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There seems to be a race in the community between ABDL diaper manufacturers to create the most absorbent diaper. With options out there offering 11,000 ml, my question is at what point is it too much/overkill?

Kate had left her laptop at the office, and her phone was acting up. She always hated going into her step-sons messy room, but she really needed to send this email. She navigated the piles of dirty clothes, and tried not to breathe through her mouth. "How can somebody live like this?" She thought. "We are going to have a serious talk about this." She grimaced, as she cleared the immediate desk space of empty soda cans, and various wrappers. She was happy his computer was so nice, and booted up quickly. A Google doc was onscreen when the moniter blinked to life. She tried to minimize it, she wasn't there to snoop. Her perifial vision caught the big bold letters before she managed though, and her brain couldn't help but spell them out for her. "Oh my!" She squeaked. Cheeks turning red. Diapered by my Step Mom Chapter One She knew she should just close the window, but her curiosity got the best of her… My Step Mom Kate, is so gorgeous. She's a big curvy woman, but not fat - by anyone's standards. She still has a tight waist, for all those curves she has. I'm pretty sure Pixar owes her some heafty royalties, for borrowing her likeness. Her bras are all DD, but they barely contain her perfect breasts. And she should have a CDL for that dump truck she drove around all day. She always bosses me around, and treats me like a kid still. Even though I'm 24. "It's a bit mosaganisic, but I guess it's kind of flattering." She laughed. It was no secret Chris thought she was hot. She would catch him staring at her all the time. "And maybe I wouldn't treat you like a kid, if you didn't act like one." She thought, before reading it on screen. She always tells me that if I would start acting my age, then she'd treat me like an adult. Little did she know that I didn't want her to treat me like an adult at all. "I wonder how she will treat me after this?" I thought. As I relaxed my muscles and wet my bed. I fell asleep in my wet sheets. Knowing that Kate would come wake me up, and find me. Kate was flabbergasted. It was like a trainwreck, she couldn't look away. She scrolled down a bit further to see how much of this story was written. Then one afternoon, after experiencing a few more embarrassing mornings like the first, Kate sat me down for a talk. I acted like I didn't want to wear them, but my heart jumped for joy when she pulled out the package of diapers. They weren't the pull-up kind either. I would have to be taped into them. Like a little baby. "I don't even know how to use those. I've never changed a diaper." I argued - fishing for her to offer her assistance. A performance worthy of an Oscar. It was like music to my ears when she started talking. "Well… that's no excuse. I've changed lots of them in my day. Come on, lay down." Kate's phone went off, startling her back to reality. It was her secretary asking for the email, again. "Oh shoot!" She was so entertained with the story, that she completely forgot what she was in there for. She quickly sent the email, and noticed the time. There was no way she would be able to finish the whole story before Chris came home. She sent a second email, to herself this time, and put the computer back to sleep. In the kitchen, Kate found herself quite flushed, thinking about what she had just read. "I'm not… I wouldn't actually…" she poured a glass of wine, and started sifting through all the thoughts racing around her head. It wasn't long before Chris was pulling up the drive. Her phone chirped, as he walked in the door. It was the email she had sent herself. "About time!" She said. "I just got off practice, and there was traffic." Chris said, somewhat puzzled. It was only a few minutes later than he normally arrived. "Oh… not you. My phone was acting up all day, I just started getting my emails on it again." Kate said. "I'm going to go upstairs, and read for a little bit. Don't run off though. I want to have a talk with you in a little bit. There's pizza in the fridge." Chris rolled his eyes. "I was going to meet Shayna at the cafe though." He groaned. "Well how about you clean your room up a bit first? I'll be down to have that talk in a little bit." Kate didn't know what she was going to say to him yet. She wanted to read more, before she made any decisions. "Are you serious! I'll do it later!" Chris groaned again, throwing his backpack to the floor. Kate would normally get annoyed with such a reaction. But all she could see was a toddler throwing a tantrum now. "If you don't clean it, then I will." Kate said. "Great, thank!" Chris yellped. "I'll see you later!" He then thought about the diapers he had hidden in the closest. And the several wet ones stashed under his bed that he hadn't found time to properly dispose of. "Actually. I'll start now, she isn't going to be at the cafe for another hour." In her room, Kate lay on her bed. Reading more. With every word she fell more in love with the idea. The further she read, the further she realized it was litterally a playbook to make her step son behave. Her friends were all over for their weekly wine night. They get together every Friday. I always sneek some, when they aren't looking. It was probably the wine, but who's to say. I made sure to do it when they all could see me. "Oh Chris!" Kate's friend Tiffany shouted. "Kate! Chris is…" she just pointed at me. As a dark stain grew down my jeans. Kate took me by the arm and drug me to my room. She was so mad at me. "This is so embarrassing. In front of my friends? Do you seriously need diapers all the time?" She yelled at me, as she pushed me on my bed, and pulled off my wet clothes. "I wonder what your friends will think of your diapers?" She asked as she tapped one around me. "My friends?!?" I quailed. Not thinking my little scheme would ever bleed into my social life. As much as I wanted her to diaper me. I didn't want my friends to know. Most of all my girlfriend Shayna. "You seriously think you're going to wear anything else after that? So embarrassing." "No!" I cried. It was just an accident. I don't actually need to wear them all the time. It was just an accident." I realized then, that I may have flew to close to the sun. "Well let's just see if you can be a big boy for the weekend. And we will talk about what you'll wear to school on Monday." Kate was enamoured with the idea of having her step son under her thumb. Chris apparently had mixed feelings. I hated that I had to do everything she said now. I had really enjoyed just acting like an immature little brat. But, it's not like I never had a fantasy where Kate was a stern mommy... That weekend was all… 'yes Mam, I'll do the dishes' and 'yes Mam, I'll clean my room.' as annoying as it was, I could still relish in my victory. I just hope I get out of them in time. Kate had already resigned to putting him back in diapers. She honestly couldn't shake the thoughts, since they started pouring in this afternoon. But now… she started to form a plan that would work in her favor. She met Chris downstairs, just as he was hauling a big trash bag out of his room. If she knew it was full of dirty diapers, she would have just started then. "Oh wow! I didn't really expect you to actually clean your room up." "Mostly. I'll finish when I get back. Unless you still wanted to clean the rest?" Chris smiled. Pretending it was a joke. Knowing full well he would love to not have to clean up after himself ever again. "We'll see how I feel when I get back from the store. But if you need your mommy to clean your room for you, I don't know how you expect me to let you keep going on dates." Kate jested. "Okay…" Chris stammered, his cheeks flushed red. Kate could tell he liked that she talked to him like that. "Okay. Well… like I said, I'll clean it when I get back." "Ten o'clock!" Kate yelled, as he raced out the door. As much as Kate wanted to throw a diaper on him the second he got home, she didn't want him to think this was her idea. Even if the thought of him as an obedient little diaper boy got her excited, it was part of her plan to wait… The next few nights, Kate made sure Chris didn't wake up dry. Sneaking melatonin into his dinners, and skulking into his room with a warm bowl of water in the middle of the night. She half expected him to jump right into it, but he seemed genuinely embarrassed every morning. "Uh oh! It looks like we had another accident!" Chris woke up to his step mom in his room again. "I… I'm sorry Kate!" Chris whined. His embarrassment was indeed real, wether he pleasured himself to the awful show every night or not. "Well… I know you are sorry. But I really think it's time we talk about some protection. I don't want to be cleaning this mess up every morning." Kate kept stern eye contact as she suggested diapering her step son. "Like… diapers?" Chris choked. He couldn't believe he was really having this conversation. It was his fantasy, but he was too embarrassed to enjoy it. "It's okay. You just haven't woke up dry at all this week. I already bought some." Kate smiled. "You don't have to wear them untill tonight."

Cody and Kyle thought they locked the door to the college laundry room but unfortunately for them it wasn't. College girls walk in on them in with both boys just in their diapers. Which then the girls smile and have some fun humiliating plans for them. Art by jigarvasani

Chapter 1 Beth was 18 when she had her first accident in 10 years. She had thought she had gotten rid of her bedwetting days. But on her 18th birthday, she woke up with wet pajamas. Beth couldn’t believe it. She rushed down the stairs and threw her laundry in the machine. She had tears in her eyes. “Oh sweetie…” Carol, Beth’s mom said as she found her 18 year old in tears. “What happened?” Beth sobbed as she hugged her mom. “It’s so embarrassing. I thought I was done.” “It’s okay, maybe it’s just a fluke,” Carol said trying to comfort her daughter. Except it wasn’t a fluke. Every week, Beth would wet the bed 3 or 4 time. Beth had been forced to wear pull ups in an attempt to hide her accidents. Finally after 2 years of work, Beth’s accidents seemed to go away. And Beth could safely return to sleeping without pull ups… for now… Chapter 2 Beth sat at the back of the class as her teacher droned on and on. She took her notes down and sighed. Beth squirmed in her seat. She had to pee but it wasn’t quite desperate and her professor never let students leave class early. It was his belief that all of his lectures were so important they couldn’t be missed for one second. Finally the class was dismissed, and Beth bolted out the class heading for the nearest bathroom. Unfortunately not exactly close. Beth turned into the Women’s room and squirmed as there was a small line. Beth debated whether she should wait in the line or to try and find the handicap bathroom. Beth waited and the line went down on quickly. She was the next person waiting for a stall to open. Finally one did a very pretty girl walked out of the stall. Beth blushed but dashed into the stall. She began undoing her pants. Beth felt her bladder let loose as she desperately hauled her pants down and plopped down on the toilet. “No…” Beth cried. “No no no…” She looked down to see that she had leaked a bit and the front of her jeans had a small wet spot. Beth blushed. “Is everything okay?” A sweet voice called out. “I… I’m fine,” Beth squeaked not wanting to admit what she just did. “Are you sure? The bathroom’s empty. It’s just us. Did something happen?” the girl asked. “Lady problems perhaps?” Beth didn’t speak. She felt her heart racing.

I have been putting together a guide based on the Diaper Dimension for a while now. Some of it is a little rough and it is by no means complete. As I have been reading the DD stories for far longer than I have been writing this guide, there are many stories that I have missed in putting in here. This will be an on-going process to add these stories and further authors who have contributed to this wonderful setting. When I started writing stories, I realized I wanted to inhabit the worlds others had already created, as they felt real and complex. While I will acknowledge that many of the stories could live in similar but still different dimensions, I noticed several similarities between many of the stories. As such, I have created this guide for anyone to use freely to create their own stories if they ever want to use part of the pre-existing lore. Due to the on-going creation of the DD, I have labeled this story as 'complete,' but as my vanilla job would like to say, it is a 'living' document. For those who don't know, this just means that the document will be submitted as a final form, but may often be updated as new information comes to light. Additionally, while it behooves me to post a link here rather than the actual information, the nature of this guide and the fact that I will still be updating it going forward, means posting it here in its entirety would be a bit of a pain. I may change my mind later, but I hope the link will work for now. https://www.wattpad.com/story/339576633-diaper-dimension-reference-guide

So, a year ago I started to write a story and got a few chapters in but a really bad experience killed any drive to do anything related to this fetish. So, a year later I've gotten over it and decided to reboot the story by releasing a chapter once a week. I have up to Chapter 7 done and hopefully won't get caught up on posting vs writing. If that happens, posting might slow down but I will finish this story. It's very much a basic AF diaper fap story so don't expect a masterpiece. Hopefully it reads well and all criticism/feedback is welcome. Formatting on this forum is odd so I apologize if it looks odd. I'm rewriting the previous version of this story and trying to make fatter chapters out of the previous ones. Enjoy. Hard Reset Chapter One: The Meeting The Anderson's took three months to search orphanages across the country, three months to find the perfect girl. The main problem for them was her age, she was almost an adult and able to discharge herself without being adopted. Being months away from eighteen also makes the legal process harder as well, considering it can anywhere between nine months to many years for the process to actually go through. Not to mention, she would need to agree to the adoption as well, which is something they needed to pursue first. Their chosen candidate was named Alex. She was small for someone her age, at a massive 4’10” she was towering over toddlers and not much else. Having a slender “bean pole” build was also a major factor in the Anderson's decision that she was the one they wanted. Mr. and Mrs. Anderson where both in their early forties and loaded, if their initial meeting went poorly then they could easily grease the wheels to make it work regardless. They were going to get their girl, one way or another… Alex shut the door to her room, sighing as she tossed her backpack in the corner of the room. She walked over to her bed and collapsed face first. She was burned out and wanted to decompress after her final week of exams. She was alone and she knew that the three other girls she shared the room with wouldn’t be home until later in the day. She was done with high school, although being delayed for a rather long time because of the reason she was orphaned in the first place. She knew she would be out of this place in a few months and fully independent. She took the opportunity to change into a pair of black sweat pants and a black t-shirt and laid back down on the bottom bunk. Now that she was more comfortable, she grabbed her phone and started browsing the internet for something to help her relax. Double checking that she was alone, she slipped her hand down her pants and disappeared into fantasy land. She was almost there when the door to the room flew open, a grey haired woman stood in the doorway, smiling from ear to ear. Alex pulled her hand from her pants just in time. Her face was flush but Mrs. Cooper, the head of the care home, seemed oblivious of what she was doing. “Alex, I have a big surprise for you!” She said “Come with me!” extending her hand. Her heart pounding at the sudden exposure, Alex hesitated. “Right now?” she managed to squeak out. “Yes, right now.” Mrs. Cooper lost her smile and stared right at her. “Take a moment to get cleaned up, and put something nice on.” Alex didn’t argue, she slowly got off the bed. Still in mini panic mode of almost getting caught with her hand down her pants. Taking a clean skirt out of her dresser, she slowly walked up to her caretaker with the intent of going closing the door to change. As she got close, Mrs. Cooper put her hand on her chest and looked her right in the eye. At almost six feet, the older women towered over her. With the heat still in her pants, the prolonged stare was the last thing she needed. Mrs. Cooper walked over the dresser and grabbed a large hair brush and hairband. Returning to the smaller girl, she grabbed her long black hair and roughly put it into a pony tail. Putting the hair brush back, she took the girls wrist in her own hand and practically dragged to out the door. Walking down the hallway, she quickly realized what she was being led to. She was going to be made to change in the group bathroom while Mrs. Cooper was going to be waiting outside the stall. This was to prompt expediency and she knew it. “A nice couple is looking to adopt you.” Mrs. Cooper said while Alex was quickly changing in the isolated stall. “You’ll be on your best behavior or you’ll regret it.” This was a surprise, it was a waste of time considering she was close to being a legal adult. She wasn’t given the opportunity to be adopted in a long time because of her age. Having declined all of the potential parents, a lot of families just stopped trying to adopt her based on that alone. She just wanted to be out on her own, she was so close and she didn’t understand why Mrs. Cooper was even bothering to try one last time. Once changed, she was once again led by the hand to the interview room. Mrs. Cooper stopped right before entering and did a few more things in an attempt to clean Alex up. With a somewhat heavy sigh, she put her hand behind Alex and guided her into the room. There were two people sitting at the table in the middle of the room. A larger man and a women about same size as Mrs. Cooper, both looked like they were straight out of the 50s. He was in a black business suit, sporting a dark red tie. The lady looked like one of those women on a World War II propaganda poster. Her brown hair done up with large curls that looked like she emptied a can of hairspray just to keep the shape. A red and white poke-a-dot dress, bridge red lipstick and a white furry number covering her shoulders. Alex was guiding to a chair in front of the two strangers. Sitting down, she just stared at the table. The large windows of the room where open, letting in the sounds of the city flood the room. Car horns, sirens and engine sounds added to the ambiance to the otherwise awkward moment. “I’m Martha Anderson.” She women in the red dress said sweetly “And this is my husband Thomas.” She gestured to the suited man. “We’re really glad to finally meet you Alex, we’ve been looking forward to this moment for months.” Thomas said with a mild grin. “I’m not interested” Alex said bluntly, not taking her eyes off the table. “That’s not how you talk to an adult Alex. Look at them when you’re talking.” Mrs. Cooper interjected. “I said I’m not interested, I’m almost old enough to be on my own and I don’t need to be adopted.” Alex said coldly, still looking at the table. “If you’re not interested, you’re not interested.” Thomas said. “We won’t force the issue. I believe we’re done here.” He said looking at Mrs. Cooper. The couple got up with Thomas gesturing to his wife to take a lead. “I’m sorry about that Mr. Anderson, she is too stubborn for her own good.” Mrs. Cooper said. “I’ll go talk to her, let her know the possibilities you can provide her.” Mrs. Cooper said apologetically as they continued to leave. “Thank you, there is no need. We’ll just go with the other option” Mr. Anderson said. “I’ll be in touch.” Letting the moment breath, Mrs. Cooper standing in the doorway, shot Alex a stern look before walking off. She headed towards Alex’s room with the girl slowly following behind. Stopping in front of the door, she looked directly at Alex. “The other girls won’t be staying in this room tonight, take the time to reflect on the opportunity you just gave up.” She sighed, putting he hand on her face. “I made you some food earlier and left it in fridge, I don’t want to see you out of your room tonight, you’re lucky I already made that food or you wouldn’t be eating tonight.” With that, she turned around and left, clearly in a foul mood. Alex didn’t say anything as her walked away. Alex was looking forward to being left alone and returned to her previous activity prior to being interrupted. Alex took care of herself in record time. After laying there, staring at the bunk above her, the tingling having left her body, her stomach was letting her know it was food time. She went to the kitchen and grabbed the plastic container out of the fridge with her name on it. She opened it up to reveal a surprising good looking chili. After heating it up, she went back to her room and began to dig in. She was almost done when she started to feel drowsy. Standing up, she felt really dizzy, she sat back down right where she was, on the floor, with a thud. Her vision was starting to get blurry, a buzzing was enveloping in her ears, and then she couldn’t see at all, everything was going dark.

I am wondering if pads or diapers are better for wearing. I have to wear protection daily because of my small bladder size and mild SI throughout the day. Most of the time i wear pads because they are easier to change and smaller, but ive found lately that i fill them up quite quickly. I don't want to have to go to the bathroom every hour and also worry about leaks. I wear diapers only to bed atm, but am considering maybe getting lighter ones for the day. Should i wear diapers or are they too much of a hassle with cleaning to use them throughout the day as well?

Suzie Applegate was wetting her diaper. Let’s just get right to it, shall we? ‘Why’, you ask. ‘What kind of story starts with that?’ ‘Are we done here then,’ you might even ask? But I assure you there is a reason. You see, for Suzie that was not the story. That was nothing new. She was a woman in her thirties with what she adamantly called a 'budding' career. It just so happened that she had also worn adult diapers her whole life. What made this particular day a story she would remember was instead the inevitable, mischievous hand of fate, without which I believe none of us would have a story at all. But fate, as we know, is not always kind, and fear not: we’ll come back to the diapers soon as well. As you know, Fate has been known to use elevators for its machinations. Yes, this is another trapped-in-an elevator story, and no one would blame you for clicking away right now, but then you would never know the fate of poor Suzie, for no amount of button pressing would rescue her from her predicament. Even the emergency call button would prove to be dysfunctional. Their elevator simply stopped with a violent lurch of utter finality and in so doing had apparently made its final transition then and there (should there turn out to be an afterlife for elevators). The building, now that was moving; at least it did so briefly. It started about the same time as the elevator stopped and the lights went out (save the garish emergency lighting with its bright rays and harsh shadows) but it stopped as well -to the relief of our passengers- less than a minute later. This is where our story truly begins for poor Suzie and the other soon-to-be tormented passengers, and if you, Dear Reader, have any interest in finding out where it goes from here, you need only keep reading. I will tell you by way of introduction that Suzie was not a quiet, reserved woman. She was known for her quirky outbursts, but also for getting the job done. Her male coworkers would have me add that she was an attractive woman, but not the type to flaunt it. She had a natural beauty, starting from her undyed, fiery-red, flowing hair (which she kept tied back in a shoulder-length pony-tail) to her smooth skin and heart-shaped face, and finally to her slim arms, shapely legs, delicate hands, and... Well you get the idea. The only thing she lacked, according to the men’s room gossip, was a larger cup size, more risque clothing, and a ‘better personality’. She on the other hand felt quite strongly that the only things she lacked were her own corner office (like the one her supervisor Dick had) and a healthy raise. What does any of this have to do with the elevator, you ask? Well, elevators are like dinner gatherings; if you really want to know how people feel about each other, have them all over for a good roast and see who gets thrown in the oven. (Sadly, yes, that may be my best line, but let’s not dwell on that and instead get back to our story…) “Did anyone feel that?” Dick demanded, looking up at the ceiling with that same unflinching seriousness that his blue, hooded eyes always held at meetings over copy machine policy. His muscular body, braced against a corner of the elevator, belied his role as ‘the guy who never left his desk’. Suzie was still pulling herself up from the floor where she had been tossed by the abrupt halt, and was now helping Joe, or simply ‘the IT guy’ as he was known, do the same. She exhaled loudly and shot her boss a level gaze. “Felt what, Dick? What with it being such a smooth ride today, do you suppose we’re there yet?” He cleared his throat but otherwise seemed immune to the barb. His gaze belatedly surveyed the room. “Is everyone all right?” Liza, Dick’s secretary, was a petite and reserved woman with blond hair and dark eyes. She had been thrown against a different corner, but was still standing. “I’m okay… I think.” “I’m good- oof,” Joe said as he lost his balance trying to get up and fell to one knee. Suzie was bent over him, still trying to help him up, and did not notice the man’s knee pinning the very edge of her sundress to the floor. “Good,” Dick said quickly in his baritone voice. “Now, I feel that under the circumstances, I need to call an emergency meeting to address our situation. As we’re all in attendance, I’ll begin by-” “A meeting?” Suzie said incredulously, releasing Joe and abruptly straightening herself as she turned to Dick and took a step forward. The rest of the objection died on her lips as the sound of ripping fabric distracted them all, and she felt a sudden draft on her legs. She was now only wearing half a dress, and was exposed from the waste down. She noted this inconvenience by a downward glance at the ripped fabric, a pursed frown, and narrowed eyes. (It was an expression that might have said ‘we’ll have a talk about this later’ to a petulant child). Then she resumed glaring at Dick. “Is that what this is? Is everything a meeting to you? Would you-” she shushed Joe with a dismissive wave, “-have a meeting to discuss the building burning down around us too?” “Actually,” he replied in a steady monotone, “one of the things I think we should discuss is that-” She raised her voice to cut Dick off. “This is exactly why I can’t talk with you about anything: you always have to control the conversation and you talk like we’re at some fancy, corporate meeting-” “Miss Applegate,” Liza tried quietly, but everyone ignored her. “You know there are only five of us in the entire division, right?” Suzie continued. “Counting you and your secretary. So your illustrious ‘meetings’ could fit around a card table, and- Yes… You… Mr. IT-Guy, whatever your name is…” she blurted suddenly as Joe tried once more to speak up, “I know my freaking dress ripped! And you know what?” Her voice became mockingly cheerful. “Since we’re all here, why don’t we just have a meeting about that too!” Finally Joe got to speak. “But, your underwear is, umm…” He pushed his glasses further up the bridge of his nose absently in a nervous gesture. “...showing a little.” Suzie did not so much as glance down, though her puffy Abena M4 disposable diaper was indeed on full display - there was no ‘little’ about it. In the quiet of the stopped elevator or any quiet room, its plastic exterior made a soft but audible crinkle when she moved. Even so, she had always preferred it for an all-day diaper on account of it did not sag or leak as easily as the ones that had the cloth-like backing. No one had ever given a sign that they knew, despite her wearing them around the office day after day. In meetings, at the coffee station chatting, or making phone calls in her cubicle, nature would take its course when it deemed proper and she would let it. She wore loose clothing so that it was never apparent. In this case, their work day had been interrupted by the events of this story early on and so she was only a little wet - enough to begin to discolor the diaper’s blue ink (wetness indicator) in the area between her legs, and to make a little yellowish spot. “Haven’t you ever seen a woman in diapers before-” she started to retort defensively. The floor lurched suddenly beneath them and silenced her, and she was thrown off-balance and right into the arms of Dick, who caught her on instinct and used the walls behind him for support. Unfortunately for her, just as the elevator’s harsh full-stop at the beginning of our story had interrupted her stream, this event served to restart it. She felt herself releasing as he stubbornly clung to her. “You can let me go now,” she protested. While the elevator was now sloping towards Dick and the closed door, it was not so severe that she could not stand. “Are you sure you’re alright?” the man replied with an obnoxious helpfulness which presently earned him no points. “I’m fine, alright, I umm…” She exhaled softly with relief as the pressure she had been ignoring in her bladder was steadily evacuated at the same time as her diaper was increasing in weight. She realized after a couple of moments that her pause made it easier for everyone in the cramped space to hear the steady hissing of her pee hitting the diaper. A familiar warmth against her groin was spreading outward once more. Normally she would not have cared too much, but then normally it would have been one more quiet sound in a noisy office - and normally she would not be so exposed. “I’m perfectly fine!” she finished hotly, pulling away from him with unnecessary force. Liza had looked away politely at some point, but she noted Joe staring with wide eyes and open fascination as she finished peeing, the steady hiss finally fading. It did no good to glare at the man; he wasn’t looking at her face. Dick’s chiseled jaw worked quietly for a moment without words as he formulated what he apparently felt was a perfectly coherent and appropriate response. “To get us back on track: in regards to the office dress code…” The others all groaned. “... I believe it would be prudent to add an addendum concerning the sturdiness of fabrics worn as the sole layer of clothing-” “I got it at Penny’s bargain rack, alright! Not all of us have a cushy paycheck and a private, corner office with a view…” “But there is no ‘Penny’s’ anymore, is there?” Joe wondered aloud. “There’s still one left!” Suzie defended. Dick droned on while they argued. “Second, and in regards to a point I was trying to make earlier...” "No, but umm,” Joe persisted in his characteristically self-conscious tone, ignoring Dick as they all were, “I think that’s now… Isn’t that a, umm…” “Whatever! It used to be a Penny’s, alright? They have clothes... at reasonable prices!” She glared at him to discourage a further response. For once it worked, and the argument died. “...fire,” finished Dick, the word loud in the sudden silence. She gave him a slow blink, a pointed exhale, and a tight grimace. “What was that?” “Yes, to recap,” he repeated calmly, placing his hand on one of the elevator’s walls and pulling it away quickly for emphasis, “I believe there is a fire in the building.” Sure enough, a hint of smoke began to waft from the crack between the elevator doors just as he said that. “The coffee shop,” Suzie said quietly to herself while Dick began saying something maddeningly useless about fire routes and office evacuation policy. “I should have just taken the job at the coffee shop.”