shirt, he forgot the obvious until he found her staring. While baggy, his pants were sagging quite a bit on their own, especially because he had gone without a belt. Which, of course, revealed the waistband of his undergarment, and even the upper tapes. It wasn’t even the worst. One might have expected it, but no, he’d never been good at putting the damn tapes on, nor had a sense of how much the diapers could hold. Not enough, not today at least, as the area around his crotch and on the insides of his thighs was stained dark. Growing red, he looked down, mouth open. How could he have been this stupid? Even worse, tears started to well up. And then he felt her soft touch on his shoulder. “It’s okay...” she started but didn’t say his surname like she wanted. A loud sob escaped his mouth, interrupting her. It then took her another few seconds to react as she looked him over, unsure how to best address him. How could she know, while she had her share of young patients, an adult, presented like this was sure to be different. “We’ll fix it up. Can you get out of your pants, I’ll get you something new to change into.” Walking over to the biggest cabinet, she started to talk before she rummaged through the lower drawers. “I’m sorry, you’re hardly my first patient that had an accident today, but... I didn’t hear about you needing... incontinence pants.” That word made him shudder, not as much as the other, more common phrase, but still there was a deliberateness to her choice of words that did not escape him. Flushing, he did pull down his pants. “Uh;” he started, unsure how best to address this. “I just wear them...for protection.” “I think that applies to most all people who wear,” she responded with a shrug. “I guess it makes sense, an underdeveloped bladder is very much a Sprossling symptom. Sadly, we’re not spoiled for choice of underwear for your size, but I should have something in one of the shelves under the table.” Under the table? Who kept underwear under an exam table? Harper leaned forward and found, sadly, not what he wanted to find. He’d missed, or rather wanted to miss, them priorly, the piles upon piles of diapers.He flushed, finding something akin to his size in some bedwetting pants, quickly getting down the little stairs and picking them up. “Is there somewhere I can change?” He asked, wiping his tears off. Some form of composure was all he wanted to regain. “We still need to finish the exam, just change into some new underwear and we’ll continue from there.” This was not the sort of answer he’d expected or at least hoped for, but it was her answer nonetheless and Harper was not one to argue with doctors. So, he disposed of the wet disposable as quickly as he could in the pail next to the table and pulled up his new “underwear”. It wasn’t as bad as the diaper, but in turn, should he suffer another accident, he doubted it would offer much in terms of protection. Usually, he went for thin products as well, but these sort of trainers he avoided for so many reasons, fear of leaks was just a very prevalent one. Another was the cartoons covering it. It looked so, and he hated to even think of the word, childish. Sitting in it, letting the exam go on, was something he was used to. Back when he was way younger, he used to be stuck in diapers. He used to wear them for longer than other kids, and his parents had almost given up on potty training him. He rather vividly remembered having needed them during the day well into his teenage years and for longer trips, well, he always preferred them to coming into a situation where he couldn’t hold it. The remaining tests were all very standard stuff. Blood taken, vitals checked, reflexes tested. And as always, he came out being told he was as healthy as one of his stature can be. Which, of course, didn’t help with the stature itself but confirmed why he shouldn’t come here as often anymore. “And that’s that. You can get dressed,” the good doctor told him. The imperative made him feel uncomfortable, small. At least he got to pull on the darn pants. Or tights, in this case. Dull grey things of thick wool. Ideal for the season, but not so ideal for his fashion sense. Better than nothing, he assured himself. Yet, it wasn’t like he could walk out of here just like that. His jacket would obscure his underwear, but the pants themselves? Nope. And he couldn’t go out there looking like this. Sadly, it almost seemed like a better option when she revealed what he should wear over it. “It’s been snowing outside, so it shouldn’t be too bad.” This was an unhelpful statement, on quite a few levels. The thing she showed him was a snowsuit, bright pink with a pale white fox on the front and furry inlay for the hood. It was a little girl’s outfit. And she expected him to wear that? No way in hell.

Well, you yourself are your greatest critic, after all. It's a common thing for people who do creative stuff, be it arts, writing or what have you. I've come to take that feeling and put a positive spin on it. I take a look at what I'm dissatisfied with and improve on it. Knowing that there's always room to improve is one of the things that keep me doing my stuff. I've also slowly come to admit that just because I'm not entirely satisfied with my stuff, doesn't diminish what it can provide for others.

And, to keep up the spirit:

In part, though I mostly wear them for the comfort and that childish sense of security that comes when you're more waddling than walking.

Well, I can still remember a lot of things from my childhood, but the time frame actually eludes me. And it isn't particularly exciting, too. For example: When I was an elementary schooler, I once got so bored on a saturday I leaped onto my bed and started kicking the sheets around. Those were the days. Some of the earliest memories involve a time where we lived in a city called Flensburg, basically the most northern town in germany. The house of our best friend was on the opposite side of a promenade with a fence in between. So we walked the entire way to the street and back again just to get around the fence. At least there lived a nice old lady who gave us candy. And our other neighbours were supposedly always angry at how loud we were. My father confessed to me last year that they didn't particularly care, he and my mom just made it up to keep us four somewhat quiet.

I don't remember ever being caught IN a diaper, but I'm plenty sure quite a few people saw the diapers on their own. Parents, siblings, maybe even my last landlady. Nobody ever really mentioned it, though.

Ah, the music of my childhood.

Alright, side project time, Something Vile, a story on the lighter side of the fluff, with the chapters being fairly short. I'm basically writing this one on the side and I need to get this concept out of my head, too. Imma attempt to get a lot of fetish content into it along the road, hopefully not to the detriment of the experience. his is a roadtrip story about two women who start their journey in arizona and drive northwards with the goal of simply not being caught. They thieve, they scam, they lie and attempt to get mixed up in all sorts of mischevious behavior while trying to keep the facade of two girls on a simple trip through the best country in the world. Also, since I'm not american I'm gonna say sorry for any misrepresentation, but I do try to keep up with my research on the locations as we hit them. As for now, have fun reading this amazing tale that will at some point involve ramen soup prepared with steak sauce. I Perfectly Average Name aside, Deidre had always considered herself perfectly average. Average height, average looks, average personality with absolutely nothing remarkable about her. Not once in her life had she considered something vile in her blood. Yet as the pieces of gum went into the hands of the cashier, were rung up and he grabbed for the American Girl Magazine she felt a tingle run down her back. A cold, excited sensation as she looked at his reaction. A pretty and slender face, a stubble of a beard, thick eyebrows resting above deep green eyes, he had to be close to his thirties. Or maybe the hair growing out of his face just made him look older. His eyebrows moved as he noticed the next item on the conveyor belt and she felt the warmth rush to her face, felt her fingers tense up because she knew exactly what the hesitation in his hands and the heavy sigh escaping his mouth meant. It meant that the show was on. "Are you serious, kid?" he asked, emphasizing the last word just enough so she would get that there was no way she'd pass for anything other and the bottle of beer would be out of her grasp for a few more years. She shrugged slightly, looked down and bit her lip. Her fingers wrapped themselves around her purse and she opened her mouth but let no word escape. A woman, late fifties, slender, hair dyed in an egregious red, setting up her things on the conveyor belt right behind her. She saw the beer and the one purchased it, couldn't help but giggle. She found the courage, more embarrassed that she had to say the well-studied lines than being 'caught'. "I'm just a bit on the small size." "And I guess Mister Teddy there can vouch for you." The bear stuck out of her pink backpack, his beady little eyes staring away like he had nothing to do with this mess. When she said nothing, the cashier sighed. "Well, missus, if you want a drink, you can either show me your ID or get yourself some juice," he said, somewhere between annoyed and amused. She would've been amused, too, if she wasn't the victim here. "I have an ID," she said and got out a prepared fake. It wasn't well made, looked like something done with windows paint, with added butterflies and a signature written out in block letters. As she gave it to him, he stifled a giggle and woman behind Deidre tried to do the same. "Alright," he said after a second, his expression softening as she stared at him with honest determination. "You know what, you do get an A for effort. If all identification cards looked as pretty as this, my job would be way more fun." The compliment made her smile through the embarrassment. She'd put honest work in making that damn thing look like it was done by someone who had wanted to make it look as exciting as possible. "Tell you what," he said as he took the beer and put it behind the counter, stood up and reached for the sweets that were placed by the cash register and gave her a Kinder Surprise with a pink top. She took it, eyeing him unsure. "I'm a nice guy, so I'm gonna tell you this. That egg is your promise to me that you're not going to do something so blatantly stupid like walking into a shop and purchase adult drinks with a fake ID ever again. If I catch you doing it again, though, I'm gonna go talk to the police and they'll put you in juvie for a bit. Of course, your parents are gonna know, too, and I honestly don't believe that they're gonna like that. And that's completely disregarding," he pointed outside to the car from which she stepped, "your sitter." Maggie was sitting in the car, whacking away on her phone intently. Again, she bit her lip, felt the tinge of excitement. Clutching the egg with one hand, she looked up at him. "You're not going to tell her." "Do you want me to?" She shook her head. Maggie knew her lines, had shouted them at Deidre earlier in the car. They were good lines and she was a good actor, but if she didn't need to, then all the better. He rang up the rest and told her the price. As she got out her Frozen wallet, she saw him shook his head in disbelief, wondering how she thought he'd take her for someone in her late teens. The woman behind her attempted to stifle another giggle. Deidre knew why, felt herself tense up. He thought it was because she knew she was caught, but in actuality it was because of the cherry on top of it all. She gave him the money, said thank you for everything, and quickly put the things in her. As she turned to the door, the woman's laughter rang through her ears, and he couldn't help but giggle, too. "Hey, pumpkin," he said loudly, and she turned around, a question mark over her head. "Your shirt's riding up." She turned her head around, looked at her backside and found it true. With one hectic motion, she pulled down the shirt, knowing full well that it was going to stay in place until she put the backpack back on, which she did with seeming obliviousness. Everybody in here had seen it, all five people, the cameras, even the dog that one person had brought in here despite the sign telling them not to do so. Yet the cashier was the first one who thought it appropriate to mention it and not be stunned by how inappopriate/adorable the girl looked. Even he let her walk away with the shirt riding up again. Well, maybe it didn't matter whether the shirt was as short as it was. Beneath the warm summer sun she waddled back to the car, regretting the choice she'd made before going into the gas station's shop. The shirt was riding up again, resting on the hem of the diaper she wore. The shorts were too tight to obscure what she wearing. When she looked at a mirror before, the thick underwear was bulging out beneath. Now that she filled it, there was no doubt how childish she must've looked. Maggie pushed open the door for her and she seated herself, backpack firm in her hands again. "Looks like somebody didn't make it to the potty," Maggie joked. "Want me to change you before we drive?" She glared at Maggie from her position, feeling so much smaller than ever before in front of her friend. "Can we not?" She asked, closed the door, put the seatbelt on before she opened the egg's wrapping to relieve some stress. Maggie shrugged and put the gas on. As she started to drive, she couldn't help but wave at the cashier who, with a disarmed smile, waved back. The road in front of them was close to empty, there was only one car approaching them, and, after a few minutes went past without much of a noise. To their side was the vast emptiness people called Arizona. Well, it wasn't as empty as Deidre had pictured it for most of her life. There was some green after all. "So," Maggie started after a while, taking her eyes off the street to look at Deidre munching away on the chocolate. "Remember how I told you that you could make a convincing fourteen or fifteen year old?" Deidre looked at her, the chocolate, melted by the warmth of the sun, smeared across her hands and around her mouth. She put on a mischievous smile. "You're fucking perfect as a tween. Holy shit!" Maggie yelled the last words before she broke out into laughter. "How the fuck are you doing that? You look so adorable, I can't believe we ever worried about you pulling that shit off." She slammed her hands against the wheel of the car, gripped it tightly. The excitement was written on her face. "This is perfect. You're an artist." Deidre looked at her hands, then back at Maggie. "What can I say. I'm a method actor," she slammed her knee against the glove compartment so it would open and grabbed a few tissues out of it, she wiped the chocolate off, felt the taste stick to her mouth. "Also, being four foot nine with a pre-schooler figure might help." "Don't get too cocky, Didi, you'd never make a pre-schooler." "Is that a challenge?" Deidre asked, leaning down and opening the backpack. A bag of potato chips, two bars of chocolate and a bag with mixed sweets, as well as package of gum, she went past it and went straight for the two bottles of cold beer she'd snagged when nobody was looking. She went for the bottle opener to the side of her seat and opened both of them. One was for herself, the other for Maggie. "As they say in the motherland, kampaii," Deidre said. "So, you're japanese then?" Maggie asked as she took a sip from her bear. "Is that japanese? I thought it was swahili. Eh, whatevs." As Maggie rolled her eyes, Deidre laughed. It wasn't the laugh of an average person, but that was because, ever since she'd met Maggie she understood perfectly well that she wasn't like the cashier or the woman behind them. She was one of the wolves. Downing the beer she looked in the mirror and what she saw put a smile on her face. She looked like someone from the eastern parts of asia and maybe that was why she was as small as she was. Deidre didn't really care, not anymore, not since she was made a part of Maggie's group. She looked young with makeup, but younger still without it. Maybe it was some strange god's notion of a joke that, added to her height, she had the most perfect baby face and a womanly figure that was close to nonexistent. Her mother had wept when she'd realized her sixteen year old girl would never be one of those sexy tall blondes that got to hook up with a millionaire. Her father hadn't cared, he had a son in John and tended to only talk to her when she forgot about John's birthday. He'd always called her beef with little Johnny childish and might've laughed if he could see her now. The bright pink t-shirt she wore had a large flower stitched on its front, ruffled sleeves and only barely reached down her waist. The lime colored shorts bulged out heavily, the diaper sagging beneath them. She'd held it in ever since the airport, in preparation for a moment like this. It was like the cherry on top of the cake. A part of her felt ridiculous about wearing this outfit, a diaper, using the diaper and then waddling around in it, all to grab two bottles of beer. Another part of her was glad she'd done it, because who else but her could pull off something as ridiculous as this. Nobody. "Well, girl. That's a good thing, cause the regrets of the past are the problems of today. Did I ever tell you how hard my childhood was? I am barely a functioning adult today because of it," Maggie told her, attempting (and failing) to fake a tear. "If you had a bad childhood, Mags, it was because you are and always were an asshole." Maggie looked at her with doe eyes, before she flashed a grin and lifted the beer. "You're right when you're right, potty princess." She lifted her beer, too and drank a bit. "So, I think you might've done without the diaper, though. I mean, shit, I don't think I would've dared." Deidre shrugged. "I almost regretted it, but in all honesty, I think they really stopped to take me seriously once they noticed. It's plenty helpful, plus, I didn't need to use their restroom. However that shit looks, it's probably less sanitary when going into my own underwear." "Fuck, you're weird." Deidre smiled at that. "Thank you," she said, completely honest. As both of them sipped on their beers a sign passed them by. A hundred kilometres ago she'd stepped out of her plane and onto american soil, where Maggie waved at her excitedly. She'd looked all grown up, a woman in her early twenties ready to take on life. Deidre must've looked similar, simply like a small woman who just came from a business trip, all dressed in a blazer and well applied make-up, or maybe not. People had stared at her for a bit, but only until she'd hit the bathroom and gotten into the clothes she was dressed in now. A hundred kilometres ago she'd willingly decided to leave the old Deidre behind and finally get to do what she and Mags and all the rest of them did the best. Thinking back to the amazing shit Mags, Lucy and Roger had promised her on Discord, she wanted nothing more than this trip to be worth it. And even if their promises couldn't be kept, now she knew she could at least have some fun on her own. II Broken Girl The time had been 6 AM, her sheets were soaked with sweat and her liner had gone missing during last night's drunken escapade, leaving her in a literal puddle of her own blood. When she escaped from her apartment she hadn't showered in two days and her home looked like a crime scene. The underwear she wore might've been washed, but she doubted it, same went for her shirt and pants. It hadn't mattered at all, though. Right now, she was pushing the gas, stared at the road in front of her and felt the blistering heat of the sun as it started to descend ever farther down. At 4 PM she'd seen Deidre step out of the plane, yawning and stretching. The other girl had looked as tired as she felt, but as she saw Maggie, she lit up, like a switch was pushed within her. "I talked with Lucy about it and I got the perfect disguise," she had told her moments later; after they'd both settled down on a bench. A wide, perfect smile had been on her face. Whenever Lucy involved herself with Deidre, things tended to go down a weird path. Once they'd been to some rich kid's birthday party, dressed up as clowns, and got away with every little trinket the parent's had so carefully hidden from stranger's eyes. Then, due to the slippery nature of the two of them, even though the caught Lucy, they could not pin a crime on them. It made it great to be friends with them, but sometimes their collaborations scared Maggie. Deidre had taken out a small backpack from her baggage. It was pink with floral motives and looked like it belonged to a grade schooler. People stared but Deidre smiled that mischievous of hers. With that backpack, even though Maggie didn't want to admit it, she looked positively childish. "I'll go and get dressed for the journey. You wait here and be surprised." Then she departed for this small airport's public bathrooms. Apparently she asked the way and people seemed confused at this woman's mannerisms, who folded her hands behind her back and bouncing on her toes. A man she asked chuckled later on as he passed, telling the woman by his side, "I'd taken her for a young woman, children do seem to grow up so fast." And all Maggie could think at that moment was; What the fuck? Half and hour later and what came out of the bathroom into sight stunned her into silence. Rainbow striped socks, lime green shorts and a pink shirt that barely covered the top of her pants. And Maggie found her eyes lingering on the crotch, wondering for a moment whether Lucy had come up with this. The didn't do much to hide the bulge underneath and neither the length of the shirt or the backpack helped her looks much. At 6 PM they'd reached a gas station along a smaller route that would get them to the Lost Love's Motel and Deidre wanted to try out her disguise. She and Maggie had practiced some lines as they approached it, but there still had been doubts on her mind. Deidre was a grown woman and some silly disguise couldn't hide that fact. Yet, looking the way she did seemed to come easier for her than wearing more adult clothing. "You want a beer? I'll get us some beer." Maggie had frowned when Deidre offered. "You know, they're gonna ask you for you ID?" Deidre's laughter was the most disturbing part about her. It was the most girlish giggle that always ended in a little snort, so utterly undignified she only managed to pull it off now, dressed like a child on a field trip. For a second, Maggie could suspend her disbelief, but there was too much doubt on her mind. Then came the moment when they stopped, Deidre had been fidgeting, wanting to go to the toilet. Maggie told her to ditch the infantile garment and her friend seemed to consider it. Yet, a few seconds after getting out, she visibly changed her decision. Stopping before the door of the station for a second, she breathed out and continued her walk as Maggie was sure she was actually going in her diaper. She wanted to ask why Deidre did that, but after all the shit they'd been through, she couldn't help but laugh and that only intensified once Deidre got back with a chocolate egg and two bottles of cool alcohol. As she approached though, her blush was real, and the shadow between her legs seemed a bit too dark, which was almost weird for Maggie. After finishing her own she'd taken Deidre's. The girl had fallen fast asleep, probably because the jet lag finally had caught up to her. Girl, Maggie thought. She referred to other people her age by that descriptor, but looking at Deidre now, it seemed so appropriate, almost insultingly so. Still smiling, she sipped on the beer, freeing the last drops from the confinement of the bottle. Then, she opened the window to Deidre's side and threw the bottle out. A few minutes passed in silence, she sighed, let her fingers run along the steering wheel. The road was going ever on and Maggie felt the alcohol rise, making her light-headed. With a groan, she strengthened the grip of her fingers and looked at the blinking signal in front of her, spelling out how little fuel was left in the tank. It could only be a matter of minutes now. Enough time to accelerate and crash the car into the side of the road, she figured. Deidre stirred, her arm wondered up her stomach, pushing the shirt up. Maggie was once again surprised how naturally she made herself look like a child. Yet as the girls hands rubbed her own belly, as she snorted and giggled at something in her sleep, Maggie couldn't help but sigh again. Maybe she could have some fun with this before the car broke down. Still looking in front, she made a grab for the backpack and lifted the bear from it. It was rather nice looking, with a red bow around his neck and a face that Maggie found pretty cute. Looking at Deidre for a second she put the bear on the girl's stomach and then guided one hand towards the bear. Deidre hugged it instinctively, giggling once more. "Fuck," Maggie stated eloquently, making a grab for her own phone to take some pictures. "I musta been blind for the past few years if regression's this easy for ya." When she'd met Deidre, she hadn't made any inquiries about her height, looks or build. She fell just short of 4 foot 9, was flat as a washing board and, thanks to Roger, would later also lose a tooth. Lucy always told her that she looked precocious, but Maggie had never cared about that. "You know," she said after a second. "This trip probably won't take long, but I'm glad you're with me. To hell and back, eh?" The other girl was sleeping and gave no answer, for which Maggie was extremely grateful. The motor rumbled and she turned the wheel, turned the car to the side of the road where she let it roll out. After a solid minute more of slowly moving forward, the car came to a halt. Maggie stared in front of her, towards the endless road which seemed to end in an horizon that was distorted by the desert's heat. Once more she sighed, let her head fall against the seat. Her white shirt had stains from chicken wings and beer on it, her mini-skirt did little to hide her underwear as she let herself slide down slightly more, revealing the underwear, which covered barely anything. Risque was her style, after all. "Shit," she said, before opening the door of the car and standing up. Looking to both sides. Not seeing anybody, she nodded to herself. They were far away enough from the station so that walking back was impossible, her phone, she decided, was dead the moment she saw a car approach on the horizon. Without the howling of the motor, the wind blowing through open windows and the thoughts running through her head like crazy, she finally realized that she hadn't had a proper sleep in a few days. Here hands seemed more shaky then before and as she looked in the rear mirror she noticed how little make-up actually did to hide how ravaged she looked. With a smile, she turned to Deidre, where she only now noticed something. A stain on the inner side of her left leg, not too big, but still visible. "Character actor, was it?" Maggie asked the still sleeping girl. She didn't want to know if this was practiced. With a series of taps she freed her friend from the happy realm of her sleep. Deidre groaned, hugged the bear, twisted her legs, and then suddenly her eyes went wide open as she turned to look at Maggie who used the chance to smile at her. Instantly, she dropped the bear and pulled the shirt down. "Hey, sleepyhead," she said with a smile too wide. "I, look... this is... " There was a heavy blush on the cheeks that told Maggie that none of this was rehearsed. "Did you go again in your sleep, Didi? Don't tell me you actually need those." "Well, I ... No," she blushed more, her lips trembled. Maggie took the sight in, thinking back to words another friend spoke, but dismissing them instantly. She's my equal, isn't she? Maggie told herself and at that moment thought back to when Deidre walked out of the gas station. Instantly, she knew when the stain had come to be. "Your diaper must've leaked when you went. You already had it when you walked out." Deidre looked at her. "Wait? You're saying I wasn't just parading my diaper around, but that I leaked?" The shock was clear on her face. "Well, you did say you could make a convincing pre-schooler. So, hat's off to you, I guess," Maggie answered after a moment of hesitation. "Fuck you," Deidre looked down. "How the fuck could that happen, aren't these things supposed to not leak instantly?" "Maybe you put it on wrong?" "How the fuck do you put a diaper on wrong?" "The elastic could be pushed down, you could've placed it a bit too much to the side so it didn't spread out properly, and..." Deidre looked at her curiously for a moment. "Elastic?" "Have you ever actually put a diaper on anything on before?" "What? No, why would I?" Maggie sighed. "How did it feel when you put it on?" Deidre tilted her head and the way she looked thinking about it made her look ever so young again. "I guess it felt a bit loose, is that wrong?" There was another pause. "Has anybody ever told you how much of a dipshit you can be sometimes, Didi?" There were tears in her eyes, Maggie noticed. Of course there were, anybody would cry in this situation, so the girl sighed and put an arm around her friend's shoulder. "It's okay, we can just get you out of the one you're wearing. New pants, new underwear and everything'll be nice and dandy, kay?" Deidre took a moment to pat her friends back. "Yeah, thanks," she said, trying hard to not let her voice crack. Maggie threw the car door open and stood up. Only then did Deidre turn to look at the situation. "Why're we in the middle of the desert, Mags?" "Because we don't have anymore gas." "Oh," Deidre said, before she screamed out loudly. "What?" Maggie looked at the street. No car was approaching. "You want to keep on wearing diapers for the rest for the day or do I get my grown-up Deidre back?" Behind her, Deidre thought for a moment. "Are you comfortable changing me?" Maggie shrugged. "Not gonna lie, it's probably the weirdest thing you ever wanted me to do with you, but yeah. I can dig it." Yet she couldn't bring herself to look at Deidre while saying this. Another moment passed. "I lie down on the backseat, there's more diapers like this in my baggage." She opened one door, then another, Maggie heard. She couldn't help but smile. Deidre's conviction to a cause, no matter how silly, was something she always admired. "So, this is our dynamic now?" she asked and walked around the car. She saw that Deidre was pulling down the pants, revealing that, at least, she'd put the front where it belonged. "Anything to make me look more helpless," Deidre answered her and laid down on the backseat of the car. "Also, if we're gonna make a thing out of this I don't want there to be anything I'm not prepared for along the road." Maggie pushed open the trunk and then went for her friend's baggage. To her surprise, the only things she found were four more diapers, a book on child development, the set of clothing she'd worn before and ... nothing more. That made her raise an eyebrow. She took one of those diapers and walked back to where Deidre lay. "Can you promise me one thing, Mags?" "I'm just gonna gush over how adorable you look like this for half the change, I can't guarantee more." "Again, go fuck yourself." Maggie shook her head. "Girl, you need to lay low with those cuss words. What will the people think of a sweet little angel like you cursing like a sailor?" She unfolded the diaper and began her work ever so professionally. She was used to changing kids diapers, but this was different and weird. Not wanting to think about what exactly was going on beneath Arizona's hot sun, she decided to instead reveal why they were stuck here. "You know how our deal with Roger is to meet him up in Montana, right?" "I was in the chatroom, so you don't have to do the whole 'As you know'-shtick." "Well, as you know, most bratty half-pints get a spanking down here. So how about you drop the 'tude?" Deidre looked at her, she looked at Deidre. The other girl shrugged and turned away just as Maggie motioned her to lift her behind. Dominance established, woohoo! "The thing is, I thought that buying a car and driving there was boring. So, I thought... Why not take the car from somebody in town I know, drive around with it until the tank's almost empty and then leave it behind in the desert where nobody will ever find it." "Do you hate that person?" Deidre asked, visibly shaking as Maggie put the new diaper beneath her. "He's a nice guy, bought me coffee, always treated me like lady. Had a horrible taste in hats though and constantly talked about how nice a guy he really was. So I took his car, all the money he deposits at home because banks can't be trusted." One tape, two tapes, three, then four. "Didi. There's a few people along the road I don't particulary like." "What? More nice guys?" "Some of 'em, some of them not," she told her friend as she leaned down on the backseat, looking straight into Deidre's big, brown, innocent eyes. "I just wanna fuck some people up while I'm still young. You can dig that, right?" Didi always looked at her like this. For the longest time, Maggie hadn't wanted to admit it, but she did look innocent. Like an angel that just needed protection from all the bad things in the world. Yet her smile revealed her true nature. "Well, I don't quite get why you're sounding that sad," she stated and Maggie giggled at that, "but sure, let's have some fun while we're still young." There was the roar of a machine in the distance. A car approaching from whence they came. Maggie looked up. "Wanna start with them?" "Sure, but, first, Maggie?" "Yeah?" "Can I have my pants back?" III Sweet Nectar "And that's the reason why I believe the chinese control the democratic party through radio waves," were the last words Jonathan needed to decide that he would never return to this goddamn city. The heat had gotten to his old friend's head and the crowd he hung with nowadays were all the same type of conspiracy loving assholes. He disliked democrats, especially nowadays where the left was obsessed with populistic ideas of feminism and socialism, throwing themselves down into a puddle of ideals he doubted anyone with common sense would agree with. How anyone could think of american when they saw them talk about social welfare and climate change, about how god didn't belong in the classroom and how immigrants weren't as vile as everyone thought they were, all that was beyond him. Everything was going down the drain and he was wondering what to do next. Jonathan Romero looked at the far front of him. He rushed past a gas station, northwards down this fucking route to nowhere. His eyes went to the mirrors and a stray glance lingered on himself. Every girl he'd ever known had wanted to sleep with him and those who told him they didn't simply said so because they knew that they were too ugly for him. White skin with a soft tan, the blonde hair, blue eyes, a well kept beard shadowing his chin while his hair was styled expertily.The shirt did little to hide his manly stature. He wasn't just a straight A or even an A+, he was the epitome of what an alpha male looked like. Not a single person who ever questioned that remained in doubt for long. A smile crept across his face and he let himself feel the leather of his carseat. Yes, no matter how shitty the world looked, he was still the same good-looking young man with a plan. The true blue boy with the business back home. He just needed to make due without his friends now. He half-heartedly took the wallet from his jacket, both from expensive brands and went with one hand through the papers in it. He kept some few thousand dollars cash on hand, his cards, as well as a paper where he'd scribbled all his passwords down. The money was mostly there so people would see just how rich he was, he even loved to pay small purchases with hundred dollar bills just because of how fucking amazing he looked. Everything important was there, all ready. He'd planned on giving a few of these things to Mike, but he now swore on tinfoil and chemtrail poisonings. It was almost sad that only crazy remained where once a man with ambitions for a leading job someplace in a pharmaceutical company had been. He couldn't help but sigh, but in a way, despite having wasted hours on this trip, he also felt relief. Mike might've proven too ambitious, too impulsive for the schemes Jonathan had laid out. Yeah, considering his plans, maybe it was better to remain alone. His smile widened, only to immediately fade as he spotted something by the road in the distance. A car, probably parking or broken down. He hoped for the first, another distraction wasn't what he needed now. Well, even if, he could just drive on and pretend he hadn't seen anything. "Right," he told himself, "serves 'em for driving a broken fuckin' car ... ?" He blinked, looked at the person by the side of the road, the one who lifted her thumb as a signal. Yet it wasn't the thumb that caught his attention, but instead the fine tits and ass of the girl. As he drove past her he already slowed down, looked at her as he went past. She had a smile on her face, a smile he'd seen way too often. Oh shit, how fucking lucky can I get? He wondered and put the breaks down. A thirsty bitch in the middle of the desert, now that's what I'm talking about. He drove a few meters backwards and halted right in front of the young woman, who leaned down on the car, carefully resting her arms on the door and smiled at him seductively. The way she placed her arms only pronounced her tits even more. Were they a C or a D? He smiled at her, went up from her well proportioned body to look at the most womanly seductive face he'd seen in a while. This was a bombshell of a girl, right here, and she needed a big, strong guy like him. Porno material right here. "Well, good to see we both enjoy what we see," she said, slightly chewing on her lip. He wanted to giggle, but caught himself, fixed his posture. "That scrap of metal of yours seems to have broken down. Wanna ride in a real car?" "Oh we'd love to, would you be so kind as to escort two young, helpless girls to the Motel a bit further down. I need to make some calls so we can get on." Jonathan looked at her curiously. There's two? With that question came the hope that it wasn't the ugly friend, this one didn't need an ugly friend. How could you prep up perfection? Maybe it was another hot one. Maybe they could have a threesome for the night, as thanks for his prestigious rescue. "Well, sure, who's the other one?" She stepped a bit to the side, smiling at the car, where, from within, a girl looked straight at him. Not the kind of girl the one with the bouncing breasts–was she even wearing a bra?–was, but a different sort, the sort that had no body and who's only ideas of romance came from her playing around with Barbie and Ken. In other words, a child, which was, of course, not bangable. His enthusiasm was curbed immediately, but one look at the other one made him wonder. "You don't look much alike?" "Oh, she's an exchange student. My family decided to take her in. I'm getting her to experience Phoenix, the right way," the girl said, leaning in. "Sadly, our car's a bit broke and little missy over there couldn't hold it in for more than five minutes." She noticed his frown, giggled to herself and waved at the girl who seemed confused as to what they could be talking about. The tall one leaned closer into the car, her lips pursed, almost as if to kiss him, but he knew it couldn't be that kind of development, not with a little kid watching. And he kind of didn't feel like kissing anyone after that declaration just now, whatever that declaration was. "She only had one pair of pants, too, so she's a bit shy." "Aside from a shirt she's naked?" He asked, actually getting offended. Her laughter diffused his mood instantenously. "No, no, silly. If I left her naked, she'd make another puddle." Not quite getting what she meant, he also leaned closer to her, smelled the air around her. Even her perfume was perfect. "A puddle of what? She on her period?" For a second she looked at him with a blank expression, then, after a second more, she raised an eyebrow. "No, dude, she's way too little for that. What I'm saying is, to make a rather boring story short, that the little tinkler over there isn't quite potty trained yet, so she's in the cutest little diapers. You know what, you should see her, it's super cute," with that she turned around. "Come on, Lilli, this nice man won't take us unless we're, like, super-nice to him. And you greeting him properly is kinda important for that." He saw the child stir, first slowly. She bit her lip and once more, he couldn't help but see the dissonance. The one he just talked to made the gesture alluring, she just looked like what she was, a little kid nervous about stepping forward. The treatment the other girl seemed a bit cruel, but, if the little one did indeed pee on her carseat, he could understand the salt. Also, if that was the case, he kind of wanted to make sure it couldn't happen to his ride. So, Jonathan put on the most welcoming smile he could muster. "Come on, sweetheart, where's your manners?" A few seconds passed as the girl deliberated with herself whether she should come out, then decided that, yes, she should. She hugged a teddy bear in one hand, while using the other one to steady herself while stepping out of the car. She couldn't be more than eleven, wearing a shirt, with ruffles and a flower motif, that couldn't even have covered the diaper if she attempted to pull it down. She wore pink and white shoes that fit with the shirt, rainbow striped socks and her hair was done in a single ponytail held by a bow. Of course, all that might've just appeared normal, but the diaper was the thing that stood out. It wasn't even just a white piece, instead adorned with a colorful stripe with motifs of animals and bubbles outlining the proclamation 'KIDS', just so the wearer wouldn't need to say that she wasn't a baby. This little chinese girl looked like the biggest baby he'd ever seen, though. "Well," he said after a moment of looking her over. "How old are you?" She opened her mouth, but it was the tall girl that answered. "Oh, she just got ten. The sweetie had a big party with cake and disney princess dresses and everything. I should show you the little dance she did," she laughed. "Come on, Lilli, step up, greet the man. If you're nice, I'll even let you have your candy." There was an exchange of looks between the two, then Lilli stepped up, more confident than before and stretched out her hand. Her face was red from blushing and up close, Jonathan could tell that a little something had already gone in the diaper. She had to go on her tippy toes to even reach him and as he took her hand, he noticed how weak her grip was. This was a nervous little thing. "So your name's Lilli, huh? I'm Jonathan, but you can call me Johnny if you want," he said with a softness that surprised even him. "Oh, Johnny, huh. Why, you seem like you've got a strong, big ... Darn, I wanted to go somewhere with that," the one not called Lilli shook her head and looked him straight in the eyes. "I'm Allison, but you can call me whatever you want." "Can I call you fatty?" Lilli asked immediately, looking at her compatriot with a strange sort of fury. She looked taken aback, and Jonathan wasn't quite sure what to do, but, well, since he was the man here, of course the path of action would be the right one. "Lilli, language. If you were my kid I'd put you over my knee for talking like that in front of strangers." Now they both looked at him, and on Allison's face there formed a thankful smile. "Sorry," Lilli said instantly, putting her head down. "I didn't want to be mean. Can we still ride in your car?" He sighed, looked at Allison. "You want to the Lost Love Motel, right? Yeah, I can take you, but," he looked at Lillie again, "No more potty language, or I might just follow up on that threat." "Well, you're not only handsome and nice, you're a real knight in shining armor, aren't you?" Allison spoke, as Lilli just nodded, not wanting to provoke him anymore. "You just gotta show 'em who's boss, that's it," he told her truthfully. She nodded in agreement. "I'll keep that in mind." With that, he let them grab their things. There was a bag, which Allison told him had contained her backpack, some comics, and, of course, as the people with a medical would scientifically call them 'diapers'. No clothing, because little Lilli had been allowed to pack her own things and nobody checked twice on the overgrown toddler. Her backpack didn't fair much better, as the moment she seated herself, she instantly grabbed some candy from it. While precocious, there were several doubts on his mind as he looked onto her from the rear mirror. Not only did she smear melting chocolate across her hands and face, but as she looked around for something to wipe it off, the diaper almost seemed to come into focus again. He gave her a stern warning as to not touch the leather, gave her a tissue. Luckily, she dozed off after a while. "So, hot stuff," Allison then said, reminding him that there was another adult in the car with him. "What takes you down here?" She'd seated herself beside him, and he would not dare to complain about having those sweet melons next to him. Jonathan doubted she'd understand the intricacies of what he did. The way she'd taken hours for her make-up, the almost stand-offish sort of clothes she wore, as if to proclaim her beauty, all meant that she was a shallow person. He knew shallow girls. She didn't even want to get to know him, she wanted to look interested, wanted him to just take her and have his way. That's the way women worked, after all. "Oh, just a little business. I want to do a start-up thing, nothing big, wanted a friend to join." "That didn't work?" "I think he'd use the business to undermine the reptoids." She blinked. "The what-now?" "Their lizardpeople who've taken over the world." She gasped, then went closer in, her hand touching his arm. "Really?" He rolled his eyes. "No, Allie, no. He's gone insane. Insane people don't make good businessmen." She shrugged, then nodded. "That sounds right." And he knew he was right. About her, that was. "And you, you don't seem to fond of babysitting?" "What's the oldest you've ever seen a kid in diapers?" He laughed. "Not that old." She nodded. "I still live with my mom and dad, and they always take in these exchange students. I like 'em, most of the time. This one's got a rough start, got out of the plane tired and cranky, her diaper was almost falling off, as I just found out. She almost hit me when I wanted to change her." "She seems to lack discipline. As Phil Robertson once said, you have to discipline your children, or they won't respect you, law enforcement or god or anyone else. If you're responsible for her, she looks in need of learning some of that responsibility." She looked at him again, this was obviously too high for her. Either that or that chinese kid was some kind of buddhist, worshipping tree spirits and sacrificing rabbits to their moon gods or some shit like that. If that was the case, she needed god's embrace more than anybody else. Not that he cared or anything. "So, you know your way around children, huh?" "Not really, just what my own parents taught me. Never settled down, myself." There was a glint in her eyes, or there must've been. He was sure of it, though his eyes were glued to the road. "So, you have a boyfriend?" "Parents don't like me with guys. Something about how all men are predators, how a girl like me needs to be always careful." "So you step into a stranger's car without a second thought?" The sun was going down and in the distance there were buildings coming up. A small town in the middle of nowhere, and a hotel to the front of the town. In the quiet he heard the little one snore a bit, her face and clothing a mess already. His eyes went over to hers. There was a playful smile on her face and, as he thought, a glint in her eyes. Had he been someone else, maybe he would've seen it all for what it was, but right at that moment the only thing he knew was that he got her. "Only when they're hot." The sign of the motel came closer, flickering. It declared: "Welcome to the Lost Love's Motel, where we wait for your loving patronage, always"

Chapter 8 With Little Fierceness With little fierceness remaining and warm water dripping from her skin, Leslie Audet finally found herself at some peace. It was fine, she told herself, everything would be fine at last. She turned the shower off, let the last droplets fall down on her head and then from that shaggy red mane of hers. One more breath she inhaled, taking in the smokey warmth as well as the sweet scent of the shower gel. Leslie took her step out of the shower and onto the cold floor. Looking around, she found a small cabinet filled with towels. Taking the one that looked the biggest and fluffiest, she wrapped herself up in it, felt the softness against her skin. It was as wide as a cloak on her, and, if she had any clothing, she'd probably make a convincing super hero or knight or even a wanderer in the post-apocalyptic wasteland. Maybe even everything at once if she could get the proper accessoires. Right now, as she stepped closer to the mirror and wiped her hand across the glass, her eyes found her face. She looked at best like the last one. There were the bruises which, by tomorrow, would be swollen and ugly. At this moment they only hurt, but still, if she would've had a mother waiting for her, she'd rather avoid going back. Still lingering, she found herself posing in front of the mirror instead of drying off the rest of her body. Drops fell on the ground as a puddle formed where she stood, and yet she remained, threw the towel over her shoulders but kept her arms close to her sides. Her fingers twitched slightly as imagined herself wearing a pair of holsters, the warmth she felt came from the blistering sun of the desert and her opponent was a gritty, old mexican man wearing a joke of a hat. Like she'd seen in these cheesy, incredibly racist old westerns. As the water dripped from strands of her and into her eyes, she found herself smiling a bit. He was as beaten as she was, he, the murderer of her family. The clock would soon ring high noon and this story would finally– Someone knocked at the door and Leslie froze up instantly, unable to contain the high pitched yelp that escaped from her mouth. Thrown back into reality, her spirits were downed almost instantly. Su was back, she knew, and that made it so much harder to escape the why. Everything that could've gone wrong today did so and now she had decided to play pretend instead of drying herself. The puddle on the ground was more than noticeable. That, the still remaining pain, and the suddenness of the knocking all came together and Leslie quickly found tears in her eyes again. Fuck! Are you kidding me? She thought. Stop crying! The whole bloody world seemed to have it out for her, but still, would keeping quiet help? Would crying? Leslie didn't know an answer and she doubted there was anyone who would've. And, in the end, did it matter? With all the trouble she brought into a stranger's home, she shouldn't cry and feel sorry for herself. Whatever would happen next, she needed to accept it. Everything hurt, yes, but Leslie decided to answer anyway. “Yeah?” she asked, trying to keep her sobs at bay. The red girl's face came through the door. “Is it okay if I come in?” she asked. Leslie almost wanted to answer, to tell her no, but by then Su was already through the door and walking towards her, a smile plastered on her face and a pile of clothes in her hands. Quietly, Leslie grabbed onto the towel, holding it close. At least she was small enough that it hid everything important from sight. Su didn't seem to notice her fretting as her attention was immediately drawn to the girl's face. Leslie couldn't stand her eyes locked on to her like that, so she turned her gaze away. Suqi's smile turned into a bit of a frown, if only for a split second. “Still some tears left, eh?” Suqi said as she stopped. “Well, I don't know if it'll make you feel any better, I got something for you.” Her looked down as she lifted the pile a bit and Leslie allowed her own attention to shift. Atop the bunch, there lay something that caught it immediately. Small and fluffy it looked, with colorful images making it look that much more charming. It was a strange thought, but at that moment she remembered a story, or maybe a lot of them, where the protagonist would scream and cry and tell whoever offered them diapers that they didn't need them, despite clear evidence to the contrary, or the author's wish for them to end up in them anyway. Some ended in spankings, some with them trying to fight but failing. Few did more creative things, like simple acceptance or coming up with clever bargains, faustish deals that only furthered the protagonist's road downhill. Looking at this thing being held down to her level, it made her think that maybe she should've felt some dread, the weight of a failure pulling her down. Yet, now that she saw the diaper, it was that familiar sense of safety that moved through her instead of the creeping cold. Rick had never given her this, the comfort of somebody else knowing what was good for you, the bit of a smile on their face, as if to tell their charge I know that you need this, and I know that you know. And who would rebel at wearing such a cute thing? Colorful flowers were spread across its front, with smiling bugs and bees all around them. It wasn't quite a baby's diaper, but certainly none of those pull-ups one might've thought more mature. This was it, the thing she wanted, no, needed. A smile grew on her face and, maybe despite herself, the little one whispered; “Thank you.” Su was taken aback by a minute, not having expected this reaction. “Welp,” she said as she put the clothes to the side. “Looks like somebody's got enough of walking around with their mess dripping all over the floor. Though I do have to ask, if you're this happy about wearing them, why ever bother going about without them?” The comment, though deserved, made her blush with hellish fury and she doubted that she could lift her head ever again in Su's presence. And even following the question, all she could do was bite her lip in thought. “I,” she started, stumbled over her own words. Su put her hand on her shoulder. It was by no means a giant's hand. Su could've only been about five foot five, yet to Leslie, it felt so huge and protective. One glance at Su's face made her hopeful that the girl wouldn't just kick her out after all this was done. “I just wanted to impress mommy,” she said, trying for an awkward smile. There was a pause. Su sighed. “Shit, Lee, disabilities don't go away because you want to impress your parents. If you wore a prosthetic leg, you couldn't just take it off and pretend you still had two legs. I mean, you could, but it would go about as well as the,” she looked to the door, probably thinking about how much a new couch would cost, “… trip you just made. And to make sure you understand my point, I'm gonna get you clean, dressed up and then we'll go to your mom and you can see why the bible talks about sowing rain and reaping thunder.” As she heard that, her eyes went wide and she shook her head. Nobody was home, and that was something she really didn't need anybody to know. And what if Asad saw the clothes? What if anybody on the outside did? She wanted to protest, but Su immediately put a finger to her mouth. “I know what's coming, and I'm telling you, right now, punishment isn't supposed to be a feels-good kind of thing. I'm gonna get you all dry, then I'll help you with the diaper, the clothing, everything. You'll look as proper as you can, then we go to your place, and I'll explain the situation, from how she can reach the parents of the kids that beat you up to why you're wearing boy's clothes now. Keeping my couch and floor in mind, you'll just accept my being nice and be a good little girl. Alright, Leslie Junior?” There it was and as she heard her name spoken in such a patronising way, or at least that's how she interpreted it, she couldn't help but nod through her blush patches. Su smiled, reached for the towel and pulled it off the girl, who, even revealed before the teen, barely moved. As she was scrubbed from head to toe she couldn't help but look a bit more at Su. This girl was a strange one, previously she'd grabbed a knife pointed at her without flinching, one that had, with a sigh and pause, been able to work with somebody who'd turned out to only be continent in pretend, apparently and still managed to look unnaturally nice for a teenager. On the other side, Leslie found herself only ever moving when she needed to help. Lifting an arm, a leg, she found out that she was more ticklish than before, but even the laughter whenever Su hit one of her spots she tried her best to contain. All in all, she did try to be a good little girl, as Su had called it previously. It didn't take much, but Leslie still find herself smiling at the perceived irony. God fucking dammit. I always thought I'd be more of a brat, she thought. In spite of that thought, she was quite happy, despite the circumstances, to have somebody fawning over her. After a minute or so, Su was finally done and looked at her work. “Alright, no more puddles from you,” she stated before muttering under her breath, “I hope.” She took Leslie by the hand, the clothes in another. Wondering where this would go, Leslie allowed it to happen. She was, of course, buck naked, yet had to admit that she only cared so much about it after being seen in what had to be the worst state she'd been in since forever. It helped that Su's apartment was far better heated than her own, yet the way Su hurried made her less able to appreciate it. Then again, Su thought her incontinent. They entered the girl's own room, which, of course, wasn't half as plain as Leslie's. No, whereas she always woke to the same boring, downright annoying sight of nothingness, Su had plastered posters of animals on her walls, paintings of inuit mythology and maps of the most northern edges of America. There was a shelf filled with books about all kinds of subjects, from a beginner's guide to the french language to a book concerning the livelihood of, of all beings, kiwis. Atop one shelf there was a collection of tin figures that looked straight out of the Nineteen-hundreds and a few photos that were presumably pulled straight from Su's phone. As they stepped into the room, Leslie could make out quite a few selfies, what appeared to be friends and the like only ever stayed in the background. Su spread the diaper out on the bed. “Alright, haven't done this in a while, but don't worry, it's probably like riding a bike. How 'bout you lie down on that thing?” She almost wanted to argue that it would be easier done standing, but, truth was, she had no clue whether that was true. After all, a voice whispered in her ear, she was a kid, she needed the help, needed someone to tell her how to get it right. It was an annoying whisper, but even the parts of her that knew it to be a lie didn't argue, not this time. Right now, she felt the butterflies in her tummy rile up anyway, so she didn't want to ruin this moment. She stepped towards the bed, noticed a stuffed penguin looking at her from behind a carrotesque nose. As she sat down on the bed, one of her hands grabbed it and, lying down, she took a good long look at it. The feeling of the diaper was familiar, but as she stared into the penguin's friendly face she pretty much rationalized that she didn't want to focus on it, on the process that was about to happen. No, she looked at the penguin, bit down on her lip and hoped Su would start soon. Which she did, luckily. Su felt the diaper being pulled up instantly, no glamor, no cream, no anything. Still, her hands were shaking. “That penguin I got in Nuremberg,” Su said as her hands went down by Leslie's left side. “Love the city, love the Lebkuchen.” “The what now?” “It's what the city's famous for, it's, erm, gingerbread. Yeah, gingerbread, ever ate gingerbread?” Leslie nodded. “Well, you probably never had some from Nuremberg, it's the best. I might just get you some down the road, one day in the future. Personal opinion, but all sweets pale in comparison. And I've been to some fine cafés in france.” “Were you on a trip through europe?” Leslie asked, curiously. A slight tremble went through her as she felt the first tape come shut. “Not all of it, just the majority of the western ones. We went from Portugal to Spain, France, Netherlands, Germany and our final halt was in Poland. Every country with its own history and culture. As fun as it was though, I'm never gonna leave home again.” Su laughed. “Why?” “You could give me a life of a thousand years and I would still tell you that,” she leant over to look directly into Leslie's eyes, “bus rides across a continent take for-fucking-ever. Now,” the second tape came shut, “That's it. Luke's about your size, his parents swear on these, so, unless you forget to change 'em, you'll be fine and dandy.” As Leslie wanted to get up, Su winked at her, as if to give her a sign. What she wanted to tell her, Leslie couldn't imagine, at least until the fingers went down on both her sides. Before she even realized what was happening Su was already tickling away, leaving her to break out in laughter. It was for but a second, before the older girl stopped. “I wasn't even moving my fingers and you're already dying, huh?” She shook her head and took up an undershirt. A long-sleeved one, white and boring to look at. Leslie just shifted her gaze between Suqi and the garment, not sure how to handle this. “Come on, up, up,” Su told her and, after rising, Leslie lifted her arms. What followed was essentially Suqi dressing her up, no questions asked. Maybe she didn't want to strain the younger girl, maybe she just wanted to get it done. The smile seemed kind and honest, but Leslie remembered Clara smiling like that once upon a time, and that left her with goosebumps running up her back. Nevertheless, the rest of the clothing fit her to a tee, which made them even more amazing, even though the Transformers posing on the front of the red pullover made her think that Su got everything from that boy she mentioned. It seemed awfully kind of the parents to just hand their child's clothing out to Su, even if they knew her. Fairhills wasn't known for its warm community spirit, after all. The pants were thick cord dyed in a deep blue, but an old stain remained close to the crotch, telling of some food related incident the washing machine hadn't managed to clean, and the knees were worn, with the left one ready to soon tear open. There was a bit of a bulge, and the diaper could be seen when one lifted the shirt up a bit, but otherwise the only real way to notice her protective gear for now was the feel of it. All in all, as Leslie finally stood there, with all signs of the previous accident gone, she didn't really feel like crying over the bruises anymore. The pullover felt warm, the diaper snug. “Woah, girl, you actually rock those clothes,” Su commented with an approving nod. “You think?” the girl asked and twirled around. There was a moment where there was some movement on Su's face as she did that, but Leslie only caught a glimpse of it. The same old smile was on her savior's face as she finished her pirouette. “I don't really like transformers though,” she added then, looking at a picture of characters she only barely knew. One of them was called Optimus Prime, right? “Yeah? What do you like, then?” “Care bears,” she answered instantly, that being the first thing that came to her mind. Su raised an eyebrow at that, but then gave an understanding nod after a revelation visibly struck her. “Right, they made a new show recently. Gotta remember that cash cow exist to be molken.” That's awfully cynical of you, Leslie thought, tilting her head slightly. “What do you mean?” There was a bit of laughter. “Oh, it's an old franchise, that's all. Been around since before … I was born,” Su explained, though that wasn't really what Leslie had meant to question. “Either way, it's not quite up my alley.” “Why? It's super cute.” “Oh, I'm just more into adult movies. You know, the ones kids aren't allowed to watch.” Su told her. “Not that I'm endorsing it, if you're happy with care bears for now that's where you should stay, don't want to ruin your innocence even further, right?” There was an awkward pause in which Leslie decided to simply observe her savior. Su couldn't be more than sixteen years old, and nothing about this apartment told of somebody living with her. She scratched her chin as she giggled at herself and for a moment more, Leslie wondered who she was. In a strange way, this felt like her first day in Fairhills. She knew some of the faces around here, some names, some rumours, but looking at this girl and thinking back to those boys, Leslie was painfully aware of how little she knew about her own home. Cold and grey and uncaring, that's how she'd always thought of it, but now the other girl patted her on her head and told her that Transformers wasn't that bad, they even had some cool girl bots or whatever, and Starscream was fun in most incarnations. They held a conversation, a normal one at that, in which Leslie could actually unload some serious Care Bears trivia onto her friend. She'd once talked to Rick about it, who'd rolled his eyes and immediately drifted to a more “mature” topic, and once she attempted to regale Annie with her tales, but the kindergarten teacher had waved it off. Sharing which characters she liked, which episodes she thought were the best, what the funniest jokes were, it was an awesome feeling. And Su asked some questions, put some songs, old and new ones as well. The best part, Leslie singing loudly along must've looked less weird and more cute as Su quickly went to make a video of the red headed girl rocking out in the middle of her room. And the winter sun drifted towards the horizon, leaving her with a thought that it would end soon, and that it did. “It's getting late, Lee. I'll get you back home, the sooner we'll get it over with, the sooner we can move on. I might even show you around town a bit, then no boys'll try shit, right? Your mommy's probably worried about you, too.” Leslie felt herself stiffen at the suggestion, but knew that this was inevitable. After all, staying here, with the scene of the crime just a few steps away, wasn't something she could've done anyway. But going home sounded scary. “I can just call her and you can show me the city.” Su wordlessly produced a trashbag at that moment, which, quite frankly, smelled filthy. As she held in front of Leslie, the girl recoiled, but immediately knew what Su was trying to say. “I'd love to, kiddo. But if we're going to be friends, you're gonna fess up to your mom, and, I'm sorry to say that, but considering your condition, keeping you around without any spare, uhm, underwear, seems risky. For both us.” Leslie found herself blushing at the insinuation, but the honest truth was, even though her body was younger, she was still herself. The easiest way to phrase it was that both she and her muscles were more relaxed when she was diapered, which led to her having gone already. Knowing that and what had happened before, she found herself nodding in agreement. Both parties felt equally good about not having to argue with the other. Leslie was sure her mother wasn't at home, and maybe she could avoid Asad. Then, she could shake off Su at the door, wash the clothes, give them back to Asad, tell Su the next day that her mom had been really mad, but she would pay some money (an offer she hoped Su to decline, in all honesty). They could be friends, she would beat up those bully kids as revenge and ride off into the sunset on a pony. Perfection. She nodded to herself, snow falling on her face again. Su had helped her put the jacket and the boots on, which only made Leslie feel smaller than she already was. As Su put on her own jacket, Leslie decided to finally check on her phone, which had, luckily enough, survived every endeavor she'd been through. For a moment, she wondered whether she should access the site, but if it contained any more recaps of today's events in the same style as it did with her meeting with Clara, she doubted the phone would survive for much longer. So, instead, she decided to step out into the world. Now outside, she took one more look at the city. Fairhills looked cold and old in the evening light. One streetlight burned fiercer than the others, and on a corner another flickered while another one on the opposite side was broken. There were lights in some windows. A cat looked at the city with big eyes, intrigued by the outside world, a young man with a bald, tatooed head smoked a cigar as he sat on a windowsill. His grim eyes turned towards them and he broke into a toothy smile as he waved at the two of them. Leslie shifted around on her legs, inched slightly closer to Suqi. If the other girl wasn't here, she would've just run, but maybe the boys were still waiting around the corner. “Who's the littler lady with you, little lady?” The man asked aloud. “Someone new,” Su answered discreetly. He gave a hesitant nod, probably because he hadn't heard her. He was on the fourth floor of the building opposite to them and the snow muffled the sound pretty well. Su waved at him again, nonetheless and then patted her on the back. “Come on, let's get you home,” she said and Leslie, clutching both her shopping bag and the trashbag in one hand, grabbed Su's with the other. The way Su's hand wrapped around hers eased her unease a bit, yet she couldn't shake the feeling off that somebody was watching her, waiting for a moment of weakness. She stuck close to Suqi, when a car drove by she felt her heart skip a beat, when she heard a boy laughing, her grip tightened. After a while, Su let go of her hand and placed it on her shoulder instead, pulling her as close as she could. It slowed them down by quite a bit, but Su felt warm, and she had that unflinching smile of hers. So this was probably alright. The sun had already vanished behind the buildings and only a few rays still peaked out, dyeing the air in a fading orange. “Why are you so keen on helping me anyways?” Leslie asked her after a few moments. “You looked like you needed it. Wouldn't have thought it would be as much as you did, but I guess you're lucky, in a weird sort of way.” Leslie found herself biting her lip. “Am I?” Su exhaled, a cloud of air rising from her mouth as she did. “Do you know the story of the starstone that once fell on the center of the city?” “Mom told me.” “Well, there's a lot of stories about it, actually. One of the urban legends the kids still love to tell is that it was brought down to the earth by a wish.” Leslie's head immediately turned up towards Su. “What are you–“ She started, but immediately tripped over her own feet. Su, with the reflexes of a cat, immediately grasped her. “You gotta watch out, kitten, come on. Eyes up front.” Leslie nodded, and they continued on. “Anyway, what did you mean when you said it was brought down by a wish?” She asked after a few moments of quiet walking. Su looked at her queerly for a second, before shaking her head. “Aw, right. I forgot. Uhm, well, the thing is,” she thought for a moment. “There were multiple kids in this city back in the nineteen hundreds. Kids with a special friend who ensured that all their wishes would come true. And the starstone? It was brought down by one kid who was really, really angry at his parents. He wanted them smitten and that's what happened.” “That's horrifying.” “Well, the parents deserved it, which I should've probably told you before.” Su sighed. “Sorry, I'm horrible with stories.” Leslie nodded. “Looks like it.” “Right back to being cocky, eh?” Again, Leslie nodded, which Su answered by sighing yet again. A second later, both of them escaped a giggle. “Anyway, what I meant with the story is that sometimes, wishes might just come true in this town. Bad people can get punished, horrible experiences can turn out well and bad days can end up good, right?” “But if they had a special friend, wouldn't they be dead by now?” Su giggled. “If it can grant wishes, I doubt it would age like humans do. It's more of a benign spirit, I think. Not that it matters, it's a story about hope and about luck. Good things can happen and sometimes they happen especially when everything looks bleak.” “But were they the only one who got their wishes granted?” Leslie interrupted, not even listening to Suqi attempting to be inspiring. “You're really hung up on the details, you know that? I mean, well,” she thought for a bit, “there's a few urban legends about wishes when you keep your ears close to them. Maybe enough to fill a book. Some say the Moore family's riches come from such a wish. Uhm, the Moore's are big shots in this town, though they got little to do with us folks down here in Fairhills.” Leslie suddenly stopped, more aware of the mobile phone in her pocket than before. The sky was grey and cloudy and the snow would not let up. Her eyes turned to Su, and for a moment she wondered. “If the stories were true, Su, who do you think would get a wish?” The girl looked at her, a wry smile growing on her face. “Piqued your interest, huh? Well, if I were to decide people whose wishes needed to be answered, I'd go for those with character, those who'd use them for the greater good. But, since powers in these fantasies are more fickle, I think,” the smile faded from her face and Su looked up at the sky. “I think the closest possible answer would be that a person needs it, whether they know it or not. A child starving of hunger, maybe, an old man on death's edge who has done nothing but wrong and needs a second chance, maybe a woman who never got to live life to the fullest.” Leslie nodded. “Someone who has something specific they need, then? Like,” she thought of Annie, of Rick, of herself, “a shot at life?” Su nodded. “I guess that's a way to phrase it. You don't find many starving people here, after all.” “Su?” “Yeah, kiddo?” “If you had a wish–“ Su put her hand up. “Don't even continue that. I don't need any wishes. I've got everything I need, alright. Now let's get going, my hands are getting cold.” She moved on, pulling Leslie after her. Leslie, who now thought of Clara. Why would a monster like her deserve getting her wishes fulfilled? She'd probably never done a good thing in her life, only lied and deceived. She was a witch, a siren, nothing that deserved any kind of power. “Do you think bad people could get their hands on such a friend?” Leslie asked as they walked along a familiar road and her home came into sight. Two people stood in front of it, talked. Suqi didn't answer immediately, but turned her head slightly, just to catch a glimpse at Leslie. Her face was cold as stone. “Why would you ask that?” For a moment she didn't want to say anything, for fear that the girl would laugh at her, but another part of her urged her onwards. “Is it possible to get powers with the wish?” Then Suqi stopped, completely turning towards Leslie. Her smile was gone, a frown was on her face. For a moment there was a silence between them, only broken by the sound of a distant train, muffled by the snowfall that grew ever heavier. “What did you see?” Suqi asked. She wanted to ask the same question back, wanted to ask how Suqi knew about the wishes. She caught a knife by the blade and didn't bleed, you dummy, Leslie thought. Her eyes turned downwards, however, and she wanted to do nothing more but sink into the ground. Leslie wondered why she even brought this attention on to herself. She found a spider crawling down her spine, its legs digging into her skin, into her nerves. It was the cold again, like before, a cold that burned like a fire. She bit her lip and the taste of iron hit her tongue, and a tear ran down her face again. She felt Su's hand on her shoulder and looked up again. The girl was kneeling in front of her, her expression softened again. “You can tell me, Leslie,” she told her, her voice so soft and enticing. “You don't need to be afraid.” There was blood on her lip, she felt it grow cold in the open air. Leslie shook her head. “They're just legends, right? That's really all they are.” The snow was cold, Su smiled softly. “You know, you're new in town, so you don't know a lot about this place. It's distant and grey during the day, cold and horrifying at night. But in the dawn and twilight hours of the day, there are colors here you see nowhere else. We got stories stranger than mythology, of meteors, of children jumping through pictures and stories, of demented growing normal once more, of wolves that learned to walk among men and people living the lives they always wanted to live, just as we got stories of dark beasts in the shape of people, criminals that during firefights never got hit by a single bullet and people going missing with no evidence ever left behind. When you keep your eye close to the playgrounds, some children sing the songs and tell the tales, and their parents do so as well, and their parents too. Nobody believes them, of course, but in this place, well, I think wishes can come true for those who really want them to.” “How do you know that?” The wind picked up, howling through the alleys. “If I tell you, are you going to tell me what you saw?” Suqi asked and Leslie nodded, completely caught of guard by the red girl. She paused for a moment, thinking about how to say what she wanted to say, then sighed. “Well, the best way to describe it would be–“ “If it isn't the little kitten from this morning,” a voice interrupted her and the hairs on Leslie's back rose up as she turned towards her house, to the person approaching. Clara smiled her same, cruel smile. “Did you make a new friend?” Leslie didn't know how to react, so she just grabbed Suqi's hand and started running.

Glad you're enjoying my tale. I'm basically trying to post 1 chapter per day right now, as I've already written 8 chapters, so it'll slow down a lot from tomorrow onwards. As for your points, TV Kilgrave opened my eyes to the horror of a limited version of mind control, so he definitely served as an inspiration for Clara. Anyway, I wanted to write a story wherein people get the chance to have their dearest wishes fulfilled, and centered it around the one person who used it to make her AB-lifestyle a reality, while other people wish for ways to get more power, or actual superpowers, or to have some advantages that makes them enable a better life for everyone. I'm really enjoying digging into the meat the premise presents, although considering how messed up a villain Clara is, I still don't really have a grasp on how dark this story'll go. Welp, that's for future me to worry about.