(Chapter originally written by PhoenixStriker)
You were in a massive department store about fifteen minutes from your house. You'd been here plenty of times during your life, as it was the largest place around for clothing, furniture, and other assorted household items.
Jenna dropped you onto her shoulder, grabbed a complimentary tote to carry her potential purchases in, then started wandering around at a brisk pace. You wrapped a strand of her hair around your arm to anchor yourself, knowing that Jenna would be the last person to go back and grab you if you fell off, even if she knew it had happened.
You tried to sound casual as you spoke. "Just here to shop a bit, Jenna?"
Jenna chuckled. "Yeah, I guess. Money burning a hole in my pocket, you know how it is."
"So why am I here?"
Jenna let out a mock gasp. "Why, Matt, that almost sounded accusatory. I just wanted to hang out with my big brother." She grinned. "Why? Did you want me to do something else to you while we're here?"
You swore under your breath, having stumbled into another barrage of Jenna's effortless teasing. "N-No...that's fine. I'll just sit here on your shoulder, I guess."
Jenna shrugged (fully aware that it nearly caused you to tumble off her shoulder). "Suit yourself. I could use your opinion on some new outfits anyway."
And so, your sister fell into silence as she started perusing the racks of clothing. Not wanting to risk saying something Jenna could cruelly twist into some sort of prank, you kept quiet too. You merely sat on your sister's shoulder lazily kicking your legs, being bored out of your skull as Jenna meandered through the racks.
For a short bit of time it almost felt normal. Jenna passed quite a few other women out shopping, and exchanged kind words with them. A few took note of you, giving you surprised looks and friendly waves, which you returned (usually while blushing with slight embarrassment). Jenna even, true to her word, asked for your opinion on a few different blouses and skirts, and you honestly gave it. It genuinely felt like one of the precious few times you and her bonded like actual siblings and not bitter enemies.
All good things came to an end, of course, and your shopping trip with Jenna hit the first of two major snags after about thirty minutes at the store.
Eyes lighting up with intrigue, Jenna caught sight of a small table in the middle of the women's clothing section. She saw it before you did, and hurried over to the table so quickly you barely kept your hold on her shoulder. The strand of hair you'd been bracing yourself on slipped free, so you had to grip Jenna's shirt to steady yourself. As such, you didn't take note of the table until Jenna was standing right before it.
Your eyes widened.
It was a small, non-descript table covered in red tablecloth. There were two baskets on the table, each one filled with a collection of identical bottles. A sign in the middle of the table read "Trouble with your Tinex? Free Supplies on Us!" The red bottles in the left basket were all Full-Length spray, and the blue bottles on the right were Tinex solvent. The Full-Length spray locked synthetic squishy material into its molded shape, and only those solvent bottles could break the chemical bonds.
In essence, the worst thing in your entire life was just sitting on this table, bottled up and ready to be grabbed for free by anyone who wandered by. The creation that had caused the ruination of no doubt thousands of affected lives just like yours was being given away like candy.
It both scared you and made your blood boil...but not as much as looking to the side and catching Jenna's eye. Your sister had a mischievous smile on her terrifyingly pretty face, and you hastily looked away before she could see how scared you were.
Still, whatever Jenna was planning, she was keeping it close to the chest for the moment. All she did was scoop three bottles of Full-Length into her purse and one bottle of solvent, and then resumed her walk around the store. As she brushed past the table, you glanced back at it, and the logical part of your mind started to wonder about the risk of keeping so many solvent bottles around in a store that carried Tinex clothes.
The answer to that riddle soon became obvious, as you recalled the store having its own Tinex department exclusively for clothing of all types molded from synthetic tiny material. You recalled this by the very sight of Jenna entering that section of the store. As she walked amongst the racks of stacks of Tinex clothing, you couldn't hold back a single quiver of fright. It would be so painfully easy for something terrible to happen to you now...and a dark part of you wondered if somewhere amongst the rows of lingerie, swimsuits, leggings, and skirts was one or two trapped tinies, desperately screaming out for someone to recognize and free them.
Just then, Jenna uttered something under her breath, drawing your attention from your thoughts. You saw that she was staring at something on the floor, and so you looked down as well.
At Jenna's feet was a sizable brown box. The box was filled almost to the brim with underwear, bikinis, dresses, socks, and everything else imaginable. Nearly half of the clothing was missing price tags. A small sign at the front of the box read "Please Place all Tinex Returns Here for Relabeling and Reshelving".
Once more, Jenna's eyes flicked to you, and that unsettling smirk returned.
Before you could try to respond, the second of the two major snags occurred.
A high-toned girl's voice let out a shriek, and Jenna suddenly pitched forward as someone collided with her back, enveloping her in a tight hug. The jerky movement of Jenna stumbling knocked you straight off her shoulder, and you let out a pithy scream as you rolled off your shoulder perch. You desperately thrashed out with your hand and just barely managed to snag the hem of Jenna's neckline. Scrabbling for purchase, you balanced yourself on the slight swell of Jenna's modest chest, and took a big sigh.
Jenna finally turned around, revealing her impromptu attacker as none other than Ashley.
Ashley grinned widely at her best friend. "Hey, bestie! I, like, totally didn't expect to see you here today!"
Jenna took a second to adjust her glasses before responding. "Me neither. Definitely didn't expect a hug attack that nearly slammed me into the nearest shelf."
Ashley smiled sheepishly. "Sorry. I was just totally excited!" The redhead stuck out her tongue playfully, presenting a rather impish image that clashed a bit with the plunging neckline of her blue blouse and her uber-short miniskirt. Of course, it was hard for someone as outrageously curvy as Ashley to wear anything without appearing immodest, especially as the girl seemed physically incapable of realizing how much skin she was showing at any given time.
Jenna flicked her eyes down to you, noting that you'd mostly held onto her, then returned her gaze to Ashley. "I'm just here to shop around for a bit. With Matt."
Ashley blinked. "Little Matt's here? But I, like, don't really see him."
Jenna conspicuously thrust out her chest towards Ashley. Your arm screamed with exhaustion, but you held tight. "Really? I mean, he's just hanging around."
Ashley's eyes widened as she giggled. She leaned in so close you could practically taste her bubblegum-scented mouthwash. "Ooh! There you are, you, like, total cutie. How's it hanging?" She laughed harder as she joined in with Jenna's dumb joke. At least their laughter gave you time to hoist yourself back onto your sister's shoulder.
You turned to face Ashley after dusting yourself off. "Pretty good, actually. Even if clothes shopping can be pretty dumb."
Ashley made a cute pouty face. "Really? I guess when you're by yourself, yeah." She gestured to a tote at her feet, which was filled with bikinis and underwear. "I was about to try some of this stuff on, but it's hard without, like, someone to tell me how I look."
Jenna's expression flashed with happiness. "Oh, you need someone in the changing room with you?"
Ashley giggled. "You and me would make a tight fit, bestie."
"Well, I actually meant Matt." Jenna explained, and your jaw dropped.
Ashley gasped, and her eyes sparkled. "Oh, wait, what? That'd be so awesome and helpful!" She beamed at you. "Wanna help me out, little guy?"
You winced, mentally cringing at the idea of sharing a tight intimate changing stall with, of all people, Ashley. From the corner of your eye, you could see Jenna's smirk widen.
What do you decide to do?
1) Against all better judgment, you agree to the proposal. With glee, Ashley picks you up and races off to the nearest changing stall. Once inside, she decides trying each item one after the other, modeling them for you, is the best course of action. Predictably, things go wrong quickly.
2) You politely decline, so Ashley heads off. However, while she's changing, Jenna takes the opportunity to mold you into some piece of clothing, douses you with Full-Length, then slips you to Ashley through the changing room door. To make matters worse, Jenna doesn't mention a thing about it actually being you and not just normal Tinex clothing.
3) You politely decline, so Ashley heads off. As soon as she's out of sight, Jenna squishes you flat, sticks you to a random item in the Tinex return bin at her feet, shoves said item to the bottom of the bin, then walks away laughing. What has she stuck you to, and can you escape before an employee comes by to empty the bin?
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