Toadette's Story: Book 1

Chapter 38 - Popcorn Toes

Before leaving the hotel, the vending machine ate up two minutes of our time. Minh T. gorged her bag with as many snacks as possible. Look, if movie prices were high in Toad Town, they had to be triple that in Mushroom City. So, the only two things we agreed on buying at the cinema were a bucket of popcorn and sodas. Once Minh T.’s bag was suffocating, it was time to head out. Down to the lobby, we descended.

“We walking?” she asked, slapping her flip-flops against her heels. “It’ll be a minute before we get to the movies.”

“I sat enough on that plane. Some more movement won’t kill me.” Although Minh T. accepted this answer, there was a secondary reason I chose to walk to the theatre. She could only walk so long before her feet got sore in those beaten shoes.

Immediately after leaving the hotel, we were cast into a sea of people and cars. Yuck, the smell of hot exhaust set a stinky atmosphere for the city. It was like standing in a pit stop.

Ignoring how some cars drove dangerously on the sidewalk, my nervousness increased upon seeing the hazards around us. People were kicking up so much dirt. The dust from the cars could hit us, too. And the sight of sticky bubblegum on the ground was not uncommon. Would Minh T.’s feet be okay in this situation? No, no, no… I needed them clean.

Too bad I couldn’t tell her that, otherwise she’d get suspicious as to why I focused on her feet so much recently. I just kept a careful eye on her. We stuck together like glue in this initial mass. Gritting my teeth, I pushed us toward the direction Minh T. faced. Finally, we were out. I could breathe a sigh of relief.

“WHOA!”

A car zipped right behind Minh T., the wind sending her face-first into the ground. But she bounced like nothing had occurred. Instead, her head snapped backwards, and there was a loud shriek. Her left flip-flop had fallen into the street, waiting for a car to run it over.

Oh-no! The way she tucked down, she was going to run. Barefoot.

“I’ll get it,” I said in a hurry, carelessly throwing myself into the street. When I went to grab it, my heart nearly jumped out my mouth. A loud horn blared in front of me, with people in cars screaming. In disbelief, I screamed at the top of my lungs, “Be quiet!”

Damn, you can’t even pick something up without people being rude. Back on the sidewalk, I saw that Minh T.’s flip-flop didn’t appear much dirtier. Still, better to not take my chances. I wiped it on the inside of my shirt, then, with a spin, returned it to its rightful owner.

She slid it on her foot with ease. “Thanks. Streets are a lot more hectic here, aren’t they?”

“Everything’s way too dense.”

“Comes with some positives. Compared to Toad Town, most important things are in a SHORT walking distance. See? We’re only a few blocks away from the movies now.”

Phew. That lifted some weight off my shoulders. Still, I needed to remain vigilant. Minh T. and I continued down the block, and after a few steps, I noticed we’d walked past something. A trash bag? Odd. Wait a minute, there was another one. And another one. And another one. And another one. Then a banana peel.

“Why are there trash bags everywhere!?”

“Mushroom City’s always got trash on the sidewalk. Dump truck comes and hauls it away later.” She put her hands on her hips. “If you don’t get used to some filth, you’re gonna end up beheading yourself before the festival.”

When looking at Minh T.’s feet, I gagged. A dirty napkin was underneath her heel, flapping from the mild breeze. And she did absolutely nothing to get rid of it. No, she just pushed it deeper into her shoe. Ew, ew, ew! Who knew what that napkin was used for? What if it had boogers and snot on it? And now it was rubbing against her heel.

“Huh,” she also looked down, “didn’t even feel that.”

You didn’t feel that!? I just wanted to shake her right then and there. She made some space so the napkin would blow away, then marched onward as if all was well. Now I trailed behind her, still shuddering. At least this position swap came with one advantage. I got a brief snippet of the bottoms of her feet again. Every time one naked foot revealed its sole, my heart fluttered.

This feeling was indescribable, and I still didn’t know why it was happening. Nevertheless, I managed to avoid tripping over my own two feet while staring at Minh T.’s. Surprised I didn’t walk into a streetlamp.

Alas, all streaks of luck meet their end. The more we walked, the darker Minh T.’s heels became. They were a very light grey, yet the filth refused to disappear. Once that dry pattern sunk in, I knew it’d take tons of scrubbing to get it out.

Then, as we crossed the street with a group of people, I asked her something. “How can you stand getting your feet dirty without going insane?”

“What do you mean?”

“Your heels are getting so dusty. Doesn’t that bot— Why am I even asking that? No, I know it doesn’t bother you. But how and why?”

Minh T. shrugged, taking a brief look at her dirty toes. “Dust is everywhere. You know those floating particles you see when on the bus in the morning?”

I nodded.

“Yep, that’s dust,” she explained, tugging me to make room for other people on the sidewalk. “If I were too sensitive to it, I don’t think I’d get much done in life.”

“But it’s so… AARGH!” I felt crazy explaining myself. “Doesn’t it feel better to have clean feet? You know, when they’re soft, and you can’t feel little germs creeping on your soles?”

“Why not both? I like my feet clean sometimes, Toadette. But if you expect me to die from a little dust, get real.” She rubbed her dirty foot on my pants leg—making me flinch—and giggled. “I work in a garden, so getting messy comes with the job.”

Well, that was the best answer I could get. Pressing her further wouldn’t accomplish anything or change her viewpoint. Unfortunately, I’d just have to accept that Minh T.’s feet would be a little dirtier than I wanted. But let’s look at the bright side. At least they weren’t super gross yet. And I probably wasn’t going to lick them anyway. Would that even be possible without her getting suspicious? With her brain, she’d jump to conclusions quickly and probably be accurate.

“Ooh, look at that!” Minh T. guided my attention to a small photo booth. No line for now. “You wanna take some pictures?”

I looked to my right, and sure enough, we were in front of a large complex. Full of popping colours and with tall escalators, this had to be the cinema. Or at least, the cinema had to be inside there. But as eager as I was to get on with this movie, I desperately needed prep time. So with a smile, I followed Minh T. into the small booth.

She sat on the left, and I sat on the right. Ugh, it smelt like sweaty Pianta ass in here. Even she had to plug her nose initially.

“Never used one of these before,” I said, watching her quickly tap the screen buttons.

“I got it.”

Minh T. selected an option for four photos, and then immediately afterwards, a large countdown stretched across the screen. 20 seconds, and it was ticking down. Hmm… 20 for each picture, I imagined.

“Can you take off a shoe?” she asked, fluffing her brown hair.

“Why?”

“I wanna lick your toes for the last one. It’d be—”

Before finishing, she pointed at the screen and beamed. I hastily followed suit, adopting a more casual smile.

FLASH!

Once the white light left our eyes, she continued speaking. “It’d be funny to actually see myself with your foot in my mouth, don’t you think?”

Unsure of how else to react, I nodded. Damn, this was the perfect time to experiment with having her toe in my mouth as well. So, why wasn’t I requesting that? If she was going to suck on my toe, would it draw suspicion if I sucked hers at the same time? For whatever reason, I remained silent while she unlaced my sneaker and tugged on my sock.

“This’ll be awesome.”

“Oh, wait!” I focused on the red countdown dropping to 3. With no time to spare, I pulled us chest to chest. Our cheeks smushed against each other while we struggled to grin.

FLASH!

The sizzling noise that came with the flash was like an annoying mosquito buzzing around your face. As the countdown continued, Minh T. dropped my foot and faced the camera properly.

“Let’s look moody for this one.”

“I can try.” In reality, you’d have to educate me on what’d be a grand moody expression. Maybe I should mime cutting myself? Nope, nope, bad idea. Jeez, what a horrific memory that’d leave Minh T. with. But okay, let’s go for a playful moody instead of a depressed moody.

I closed my eyes halfway, then did a small pout. Huh, I sure was pouty these days. Glancing at Minh T., her interpretation of moody got me to snicker. She had the same gloomy eyes as me, only her lips were puckered while she placed her hands on her hips. Hehe, was she trying to be moody or sexy? All she needed was ebony lipstick, and she’d be the perfect goth girlfriend for someone to have.

FLASH!

Finally, it was time for the big picture. I brought my right foot to Minh T.’s face, lightly curling my toes. While our time window shrunk, Minh T. planted a smooch on my sole—a squeaky smooch. Considering she’d gotten my feet in her mouth twice today, it must’ve been her lucky day.

“Here goes,” she said, hopping into the correct position. Her face was closer to the camera, and taking a deep breath, she pushed her tongue between my toes like a worm. Just before the flash, I shivered.

FLASH!

And fortunately, the flash covered the tiny moan that escaped my lips.

Still exploring that creamy spot between my toes, Minh T. took ten seconds to retract her tongue. Like finishing a deluxe meal, she smacked her lips and gave me a cutesy smirk. Her lips were only a short distance from mine as if she’d forgotten the important rule about personal space.

“Thanks.” The word left her lips slowly while she pierced my eyes.

“Let’s see what they look like,” I rushed to say. I needed to get out this tight space before my face turned red.

When getting the pictures, we fixated on the bottom one. The one where a sexually-confused Toad licked the toes of another highly confused Toad. Minh T. ordered two strips, keeping one for herself while I got the remainder. You know, there was something surreal about seeing someone lick my feet. Well, I’d obviously seen it before, but never my own reaction.

“Do I always look this disturbed?” I asked, noting my horizontal eyebrows.

Minh T. pointed to her face. “Do I always look dumb when around your feet?”

“Not at all. You look real cute there.”

“Toadette… Hey, keep calling me cute, and I might have to go down on you tonight. Cutie.”

“EW!” I pushed her back into the booth, hearing the echoes of a madwoman’s laugh. “Get your mind out the gutter for once in your life.”

So, upon walking into this complex, the movie theatre turned out to be on the second floor. Already different from the simple walk-in system over in Toad Town. When we rode the escalator, it hit me that we’d forgotten a very important detail. What kind of movie were we even going to see?

“How about Metroid Prime 3.5?”

“We’ve seen enough action movies for today,” I said, giving her some time to understand and giggle. “What won’t put us on serious edge?”

She named off a list of films, many seemingly based on video game stuff. Something about that Zelda chick—apparently a story where she does something for a change. Then she mentioned a racing movie with a falcon, but again, my heart wasn’t in the mood for intense action. Some Icarus boy, all these red creatures, a film about Luigi’s time in a mansion? That last one was based on a real story, but still. Come on, Minh T., you can do better than this.

“Well, what about The Ice Climbers Movie?”

“The what?”

“That’s the one about these two… I don’t know what their relationship is, but they go on an adventure. It looks tame.”

The poster showed two Toad-looking creatures (without the caps) in the tightest winter gear imaginable. One was in blue—he was definitely the boy. The other was in pink—is there any question about what gender she is? They had these big hammers and were together at the base of a mountain. The tagline read, “It’s only them and ice hammers as they make their way to the top of the mountain!”

It sounded like a sappy romcom with some small action, so it wasn’t like my expectations were off the charts. We hopped in line, deciding The Ice Climbers Movie as our pick.

It took us 20 minutes to get our two tickets at the counter. Then, entering the bigger cinema room, we stepped in line for some buttery popcorn. Mmm… The warm scent of the cooking food always made me feel right at home. If I could live in a movie theatre, it wouldn’t be the worst experience having the smell of popcorn everywhere. I looked at Minh T.’s feet while inhaling this delicious atmosphere. Hmm…

“Something on my foot?”

I stiffened up. “Thought I saw a beetle. Maybe someone shrank with a Mini Mushroom.”

While she scanned both her feet, soles and all, I thought about it. Feet kind of smell like popcorn, don’t they? Not all of them, but it’s a decent comparison. Of course, now with that link in mind, images of the vilest feet clouded my brain. Stinky feet, feet covered in the nastiest dumpster grime, ugh… Just think about clean soles, Toadette. Wait, don’t think about feet at all. Easier said than done, especially with my mission this evening.

Speaking of getting to my mission, in the name of the Star Spirits, COULD THIS LINE HURRY UP!? Jeez, at least Toad Town would have you in and out with your overpriced refreshments. In addition to the 20 minutes we spent getting tickets, we’d been on this line for another 23. And the movie started in ten minutes.

Once we could finally speak to someone, I slammed my palm on the counter. “Large bucket. Extra butter popcorn. Two large drinks.”

Oh, now they wanted to rush us. We got our food in a few minutes. Great service. At last, we handed our tickets to a lady, then climbed a ramp into an extended hallway. This was more what I was used to. Let’s see, we needed Theatre 12. Theatre 8, 10, ah-ha! Since I was on popcorn management duty, Minh T. opened the door.

“Thank you,” I said, giving her bright face a brief look before the illumination vanished. Lights didn’t return until we got farther into the movie theatre. Damn, this place was massive! How many people could it hold? Hundreds? Unfortunately, to our non-surprise, most the seats were occupied.

“Follow me,” Minh T. tugged me toward a seat in the back left of the theatre. A few seats in front of people, but don’t get things twisted—we were in the back. No complaints from me, though.

“What brain-damaged Goombas sit up in the front?” I asked. Now our voices were in low-volume mode. “The angle is atrocious.”

“One of life’s biggest mysteries, Toadette.”

Minh T. plopped in the seat and leaned back. That was the other noticeable thing about this place. The spacing between seats was greater than I’d anticipated. Normally, there’s maybe a foot and a half of walking space. Yet this place had nearly two full feet between seats. Though it may sound like a minimal difference, it was important for one reason.

WHIRR!

“Ah, there we go.”

Leaning further back, Minh T. sighed while her feet elevated on a recliner. No flip-flops in sight; she must’ve kicked them off just now. Have mercy, there were too many things to focus on… The film screen’s light illuminated the edges of her feet. So my eyes locked onto them first. But after that initial adrenaline burst kicked in, I also searched for a recliner button on this chair. Movie theatres could have those functions? Who’d have thought it?

How long I took to find the function was trivial because we were going through tons of trailers. You know, the boring period no mentally stable person enjoys in a theatre. At least this dull filler gave me extra time to admire her feet.

Wait, did I say “admire”? Analyse. I analysed her feet at that moment. Her blue pedicure still caught my eye, and the small size of her feet would make them easier to rub… She should’ve been grateful to be blessed with feet that fit her body size. Unlike mine. Compared to Minh T., I looked like a long-foot penguin. Her wider, meatier feet matched her body shape perfectly.

“Turn up the heat if you’re cold,” she advised, twisting a dial before digging into the popcorn bucket. Right after she swallowed, that straw entered her mouth to quench her thirst.

“Don’t finish before the movie starts,” I said. “Bet refills aren’t free in this place.”

“Nope.”

Luckily, with Minh T.’s eyes fixated on the flashing imagery of this Emblem Warriors trailer, I could study her toes for as long as I wanted. Until the theatre got dimmer, that’s precisely what I did. But after a few minutes, it was time for the feature to properly start. This meant our lips would be zipped. We’d established that rule years ago after having too many rude filmgoers ruin our experiences. Was there a baby in here we had to know about?

When the red company logo faded in, I finally reached for the bucket. Um… Another hand met me there. Minh T. acted like nothing was wrong, just wiggling her fingers against mine. Meanwhile, sweat raced down my forehead and onto my shirt. I scooped up some popcorn and tossed it in my mouth, getting out of that situation before things escalated.

Damn it. While it was sweet viewing Minh T.’s feet like this due to the recliners, how could I get close to them now? My original plan was to drop the occasional popcorn kernel and get on the floor to recover it. While down there, I’d touch Minh T.’s feet like a crawling spider, pretending the popcorn was close to her. Perhaps it was stupid, in hindsight, but it was something. Now I had to change course to analyse her feet further.

Think, Toadette. No one’s going to see you in this theatre due to how dim the lights are, even with the movie’s vibrant colours. Hmm… My original strategy could come into play for one thing.

Swiftly, I picked up some more popcorn and intentionally let some rain on the floor.

I tapped Minh T.’s shoulder, then mouthed these words. “Let me get that.”

She nodded. Now, I slid out of the chair and slowly scanned the floor. Not for the goodness of the popcorn but for something more significant. In fact, two items. While the characters in the movie sounded like they were getting up to something naughty—or maybe they were just breaking ice—I smiled upon realising the naughty things I was to accomplish.

Better still, some butter and popcorn came along with these shoes. I carefully hid them in my shirt and whispered to Minh T., “Bathroom.” The last thing I needed was for her to get suspicious of my absence.

My groin tingling, I rushed out the theatre until I could lock myself in a restroom stall. Hoo-boy, these pink flip-flops had sure seen better days. Her signature flip-flops were the equivalent of my signature flats. At least mine retained their pure pink colour over the years, through all the trials and tribulations. Even through blistering winds and scorching deserts, they looked top-notch. Meanwhile, Minh T.’s flip-flops adopted a darker hue over the years. She did tend to get dirtier than me…

Sniff, sniff, sniff!

Yet the benefit of destroying her shoes was immediately clear. They captured my friend’s essence in so many ways. Her earthy bodily odour, the accurate footprint burnt into the shoes, even the warmth her presence brought.

What’s going on inside my pants? I shouldn’t have felt so lightweight and floaty, right? But I moaned so loudly that I had to pinch myself to quit. What if a kid walked in and heard me? Or worse, the main Toad herself. Taking extra caution, I rubbed my nose in her flip-flops, sucking in the smell of her feet. No, it wasn’t clean like I wanted. However, I couldn’t stop. Why? What about her foot smell made it hard to resist? I never should’ve smelt her feet to begin with, let alone her flip-flops.

But here I was, sniffing them in a cramped bathroom. The last thing any sane woman would want to do.

Then my tongue left my mouth and took one solid lick upon her shoe. A stray popcorn kernel caught in the strap went down my throat, bringing a grin to my face. Interesting, honestly. The shoe looked so filthy, yet it didn’t sully the flavour as badly as I worried it would. In fact, the butter did more to enhance the shoe. And so I lapped it over and over like a bear slurping honey. Lick, lick, lick.

“This is so wrong,” I mumbled, rubbing the shoe against the bottom of my face. I backed from the it, then stared at the pink footwear. Would I feel dirty if I caught Minh T. smelling my shoes randomly? Yes. In fact, I lashed out at her the first time I discovered this fetish. So how could I bring myself to do this?

No, Toadette. Bad girl! I had to stop right now, before I unbuttoned my jeans.

Back in the theatre, her chair was out of its recliner mode, making her sit properly upright. Once I entered my seat, I slowly slid her shoes onto the floor, kicking them under her feet. Phew. At least I could begin to shake off some of this guilt. Eyes on the screen, I reached for the popcorn on her lap… This day was just full of surprises.

She made no effort to remove my hand from her crotch. I pulled back instantly.

“Popcorn?” I mouthed.

She pointed to the floor. Sure enough, the popcorn was next to her dangling feet. Wait, next? No, her feet were IN the popcorn! Minh T., were you doing this on purpose!? Did you realise I made off with your dirty shoes?

“It was an accident,” she mouthed back, in between chewing on candy.

Mmm-hmm. Accident or not, she was helping me. Because now I had an even better excuse to get near her feet.

Getting on all fours, I pulled one of her feet out of the bucket. Having her toes this close to my lips really tempted me to suck on them, but I was strong enough to ignore them. I yanked the other foot out, then shovelled more food in my mouth. Good thing I couldn’t see the popcorn in detail, otherwise I might’ve vomited at the sight of foot dirt covering them. They tasted similar, too.

Wait. I should just bring this bucket into my seat. Duh.

And just as I tried, a warm surprise slapped my lips. Ugh, screw it. I drove Minh T.’s foot inside my mouth and sucked the toes. Now the flavour changed into something more bitter, yet the butter and oil enhanced this act tenfold. Don’t get me started about the butter that found its way underneath her toenails. I got a few licks in those tight spaces, softly stroking the top of her foot…

You know what? Best to enjoy myself now and worry about explaining myself later. It wasn’t like she was laughing or complaining, so let’s go!

Once I had enough of her chunky toes, I sucked on the ball of her foot. It seemed to soak up just as much popcorn essence as the digits, so it had me attracted like a cat to catnip. I naturally lowered myself down her sole, then parked at the heel. Sucking, licking, it went by the same.

However, my mind’s gears switched when I reached her other foot. I hadn’t felt this in such a long time. And doing it in a movie theatre made me feel like the biggest whore on the planet. As I licked between the Toad’s toes, my hand snuck into my jeans. Nobody heard the unbuttoning over the angry yelling sounds from these pink and blue blobs in the movie. Without even wetting them up, my fingers slowly took a journey inside my vagina.

Wow! The blush couldn’t get redder than this.

My tongue wasn’t the only thing to be rewarded. There was something so soothing about feeling Minh T.’s silky soft feet push against my cheeks. Heck, the fact they were soft was something to be celebrated considering the city dirt.

My breathing got so heavy when both her feet trapped my nose between her toes. The smell! It was stronger than the flip-flops and still not stinky. Though, it had more character than when she was on the plane. And while I breathed her feet in, I sped up the circling motion of my thumb on my clitoris. Ah…

“This is nice,” I whispered. Under any other circumstances, I’d have been sickened to hear that come out my mouth. But today, I was in so much bliss that it didn’t matter what thoughts poured out my mouth. Coating her soles in my spit was the priority, and I was doing a pretty job at it. When I returned between her toes, my tongue left them all slippery. Now it was time to suck on her wide heels again.

“Miss, what are you doing?”

Must’ve been some dialogue from the movie. Because I looked around and saw no one eyeballing me. So, I continued to play with myself and lick Minh T.’s yummy soles.

“Miss.”

Nope. Ignoring. My best friend’s feet were too interesting to pay mind to whatever plot happened with these ice climbers.

Tap, tap. tap!

What the!? I nearly bit Minh T.’s pinkie toe off before looking up. To my horror, a little girl was staring straight at me. Black hair, beady eyes, she could’ve been a Lakitu. She couldn’t have been older than nine with that voice and demeanour. And at that moment, that dreadful moment, my fingers were in pleasure’s cavern.

I slowly positioned my hand out my pants, then looked at Minh T. Now she was looking at me. Oh crap! But could she see my hands? Did she catch me getting off?

“Ssh!” I motioned the Lakitu girl to pay attention to the movie, then crawled back into my seat. Hmph! And I could’ve totally had an orgasm, something I’d lacked in years. Then again, this child saved me the embarrassment of going home with wet pants.

The movie continued for another 60 minutes. And to my surprise, it wasn’t as sappy as I expected. This Nana girl was so adorable in every scene she appeared in—my heart broke like a wet paper when she thought Popo had died. Overall, a nice 7/10 movie; good, just good. When the credits appeared, I knew some people would sit to wait until the very end of the film—they wanted to learn the secret of whether these two were siblings or friends. But Minh T. and I were already out of the building. Perhaps for the better, as if these two turned out to be siblings after that kissing scene, I’d drop its rating to a 5/10. On the way out, Minh T. recounted how much she enjoyed this flick, bouncing about like a rabbit.

“I think I’m getting better at not crying during these movies,” she said, still carrying the half-full bucket of popcorn.

“Well, I can’t say I saw a teardrop, so good work.”

“So um, you liked licking my feet down there? You licked more than you ate.”

I looked out the corner of my eye. “I just wanted all the butter your feet stole from the popcorn.”

“But did you like licking my feet?” Minh T.’s voice got louder, almost more assertive.

“No, but I didn’t hate it.” In contrast, my voice softened and got deeper in pitch. I didn’t want to ruin the mood, but I wasn’t stupid enough to spill all the beans to her. The sad, disgusting truth that… I enjoyed licking her feet. By 1%. Not a lot, so don’t get your hopes up.

“Lemme tell you, I definitely liked it.”

Hearing that made me feel a twinge better. At least she didn’t seem suspicious with why I tasted her feet, even for a bizarre reason such as desiring butter.

When we returned to the hotel, the dusk sky transitioned to night while the temperature dropped outside. Finally, we entered the bathroom—the first thing any girl should do when in a place. Minh T.’s eyes widened as the lights came on, and I nodded in approval. Despite our room being smaller than mine at the castle, this bathroom screamed five stars. The big deal was a separate bath and shower; no turn-taking meant we could wash ourselves as soon as we returned.

Not wanting to expose my whole body, I chose the glass-protected shower. It was blurry enough to censor my private parts, though unfortunately, it meant also I couldn’t see Minh T. By the time I lathered myself with soap, she’d stripped in the room, then filled the tub with water.

Rubbing my own feet as I sat in the shower—be quiet, I know it sounds ridiculous—it hit me that a question went unanswered.

“You never explained why your feet were killing that popcorn.”

A splashing sound came before Minh T. spoke. “Oh. Well, I kind of do that normally when I’m by myself to warm my feet up. I said it was an accident ‘cause I forgot you were with me. You took a long time in the bathroom. Sorry.”

“That’s about the most Minh T. answer I could’ve gotten,” I said. It was hard to tell if she was lying without seeing her face. But that’d never been a good skill of hers to begin with. “How often are you going to the movies by yourself, then?”

“Way more than I go with friends.”

And thus began an awkward silence. It lasted a few profoundly uncomfortable seconds before Minh T.’s tone sweetened.

“I’m joking. Kind of. Look, I go a lot with or without friends.”

Ah. How stupid I was for concerning myself. Of course Minh T. had way more friends than me, so her chances of being lonely were minimal. From guys and girls, she had a friend list a kilometre long. Sometimes, well often, I wished I could be as open as her. But having a few small friends beat having tons of friends I couldn’t remember.

“I hope they’ve got the richest mouthwash here,” I said as I stretched my legs. “I can’t wake up smelling like I just sucked popcorn toes.”

“My toes could’ve been way dirtier. When you were in the bathroom, I actually rubbed them on the seat cushion to clean them a little. Didn’t think you’d suck them, but amazing how that worked out, huh?”

“Yes…”

47 minutes later, a few minutes after Minh T. had dried herself off, I let the steam wall pour out of the shower. Wearing a loose shirt and no pants was expected. So, I freshened my mouth, then headed for bed. The Toad was already lying in her usual position. It still confused me why she preferred sleeping with her head on the foot of the bed, but knowing her bizarre fetish now, I connected some dots.

The best thing was being able to sleep with her feet next to my face. So, she couldn’t call me a weirdo for looking at them when they were on these pillows. And now that they were clean again, any qualms I had with germs vaporised.

“Did you enjoy your first day in Mushroom City?” she asked, fluffing the pillows on her side.

“I’d say so.”

“I wonder what Her Highness is gonna make us do tomorrow. If she’s got anything planned.”

“If she’s got anything planned? You know she does. She might as well revoke the title ‘foot slave’ from me. Because I’m her special errand girl. And babysitter. She could make me a plumber and I wouldn’t—”

Smooch…

“Did you just kiss my foot?”

Minh T. patted my feet with a goofy smile on her face, then yawned like a lion. “Just a goodnight kiss. I’m so tired ‘n’ stuff.”

“Same here,” I said. I pulled myself out the bed to turn off all the lights in the room. And once in darkness and under the heavy blankets, I reached for one of Minh T.’s feet. There it was, soft and squishy, a bit dry since it just came out of a steaming bath.

Smooch… Smooch!

Her giggle as I planted a wet kiss on her big toe ended this night on a fine note. “Goodnight,” I moaned, collapsing into the mountain of white pillows.