title: Confidence aliases: [] tags: [FA] author: [Sokz] id: [37299002] date: 星期五, 十月 21日 2022, 4:40:05 下午 modified: 星期五, 十月 21日 2022, 5:20:00 下午

[TOC]

Confidence

Author: Sokz Source: Confidence

A mouse and a racoon are living normal college lives when the a virus strikes. Now shrunken to only half an inch tall, one friend will try desperately to get the others attention before his nightmare becomes real. Full of paw licks, vore, and humiliating goodness.

On the dusty pathway that cut through the heart of the college campus there was a bug. A small insect with six legs and a hard exoskeleton that kept it safe from predators, but did nothing to protect it from the much larger creatures that roamed this world. It kept to the safer places, scurrying between the shadows cast by the large tree above, careful to avoid the small ponds of sunlight that managed to find their way through the netting of leaves.

When it felt the ground vibrate it dashed for one of the cracks in the concrete, knowing that hiding was the only option to escape from these creatures. A few moments later and a massive sneaker crashed into the path, crushing a leaf carelessly underfoot, rolling over the bugs narrow hiding spot, then continued on its way. The ant, now safe, ventured out of crack.

“Come on,” Ryan said as they walked through the wooded path, paying no attention to the leaves that crunched with each footfall, or the bugs that skittered out of their way so feverishly. “It's one night, it's not going to kill you.”

“But it might kill my grade,” Noah answered. “I’ve got a test in calc in two weeks. If I put off studying now, I’ll never start, and then I’ll have to pull an all-nighter just to be ready for the test, and I hate all-nighters.” Noah was a pretty laidback type of mouse. As he walked, his slim tail bobbed behind him with every step, matching his pace. His light gray and brown fur caught the sun as he moved through the patches of light, and seemed to turn almost golden. He wore simple clothes, a t-shirt and shorts that suited the unseasonably warm weather, with sneakers on his feet that he had been wearing for the better part of three years. His big eyes and chubby cheeks added to his cute look.

“It's one day,” Ryan reiterated. The racoon was a much more outgoing anthro. He was taller than Noah, had a toothy grin, and took time each morning to style the fur on top of his head into a pointed style. His clothes were more stylish, with a button down shirt and dark jeans, and a single piercing in his left ear that complimented the dark patches of fur around his playful eyes. “Parties like this don’t happen every week, you know.”

Noah lifted an eyebrow. “We’re in college. There’s a frat party every Friday, a kegger on Saturday, and general stupidity every other night.”

“Yeah, but this one’s special.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m going to get you laid at this one!” The racoon was practically giddy as he gushed about all the details, the plethora of drinks that would be served and the tipsy girls that would be joining them. Noah just rolled his eyes and let his friend carry on until he finally needed to take a breath.

“Not happening.”

“Come on, it's just one party.”

“It's always ‘just one party.’ I agree, and start off with just one drink. Then you hand me a second, then I’m shit faced and waking up on the campus lawn the next morning with my shoes missing again.”

“That’s not going to happen this time.”

“That’s what you said last time!”

“Did I?”

“Yep. Now you’re going to make me some big promise, swear your life to it, and-” Noah was stopped as the larger boy slapped a hand into his chest. “What?” Noah looked over at Ryan, who was holding his breath, his wide eyes starring with pure glee at the ground in front of them. Noah followed his view and saw them quick enough.

Three micros were scurrying across the concrete in front of them.

Noah began, “Do you have to-”

“YES!” Ryan answered as he braced himself. The racoon then leapt forward, his shadow alerting the micros to his jump only a moment before he smashed down into them. HIs thick boots crunched into the first micro and splattered him against the pavement before the tiny even had a chance to move. The other two panicked and started to sprint away.

“Not fast enough,” Ryan said playfully as he lifted his boot and moved it over the second.

Noah watched from behind as the racoon stomped his foot down on the kitty, crushing its micro sized body without a moment’s hesitation. The third had almost reached the relative safety of the grass just to the side of the path when Ryan leaned down and scooped it up in his hand.

The boy then turned back to his friend, holding the squirming wolf firmly in his paw. “You want the last one?” Ryan asked.

“Hm…” Noah mumbled sheepishly as he looked at the tiny creature in his friend’s hand. It squirmed around so feverishly, fought against the huge fingers with all it had, even though there wasn’t any chance of escape. “Nah,” the mouse answered with a shrug. “You take him.”

“Oh come on, I got the last two. This one’s yours.”

“Really, I’m fine,” answered the mouse.

“You’re not still feeling weird about them, are you?” At the odd look his friend gave him, Ryan had his answer. “Look, they’re micros! They’re below us, less than bugs even. They caught the virus and now we get to treat them however we want. It's just the natural order of things.”

“I know, really,” Noah answered. “And they absolutely deserved to get fucked with a little, I just don’t like killing them.”

“You seemed to enjoy stomping those two foxes last time we went over to Chuck’s.” The racoon leaned into his friend. “I remember just how into it you were getting.”

Noah blushed as he rubbed the back of his head. “I… uh… I mean I was drunk. Wasn’t really thinking straight. And I still felt weird about it the next day when I remembered.” He shook his head. “Look, if you want to stomp on them, then absolutely do it. Their micros, that’s what happens to them. I just don’t want to do it myself.”

Ryan shook his head. “Man, you are such a nice guy that it hurts.” The older racoon then opened his mouth. Noah glanced at the tiny wolf one last time, a look of terror plastered on his face, before Ryan tossed the little guy into his waiting maw.

The racoon barely had the wolf inside his mouth for a moment before, Gulp~

“Ugh,” Noah said as he leaned away from his friend, half disgusted, half laughing at the sight. “Did you just swallow him whole?”

“Yep,” his friend answered, proud of the action.

“You couldn’t have at least chewed him up first?”

“But if I did that I wouldn’t get to feel him squirming around in my belly.”

“Oh man,” the mouse said, clearly flustered, but equally as impressed. “That’s so gross.” Noah shook his head as he continued walking down the path. Still, he couldn’t do much to hide the slight smirk that wormed its way across his face.

“Hey, at least you’re not the one who got eaten. Now, about that party.”

“I’m not going.”

“Come on, just one drink.”

“Nope.”

“Even if I get someone to bring some micros?”

“Nope.”

“What if…”

As Noah walked down the street, his belly full and his tail wagging happily behind him, he couldn’t help but let his mind wander as his eyes moved over the street signs and shop fronts without lingering on any of them. As he breathed in he smelled the lovely scents of the different restaurants around this part of town, each one specialized to a different type of diet. There was something sugary nearby, the perfect dessert after the sandwich he had eaten for lunch. Perhaps it would be fun to indulge himself a little.

“Hm…” Noah hummed as he glanced down at his belly. He definitely wasn’t as in shape as some of his friends, and the growing bit of pudge wasn’t helping much. Freshman fifteen was a real thing, apparently.

He walked past the sweet store, telling himself that it was the right decision. He then hitched up his backpack and focused his eyes on the street in front of him, and the other creatures that he passed. There were always so many different species out walking during lunchtime.

As he continued, he began to wonder about what his friend had said to him. “Maybe I am a little too timid,” he thought quietly. If he was being honest, that whole bit about studying for his test had been a cover. He just didn’t like going to those types of things. Loud parties where everyone is talking, but he couldn’t think of anything to say. Where everyone else looked like they were having the time of their life and he was busy stressing out and trying to fit in. His ears would hurt from the music, it’d be hot and uncomfortable, and by the end of it he’d probably get pressured into doing something he really didn’t want to do.

Or worse, something that he really wanted but knew he shouldn’t. His mind flashed to those micros again, and the feeling of their tiny bodies under his feet.

Then he blinked and moved away from those thoughts. In the moment it had felt really good, but he still hadn’t gotten over the weird feeling that had come over him after. The guilt. Though he had been told countless times, in school, by his parents, and especially his friends, that micros weren’t really alive anymore, he couldn’t help but think of the person they must have once been.

Yes, they were tiny. Yes, they deserved everything that happened to them, he just didn’t want to be the one to squash them. Was that really so bad?

Was it really that bad that he wanted to do it again?

He rubbed the back of his head again as he started to blush. “One step at a time,” he whispered to himself. He really was too timid for all of this stuff. But he wasn’t going to fix that by jumping in head first and then feeling all squeamish about it for another month. Go slow. First talk to some people, get over this anxiety. Then, maybe after a few months of that, he could give micros another try.

The mouse turned the corner and looked down the street. His pulse quickened as he recognized one of the animals walking towards him, a chubby beaver that was in his chemistry class. His first instinct was to lower his head and keep walking, try to avoid social interaction just in case he fumbled his words and said something stupid. But that was exactly the type of attitude he was trying to change about himself.

The timid little mouse took a calming breath in, then looked back at the boy. “Hey!” he called out with a wave. “Nathan, how’ve you been?”

Ryan sat on the carpet, huddled in the shadow as a cold wind reminded him that he was naked. His eyes were locked on a random crumb that sat in front of him, unmoving, with so much more detail than he ever imagined a scrap of food could have, all while his mind went over what happened again and again.

“It can’t transfer between people,” he repeated, his voice barely more than a whisper. “It can’t. Being a micro is a birth defect. You can’t catch it from someone… else…” He let his head drop into his hands and moaned loudly.

Did that really matter anyway? At the moment it was the only thing he could think about, some rationale about how none of this was his fault, and how he couldn’t have done anything to prevent it. But down in his belly he knew that whether it was because of eating that micro or not, he was fucked.

The racoon took a deep breath in, then looked around the room again. He had been in the living room of his apartment so many times that he could have navigated around it blindfolded. Hell, at night he could find his way even in the darkness. Now though, it looked completely alien. A world that he had never seen before. It looked huge.

The carpet that he sat on was made of huge bristles, each about a foot tall and as wide as his leg. The wooden object he leaned his back against was the leg of the table, a mega structure that loomed over his head and cast the area he sat in shadows. There was sunlight pouring in from the gargantuan windows to his right. It illuminated the stained carpet, the papers that were piled up in the corner, now higher than a mountain, the couch that was only a pace away but now seemed like a blind run through a wide open chasm.

Ryan had never imagined being a micro would be this freaky. He had never thought about what things would look like from their perspective, being so low to the ground. Something as simple as a door was now completely impassable to him. He couldn’t use his phone, he didn’t fit in his clothes, he couldn’t even call for help. He was trapped in his own apartment with no option other than to wait for… something.

The racoon gulped as he thought about what would happen next. His mind jumped to those micros from earlier, how they had been running through the campus as a small pack, how all three of them had been so viciously killed.

“No,” he shook his head and banished those thoughts. “No, not going to think like that.”

His mind drifted back to how this had happened. It still didn’t seem real. He had been sitting on his bed looking through the notifications on his phone when he felt something weird come over his body. A tightness, or maybe a tingling, followed by a steady progression of uncomfort as his clothes grew around him. He had freaked out and jumped out of bed, only to trip over his already huge sized pants. Scrambling desperately, he slid out of his jeans and ran to the door, barely managed to jump up and grab the handle, then fell into the living room. By that point he was naked, his shirt dropped behind him.

He stumbled into the living room as the door shut. By that point there was nothing left to be done. The table was already taller than he was, and it was still growing by the moment. When the shrinking finally stopped, he was completely beside himself, panicked and stressed more than he had ever been in his life. And he was only half an inch tall.

That had been almost an hour ago and he was still shaking from it. Even under the table, in the relative safety that it offered, he still felt so open and vulnerable. There was a breeze coming in from one of the windows they had opened. The normally comforting cool air now chilled him as he sat and waited.

Then his ears perked up as he heard something far away. He felt it too, a deep vibration in the ground under him that grew stronger the longer he concentrated on it. The tiny racoon felt his heart rate increasing as the low rumble grew even more. Then he heard the familiar sound of a key sliding into the lock.

The massive door of his apartment opened, a gigantic mouse taking his first steps inside. Ryan was left completely awestruck by the sight of his one time best friend, who now stood taller than any living creature Ryan had ever seen in his life. Where the boy had once looked so cute and innocent, he was now a towering figure of brutality, his huge sneakers coming down hard on the ground as he stepped inside.

Ryan gulped, his limbs shaking as he looked up at the mouse. He had known that Noah was going to be massive, just like everything else in the world, but he didn’t realize it was going to be like this. He was so much more intimidating than he had ever thought.

But the sight of him gave the racoon a little bit of hope. For the past hour he had been huddled under the table, feeling completely alone and isolated, terrified for his life and unprotected. He had felt like there wasn’t any hope left in him. But seeing Noah, seeing that he was still his bright and happy self, made some small part of him think that this could all still work out.

If he could just get the mouse’s attention he would be safe.

Before that thought could get farther than the first seed, he saw another creature walk into the apartment behind his friend. A massive beaver, someone that Ryan had seen around campus a few times but never really talked to. He was larger than Noah, though not by much. Still, he completely dwarfed Ryan’s entire existence.

“Oh no,” Ryan said to himself as he watched the boys take off their shoes near the door, their padded feet then thumping on the carpet as they walked into the nearby kitchen. If it had just been Noah it would have been difficult enough to get his attention. After all, he was only half an inch tall and on the floor. Now though, with another boy in the house that he didn’t even know, things became so much more hazardous.

This new guy probably thought about micros the same way everyone else did. That they were worthless. That they were pathetic and below everyone else. That they deserved to be crushed, eaten, and tortured.

The thought made his stomach drop as he began to picture what might happen to him if that giant beaver found him first. He’d get stomped on, his body crushed under his huge sole. His bones would bend and break, his organs would pop out of his tearing skin, his brain would ooze…

“Ah!” Ryan shouted as he smacked his head. “Stop thinking about that, stop thinking about that!” The racoon knew enough about himself to know that dwelling on negative thoughts wouldn’t do him any good. He was always best when he was confident, when he could take charge of a situation and force it in whatever direction he wanted. That’s how he picked up girls, that’s how he convinced his professors to change his grade, and that’s the only way he was going to get out of this situation.

He felt his body vibrate with every step that the giant’s took, with every word that they spoke in their happy, carefree tones, even though they were on the other side of the apartment. “Just calm down,” the racoon said to himself. This wasn’t as bad as it first appeared to be. Yes, Noah was with another giant, but that wasn’t the end of everything. All he needed to do was stay hidden under the table and wait. Eventually Noah would be alone and he could get the help that he needed.

“That’s all I have to do,” Ryan whispered. “Just stay here, stay calm, and wait. Yeah, I can do that. I can be cool.” The racoon forced himself to smile as he sat down against the leg of the table once again. “I’m cool. Totally, completely, cool.”

After a few minutes he felt the footsteps again, this time growing stronger. When he looked to his left he saw the two massive boys walking back to the living room. Noah’s fluffy toes crushed into the carpet with complete abandon, smushing the fibers down only for them to spring back into place the moment he took the pressure away, as they had done countless times before.

Then they went to the couch right in front of the table Ryan hid under, and sat down. They were still chatting aimlessly about some random topic that would pop into a freshman’s brain. Something about a teacher who had a funny habit of overenunciating every other word he spoke, giving him the cadence of a Shakespearean actor trying to teach basic math.

The casual tone they both used as they talked about such a mundane thing seemed so strange when Ryan was truly worried for his life. The tone of everything felt off, and it just made his stomach ache even worse. He never used to feel anxious in his normal life, but seeing those two above him, knowing what they could do, was more than enough to make him sweat.

Ryan watched as his best friend grabbed the two controllers that were resting on the table above him. They both leaned back on the couch, their paws resting comfortably on the carpet in front of them, then turned on the system. Music filled the room as the game turned on and they navigated through the menus.

Eventually the tiny racoon calmed down enough to let his muscles relax. He had been so tense ever since they had walked in that it was starting to hurt. But he didn’t have much to worry about, at least for a little while. The two boys were just sitting on the couch, playing a video game. The last thing on their minds would be looking for a micro on the ground. He could stay down there for as long as he needed.

As the minutes ticked on, Ryan kept finding that his vision drifted back to their paws. He couldn’t see the television from his position, so it was the only movement in his field of view. The massive toes would curl up when one of them was in a tight situation. Sometimes Noah would move his foot left and right, rubbing it on the carpet without any real thought. Sometimes he lifted his heel and tapped it down, sending a slight wave through the floor that Ryan could feel.

The racoon watched it all with a gentle fascination. He had never realized how much the mouse moved around when he played.

Ryan didn’t know how long he had spent under that table when the beaver finally stood up. The racoon’s ears perked as he listened to their conversation, hoping to find something that would help him out. Finally, it came.

“Hey, where’s your bathroom?” the giant asked.

“Just down the hall,” Noah answered, pointing towards it. “Apartment’s pretty small. Can’t miss it.”

“I’ll find a way,” the beaver answered. With a hearty laugh, he walked towards the other end of the apartment, his footsteps soon disappearing around the corner.

Ryan’s heartbeat increased as he looked between the place where the beaver had disappeared, and his giant friend’s paws. If he was waiting for Noah to be alone, this was it. This was probably going to be his best chance of being found for a while. If not now, then he’d have to wait until the other boy eventually left, and even then he wouldn’t be guaranteed an opening. Noah might just go into his own room and shut the door, and then Ryan would need to spend the entire night out here, on the floor.

He shuddered again when he thought about the bugs he sometimes saw crawling around the apartment. There weren’t very many of them, but the last thing he’d want to encounter at this size was one of those monsters.

It was now or never.

He looked back at his friend, just sitting lazily on the couch with his phone in hand, not sparing a single thought to his best friend trapped on the ground. It wouldn’t be easy getting his attention, but Ryan knew he had to try.

The racoon clenched his fists, whispered a silent prayer, then ran out from the safety of the table. It was shocking when he first stepped into the light again, and his vision took a moment to adjust. The ground was uneven and difficult to run over but he did so as quickly as he could, until finally he was standing in front of the massive toes of his best friend.

“Fuck,” he whispered as he came to a stop. Noah’s toe loomed over his head, bigger than his entire body. There was a part of his mind screaming at him to run away, some primal cluster of cells that told him that this was a mortal situation, one that he wouldn’t come out of alive. He pushed those thoughts away and screamed, “Noah!”

His voice didn’t even sound loud to him. It became painfully obvious that shouting wasn’t going to be enough. The racoon then moved over to the giant toe and punched it as hard as he could. His fist sank into the thick fur and thudded on his skin, but the mouse didn’t react at all. Not even a twitch.

“Noah!” he shouted again, more desperately, as he punched at the boy’s toe again and again. “Noah!” he kept screaming as he did everything he possibly could to be noticed. After a few more pointless strikes he grabbed onto a few strands of fur and began to pull as hard as he could. He braced himself with his legs and tugged with everything he had, until the three strands popped out of the giant’s skin and Ryan was sent tumbling onto his back.

Then he felt shadows fall on him again.

When Ryan looked upwards he saw two eyes looking down at him. Two cool blue eyes that normally looked so playful and full of life, now an intimidating presence that loomed over him and made his feel exactly as small as he really was. But his task was accomplished. Noah was looking at him.

The tiny racoon pushed himself into a sitting position, his mouth agape as he bent his head backwards to see the giant above him. He watched as Noah’s inquisitive expression, his curiosity at what had been bothering his toe, morphed into a playful, mocking, smirk.

“Hey little guy,” Noah said down. His tone was calm and kind, but it didn’t make Ryan feel any better. “Man, you’ve got some bad luck running into this place. My roommate is really into messing with you.” He laughed a bit as Ryan’s heart rate continued to skyrocket. “How’d you even get in here, anyway?”

“No, Noah…” Ryan gulped as he realized what was happening. He had assumed that Noah would recognize him once he realized he was down by his feet. But he was still only a half an inch tall. He probably didn’t look any different from any other brown furred micro. “Noah, it's me, Ryan! Alright, I’m not like the other micros. I’m not like them!”

Noah laughed again as he looked down at his tiny roommate. “Yeah, I can’t understand a thing you’re saying. You guys need better vocal cords.”

This was not going how Ryan had wanted. At this point he almost wished that Noah hadn’t looked down, or that he was still under the table. “Noah, come on, stop doing this. It’s me!”

“Now, what should I do with you?” The words sent a jolt through his spine. The mouse said it with such a lax attitude that the weight of them almost didn’t register. But there was something so cold behind that phrase. “I mean, you’re a micro that wandered into my house. I can’t just let you go.” His smile grew. “That wouldn’t make any sense.”

Ryan was shaking his head as he started crawling backwards, away from the giant paw, away from the boy he thought was his friend. He didn’t blink as he moved, never let his eye contact falter. Like he was looking at a predator.

“You’re lucky Ryan didn’t find you. You’d already be squashed if he did.” Then the boy sighed. “He’d probably tell me to squish you too. He’s been really going on about that type of thing lately. Telling me I need to be more out there.” He shrugged. “I don’t know, just doesn’t really sound like me.”

The tiny racoon found himself unable to say anything as the giant talked to him. He knew that he wasn’t really having a conversation, or asking him anything. It was like when you talked to a pet. You knew they weren’t ever going to speak back, that any thoughts they may have had were intrinsically below yours, but you still did it just because it was fun.

Noah then let his head slip down a bit, until his cheek was resting on his fist. He stared down at Ryan with an odd expression, one that looked almost like he was bored. No, that wasn’t it. Ryan realized that he was just indecisive. He was still making up his mind about what he should do. If he should kill the micro he had found.

Ryan felt his body freeze as Noah shifted his foot to the side. For a moment, a brief second, he was sure that he was dead. He was going to get squashed to death under his best friend’s sole. He was going to be wiped out of existence just because he told Noah that he needed to be more confident. He had been so stupid, so foolish, and this was how it was all going to end.

But Noah’s foot didn’t come down on him. The boy had just rolled his paw to the side, facing his sole to the tiny micro. Ryan then looked back up at his friend, shocked, relieved, amazed at the fact he was still breathing.

“Alright, little guy,” Noah said down kindly. “I’m feeling nice today, so I’m not going to squish you. How about I make you a deal instead? Go ahead and lick my paw for a couple minutes, then I’ll let you run off and do whatever you do. Sound good?”

“Uh… ah…” Ryan stared up at his friend, his mouth agape and his eyes wide as his brain tried to process everything that was happening. He desperately tried to make sense of the position he was in, to comprehend the sheer reality of his new world. To come to grips with the fact that Noah asking him -- no, telling him -- to lick the dirt off of his paw was actually him being nice.

“Noah…” Ryan tried to speak, but the mouse just lifted an eyebrow, then flexed his toes. Tiny bits of dirt came loose and tumbled onto the ground close to the tiny raccoon tauntingly.

“Well?” Noah said after a moment. “Go on.”

“I…” Ryan couldn’t speak anymore. Finally something clicked in his mind and he came to accept that this was his place in life. He looked away from his friend’s cold, judgmental eyes and turned to his paw, a thin sheet of sweat glazed over his warm skin, the slightly pink paw pad resting and waiting for him to clean it. Without another word, he pushed himself up from his position on the floor and walked over to his best friend’s sole.

The smell of it became stronger as he approached. It was not overwhelming, and it did not make him gag. Only reminded him that the huge object in front of him, the one that towered over his body and lay waiting, was part of a living creature, a male body that moved and sweat.

He closed his eyes as he reached out and placed his palms on the paw pad. They sunk in as he leaned against the sole, Noah’s squishy paws giving way to his touch easily. The heat that was flowing off of the boy’s foot was impressive, and an almost comforting change to the freezing cold of the rest of the apartment.

He started rubbing. Up and down, the tiny racoon moved his hands around the giant paw pad in long, fluid motions, trying to cover as much surface area as possible. The skin gave way under his pressure, enough to show Ryan how soft and supple the boy’s foot was, yet also a reminder of the muscles underneath the surface. This foot was strong, and if it fell on him he knew that he’d be crushed.

“There you go,” Noah breathed from above him.

“Alright Noah,” Ryan said as he blinked back tears. His hands continued to move over his skin, the tiny droplets of sweat already matting the fur on his fingers. He felt something in the pit of his stomach as he continued. An anxiety about this whole situation, a primal reminder that this was wrong, and that he could be killed at any moment. The humiliation he felt was rivaled by no other moment of his life, and his mind had to constantly fight just so that he didn’t slip into a catatonic state. He knew that he had to keep rubbing if he was going to live. Noah was still his only hope, even if he was his tormentor.

“Tiny?” the giant mouse said from above, drawing Ryan’s attention once again. The little racoon turned to look up at his master. “I said ‘lick’ not rub.”

Ryan felt his body shake as the word moved through him. His stomach twisted on itself as the burden on his mind only grew. His hands were trembling against the soft paw pad, and he felt his knees buckle. He almost fell, and just barely managed to hold himself upright. He nodded to the mouse, then turned back to the paw, knowing what he needed to do.

The racoon closed his eyes, leaned forward, opened his mouth, then pressed his tongue against the boy’s sole. The taste of it shot over his palette like electricity, the intensity almost making him jump back. Salt was the most noticeable flavor, and it spread over every taste bud on his tongue. But there was more under it. A dirty taste, one that served as a reminder for all the places this foot had been. Trapped inside a soiled sneaker for hours. Crushed into dirt as he walked across the campus, barefoot, just so he could feel the grass between his toes. As he dragged his tongue upwards along his skin he could swear he could taste the slowly disintegrating carcasses of the bugs he had crushed, of the plants that were flattened, of the other micros he had so callously stepped on.

When he finished the lick he heard that voice again. “Good job, little guy.”

Ryan felt another tear run down his cheek as he pressed his tongue into Noah’s sole again, licking up the dirt and the salt and the sweat, knowing that this was all he was worth anymore. Noah probably couldn’t even feel his tongue running over his immense sole. Licking his foot did nothing to make him feel good. No, it was his humiliation that the mouse liked to see.

Again and again, Ryan licked at the mouse’s paw. Soon the racoon lost count of how many times his taste buds had been assaulted by the intense amount of salt and grime. He learned quickly to rub away at any specs of dust and lint that cluttered the mouse’s paw before he accidentally licked them up as well. Still, no matter how many times he licked, that taste was still just as raw and intense as the very first.

It must have been some minutes when he felt the ground under him shake in that unmistakable rhythmic pattern. He glanced behind him for only a moment, fearful of what Noah might do if he stopped licking for any longer. That beaver from before had come out of the bathroom and was walking back to the couch.

“Find it alright?” Noah asked. Ryan went back to his foot, dutifully.

The beaver answered, “Yeah. Almost tripped over the shampoo bottles.”

“Ryan keeps them on the ground. No room anywhere else.”

“He can’t keep them in his room?”

“You’d think so, wouldn’t you?” The mouse laughed as he leaned forward and picked up the controller. “You ready?”

“Start it.”

Once again the sounds of the game blared throughout the room, leaving Ryan to lick the giant’s paw with the relative comfort of knowing that the giants would be too busy having fun to pay him much mind.

He continued to lick at Noah’s paw, moving slightly closer to his toes as he did so. Some part of his mind told him that he should run. That Noah wouldn’t even notice his absence, that this was his chance. But that primal part of his mind, the prey part of him, told him to stay. It told him that Noah might notice when he stopped and would be angry. He had given Ryan a chance, something most giants wouldn’t even think to do, and that’s how he acts? He’d kill him.

He might be able to escape, but failure meant death. With that pressure on his actions, the little racoon was left to do the only thing he could build up enough courage to do. He continued to lick the mouse’s paw, and gagged at every drop of sweat.

Ryan didn’t know how long he had been worshiping his friend’s paw. It seemed like an eternity, though his shattered mindset could just be making that up. Perhaps it had only been a few minutes, but the torture of the repetitive, cruel taste made it seem far longer. Maybe it really had been hours and he was just growing numb to the world.

His ears were ringing. The television seemed louder than it would have if he was normal sized, and it hurt. His tongue felt like it had blisters on it, and every time he dragged it over the mouse’s soft sole he cringed, not only at the taste, but at the tactical sensation of all the tiny ridges that made up skin.

He wanted this to be over, but knew that it wasn’t his place to decide that. Noah was a macro, and he had complete control over the situation. If he didn’t keep licking, didn’t keep worshiping his friend’s sole, Noah could crush him without a thought.

Then Ryan felt the giant foot move. He could barely react as Noah shifted in his seat, leaned forward as lights flashed across the dark room. As he did he moved his foot over to the side and turned it back to the ground.

Ryan screamed as he felt the chubby paw rolled over him. It pressed his back into the carpet, then crushed down on him more, burying his face into the chunky bulges of his sole. He desperately tried to call out to his friend as he felt the weight of his entire leg pressing down on him, mercilessly smothering him under the immeasurable tonnage of his body, but no air escaped his lungs. His mouth was completely sealed over by his flesh.

The seconds ticked on, and he panicked. He tried to move his arms and legs to claw at the mouse’s foot, but the pressure held them against his side tightly. He tried to breath in but was only rewarded with a mouthful of hot skin. He tried to wiggle, he tried to scream, he tried anything he could think of, but it only made his lungs burn more.

When he was sure he was going to die, suffocated under his friend’s foot, Noah moved his sole backwards just a bit. The movement would have been barely perceptible to anyone else in the room, but for the tiny racoon under his paw it was the difference between life and death.

Ryan felt his head slide into a small pocket near the mouse’s toes. An area where the natural fold of his skin allowed his sole to lay higher up than the rest, taking the pressure off of his mouth. He breathed in, greedily sucking up the musky air that had been trapped under the rodent’s toes.

He coughed from the humidity, was still completely immobile thanks to the pressure on the rest of his body, but at least he could breath. For a few moments he just lay there, his body pressed into the carpet, sweltering under the heated paw pad, breathing and recovering from the trauma of almost being killed.

And then his prey instinct reminded him of what he was, and of what he was supposed to be doing. By all logic, Noah had forgotten that he existed. The mouse was so engrossed in the normal world that he had simply let Ryan’s existence slip from his mind. That’s why he let his foot roll over him. That’s why he had nearly killed him even after promising that he wouldn’t.

But, what if that wasn’t the case? What if Noah still knew where he was, and was waiting for that sensation of his tongue on his skin? What if he was counting down the moment until he pressed down and squashed his body like any other micro, just because he hadn’t kept up his end of the bargain.

“No…” Ryan whispered. “No,” he said again, but that prey part of his mind kept telling him that he needed to. He had promised Noah that he would lick. He needed to do this. So, pathetically, the racoon pressed his lips to the mouse’s sole once again. His tongue came out, touched the warm skin, and rolled over it.

Ryan continued to lick like the good little micro he was.

The minutes ticked on. He could still hear all the noises of the outside world. The television continued to blast music and sound effects, with goopy sounds of bodies being torn apart in fatalities and explosions not far in the background. Above him, Noah and his friend talked with one another casually, like another life wasn’t on the verge of being snuffed out mear inches away. Their conversation drifted from the game, to casual jeers, to small talk about classes, to different people they knew in the outside world. Ryan listened to it all, the sounds muffled by the tons of foot flesh above him, all as he licked away.

Soon everything started to blend together. Ryan’s world began to swim and become murky. It was pitch black under that burned hot sole, but he could swear he saw the tiny droplets of sweat that moved over his skin. He watched then as they crawled across the ridges of his pad, made their way over to him, then dropped down onto his face to soak further into his fur. He knew that he smelled exactly like Noah. The boy’s sweat was so infused into his very existence it would be impossible to separate. It clung to him like a blanket, wrapped so tightly he could barely breathe. And all the while he continued to hold up his end of the deal, and licked.

He didn’t know how long he was under that giant’s foot. His mind started to fail him as the air he breathed grew hotter and heavier. It was polluted not only by the sweat that continued to evaporate off of his tormentor’s sole, but by his own breath. There were no openings under Noah’s toe, no way for fresh air to enter. Eventually, he felt like he was choking again.

But he still licked, even after he started gagging. All he could think of was Noah lifting his foot off of him, looking down, and seeing that he wasn’t still kissing the bottom of his sole like the worthless bug he was. Then Noah would be disappointed, he’d be mad, and he’d squish him. He needed to keep licking. His life depended on it.

In the distance he heard motion. He felt something under his back and the boys said something to each other, but he was too far gone to piece it together. Maybe the otter was leaving. Then Noah and him would be alone, together, and this could end. As he was in the middle of picturing it, of thinking about how pleased Noah would be when he saw that he had kept kissing his sole for the entire night, he felt the pressure on his body explode.

Whatever putrid air had been in his lungs was crushed out of him as the mouse stood up. Ryan’s eyes shot open in panic, and he unconsciously squirmed around in an attempt to fight off the horrible pressure. The mouse’s leg had been cruel enough, but now his entire weight was upon him. It was too much. He could feel the hot skin pressing into him, bending his bones, squashing him flat.

Then, he felt the snap. One of his legs cracked under the pressure, the bone ground under the mouse’s foot while he simply stood on top of him. Ryan would have screamed if his mouth wasn’t muffled by tons of flesh all around him.

It ended in an instant. Noah lifted his foot up to take a step forward, his skin ripped away from Ryan’s body quickly and painfully. He felt some of his fur pull away, still stuck to the massive paw, now just more debris to lick away.

Ryan felt their footsteps as they walked away from him, still chatting happily as they left him on the ground, in agony.

He gasped for air and took in the cold, clean oxygen that filled the room. For a moment the joy of being able to breath again was enough to forget about the pain in his leg. It came back quickly enough, though he was able to stifle his scream.

Noah and his friend walked to the front door of the apartment. There they chatted for a bit, made their final jokes, then said goodnight. The beaver walked into the hallway and Noah shut the door behind him.

“And that’s that,” the mouse said with a sigh. He rubbed his eyes, tired after a night of excitement. The sun was set and the apartment was dark, except for the spots illuminated by the flickering television screen.

Ryan felt the ground shake as Noah walked back over to the couch. He was still on the ground, in the exact same place the giant had left him, his leg preventing him from even attempting to move. He was completely useless. He wouldn’t be able to survive in the apartment like this, not a chance. His only hope left was for Noah to finally see who he was.

The mouse’s foot crashed down only an inch from him carelessly, the fibers of the carpet crushed below his weight as he went to work putting away the controllers. Ryan could do nothing but stare upwards at the mouse that towered over him, his leg a monolith that was impossibly tall, his head so far above him that it didn’t even make sense.

Noah’s eyes looked over the table, then they moved to the floor. The tiny racoon felt his heart jump as Noah looked at him, finally saw him again.

“Oh,” the mouse said, surprised, a small smile squirming its way into the corner of his lips. “Little guy, I forgot about you.” He laughed down. “Were you licking my foot that entire time? Commitment, I like it.”

“Yes,” Ryan whispered. He didn’t bother trying to shout. It wouldn’t matter. “I was a good micro.”

“Well, a deal’s a deal, I guess. Go run off somewhere.” Ryan didn’t even try to move. When he glanced down at his leg he saw that it was lumpy and swollen. There were probably many fractures all along the length of it. He’d be lucky if he could even crawl. After a few moments he heard Noah again. “What’s wrong? I said you could leave.”

“Noah,” he moaned again. “It's me. Come on, it's me!”

“Oh,” the mouse then said, his voice less jovial. The giant lowered himself into a crouching position, his feet close to the little racoon, his face looming directly above him. Ryan found himself looking into the boy’s eyes, each one bigger than he was, and so strangely beautiful. “You messed up your leg, didn’t you?”

Ryan nodded as much as he could. His heart was beating so quickly as he allowed himself to have some hope. He knew Noah, and knew that he didn’t enjoy watching micros suffer. Even if he didn’t recognize him right now, he’d still help. He was a good person, and a good friend. Ryan had to believe that.

“Did I do that?” Noah whispered. “Ah crap. That means you can’t move. And if I just leave you here you’ll get eaten, or starve, or something.” He shook his head, then hummed to himself in that cute little way he did whenever he was thinking. “I guess I should help you,” he said with a sigh.

Ryan let a smile spread across his face as he saw Noah reaching for him. This was it. The moment where all his fear was ended, and he could live the rest of his life in relative comfort. He wouldn’t have to lick any more feet. Noah would take care of him, and everything would be alright.

Warm fingers gently wrapped around the tiny racoon as Noah picked him up. The mouse held him firmly, his thumb pressing him into his forefinger as he lifted him higher. The light of the television, dim as it was, made Ryan wince as he was brought into it.

But that was fine. He didn’t mind the light. He was finally saved and this nightmare would all be over.

“Although…” Noah said. A single word, a sharp reminder that life as a micro was never safe. That the world could be ripped away at any moment. That his life meant nothing compared to the whims of a giant.

“What?” Ryan said as he looked up at his friend, now afraid once again.

“Ryan wouldn’t like the idea of me helping out a micro.”

“R… No, Noah, don’t think like that. Forget what I said!”

“He’d laugh at me, call me a coward again. Tell me that I need to be more confident and just let these bugs die.” The mouse shook his head. “You know, I’ve been trying to get better. But it's hard. I can’t just flip a switch and get over all of this. I mean, I’m trying, alright? But everything just makes me feel so nervous all the time. I’m not like Ryan. I can’t just be confident.”

“Noah, that’s fine. You don’t have to be! Just be you! Be the nice, kind, you!”

The mouse looked down at the racoon in his hand. He squinted, tried to see through the glare of the television, then gently rubbed his friend’s face with the pad of his thumb. “You know, little guy, you remind me of him. You’re both racoons.” Noah chuckled a bit as he continued to stroke the micro, all while Ryan tried to fight his thumb off. “But Ryan wouldn’t ever be like you. He’d never be this tiny and pathetic. And he’d never, ever, lick someone’s feet.”

“I would,” Ryan answered as he tried to look at his friend. “Please, Noah, just look at me. It’s me!”

“Earlier today, I saw Ryan eat a micro. Alive. He said he could feel it wiggling around in his stomach, and the idea made me feel so nauseous. It just freaked me out so bad. But… it was kind of interesting.”

“What?” Ryan felt a new dread run through him.

“It's so gross, but it’s like that morbid curiosity. Like when you see something disgusting and you reach out to touch it, or you smell something really nasty but you keep sniffing it. I… I kind of want to see what it's like.”

“Noah, you don’t! Don’t! Please, please, don’t!”

“And I guess, if I’m trying to be more confident, I should just do it.”

“No! No, Noah, I was wrong! I was wrong about everything! You don’t need it, you don’t need to do this. I love you just how you are, please don’t change!” He could feel himself blubbering as his words choked in his throat. “Please, don’t.”

“Alright, I’ll do this for Ryan.”

“Please…”

Ryan felt himself lifted higher into the air. When he looked forward he saw his friend’s mouth open in front of him, his maw looming like a black bit of death, with his throat at the very back. There was spit covering the ping tongue and the brutally hard teeth. He could see the ribs that ran across the top of his palette, and the strands of saliva that hung down. Then he breathed in and he smelled what it was like. A damp smell, one that hinted at the rot deep inside, the acids that would melt his body.

The tiny racoon couldn’t even scream before Noah threw him into his waiting maw. He fell onto the giant’s tongue and slipped onto his belly, his leg erupting in pain from the sudden movement. Slime coated his body and seeped into his fur, the mouse’s saliva clung to his body in thick strands that weighed him down. Suddenly all light was stolen from the cavern as Noah simply closed his mouth.

Ryan was then pressed against the top of his friend’s palette as the giant began to suck on him. The pressure was great, a reminder of what it felt like to be squashed under a giant. The air was pressed out of his lungs again, more spit sent to coat him.

“Ha,” Noah chuckled, a sound which was completely deafening to the little micro, bounced him on top of his tongue. “You taste like feet,” the mouse continued playfully before shutting his mouth once more.

Ryan tried to claw at the tongue as it lifted up, pushing him towards the black abyss at the back of his mouth. His nails dug into the flesh but couldn’t pierce into it, and he slipped over the wet surface, ever closer to what he knew would be his death.

He called out as he went, as the slope grew steeper. “Noah, please!” But his screams were only answered by a deafening gulp, and his body was grabbed by the powerful muscles and pulled into his esophagus.

The wet walls of Noah’s throat forced him down the tight, claustrophobic, black pipe. The sound of wet squelches all around him was lurid and terrible, and the pressure was just as bad as when he had been sucked on. Deeper and deeper he was dragged, his face covered by wet flesh, until he was finally squeezed through an even smaller opening and dropped into a final, dark chamber.

Blackness surrounded him. Blackness, and the feeling of wet flesh under his body, with a gentle tingle poking at the parts of him that were under the liquid. He could hear a low hum from somewhere. A thump-thump of the boy’s beating heart, the flow of blood through his veins, the groan of his muscles contracting and expanding as they powered his godlike body.

Noah patted his belly gently, his mind torn on how he should feel. Was this a moment to be ashamed of? He had just taken another creature's life, and in such a brutal way. But, more so, he felt proud. He felt proud that he had overcome all that fear and finally did something that he had wanted to do, even if it did make him uncomfortable. It was just like Ryan had said. He needed to come out of his shell.

The mouse smiled as he continued about his business, shutting off the television and putting the controllers away. He walked back to his room, beaming as he felt a tiny sensation in his stomach.

“Man,” the mouse said when he was back in his room, a huge smile on his face. He had abandoned all thoughts of feeling ashamed. This was a good moment for him, a victory. One that he couldn’t wait to share with his friend. “Ryan’s going to flip when I tell him about this. I can’t wait until he gets back.”