With he who uneases

Madame Stanfield led her femboy escorts out of the school and into a waiting car. By now she herself had also slipped into a long black dress, open-backed and glittering with a thousand hand-carved diamonds. She hated such ostentatious shows of wealth… but recognised that sometimes one had to bow to society’s first-glance weaknesses. She couldn’t let the school look as though it was struggling in the slightest to stay afloat upon these changing waves.

Jesse and Beth trotted along nimbly to keep up with her marching pace. Each of their collars was connected to a short, leather leash that in turn hooked in to specifically designed loops at the headmistress’s waist. Neither would dare trip or fall behind enough to pull back against that flimsy connection. What little slack they were given was all the room they could ever consider moving through. They tumbled into the back seat of the slick, black vehicle on either side of their majestic mistress, allowing the driver to close the door behind. Madame Stanfield rested a steady hand on an exposed thigh from each of them, a reassuring presence for sure. Yet, even they could tell this event was preying upon her nerves too… a silent, pensive frown was glued to her face. What could possibly unsettle this rock at the centre of their universe? Like many small creatures, their emotional state was very much affected by proxy.

They arrived at a restaurant in one of the flashiest centres of the endless city. Everything glittered with the lights and gilding of a competitive market in overindulgence. Jesse had been to many such places by now, and knew to mostly just keep his eyes down and focussed on the task of navigating through this mess on high heels and leash. Other pets and playthings littered the sidewalks, dragged along behind movie starlets and investment bankers. There was ample opportunity to stamp on the wrong set of toes or wind up in some awful tangle of collared necks and smooth-shaved limbs. Beth, however, seemed to stare around as if she'd never seen such majesty in all her life of servitude. So the more experienced sissy took it upon himself to keep an eagle eye out for her as well.

Their headmistress led them on in through sliding glass doors and holographic menus, offering up both the ridiculously expensive meals available and the rentable companions which were recommended to attend to you during each one. Jesse briefly wondered what meal he might be considered the perfect accompaniment for… Something sweet, perhaps? Subtle, but fruity… A maître d' was waiting for them at the end of a mirror-walled corridor. He barely glanced at Madame Stanfield, before tapping quickly upon the control panel next to him. Her arrival was very much expected and credentials need hardly be checked. With little more than a slight hiss, a blur of movement occurred behind him. A pair of glass doors which had appeared to lead into some sort of interior garden, suddenly found a room upon their far side. The cuboid space contained a lavishly dressed table, some high-class pornographic artwork, and a blonde-haired man who Jesse instantly recognised.

Derrick Carter stepped forward with a smile as sweet as syrup, offering his hand for Madame Stanfield to take. She accepted this graciously, stepping over the threshold without pause… but nimbly brushing off his attempt at a kiss on the cheek. Her two trailing sissies had to follow as well of course, each receiving a similar greeting from the man with glinting eyes.

“Ah, Jesse! So good to see you again! It seems you are everyone’s favourite… not that that comes as much of a wonder.” He exclaimed, with easy warmth and honest flattery.

The femboy in question blushed and looked at the ground, accepting his own press of lips to a burning cheek. It was so rare for those among the upper echelons to actually acknowledge his presence and remember his name. Most just treated him like furniture. But the fact that it was this man doing so… was more worrying than anything else. He had been present at several more ‘date nights’ between Mr Carter and John and Miranda over the last few months, yet had grown no less uneasy in the charismatic creature’s presence. Beth, however, seemed almost about to wet herself with joy upon realising who they were to be dining with. She flashed beetroot-red at her own brief peck to the face, and raised a hand to vaguely grasp at the place where it had been given. As if hoping to catch it before the memory left. There was only one other person that Jesse had seen react quite so strongly to Derrick’s presence… and it bothered him that he hadn’t noticed the similarities before.

More to the point, the femboy from Home 23 suddenly had flashbacks to when Lizzy had first spoken of her mysterious sponsor… and her whispered devotions to some other boy in her own Home. She never even seemed to mention that forgotten love anymore… yet repeated every detail of her adventures with Mr Carter obsessively. Jesse had just been so wrapped up in his own progression as a plaything that he hadn’t noticed. Was that simply all part of the girl’s journey towards slutwife perfection? Or was there something more to the way she and others seemed to just attach themselves to him in trance-like devotion?

There was little time to ponder such thoughts though, for Madame Stanfield was already taking her seat. And, with a start, Jesse realised the whole-wall window opposite was becoming a rapidly improving view of the city. The doors had shut behind them and entire room had begun rocketing up the side of it’s skyscraper, with barely any a sound or sense of movement at all.