A super sparkly girl looked back at Briana through her mirror. She wore a floofy rainbow skirt to cover her puffy diaper. Every lacy layer of the skirt was a different color of the rainbow; the eight layers combined to make Briana look like an overturned flower. The flower imagery inspired Briana for the rest of the outfit: a pale green blouse, a pastel yellow silk scarf, and leggings to match the scarf. Her shoes were gold colored, and her makeup was full of gold sparkles. The final touch was a smattering of gold star stickers across her cheeks.
When Mom had seen Briana’s outfit, she’d laughed and patted the Little girl’s head. Dad had picked Briana up to spin her around. Even Melody approved, bestowing a fist bump on Briana and saying, “Sparkle baby powers – activate!”
Briana’s powers were activated for sure. Things were going great with her boyfriend and girlfriend. She had an official Rasmussen community project to be excited about, and she was dressed like the avatar of Spring on a beautiful sunny day.
“We should make today an official Cloudland holiday!” Briana tossed Alanna happily in the air. “Or at least, you should come to school with me. How about it?”
Alanna rarely replied in words – plush lions were known to be subtle communicators – but Briana could tell that her stuffie was excited to have a day out. She tucked Alanna under her arm, making sure to keep her upright. It would have been undignified for the Knight Captain of Cloudland to be carried like a mere toy.
“Mommy, Alanna’s coming to school with me today.” Briana presented her friend for Veronica’s approval. Mom was drinking her coffee in the kitchen, dressed to the nines in gothic lace and black makeup despite her plans to work from home.
“I have your backpack ready to go with your laptop, lunch, and notebooks. If you can find a spot for Alanna and the bag still zips up, I think that’s a great idea,” Veronica said.
Getting Alanna situated took some wrangling, but rearranging things so the lioness sat under Briana’s lunch bag solved the issue. She beamed proudly at Veronica, showing off her properly zipped pack. “All set! Gary is picking me up this morning, and I’m coming home with Melody.”
“You’re such a good girl.” Veronica pulled Briana into a gentle hug. “That sounds like Gary’s truck in the driveway. Have a good day, Baby Bee.”
“You too! Bye, Mom!” Briana skipped out the front door and into another hug that had her off the ground and pressed against Gary’s manly chest. She held her boyfriend tightly around the neck and squealed in delight.
“Good morning.” Gary grinned. “You’re almost too sparkly to look at; what’s the occasion?”
“Today’s a good day!” Briana declared. “Especially because I get some Gary-time on the way to school.”
“God, you’re adorable.” Gary kissed Briana tenderly, letting the kiss linger before he set her on the ground.
Briana scampered into the passenger seat of Gary’s truck. Since he didn’t have a back seat or an ABDL car seat, riding with her boyfriend was an opportunity to sit up front like a big girl. Littleness was amazing because it made room for enjoying the Big world. Warmth blossomed in Briana’s heart when Gary buckled her in.
“Let’s make sure you have everything.” Gary carefully inspected Briana’s backpack. “Wallet, notebooks, pencil case, laptop, lunch – oh, and it looks like we have a stowaway.”
Briana giggled. “No way! Alanna has a ticket and it was stamped by Mom and everything.”
“I see. Is she stopping by the registrar’s office to enroll?” Gary zipped Briana’s backpack up.
“Gary, don’t be silly! She’s way too busy being a Knight Captain to go to school. Besides, this is one of my long days at school; I don’t have time to go to admin.”
“That reminds me, you can stop by my office for a change if needed.” Gary set his truck rumbling toward school.
“I might not need to; this skirt hides a pretty big diaper.” Briana tipped herself over to lean on Gary’s arm. “Maybe I will, even if I don’t need to, though.”
“I love you, Bri.” Gary kissed Briana’s head, spreading the warmth out of the Little girl’s heart down to her toes.
~~~*~~~
Briana’s morning lab was the most successful she’d had in ages. Progress on her plastic-eating bacteria had been slow of late, to the point of outright discouraging the Little girl. Her latest culture of bacteria blew away previous records on microplastic consumption with waste products that were the least toxic yet. Dr. Vaughn was genuinely impressed and spent a half hour after the lab discussing Briana’s results. The discussion was great for Briana’s dissertation but had her scrambling to make her lunch date with Melody.
Out of breath, Briana skidded to a stop in the dining hall’s outdoor seating area. Melody had their laptop open at the table they’d saved. Briana shook her head. There wouldn’t be any nonsense about working through a rare sibling-lunch. Melody was already working too many hours of the day. Even their moms said so.
“Sib!” Briana squirmed into Melody’s lap, obscuring the laptop screen. “Stop working; it’s lunchtime!”
“I was just working until you got here.” Melody rolled their eyes good-naturedly, reaching around Briana to close the laptop. They finished the motion with a surprise hug, which Briana happily leaned into.
“You must be in a good mood.” Briana squirmed off Melody’s lap. She extracted her lunch bag and Alanna from her backpack.
“Yeah, I’m almost done with that stupid project.” Melody’s lunch came in a bento box, packed like it’d come directly from an anime.
“I still don’t know why you’re working on a project you don’t like.” Briana rolled her eyes while setting out her banana, peanut and honey sandwich, cheesy crackers, and juice box.
“I told you it wouldn’t get done right if I didn’t help.” Melody shrugged. “Anyway, it’s almost done, and I’ll actually have time again.”
“What is it?” Briana sipped her juice. “Are you going to make a ton of money off it?”
“I probably could if I hadn’t open-sourced it. I don’t want to be a filthy capitalist anyway.”
“Hey! Mom’s a capitalist, and so’s Grandma and our Aunt. They aren’t filthy!”
“I know, I know.” Melody sighed. “Look, it’s a thing for ABDL people, okay? It feels bad to make money off people who already have things rough.”
“Oh, cool! What does it do?”
“It’s…” Melody shook their head and blushed. “It’s a stupid dating app.”
Briana giggled, spraying cracker bits across the lunch table. “No wonder you didn’t want to tell me what it is. That’s uh – not a very Melody-like thing.”
“I know!” Melody used their chopsticks to carefully dip a fried thing into soy sauce and wasabi and popped it into their mouth. “Buh thu whole inng arted wih uh ett.”
“It started as a bet? No wonder you can’t back down.” Briana swatted Melody’s shoulder. “Also, you’re lucky your moms weren’t here to see you eat with your mouth full.”
“How am I supposed to eat if I can’t fill my mouth?” Melody smirked.
“You know what I meant! Talking with your mouth full.” Briana blew a raspberry at her sibling and laughed.
“A baby like you can’t help but make mistakes. That’s why you don’t have big kid stuff in your lunch, like wasabi.”
“What would I even put the wasabi on, my sandwich?” Briana rolled her eyes. “Now you’re the dumb one.”
“No, you.” Melody laughed, but their mirth was cut short by an anxious look across the table.
Briana followed her sibling’s gaze to see a man walking purposefully toward them. He was wearing a suit and carrying a microphone. Behind him were three people, one with a camera rig on his shoulder. She blinked in surprise.
“Bri, we might want to get out of here.” Melody snapped their bento box shut.
“Why would a reporter want to talk to us?” Briana had no sooner finished speaking than the reporter was looming over their table.
“Briana Rasmussen?” The man glared intently at the Little girl.
“You don’t have to answer him,” Melody said.
Later, Briana wondered how things would have gone if she’d taken her sibling’s advice. As it was, she was halfway through responding before she processed what Melody had said. “Yes, I’m Briana. Who are you?”
“I’m Carl Tuckerson from HYENA News. I’d like to ask you a few questions about the planned Michelle Rasmussen community center.”
“No comment!” Melody stood up with an angry frown. “We’re eating lunch here; you can schedule an interview if you want one.”
“It’s okay, Melody.” Briana stood up and straightened her dress. “Kiara told me that stuff like this would start happening. What would you like to know about the community center?”
Carl motioned to the cameraman, who squared the camera at Briana and pressed some buttons. He pointed his microphone at her and asked, “Let me identify you again for the camera. This is Carl Tuckerson with HYENA news, here at the Ardenthill campus of ABDU speaking to Briana Rasmussen. Thank you for answering our questions today, Briana.”
“You’re welcome, Carl.” Briana beamed at the camera, glad she’d chosen to go all-out on her appearance. Maybe that was why Mom, Grandma, and Kiara were always dressed up. If so, she was excited about being a sparkly girl every day!
“We’ve received a press release from the Ardenthill city council regarding an abandoned building in the middle of town. The press release said it will be renovated into a community center, sponsored by the Rasmussen family.”
“That’s true!” Briana drew herself up to her entire five-foot height. “My family and I are excited to update and preserve the Old Factory by giving it new life as a centerpiece of Ardenthill’s downtown.”
“The press release said there would be quite a variety of services in the new community center, including a health clinic and a daycare,” Carl said.
“That’s correct! Healthcare is always in short supply, and we’re especially excited to provide child-care relief for people who work downtown.” Briana had to suppress a desire to go up on her tiptoes. Her first interview was going so well. She wasn’t even nervous!
“Is that really what the daycare center is for?” A nasty sneer replaced Carl’s professionally neutral expression. “Or are you planning to build another fetish space for freaks, like the Green Fairy nightclub has? Are you planning to put ABDL degenerates out in plain sight, where the decent people of Ardenthill will be forced to see them?”
“This interview is over!” Melody shoved their laptop and bento box into their backpack. “Come on, Bri, let’s get out of here.”
“How do you even know about an ABDL space in the community center?” Briana wobbled on her feet – the world had gone sideways and spinny.
“So you admit that you’re going to force a dangerous fetish on regular people who are trying to live their lives by centering it in town? During the day?!” Carl’s voice was rising; he hadn’t paid the slightest attention to Melody’s attempt to cut the interview short.
“ABDL isn’t dangerous, and it’s not a fetish for everyone who does it! It’s a way people live, and there’s nothing wrong with it!”
“You’re getting upset. Is that because you’re one of those degenerates?” Carl snatched Alanna off the lunch table. “Is this your stuffed animal? Aren’t you too OLD to be playing with stuffed toys!?”
“Give her back! That’s Alanna, and she’s my friend!” Briana grabbed for Alanna when Carl waved the stuffie in her face. To her horror, he didn’t let go. She tugged harder and burst into tears.
“The Rasmussens used to be a respected family in town, but what do YOU think, viewers? This is what the Rasmussen family is up to now. Playing at being babies and crying over a kid’s toy. Is this how an adult should act? Should Briana even be out in public if she can’t be an adult? Did our Ardenthill viewers know this kind of perversion was happening in your town?”
“Let go of the Lion if you don’t want to get tased,” Melody growled. They had something small and black pressed up against Carl’s ribs. He looked down in horror, flinching away and releasing his grasp on Alanna.
“You can’t pull a Taser on me; that’s assault!” Carl shouted.
“It’s not a taser, idiot.” Melody flashed the object in their hand for the camera. “It’s my phone.”
Briana sobbed and crushed Alanna to her chest. Melody slung Briana’s backpack over their shoulder before grabbing their sister’s hand. “Bri, we’re going. Now.”
They abandoned Briana’s lunch and ran, with Carl still shouting horrible things behind them. Luckily, he didn’t seem inclined to chase, probably because the camera shots would have been bumpy. Her phone buzzed in her skirt pocket like an angry bee.
Though her lungs were burning, and Melody had to be just as tired, Briana’s sibling didn’t stop running. At first, the campus was a confusing blur around them; nothing stuck out in the haze of panic that seemed like a safe place. When Melody huffed their way up the stairs to one of the administration buildings, Briana realized where her sibling had led her. They were on their way to Mom’s office.
Melody had a key to Veronica’s office, which was news to Briana. They burst through the door and collapsed on the plush carpet. Briana patted Alanna down and was horrified to see one of her lioness’ paws nearly torn off. Stuffing had sprayed from a long rip where Alanna’s front leg met her body. A fresh wave of tears overcame Briana; she curled around her wounded friend.
Warm arms wrapped around Briana. She leaned into Melody’s embrace and shamelessly cried. Her sibling didn’t say a word, even when Briana’s phone buzzed three more times. When the sob subsided, Briana nuzzled her sibling’s hoodie to mop away her tears.
“Thanks for rescuing me.”
“Rescuing you again.” Melody bonked their head against Briana. “And I’ll do it as many times as you need.”
Briana huddled against Melody and pulled out her phone. There were multiple messages from Mom, which was not a good sign. There was no way that Carl had been livestreaming his interview, was there? Deciding to cut to the chase, Briana called her mom without bothering to read the text messages.
“Briana, you got my messages?” Veronica’s voice sounded strained.
“I haven’t read them yet. Something bad happened at school.” Briana sniffled mightily. “Melody and I are okay, but it was scary. I saw you had a lot of messages, and I needed to hear you, so I called.”
“That’s fine, Baby Bee. What happened at school?”
“A reporter from HYENA news wanted to interview me about the community center, but then he started asking all kinds of questions about ABDL, and I don’t even know how he knew that there was going to be an ABDL place there, and then he ripped Alanna’s leg!” Briana ended her ramble with a whimper and took a deep breath.
“Oh, sweetie! That must have been terrifying. I’m going to send Gary to pick you up; where are you now?”
“We’re in your office. How come Melody has a key, and I don’t?”
“That’s not relevant right now,” Mom said firmly. “I’d come to get you myself, but we have a bit of a situation at the house.”
“What’s going on?” Melody asked, with sudden worry in their tone.
“We seem to have collected some protestors; they look like they’re settling in for the long haul.” Veronica sighed. “Michelle and Kiara are already working on it. School may need to be remote for a while; I don’t want you two running the gauntlet twice daily.”
“Why’s this happening, Mommy?” Briana whimpered. “I haven’t told hardly anybody about the ABDL space in the community center.”
“I don’t know, Baby Bee. We can figure it out when you’re safe. Gary is on his way, and I’ll meet you when you get home.”
“We’ll be home soon, Mom,” Melody said bravely.
“You will, and everything will be okay, even if it takes a few days. I love you both.”
“I love you too, Mommy, Briana said.
“Love you, Mom,” Melody said, without their usual reluctance to show affection.
Briana sniffled. “Melody, I’m scared and hungry.”
“You can have some of my bento.”
“But that’s your lunch.”
“Our lunch, Comrade.” Melody snickered.
“Why’s that funny? Are you meming me again?” Briana looked up at her sibling and hit them with the full power of her pouty lip.
“Yup. You’ll have to put up with it if you want tempura.”
“Well… okay.” Briana snuggled up to Melody and tried to concentrate on the food. It was difficult; there were too many scary things buzzing around her brain. Even Alanna was a source of distress. Briana couldn’t look at her friend without flinching at the terrible wound her Knight Captain had suffered.
Mom had promised that things would be okay, but the sick feeling in Briana’s stomach didn’t agree. Protestors at the house and hostile news reporters sounded like a problem that wouldn’t disappear quickly. Things weren’t likely to get better for a while. They had to get better eventually, though. Briana clung to the hope while she munched on tasty, breaded veggies.