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Chapter 7 - Uncertainties and Instincts

The remainder of the afternoon passed in a breeze, as the girls helped Ryan adjust to his new quarters, putting down the furniture wherever it was needed and repairing the walls that Ayla had smashed.

Then, when dinner time came, Ayla and Ryan decided to order pizza and eat it in front of the TV, much to Daphne’s protest, watching the extended version of one of the most famous fantasy blockbusters.

“I don’t understand why you are watching that same movie for the umpteenth time. I’m pretty sure I saw you having it on at least twice in the last year.” Commented Daphne, looking at the dragongirl “Isn’t there something else on TV?” she asked, mindlessly scrolling at her phone.

“It’s always time for a masterpiece,” said Ayla, scarfing down a large slice of salami and olives pizza.

“Plus, this version has the original soundtrack by Edward Beach,” said Ryan, struggling to lift the half-an-inch-wide piece of pizza that was cut out for him.

“Nerds,” thought Daphne, her eyes still glued on her phone, texting a couple of friends.

After around half an hour, the large meal started to take effect on Ryan, and the small mousemin couldn’t suppress a yawn.

“Oh oh, someone’s tired,” said Daphne.

“I’m fine, maybe a little bit.” Answered the mousemin.

“Well, I do think that you should make sure to get a lot of rest. It would help a lot with your recovery.” Daphne reasoned, presenting her outstretched palm in front of Ryan, “Come on, I’m also going to bed, I have to come to work early tomorrow, I can give you a lift towards your room,” she explained.

He thanked her and nodded, the sphinx gently picking him up, depositing him on her palm.

“Good night, Daphne.” Said Ayla, smiling, turning towards him “Good night Ryan, sleep well.”

“You too, Ayla,” he said, reciprocating the smile as Daphne began moving.

Swiftly, the sphinx carried him upstairs, entering Ayla’s room, where she gently lowered him onto his makeshift apartment.

“It’s all right here? Do you need anything? some water, something?” She asked, kneeling towards his quarters.

“No, no, I think we had filled all the bottles in the cupboard. Thanks nevertheless!” he exclaimed.

“It’s nothing,” she answered, smiling, “Remember that you have our numbers, ask away if you ever need anything. Hope you’ll find yourself at home here,” said the sphinx.

“I will, and thank you.” He said, smiling.

“Well, I’m off to bed now. Goodnight, Ryan” she said.

“Goodnight, Daphne” he answered, as she moved out of the room, turning off the light.

Immediately, Ryan plopped onto the bed. He could hardly remember a day weirder than the one he just had. Those girls were something, that much was sure, and he hadn’t been able to dislodge what was implanted in the back of his mind. It hurt him to think about it, but he struggled to feel safe inside the colossal house.

He dismissed those thoughts. He was just being irrational, he thought, as he put his headphones on the ground. He couldn’t imagine those girls consciously hurting him, they just all needed that little bit of extra care, and things would go smoothly.

After all, he could imagine hundreds of people killed to be in his situation, co-living with three beautiful, kind, and considerate girls, in a fully furnished apartment, that they had given him without even asking for anything back.

Furniture that moreover appeared of very good quality. He struggled to remember a mattress feeling as nice as this one under his still-sore body.

“Yes, more than nice”, he thought, laying his head back, his eyes slowly closing.

After an hour or so, his sleep was interrupted by a slight tremor on the floor, followed by another, and another.

His eyes shot wide open, and he jumped up from his bed out of instinct, scrambling to get under his kitchen table, thinking that an earthquake was happening, as the tremors continued, each one stronger than the last.

Curled under the wooden table, he grasped his head between his forearms, expecting heavy debris to fall on top of him.

Only that they never came, as the noise and tremors stopped as abruptly as they had started, replaced by the reverberating sound of drawers being opened, and of something falling onto a soft surface.

Curious, he looked up, peering past the cardboard walls of his house, a jaw-dropping view in front of him.

A pair of long, pinkish-scaled bare legs stretched up high, slowly morphing into two-toned thighs, and ending with two shapely, completely naked buttocks.

He tiptoed out of the house, pushing the cardboard door open just enough to allow himself a better view.

There they stood, two mountainous globes, partly covered by Ayla’s thick, long tail, swishing absentmindedly on the rhythm of some mental tune of hers. The fact that one of those cheeks could flatten a whole mousemin city block in a fell swoop didn’t matter to him. Strangely enough, it made them look almost more enticing…

He saw her right leg bending, and as a white pair of panties were being dragged down those amethyst-scaled pillars, her tail moved, revealing a thin, vertical slit in front of the slightly spread buttcheeks, what could only be her…

He felt a bulge grow in his pants, that quickly morphed into a rock-hard erection, his member pressing almost painfully against his boxers.

The whole situation with Spike before, and the hospital after had left Ryan unable to find some time to indulge in his own pleasure, but now, he felt his instincts were resurging. Strongly resurging…

Instinctively, he slapped himself on the face, forcing those thoughts away.

“This is all levels of wrong,” he thought. He felt disgusted by himself, peeping on a girl who was not only hiding him, but she trusted him, a stranger, enough to make him sleep in the same room with her.

As he moved back in, he saw Ayla’s body remaining still for a moment, before she slowly turned, moving towards the night table.

“Fuck,” he thought. The slap must have been louder than he thought it was.

Quickly, he scrambled towards his bed, where he managed to jump in, closing his eyes just as he felt the presence of his colossal roommate right above his living quarters, shivering as her breath was washing on top of the area, making the cardboard walls tremble and rattle from the force of the wind.

“RYAN? ARE YOU AWAKE?” she asked, her unfiltered voice booming at this distance even if she was trying to whisper as softly as she could.

He stayed still, trying his best to look asleep.

She immediately backed away, a hand on her snout, realizing that she could have woken up the mousemin herself.

When she didn’t hear anything from the cardboard house, she sat down on her bed.

“Thank gods,” she sighed, putting on her bra and her pajama top, trying to rehearse the lines that she had had on her mind ever since he went to sleep.

“You know, I really appreciated your compliments today.” She continued, speaking to herself. “I know that I have a date coming, but I would like to grab a coffee together, one of these days, even just to make it up to you. There is a really nice place near the campus, if you want…”

She abruptly stopped, plopping her body on the mattress, her hands grabbing the pillow from both sides, burying her face into it.

“Why can’t I tell him that? Why? Why does it have to be so difficult?” she thought.

She turned around, eyes on the ceiling of her room.

“On second thought, forget about it.” she whispered, “Goodnight, Ryan,” she added, rolling to her side and closing her eyes, tears already beginning to well inside them.

Unbeknownst to her, Ryan had heard the whole conversation.

“Goodnight, Ayla,” he whispered, feeling even worse than before.

The next morning, Ryan woke up late, with the sun already high in the sky, illuminating the rooms of his living quarters in a bright, warm light. As he went to check his phone, he saw three notifications appearing on the screen. One was the expected good morning message from his mom, the second was his boss’s, reminding him of some project deadlines or something else on that note, and the third one…was from Ayla.

He couldn’t help but feel a little bit anxious as he opened her text, that she had sent a quarter of an hour before.

_Hi Ryan, please text me if you wake up before 10:30. I’ve made breakfast! ^.^

After that, I’ll be at the campus, but Rhea should be at home all morning. Hit her up for whatever you need : )_

He looked at the time on his phone: 9:55. Still on time

After a few minutes, he heard someone knocking on the room’s door.

Come in

he texted Ayla, and before long, her pink-purplish snout appeared on the door.

As they went downstairs, Ayla informed him that Rhea had managed to recover some of his stuff.

“I heard them coming home. She didn’t seem that at ease yesterday, she almost seemed scared.”

“Do you think someone saw her?”

“I didn’t inquire that much, but from what her boyfriend told me, she looked pretty tense as they left the area, even if your friend there didn’t really seem to have a problem recovering your stuff.”

“Hmmm…that would be worth inquiring. Is she up?” asked the mousemin

“No, they came home pretty late, I was considering waking her up before I left.”

“Ah, is he here then?”

“Yeah.” She then noticed Ryan’s face, “Don’t worry, he’s a chill guy, he will not hurt you. And if he were to try something, you tell me, and I’ll speak with him. I think he’s scared of me!” she said, giggling as she winked to him “But yeah, they should be here until I and Daphne come back from the pedi,” she continued, lowering the hand on which Ryan was sitting on the table.

“Oh. Sorry, I should have picked you up,” she said, realizing that it was a long way down for him.

“Do not worry, I can make it,” Ryan said.

He prided himself on having a decent upper body strength, so he figured out that it would be a somewhat doable climb even with a broken arm, if he made sure to use her scales as handles.

She looked at his effort with a satisfied smirk.

“My, my, the little guy certainly keeps himself in shape,” she thought.

As he reached the table surface, she shook her head, trying to remove any trace of the look she had given him.

“What was that?” he asked, having caught her smirk with the corner of his eye.

“N-nothing! Here’s your breakfast,” she said, presenting to him a small plate with scrambled eggs, a piece of strawberry, and a bit of grilled bacon.

He didn’t inquire, and after he ate his fill, which Ryan realized had barely dented the portion that she had prepared for him, Ayla removed his plate, quickly washing the dishes.

“Shit, it’s 10:25,” she muttered, offering her hand to Ryan once again, quickly transporting him onto the coffee table.

“So, your stuff should be in that box there,” Ayla explained, gesturing towards a small package on the other side of the coffee table as she quickly slid her claws inside her white and red sneakers. “Apologize for this, but I’m super late, see you later in the afternoon Ryan,” she added, giving a gentle scratch to his head with the tip of her index claw, ruffling Ryan’s hair in the process.

As the apartment’s front door closed, Ryan realized that he was starting to come around to how “physical” the girls were with him. Sure, being handled wasn’t still the most pleasant experience, but he did enjoy the pampering and caresses, even if they made him feel like a pet at times. He knew that the girls probably couldn’t help it, it seemed almost instinctual for bigs like them, even the kinder ones.

He looked at his phone, reading his boss’s text again. He then looked at the date.

“Shit, the deadline is in 10 days” he realized.

With everything that had happened, he had almost forgotten about his work project.

He quickly checked the box: Good, everything was in working order. The girls had even left a power board for him to connect his things, not far from the box.

It had been only 15 minutes or so since he started coding on top of the coffee table when he heard a loud flutter of wings coming in his direction, and he felt his fur swoosh violently around, moved by a strong wind. As he looked up, he saw Rhea’s majestic wings librating in the air, moving towards him.

“Good morning Rhea,” he shouted, as he saw her hoodie-covered form descending swiftly towards the couch, where she landed with a loud Woompf.

“Ahhh,” sighed Rhea, stretching out “Nothing better than a good night’s sleep,” she commented, plopping her feet on top of the coffee table, Ryan’s makeshift workstation almost exactly in the middle of them. As he looked up, he saw her legs stretching for hundreds of feet, the hard, black tissue of her talons gradually being replaced by soft brown feathers.

Before he could repeat the experience of the day before, he looked further up, waving his hands to try and get Rhea’s attention before one of her massive talons was to collide with him.

Luckily, the harpy senses were sharp, and before long, she noticed the small figure waving and shouting at her

“Oh, good morning Ryan!” her voice boomed, looking down at the diminutive form of the mousemin, before she realized where he was standing.

“Shit,” she mouthed, grabbing her hoodie and pulling it down to try and hide her panties,

“You didn’t peek, did you?”

“Peek at what?” he answered, somewhat truthfully.

She looked at him sideways.

“Hmmm…” she said, unconvinced, “Oh, I see you were working! I’m sorry to have interrupted you, I just wanted to chill here while I waited for Alex to come down. I hope everything was fine with your things,”

He nodded “Yeah, everything works, thanks. Thank you again for recovering them, by the way.”

“Oh, don’t worry, it wasn’t a problem. It was pretty easy actually,” she commented.

He noticed immediately that something wasn’t right. She was averting his gaze, and, even if her subconscious shifting in her seat would have probably gone unnoticed by someone her size, it was pretty hard to miss from Ryan's point of view.

“What’s wrong Rhea?” he asked.

The harpy froze for a moment. “W-well, you see…” she began, gulping slightly, inhaling deeply before continuing “It’s about your friend, Alan.”

“What? Why? Did something happen to him?”

“I dunno, he looked fine, but he was very agitated.” She explained “He told us that you shouldn’t call him anymore, that very unsavory people had come to his place a few days ago, asking him about you. He felt scared, for him and you, and he thinks that it would be better for both of you to not involve him further.” She said, her tone betraying that some of his fears had washed over her.

“Did he tell anything else?” asked Ryan, frantically “Is someone watching my apartment?”

“I dunno. Me and Alex didn’t see anyone suspicious, but we’re not exactly inconspicuous in a tiny-sized block. They could have beat it when they saw us,” she answered, in a distressed tone.

Suddenly, without warning, he felt two black, clawed hands closing around his body, engulfing his form completely, a strong force pulling him upwards.

“Oh Ryan,” she moaned, bringing him close to her neck and rubbing him up and down against her feathers, “please, promise me that you will be safe. That you will not do something inconsiderate.”

He squirmed in her grasp, trying to free his mouth from the strands of the dark-brown carpet he was gently pressed on.

“Oh, I forgot to ask again, didn’t I?” she asked, a hint of sadness still in her voice.

“It’s fine,” he said, emerging from his feathery prison as her grip loosened a bit, “I’m starting to get used to it. Still yes, I wouldn’t mind you asking before being picked up.”

“Okay, will try to remember it,” she said, nodding, lowering him to the ground as her expression returned serious. “You didn’t answer my question though.”

“Fine.” He sighed, “I won’t do anything that will put me in danger. I’ll try to stay out of trouble.

A smile appeared on her lips.

“There you go, that’s what I wanted to hear!” she said, “By the way…did you come up with a plan about what to do about this whole situation?”

He looked up at her. He didn’t expect such a question

“To be perfectly honest…I don’t really know. Why do you ask?”

“Well…” she began, “I dunno…I confess that I was starting to lower my guard, to get maybe a bit too comfortable until the confrontation with your friend yesterday… I know that you just came out of a shithole of a situation, and you probably don’t want to think about it too much…. but at the same time I feel that they aren’t going to stay still, and we should think about something to gain the upper ground” she said.

“Oh, that’s why Ayla said you looked tense to her…. Why didn’t you tell her anything about this?”

She sighed, looking down.

“You saw her. She’s just beginning to overcome the guilt of what happened in the gym…I thought that it would have caused her another panic attack, and I don’t think it’s right to worry her like that for a simple suspicion.” She explained, the anguish evident in her tone.

“Well, from what you told me, it didn’t seem like a simple suspicion, but you certainly know her better than me,” he said.

He lowered his eyes, looking at his crossed legs.

“To answer your question,” he reprised, “I still haven’t decided what to do…being honest with you, I’m still a bit overwhelmed by what happened. The hospital, coming here, the new room…I didn’t have the chance to really sit down and think about it.”

“Make sense, sorry if the question made you uncomfortable.”

“No worries, I understand where you’re coming from.”

He remained silent for a moment, looking down at his feet.

“Now that you pointed it out, I feel that the best course of action would be to remain hidden for a few days, try to keep a low profile, and hope that they will convince themselves that I’m really dead. I was already thinking about it, but after your encounter with Alan, I’m convinced that we must keep them in the dark about me at all costs, it is really the only advantage we have. And he’s right, cutting out all ties with him, or anyone else for all that matters, is the safest way, he may be already at risk with your meeting yesterday.”

“Yeah, honestly, I was thinking the same thing.” Observed Rhea “Even if they figured out that you aren’t dead, they still hopefully won’t have a clue of where you are, if we don’t give them one. Don’t worry, we will hide you, we will keep you safe and provide for anything.”

He smiled up at her, something that she immediately reciprocated.

He sighed, thinking back at all his loved ones. “I would really love to avoid this, you know? At least with my parents.” he stated “but It’s all for the better. I hope they’ll understand.”

“I’m sure they will,” Rhea said, smiling softly.

“Thank you,” he said

The harpy nodded.

“And don’t worry, I will talk with Ayla.” She stated, “I just need to…to prepare her, that’s all.”

He looked up at her, thinking about this last sentence. He had seen how close to Ayla she was, and from what she had gathered, she was very open and somewhat disinhibited. A sudden idea made its way up his brain...perhaps he could test the waters, carefully.

She must have noticed his staring, cause she started to look at him, her head tilted.

“Is something up, Ryan?” she asked

He averted his gaze for a moment.

“May I ask you something, Rhea? Something unrelated to this story, also a bit personal.” He stated

“Oh. Of course, shoot!” she said, intrigued and somewhat relieved about switching topics.

“So, yeah…there is this girl…I might have caught feelings for her,” he said, trying to minimize the issue.

“Oh, that’s nice…who is that? A colleague of yours?” she asked, smiling

“No, not really. She’s someone that I met at the gym.”

“I see. Is she pretty?” asked Rhea,

His mind raced back to the evening before, a slight blush appearing on his cheeks. “V-very pretty, yes”

“So, what’s wrong? You’re afraid of making a move because of that?”

“Well, n-no, not only. She’s stunning, yes, but there is another issue. She’s of another species, and she’s b-bigger than me.”

“Oh,” commented the harpy, her curiosity piqued “How much bigger?”

He gulped audibly “Q-quite,” he said.

“So I was wondering, and here’s the part that becomes personal for you…”

“I see where this is going…” mused Rhea, an amused smile on her face “You’re asking me if I have ever dated smaller guys and if I can give you some advice, right?”

He froze for a moment.

“Well, the males of our species are smaller than the females on average, so it’s kind of the norm for us. I know we might all seem equally huge to you, but Alex is quite a bit shorter than me,” she explained, “However, I’ve dated guys even smaller than him... in fact, one of my exes was a catfolk.” she said “We’ve dated for around a year, not too long before I moved here”

He tilted his head

“And how did it go?”

“It went well, he loved cycling and swimming, and was a sporty guy in general, a very fun guy to hang around, but he was also really sweet. We did a lot of things together, trekking, exploring, camping, and we traveled around a lot that summer.

“I see, it does seem like a …”

“…and he was also great in bed, probably the best sex I ever had,” she continued, with a dreaming tone, “how his little body felt against mine, and how he could reach every spot with his little…”

“OKAY, THAT’S ENOUGH” Ryan shouted, interrupting the harpy.

“I mean, you asked me to tell you.” Said Rhea, giggling “No need to be so prudish about it”

“Let-let’s change subject, shall we?” he stated “And why did it end, if you…”

The harpy’s smile quickly faded “Well, at the end of that year, he said that he was supposed to move out of town in a month for his job and that he didn’t really like long-distance relationships,” She sighed, “…honestly, I also wasn’t so keen on seeing him every other week, but when I pressed him, he revealed that the real reason was that his parents, his mother in particular, didn’t approve of us. She wasn’t very fond of bigger races, let’s say that, and she thought that I was taking advantage of him, that I wanted to make him my little pet.”

He thought back at his own parents, wondering if they would behave similarly. Her mother and father had always been very progressive in that sense, but who knows if they would approve of something like that.

“I said to him that it really shouldn’t matter about what her mother thought, he had never been scared of me, and, in a moment of rage, I also said that if his mother couldn’t leave him be with a girl who loved him, maybe she didn’t really know what it was better for him.” She said, her face looking towards the ground, away from Ryan.

“He gestured to me to stoop to his level and gave me a little pecker on the cheek. Then he said he was sorry, called a taxi, and left.” She concluded, her eyes wet. “I’ve never met him again.”

“Oh, I’m sorry” apologized the mousemin “I didn’t mean to make you cry.”

“It-it’s fine.” She said, sniffling, drying the forming tears with her arm feathers “he was a good guy, but he wasn’t ready to stand to his family. It’s been a while since then, I’m in a new home, I have new friends, and I’m seeing someone that I feel good with. I’m fine.” she told him, ending the last sentence in a big, warm smile.

She then moved a bit closer to him, her towering thigh inches away from Ryan.

“But if the story with Luke has told me anything, is that you shouldn’t have anyone tell you what you should want or should do.” She reprised, “You, and you only decide what you want.” She said, pushing the clawed tip of his finger on his chest for emphasis, a gesture that made him fall on his feet. “So, do you like this girl?” she asked, continuing to press the fingerpad on top of Ryan’s pectoral, keeping him pinned to the soft surface of the sofa.

“I…I’m not sure” he answered, gulping audibly.

“Then rise your butt and figure it out! And if you find out what you’re feeling, you’ll just go for it and tell her!” she exclaimed, still pinning him “Am I made myself clear?” she asked, in a dry tone.

He nodded frantically, his eyes wide at seeing her face looming over him

“Good.” She said, slowly removing her finger from his chest “And don’t worry too much about the size difference, I know that “love tramples any difference” is the corniest shit ever, but it worked out for me and Luke, so I’m positive that it will work out for you,” she added, moving away from the mousemin slightly, looking at him with a broad smile.

“Besides, I’m sure that plenty of girls would be falling head over heels for a cute, smart, kind little guy like you,” she said, as Ryan scrambled on the surface of the sofa, finally able to stand up again.

“Ya know,” he began “You’re actually scary when you give pieces of advice”

She stuck her tongue out “It’s part of my charm!”

He chuckled. Maybe she was right though. He either went for it, or he didn’t, and in that case, he should stop thinking about it. If Ayla did really mean what she had said the night before, perhaps being honest with her about his feelings was the best course of action. Then, they could figure out a way to make it work. But he couldn’t really know how unless he told her.

His train of thought was interrupted by a sudden fluttering of wings coming from upstairs before a black and white feathered harpy came into view.

“Morning sleepy-head,” said Rhea, looking at the newcomer,

“Morning babe,” he answered, slowly descending towards the couch, where he landed with a loud wompf, planting a kiss on the lips of the female harpy, a kiss which she immediately retracted from.

“Alex!” she protested, grabbing and heaving him up a bit “Look where you sit, there was someone there,”

Luckily, Ryan had managed to get out just in time to avoid ending up under the male harpy’s butt.

He looked up, seeing the black and white harpy staring right at him.

For a moment, the mousemin instincts resurged, and he stood there, frozen in fear of what he would do.

He calmed down a little when he saw the boy starting to scratch the back of his head, an embarrassed expression on his round, boyish face.

“Sorry pal, didn’t see ya there,” said the male harpy

“That’s what they always say,” the mousemin replied, jokingly

Rhea giggled

“I’m Ryan,” he said

“Oh, I see, you’re the new roommate! Name’s Alex. Don’t worry, the gals are big, but they don’t bite…well, maybe Rhea does, when she’s hungry.” He moved his face closer “I suggest keeping your eyes open around her, and maybe always have food available around her” he whispered, lowering his face to get on level with him.

“You idiot,” said Rhea, playfully tossing one of the pillows of the sofa at him,

“Jeez Rhea, chill, it was just a joke,” he said, dodging the incoming projectile.

She stood up, eyeing the stoves, then the two guys again.

“Well, now that you’re all here and have become acquainted with each other,” she said, “will you be two gentlemen and help me clean the kitchen?”

“Aww, come on!” groaned the two guys, almost in unison.

On her way to the esthetician, Ayla’s mind was wandering.

She had spent the whole morning unable to concentrate. Even if it was just a hint of a doubt, the thought appeared to have taken permanent residence in her mind.

She heard her phone buzzing. It was David.

Hey Ayla, just wanted to let you know that I booked a table at Le Rotissier at 7:30 pm tomorrow. Daphne told me you like steakhouses, so I thought you would like it.

She smiled. He seemed so considerate, and he was so handsome. Still…

“Maybe I shouldn’t go on the date tomorrow.” She thought,

Her mind raced at the day before. She and Ryan had spent the whole morning and evening together, sitting one beside the other. They barely knew each other, and they basically came from two different worlds.

Yet for some reason, it felt so… natural. They shared the same interests, liked the same things, had the same humor…like it was supposed to be.

She shook her head vigorously. No, she thought, she was again starting to daydream about a guy she barely knew.

And yet…

A certain moment flashed in her memory: she with the dress on, as he and Daphne looked at her. There was something about his eyes, something about the look he had given her… that made her think that maybe she wasn’t alone in this feeling.

Her daydreaming was abruptly interrupted by a series of squealing, high-pitched blares.

She looked around, trying to see what could have been the cause of the sound amongst the many titan and giant-sized buildings before she absentmindedly glanced down.

There, at the base of her right foot, was a rectangular, red box of metal, a bit smaller than her smartphone, that she recognized as a car, blaring loudly at her. Directly beside it, another half a dozen similar-sized cars stood, forming a line that stretched 60 to 70 feet along the road.

Looking around, she realized that she was near one of the mixed-size intersections and that in her airheadedness, she must have stepped down the sidewalk, and now her foot was transversal to what looked like a Normal double lane, completely blocking it.

“I’m so sorry”, she said, immediately raising her foot up, seeing the cars quickly speed up, the enraged drivers shouted unintelligible insults at her as they drove past her.

She sighed, cursing her huge feet. It was the second time that week.

She heard her phone buzzing.

Hey, are you there Ayla? Asked David

She looked at her phone for a moment, unsure of what to answer him,

Yes, I am, she ended up texting, That sounds wonderful, can’t wait!

She sighed,

“Better speed up. Daphne is probably already there.” She thought, turning towards the entrance of her neighborhood.

For many, opening up a shop in the Titans neighborhood as a Small was something that only fools with a death wish would do.

However, Julian Martinez, the dogfolk owner and manager of the Martinez Beauty Salon, had immediately realized the perspective earnings that such an activity could give.

Opening his shop to Titans had ensured lots of potential customers, usually relatively well-off, and who required their services often, considering how many male and female Titans had manual jobs, putting their nails and claws under heavy, continuous stress.

Plus, the fact that they could paint and polish every nook and cranny in a way that Titan estheticians weren’t able to, had ensured that his salon was able to blow up in popularity, especially since he had introduced “tailored services” for the more unusual customers, available for a small supplementary fee.

As he was standing at the checkout inside the expansive warehouse his business was in, he felt some familiar tremors shaking his desk.

“Guys, get ready” he shouted at his staff. “Titans coming” he paused, focusing on the tremors “Two of them!”

One of them made heavier steps than the average, “A big one,” he added, matter-of-factly, as his employees scrambled to accommodate the oversized customers.

“Good afternoon, is there someone here?” boomed a voice from the heavens, as they saw an enormous brown paw, covered in a black heeled sandal appear in front of the entrance of the building, connected to a furred leg reaching almost to the rim of the partially closed portcullis. Even if it had been two years since he had served Titans in his salon, Julian was still amazed at seeing the portcullis rim, as tall as a ten-story building, being dwarfed by a customer like that. Not to mention that, behind the furred leg, everyone in the salon could see a pair of red and white sneakers, quite a ways bigger than the heels, basically filling all the available space in the parking lot.

“Open up guys,” said Mr. Martinez, ignoring his thoughts about the size of the two people outside, and one of the employees pressed a button, that caused the portcullis to slowly rise, allowing the afternoon sun to enter the warehouse.

“Oh, Daphne Evans!” he said, as the sphinx face appeared into view “It’s always a pleasure to meet you here. I suppose your appointment was for today, right.”

“Good afternoon Mr. Martinez,” she answered, taking a couple steps inside and looking down at him “Yes, we had booked it with Janet.”

“Oh, I see, so you must be Ayla then,” he said, craning his neck to look at the drakonid. He hadn’t served many yet, but he could see that they were truly as huge as people said.

“Yes, that would be me,” said Ayla sheepishly “How do you know that?”

“Well, I like to get to know all of my customers personally. So, Daphne, tell me, what can we do for you today? The usual treatment?”

“For me, yes. Ayla would like the deluxe, she has a date tomorrow”

“Wonderful, wonderful! Don’t worry, you will not be disappointed!” he said, pressing a button on his desk phone,

It didn’t take long for a young, grey-furred wolfgirl to come into view, her black hair combed in a stylish ponytail.

“Yes, Mr. Martinez?” she said, looking down at the dogfolk that barely reached her hip.

“Please, the 3 pm customers have arrived. A standard mani and pedi plus facemask for Daphne, and a deluxe treatment for Ayla. I’ll leave them in your hands, Janet,”

“Of course. Hi Daphne!” she said, turning towards the sphinx.

“Hi Janet, how are you doing?”

“Not bad, not bad. Working, as usual. You’re Ayla, right? Nice to meet you,” she said, looking up at the taller girl.

“Yes, hi,” said Ayla, smiling,

“Now, If you would please follow me,” she said, beginning to move toward the center of the salon.

They reached a couple of large salon chairs, scaled for their size, each with an adequately sized footbath in front of it,

“Please Ayla, sit down,” said Janet, gesturing towards the larger chair on the left, which presented a strange contraption at his side on which several bottles stood,

She sat down, eyeing the machine intently,

“Please remove your shoes, there is a compartment under the chair for them,” stated the wolfgirl, a courteous smile on her face.

After a few seconds, Ayla saw a number of tiny reptilian creatures, each less than the size of her nail, starting to scurry around her feet, stopping just in front of her claws.

She looked at them with a puzzled expression, as they all gathered there, all 30 or something of them, while a girl moved slightly in front of the others, looking up at her,

“Good afternoon ma’am!” said the squadleader. “we’re your estheticians for today. We hope that you will enjoy your treatment. When you’re ready, please put your claws into the basin in front of your seat, and we will start”

She smiled, slightly taken aback by her statement, as she proceeded to carefully put her clawed feet inside the water, fearing that if even a cup of it were to spill out, it would cause serious distress to the tiny lizardmen beside it.

As she finished putting her feet in, an employee pressed a button on the size of the footbath, and large bubbles started to form inside it.

“Ahhh, that’s nice,” she thought. It had been a long time since she had had a hydro massage, and the warm water felt great against her scales. She leaned her head back, enjoying the sensation, closing her eyes before she felt something small starting to crawl on her hands, something that made her almost shoot up on her chair.

“Please keep your arms still, miss” admonished the squad leader, as she saw four lizardmen immersing their hands in a slick, viscous substance until the elbow, approaching the fingers of her right hand and starting to slowly massage them, moving up and down to meticulously spread the moisturizer around her hand and wrist, mirrored by other four estheticians on her left. At their signal, Ayla rose and turned her hands, to allow the guys to apply the soap-like mixture all over her palm.

Meanwhile, she removed her claws from the footbath, feeling hot air washing over them as another dozen little guys used hair dryers to dry their surface completely. After that, one of the lizardmen pressed a button on the side of the chair, and she felt her lower legs rising, as the footrest became horizontal, a platform coming out to the two sides of it.

Immediately, she saw two dozen lizardmen exiting from a small entrance in the chair, and she felt their little hands and feet as they crawled along her legs, scurrying like little ants to reach her peds.

She glanced at her feet: Against them, they looked positively minuscule, as they eagerly started to cover their arms in the same moisturizer they had used for her hands. She had never felt like her size T(titan)9.5 feet was particularly big for her height, but against these lizardmen, they seemed absolutely colossal. She was again reminded of how gargantuan they must have looked to Ryan the first time.

All her thoughts stopped as she started to feel the tiny guys massaging her heel. It was like nothing she had ever felt before: how they kneaded, prodded, and pushed against her hard, scaled hide, along with the sensation of the massage lotion, made her feel like she was getting her foot massage for the first time.

She closed her eyes, and reeled her head back, bathing in the sensation of their little body slowly making their way up her soles, removing whatever hunch, callous, or muscular tension they might had. She was in ecstasy. It was like being touched by an angel, having clouds massage her feet. She barely managed to keep herself from moaning.

She could also see that her masseurs were enjoying themselves as well, hiding in the shade of her house-sized toes or under her sharp nails, using her insteps as a slide, even taking a break between the base of her toes. Some, she realized blushing, were even planting little peckers all around her soles. She almost considered wiggling her toes playfully, before she realized that it would have caused quite a ruckus for her little estheticians.

As they finished their thorough massage, while some of the lizardmen remained to paint and trim her nails, others climbed their way up her legs again, making her feel ticklish, until they reached her abdomen. Climbing down her thighs, they entered another elevator, trying to reach her headrest.

After a minute or so, it became clear that for whatever reason, the elevator was stuck, the squadleader profusely apologized that they couldn’t reach her hair.

“That’s not a problem, I can give you a lift,” she said, smiling at the little guys, as she pinched two of them between the index and thumb, slowly raising them up to her scalp.

However, her hand was still slick with the moisturizer, and as it passed her shoulder, one of the lizardmen slipped from between her fingers, slowly falling towards her clavicles, bouncing on her collarbone before sliding straight into her cleavage.

“Oh dear,” she said, her cheeks slowly becoming crimson, sitting up immediately to try and find the little guy, a movement that made her masseurs brace strongly against her body to avoid being thrown off.

“Oh. S-sorry” she muttered, putting a hand inside the cleavage. “There you are, are you okay?” she asked the guy she had just fished out, releasing him on her finger.

“Do not worry ma-ma’am, I’m fine. I apologize for falling here” he said, rapidly climbing up her hand and arm to reach Ayla’s head.

She realized then that maybe she could go a different way about this, and she made them climb her hands, sprinkling the tiny lizardmen on her scalp, her purple hair cushioning their fall.

As they reached it, the drakonid almost immediately started to feel all the dozen or so pairs of clawed feet moving on top of her, washing, combing, and trimming hairs to them the size of small trees, before they started massaging her scalp similarly as they had made to her feet. It was almost better than her claw massage.

Then, after they had trimmed and cut her nails, painting them of a sapphire blue tone, cleaned and painted her eyelashes, the leader moved again on top of her snout, announcing in a solemn voice:

“Our treatment is done, ma’am. We hope you enjoyed it,”

“Yes, very much, you were great!” she exclaimed, smiling at them sheepishly.

The squadleader reciprocated, nodding in acknowledgment, and gestured for her crew to move to the elevator.

“Wait, let me help you” offered Ayla, and she quickly realized that she was able to deposit the whole crew of estheticians on the ground in just two handfuls.

“Thank you, ma’am, you’re very kind.” they all said.

She gave them a small smile, admiring their handiwork on her feet, marveling again at the realization that the multitude of lizardmen, sitting and resting beside the chair after their hard work, still occupied an area smaller than half her foot.

After Janet accompanied them out of the salon, Daphne approached Ayla, her golden-brown hair now combed in elegant sidelocks.

“So, how was it?” asked the sphinx,

“It was…Whoa,” said Ayla, “I had no idea they were so good, you were right.”

“Eheh, I saw how you were enjoying yourself. You even put a guy in your cleavage!”

Ayla blushed heavily “It-it was an a-accident!”

“Sure, sure,” teased Daphne “Did you want to bring him home?”

“N-no! What are you thinking? I would n-never!” stuttered the drakonid.

A wicked idea came to the sphinx's mind.

“Why not?” she asked “I would totally keep one of the little guys for myself. You know, it must be fun having them around, getting to be served and pampered, having their little hands massage your body, having them run up and down to satisfy your every need,” she stated, longingly looking at the horizon.

“S-stop it. They’re not toys or slaves. They’re people. I would never do something like that.”

“Never said anything about slaves. They are completely willing, they’re even paid to do that. Besides,” she said, pushing the taller girl as she moved closer to her “you didn’t really seem to mind it a few minutes ago.”

Ayla looked down at her “I mean, it did feel nice,” Ayla admitted, looking down, stroking her right arm with her left hand.

Far better than nice really.