A Couple of Cuties

"Shit!" Zenith whispered to herself, ducking behind a stack of crates in the alley she'd just left. Behind her, evidently not paying enough attention to notice a naked woman in the middle of the street, were a pair of ladies in conservative robes with yellow sashes around their waists and white scarves wrapped around their heads. Zenith didn't need to look closely to know what emblem they had on their midriffs: a caged bird stitched in gold.

These ladies were members of Pilla's Committee Upholding Traditional Economy, or as most people referred to them, C.U.T.E. The members (Cuties, as most of the village playfully called them) were mostly men, with a few sparse women to give the impression that they were acting on behalf of everyone. Truthfully, they were nothing but backward folks fighting against change. The goal of C.U.T.E. was to keep Pilla free from "degeneracy," which to its members meant any form of nontraditional expression. Sexuality, nudity, vigor, and desire were frowned upon, specifically if they were displayed by women. The leadership was notoriously lenient on male "perpetrators" and harsh with women. The town at large didn't respect them in the slightest, but that didn't mean their presence wasn't troublesome.

A couple of Cuties were the last thing Zenith needed when she was streaking home in the middle of the night. If she didn't play her cards right, she could end up getting "disciplined" by these two. Or worse, they could try to convert her, and Cuties weren't ones to take no for an answer. She pressed herself to the ground, barely peeking out over the top of the crate in front of her. She dug her toes into the dirt, her skin suddenly covered with goosebumps as the two women got closer. Shortly enough, Zenith was able to make out what they were saying.

"I don't quite understand, Horatia," One of the ladies, whose mousy voice spoke to a much younger convert to the cult. "What is the Speaker so worried about us finding so late at night? Isn't everyone naturally asleep?"

"My dear Cretia, it's quite simple." The other voice belonged to Horatia Bloom, a notoriously uptight and cantankerous older woman and one of C.U.T.E.'s most vocal advocates. "The Witching Hour is precisely when the deviants and miscreants choose to galavant about. This is their time for debauchery and rule-breaking, which means we must be vigilant of them."

Zenith bristled at the comment. She had always brushed the Cuties off as cranks but ultimately harmless, but for once, their comments struck a nerve with her. They felt personal. The ebony beauty chalked that feeling up to her being naked, but she could tell there was something else going on in there.

"In any case," Horatia continued, having annoyingly decided to stop right in front of Zenith for her speech. "Even if we don't see any of the deviants while we're on patrol, our mere presence is enough to compel obedience. When we're out and about, they stay inside."

Zenith rolled her eyes at the Cutie's arrogance, trying to ignore the irony of her literally hiding in the shadows as she said this. Cretia just nodded obediently, turning her gaze down out of respect. "I understand, Madam."

"Good girl." Horatia patted the younger girl on the head. "Now, keep a vigilant eye out tonight. Those two filthy nudists will probably be out tonight, so this is our night to catch them and put a stop to... whatever they're trying to pull."

Zenith's eyes went wide. Of course, how stupid could she be? The Brandts were the talk of the town; of course, the town's resident prudes would hear about them, too. She peeked out from the pile of boxes to see the ladies had started walking again, this time right towards the bathhouse. Even with her dress, at least one of them would certainly be caught in the buff coming out.

The rational part of her mind was telling Zenith to take this chance and rush back home before she was caught, but for some reason, she couldn't pull herself away from her hiding spot. There was no reason for her to care about what happened to a couple of nobles; it's not like the rich ever did anything for her. Still, though, anyone being chastised by the prudest prudes around didn't sit right with her. Maybe she wanted to keep them around for future fun, or maybe she just wanted to challenge herself a little more tonight, but Zenith made a risky move right then and there.