Dolly

Cassia's first thought was that she had somehow wandered into a dream, or perhaps a nightmare, depending on one's perspective. The creature who emerged from the back room was petite and had long snow white hair. Her face was painted like a doll's, rouged cheeks, crimson lips, eyes ringed with dark liner that made them seem impossibly large. Her outfit, a garishly frilled white apron, headdress, and pink servants outfit that flared around her hips and barely covered her thighs. She looked like some kind of erotic confection.

And she was walking toward Cassia with a smile that was simultaneously vacant and knowing, carrying a tray with two crystal glasses of amber liquid.

"Dolly, this is Cassia," Angélique said, her hands still resting on Cassia's shoulders. "Cassia, this is my assistant, Dolly. She helps me with... various tasks."

Dolly set the tray on a nearby table and turned to face Cassia directly. Her painted smile widened, and she dropped into an elaborate curtsy, lifting her skirt.

Cassia’s breath caught. Dolly was wearing what appeared to be a metal cage of some sort around her tiny beta cock. Her pussy was easily visible, the lips slightly parted and glistening as if to say hello.

"Welcome to the Lady's Lance," Dolly said, her voice high and sweet. "Would you like a blowjob?"

Cassia's brain stopped functioning.

"I- sorry, what?"

"A blowjob," Dolly repeated, as if Cassia had simply misheard. She straightened from her curtsy and took a step closer, her enormous eyes fixed on Cassia's exposed cock with an intensity that made Cassia want to cover herself. "I give very good ones. Would you like me to suck your cock? It would be my pleasure."

"I- no- I don't-" Cassia's face was burning, her entire body flushing crimson. She looked desperately at Angélique, searching for some sign that this was a joke, a misunderstanding, anything other than what it appeared to be.

Angélique was watching with an expression of barely concealed amusement, her emerald eyes dancing with delight at Cassia's flustered reaction.

"Just the refreshments for now, Dolly," she said lightly. "You may return to your embroidery."

Dolly's smile never wavered. "Yes, mistress." She picked up one of the crystal glasses and offered it to Cassia.

Cassia took it with shaking hands, more to have something to hold than because she wanted to drink it.

"An aperitif," Angélique explained, accepting her own glass from Dolly. "To celebrate your first fitting. Drink, chérie. You look like you need it."

Cassia took a sip. The liquid was sweet and strong, burning pleasantly as it went down. She took another sip, then another, grateful for something to focus on besides the nakedness of her own body and the strange, unsettling presence of the doll-like beta who had just offered to perform oral sex on her.

Dolly curtsied again and minced off to the back room, her dress bouncing with each step.

"She's, um... enthusiastic," Cassia managed.

"She has come a long way," Angélique said mysteriously. "But come. We have delayed long enough. I have a tunic in mind that will fit you, something that will suit you far better than the Academy's standard issue."

She swept over to a rack of finished garments, running her fingers through them until she found what she was looking for. The fabric she pulled free was not white, as Cassia had requested, but a very subtle shade of pink, so pale it was almost white, but with just enough warmth to catch the light differently.

"I was hoping for white," Cassia said, frowning.

"This will suit you better," Angélique said firmly. "White is stark. Cold. It washes out skin like yours. But this... this rose-blush... it will enhance your allure. Make other futa turn their heads when you pass."

Cassia looked at the tunic, then at her reflection in the mirror. She had wanted white, white was practical, serious, the color of senators. But Angélique was right about the effect. The pale pink would complement her skin, make her look less like a stern reformer and more like...

More like what, exactly? She wasn't sure she wanted to know.

"Try it," Angélique urged. "If you hate it, I will make you a white one. But try it first."

She helped Cassia into the tunic, a simple enough garment in design, but the cut was much more flattering to her figure than she was used to. And the color did compliment her complexion.

"See?" Angélique said, standing behind her in the mirror. "Beautiful. Like you, Cassia. The tunic only reminds people of what they might otherwise miss."

"I don't know," she said uncertainly.

"Then wear it for a week," Angélique suggested. "If you still hate it, return it. I will refund every denarii. But I do not think you will hate it, chérie. I think you will find that people treat you differently in this tunic. They will see you before they see your ambitions. And sometimes, chérie, that is the more powerful position to occupy."

Cassia turned from the mirror and reached for her smallclothes. But Angélique's hand caught her wrist.

"Not yet. We must check the fit while you move." She stepped back, gesturing for Cassia to walk, to turn, to lift her arms. Cassia obeyed, feeling ridiculous.

"Magnifique," Angélique declared finally. "Now. Let us settle the account, yes?"

Cassia followed her to the counter near the front of the shop, grateful to finally retrieve her smallclothes back. She dressed quickly, feeling safer with the extra layer beneath her.

The price Angélique named was higher than Cassia had expected, nearly double what a standard Academy tunic would cost from a less exclusive shop, but the quality was undeniable, and something about the way Angélique watched her made Cassia **** to haggle. She counted out 10 denarii from her pouch, stacking them on the polished wooden counter, and tried not to think about how much of her weekly stipend she had just spent on a single garment.

As she was gathering to leave, Angélique spoke again.

"A moment of your time before you go chérie. I feel like we have become such fast friends and I find myself more and more in need of assistance these days. The shop has grown busier than I anticipated, too much for just Dolly and myself to manage. I am looking for someone to help out in the weekends. A few hours here and there, helping with customers, organizing fabrics, perhaps some light cleaning."

Cassia looked around at the empty shop. It didn't look busy. It didn't look like it required any assistance, let alone additional staff.

"I can see you wondering," Angélique said with a knowing smile. "The shop is quiet now, yes. But at other times it can be… chaotic. And I take private clients occasionally, as well. Those who require more discretion than the public shop can provide. I need someone present to manage the space while I attend to them."

Cassia considered. The extra income would be welcome, more than welcome, given how much she had just spent on a single tunic, and weekend work wouldn't interfere with her Academy lessons. But something about the offer made her uneasy, though she couldn't quite articulate why.