There were fifteen shower heads in total in the small oval shaped showerroom, each one ranging in height to allow for the warm water to be focused from anywhere to the tailbone, to the shoulder blades, to the back of one’s head. The walls of the showerroom extended out about a foot as well, allowing for people to sit down and treat the place as a sort of sauna at the same time. Lexi figured the room was built to house four people at a time, as it looked as though there were four ‘seats’ carved in along the lip within the enclosure. Four people would have made this place cramped, she figured, but it didn’t matter in the long run. The fifteen shower heads made for the enclosure to be loud enough to hide normal conversation, but quiet enough for one to hear the other during said conversation.

The conversation was yet another thing Lexi wasn’t looking forward to, but that was becoming par for the course after the events of last night. So quickly the blonde found herself being thrown in situations she didn’t quite want. A dream turned nightmare, and now a friend finding out a personal, and embarrassing truth about her. It wasn’t going to go well. Why would it? It took a civil war just to get white people to stop enslaving the blacks. It took another one hundred years until those black people were finally treated as equals in government eyes, and even then, racism hasn’t truly ended. It took until 2015 for the US to legalize gay marriage in all 50 states. What was the point being made? People really liked to hate what was different. So a friend realizing Lexi fantasized about socks? Well..history alone gave insight to how well this was going to go.

The blonde sighed softly, closing her eyes and leaning back against the blue tile of the showerroom. For a brief moment, perhaps a few seconds, the slowly dying optimist in her tried to throw out crumbs on how this might end in a good way. But if anything, her dream turned nightmare changed the one time carefree, happy dreamer, into a poster child for pessimism. It was worse than the glass being half empty, it was so empty there were but a few drops of water left in the bone dry container..

“You going to tell me what the fuck just happened, Lexi?” There was so much anger in Ellie’s voice, and it just made Lexi smile. See? Point proven. Nothing good was going to come of this.

“Ellie, please. As you know, I just went through hell, and I don’t think it is going to end any time soon.” She groaned a bit as she shifted in her seat, her one regret from this refreshing therapeutic showerroom was that the seats were not cushioned. The blonde was well aware that cushions in a shower wouldn’t work anyway, but at least it would be soft...and her ass needed soft right now. “I am tired, and I am sore. Let me enjoy this shower for at least a moment more, before I go into detail. Please?”

“Jesus, Lexi...I think I…” Lexi arched her left eyebrow upon hearing Ellie’s anger trail off, and for a moment wondered if her anklets had managed to put two and two together, reasoning out why Lexi wanted to shower with her friend. Imagined that they had animated Ellie’s outfit to open up that frosted shower door, to look in on the two and ruin Lexi’s only hope left. Even then however, Lexi had absolutely no desire to open her eyes to confirm such. She didn’t have to either, for what was heard next actually shocked the blonde. “I-I’m sorry. Take your time.”

“...come again?”

“You’re right” Ellie said again, her voice calmer now. “You went through something most masochists would be envious of, and many sadists would nod approvingly and applaud.” She giggled a bit, a shameful tone to it. “Makes me sound all the more like an asshole for demanding answers so quickly.

“Thank you.” The tone in which Lexi said it held up her tough, sarcastic, don’t give a shit attitude, but on the inside the blonde was still shocked. So much so that she was convinced that this was just life playing a cruel joke on her. Baiting her with a modicum of kindness, getting her to open up and feel hope once again, just for it to come crashing down all over again, with greater force than before. Lexi delayed the inevitable for a full two minutes with the silence, and in those two minutes, she really didn’t enjoy the shower at all. It felt nice, of course, but her mind was too busy worrying over so many things to be able to truly enjoy it. It was finally, in a moment of frustration, that Lexi realized this delay for what it was, a futile attempt to avoid what needed to be done, and broke the silence with her explaining.

“Remember last night?” She said softly, careful not to go over the soft sound of fifteen shower heads spraying water for it to crash against the blue tile. “We went out to that weird shop, just for a laugh really. Found all sorts of weird shit in there? I found a book, and -”

“You spent three hundred dollars on it?” Ellie interrupted. “Yea, I remember, but you aren’t going to tell me that this is because of that book, are you?”

“You are going to sit there and try to deny it, after what you’ve seen?”

“I don’t know what the fuck I saw, Lexi.” Ellie hissed softly, and Lexi could tell she was doing her best to keep her voice underneath the cover of the shower as well. “I’ve seen magic shows, though. How people make people appear to levitate when it’s just well placed wires and boards. Sleight of hand making playing cards disappear. Smoke and mirrors, Lexi. I don’t fucking know how it happened.”

“Ellie.” Lexi said softly, a cold, matter of fact voice. “Your thigh highs choked me while fucking my mouth. Your knee highs tied me down to watch it all. Half way through, they all played a game of musical chairs, and switched positions. Now, you tell me, did you set up some trick wires with your footwear today?”

Silence.

“It doesn’t make sense, I know.”

“You’re goddamn right it doesn’t make sense. Jesus, what the fuck is going on?” Lexi lifted an index finger to her mouth calmly, the vertical finger held perpendicular to those luscious red lips and after a while, the finger itself lifted and rested upon them, tapping her lips gently as if to emphasise the need to be quiet. “The whole point of us being in this showerroom is two fold, Ellie. One, It really does feel fucking good; and two, they can’t hear us in here if we are quiet.” The last word said through gritted teeth, Ellie pursing her lips and nodding to the resting Lexi, her eyes still closed.

“All I know for sure, is that I got to reading that book when I got home, and found a spell that caught my interest.” A long pause, and Lexi pushed through. “It wasn’t just a spell that not only brought about animation to an object, but one that gave sentience to it as well. Uhh…” Lexi once again paused for a moment. “Think Ghostbusters, the goo giving life to the Statue of Liberty?” Then Lexi snapped her fingers, thinking of a better example. “Night at the Smithsonian. Security guard spends the night shift at the museum, shit starts coming to life? That type of sentience.”

“I can’t believe what I’m hearing…”

“Can’t you? We haven’t even fucking started yet, Ellie. Hold on.” The blonde gave a self defeated smirk. “Anyway, the spell was meant to create sentience and place that sentience under my control.”

“And you chose fucking socks? Of all things, Lexi, Socks?” Ellie giggled a condescending giggle, adding. “You might be winning me over to the whole idea of magic existing, but trying to make me believe that you chose a pair of socks as the target...c’mon Lexi.” Of course, there was an inflection on the word chose, to make it sound even more unbelievable, followed by another condescending giggle with the last two words. It only made Lexi giggle, and mutter the words silently to herself. ‘Ladies and Gentlemen, witness, as history repeats itself…’

“I have object sexualism, Ellie.” She just blurted it out, no way to lead into this softly, just decided to go into it. “It’s not some official condition you will find in some medical book, but it’s a condition psychologically recognized. It’s like phobias...you don’t go to the doctor’s saying ‘Right, I have arachnophobia. Can you give me something for that?’

“And that is…?”

“I don’t know the official definition of it, so let me paraphrase. It’s a condition in which one person expresses strong feelings towards an inanimate object of their choice. I read about one person having a thing for buildings, another for cars. Teddy bears and toys are a common thing. Me? Well…”

“...what the fuck?”

“I know.” Lexi finally opened up her eyes, her resignation to this hellish outcome starting to show once again, as Lexi’s desire to go on a sarcastic tirade with Ellie - much like she did with her own anklets - was rising. Why the fuck not, right? She was fucked coming and going, sometimes quite literally. What did it matter what she said anymore? “But hear me out, Ellie. I think I’m starting to understand why I have it.”

“This is gonna be good…” Ellie said with a soft giggle.

“Because people are fucking assholes.” That shut Ellie up quite quickly, watching as Lexi leaned forward in her seat, literally staring down the brunette, blue eyes looking as though they could bore lasers. “Because ever since I was young, I went through life never really getting bullied, but never really having friends either. Being different. Liking odd things, disliking popular things, never really ‘fitting in.’” Those last words made more poignant with air quotations. “I just...got fucking tired of it all. And hell, I already found socks pretty cute in their own right...so take Point A,” Her left fist held up on one side “Intruduce point B,” Her left fist held up, “and,” Lexi moved those two fists to connect in the middle, covering her face for a moment. Then those fists were pulled apart, and the blonde was seen with a mocking, fake smile. “Hi. I’m Lexi, nice to meet you.”

“Lexi, I-I..”

“Socks don’t talk back, right?” Lexi ignored her friend, continuing to make her point, taking a moment to ensure her voice wasn’t rising above their cover. “Sock’s can’t tell you your different, or that you’ll never fit in. They’ll listen to you, they’ll make you feel comfortable, they are always with you. They would truly be friends. They’d love you, and accept you for who you are, and not sit in a shower with you, after everything you ever believed in makes you a fucking embarrassment in everything you have left, and proceed to drag you down even further with some god damn kink shaming.” That smile remained. “Turns out, I was wrong, huh? I give sentience to socks, the only things I could ever really love, and it turns out even they see me as nothing more than a fucking piece of meat.”

“Lexi, please. I’m so-”

For the second time since all this took place, Lexi was feeling on the verge of breaking into tears again. The blonde couldn’t understand if she didn’t out of sheer anger, or sheer exhaustion. “Shut up, please. As uncaring and condescending as you are, you are, quite literally my only hope. Telling my mother this will just put me in an asylum, and telling my sister this would just have her walk away laughing. I need you, if I stand a chance of ending this. Right now? I don’t want to hear that you are sorry, because right now, I couldn’t bring myself to give a fucking shit. Right now, I need to finish explaining this, and hope, fucking hope,” The blonde put all her strength into the last word ‘hope.’ Pushing it through gritted teeth, lowering her voice deeper, and even pushing her body forward in order to emphasize that everything was riding on Ellie now, “a thread of friendship remains within you to help some perverted sock fetishist.”

“I set about casting a spell on my sis-” Lexi found herself interrupted, but not in a way she expected. The blonde knew Ellie had always had a deep crush on her, but fully expected that crush to turn to revolted disgust after the past few moments. So it was a genuine surprise when the naked brunette moved to thrust her body on top of her crush, Ellie’s lips crashing against Lexi’s own and locking in a deep and passionate kiss. A kiss which remained for a full fifteen seconds before Ellie eventually pulled away. “I love you, Lexi. I have loved you since...god I can’t even remember...middle school at least. Since then, I can’t remember a time where I was able to take my eyes off you, were you in the room. I don’t give a good god damn about your object sexilsm or whatever the hell it is called, and hearing your story now just makes me wish I had the courage to tell you my love for you years ago. I’m not leaving you, ever. Especially not now.”

Again there was a moment of silence, and of all things, Lexi was trying to gauge how long they were in the shower. It had to have been at least ten minutes now, the blonde had assumed she could push it to twenty, perhaps even thirty before real questions were asked by the ankle socks outside, and they would no doubt inquire. Ten minutes had passed, and there was still so much to tell.

“I used the spell on a pair of my sister’s socks.” Lexi didn’t spend time on the moment Ellie had created, despite her wanting some sort of response. There was no time too, she had to understand that. “A pair of white knee high socks, three red stripes at the top. I’ve always thought they were cute..and...and I wanted to know if they thought the same.” Realizing full well how stupid this had to have sound to an outsider like Ellie. “The spell worked, but as with every horror movie that ever existed with regards to spellcasting...it went wrong. Roles were reversed, instead of me being in control, they quickly were. Not by some magical binding...I am not dominated or controlled by them...but by their power alone. They have the ability to give sentience to other socks...I don’t know if that is part of the spell meant for me to obtain...or just some monumental fuck up..but you do the math, Ellie. I own at least sixteen pairs of socks; and I live with my mother, and my sister.”

“That’s a lot of socks..” Ellie mused. Lexi smiled, for the first time.

“They have weaknesses, but even I know I can’t fight that. I’m theirs, to do with as they see fit. Thus why I have to address myself as Their Doll.”

“So what do we do? How do we stop them?”

“Not so much we, as you.”

“Me?!”

“Yes, listen.” There was only about ten minutes to explain it all, so Lexi worked fast. She explained to Ellie what she figured out already, about how the red striped knee highs can not only give sentience to other socks, but are linked to them in some hive mind fashion sharing thoughts and senses even when miles apart. Lexi explained how the sentient socks speak directly into a person’s mind, but seem unable to read it, which explained why this conversation was able to take place now; and furthermore went on to explain their aversion to water, as the socks never seemed to show up when she took a shower, or right now. Lastly, Lexi explained about the ability for sentient socks to animate other clothing as well, but how it merely remained animations...shirts didn’t get their own voice, nor did pants, or panties, or anything else...mere animations...puppets to be controlled. “Lastly, they can’t control you either. If you are surprised, or not expecting it, the socks can force you to walk where they want you to, through the clothing you are wearing. But if you tense up, offer resistance, they can do nothing.”

“Huh,” Ellie scoffed, still sitting on Lexi’s lap, “they don’t sound that bad wh-”

“That’s when the clothing is on you.” Ellie tilted her head a bit, and Lexi continued. “They appear to have their own strength when off. At least enough to fuck a woman, and pull her limbs to bind her in place.” Ellie frowned at that, nodding softly in agreement. “I think, again, it has something to do with the spell. It was never meant to be something in which one person was in complete control of another. It was a spell of sentience, not domination. The idea was that you were creating something with free thought and actions...perhaps loyal to you because you created them...but free to love, be upset with, or whatever else the freedom of individual thought offers. I’d have no control over them, as they’d have no control over me. So being denied the ability to control a human body they covered, they have to use other means. But I don’t know for certain, truth be told.” Lexi shrugged. “I thought giving the socks sentience would create a living, rational being..complete with thought, morals, a sense of right and wrong too. Instead, I got a mockery of it. Something that only gives a shit about fucking, and dominating. They aren’t alive at all, Ellie. It’s like some perverted version of Frankenstein.”

“So how can I help?”

“Remember where we got the book?” Ellie nodded, already seeing where this was going, even as Lexi explained it. “Go back. See if there is something there to right the wrongs. Not end the spell.” Lexi lifted a finger to Ellie’s lips before she could even ask why, blue eyes looking to her. “Just to make it right. Truth be told, I’m not sure I want my mistresses inanimate again..at least not right away. I think a little humiliation is justified after what they’ve done to me.”

“How do you humiliate a pair of socks, Lexi?” Ellie chuckled a bit at the notion, but the blonde still had a serious tone to her voice. “I’ll find something. Besides, this is too good to be true, isn’t it? Don’t deny the fact that if you had your dreams at your fingertips, and you had a chance to do it over again, correctly, you would.”

“Alright Lexi.” Ellie nodded. “I’ll go back to the shop and help you out. I’ll do not only because I love you, but because I couldn’t bring myself to leave a person to suffer like this anyway...but I’m still going to say ‘under one condition.’” Lexi laughed a bit at that, telling her to go on. “That I still get to be your friend.” The blonde, not for the first time in this showerroom, arched her eyebrows again, surprised at the words given all that was said here. “That even when all this is done, and you finally cast the spell right, and you have your new BFFs, I can still call you friend...and you call me the same? Maybe...maybe someday with the word ‘girl’ before it?”

Lexi couldn’t see it with the steam in the showerroom, but she had to assume Ellie was blushing hard at the proposal. The blonde didn’t even give it much thought before nodding her head many times over, a wide smile on her face. To her, this was a major victory already. Nevermind Ellie wanting to be called a girlfriend, just still holding the title of ‘friend’ was enough! Maybe there was hope after all, maybe her life didn’t crash to ruin so suddenly. Silver linings and all. “Done.”

“There is only so much we can do in this fucking locker room, Doll, and two of them are behind this door.” Ellie positively jumped upon hearing the voice of those anklets in her mind again, though Lexi didn’t so much as twitch at the notion, so used to it now. In fact, the blonde set about bringing Ellie in to a close hug, holding her tight and offering soft shushes to keep her still. The voice of those living socks was clear and crisp in both their minds, unchanged by the obstacles in place.

“Don’t you mean one thing, mistresses. Because one of them, you are barely allowed to look at, let alone touch; and the other is sore as fuck.” A soft sigh, her voice still a bit raspy, and she was reminded of such upon raising her voice. “Ellie’s so god damn terrified, she is more than willing to live here if it means being away from you; and I’m so god damn sore, I nearly fell asleep in this bliss. So you will excuse me if I enjoy a few minutes more. I promise you, your Doll will be out in just a few minutes.”

“If you weren’t so fucking…fun...we wouldn’t fucking bother waiting.” Those anklets said, and Lexi had half a mind to remind them that they waited, because they had no choice, that they - just like her - were governed by the red striped knee highs at home...and those socks wouldn’t even begin to let the anklets leave Their Doll unattended. She giggled a bit, making the correlation on how just as Their Doll did, those anklets struggled and rebelled against their own ownership.

“One last thing.” Lexi added, moving her mouth up to whisper to Ellie’s left ear now, if only for the heightened romanticism of it all. “The living socks can’t seem to control anything but clothing. Shoes, socks, pants, dresses, shirts, coats, etc. If it’s meant to be worn, and is cloth, it's in their domain. Which means some things are safe...furniture, rags, cars, technology, towels…”

“You can..wear towels?”

“Do you?” Lexi snickered. “Please, come to campus tomorrow wearing your best outfit made of towels...I’m dying to see it.” Ellie laughed, while Lexi continued. “It only applies to things you actually wear..for long periods of time. Oven mitts, plastic gloves, other work things you don’t wear daily..are off limits. The point is...your phone. Text messages are safe, as is calling me. If I’m in a place where I’m safe to talk, we are fine...and since these socks can only think about sex all the time, I highly doubt they can even fucking read...but even still..when I’m sure I’m safe..I will read it.

Ellie nodded, and started to get up from her spot on Lexi’s lap before Lexi pulled her down gently again, whispering again into her ear. “Please, Ellie. Save me from this nightmare. It just gets worse by the hour...and while I keep telling my mistresses that it’s not a good idea to keep me locked up...I….” Lexi couldn’t finish the sentence...things were falling out of her control so very quickly, and suddenly the idea of spending her life in some claustrophobic walk in closet, only let out to make small appearances and quell the questions didn’t seem far off.

“It will never get that far. I promise.” Ellie replied, and Lexi couldn’t help but let her tongue linger from her mouth, licking that earlobe gently before pulling it in for a gentle kiss, one which turned more heated as it traveled down her jawline, to find those lips again. Once the kiss was broken, Ellie exhaled deeply, responding again “I promise.”

 Those two words were enough for Lexi to steel her resolve, and stand up, gently pushing Ellie out of the way as she started to turn off the water to the numerous shower heads. A deep breath as she thrust open the frosted door to see the audience out before her. A pair of ankle socks standing before the three pairs of Ellie’s socks, the thigh highs in the middle of the two. Lexi smiled. “You have no idea how good that felt.” bare foot stepping out into the locker room.

“No one cares, Doll. Let’s go.” The ankle socks walked towards Lexi, while the three pairs were heading torwards the brunette, who understandably was starting to back away already. Blue eyes looked to the three pairs of Ellie’s socks, then back to the anklets. “What’s this?”

“They are going with her. Have to keep an eye on her and all.”

“...what the?” Ellie, clearly not fond of the idea, looking to Lexi with wide eyes.

“No they aren’t.” Lexi smirked gently, already feeling those petite little anklets flare up in anger again, and immediately appreciating the similarities between her and them. “I mean, you’re the boss and all, but even you know that doing so would be a terrible idea.”

“How dare you think you can even begin to tell us what you think is a good or bad idea. Seriously, Doll, we didn’t even think it possible for someone to forget their place so mother fucking quickly.”

“I wonder how you are doing it.” Lexi said softly, grabbing a hold of Ellie’s hand and guiding her over to her own clothes, sitting with her if only to make her feel comfortable as she hastily got dressed. “How are you disguising your actions so that my Mistresses at home are oblivious to your idiocy? Because I know they didn’t tell you this part of the plan.”

“For the love of everything, Doll, shut the fuck up, before we do it for you.” The anklets took a few steps forward again, as if about to react on the promise.

“No seriously, they want me under lock and key as much as any other pair of socks they give sentience to, but at least they aren’t fucking stupid about it. They know they can’t just parade around, infiltrating people’s bedrooms, taking unsuspecting people when they want. Eventually they would spread too fast, something would be out of their control, and it would all come crumbling down.” Lexi pointed to the anklets. “What you are doing, would make everything come crumbling down.” A smile. “Can my mistresses hear me now, anklets? Want me to tell them that you plan to share your sentience to a few of my friends socks? That you intend to let them go home with her? To do who knows…”

Lexi watched as those three pairs of socks fell lifeless immediately, and smiled a knowing smile, even as those anklets stomped around, once again screaming profanities in her mind and vowing to do things to her body that even she couldn’t begin to fathom. It didn’t matter though, her one out of this nightmare was safe again, that’s all that mattered right now.

“I’m...I’m not keeping them anyway.” Ellie said, slipping on her sneakers barefoot shaking her head. “I love you, Lexi...but put them in my hands, and they will be only there long enough for me to find a shredder, or a pair of scissors, or something.” Lexi was going to get all cheesy, and awkward, and try to tell Ellie how she shouldn’t blame them...they were merely following the orders of her asshole anklets, but merely smiled and decided against it. Scooping up the two striped knee highs one pink and white, the other light blue and white, as wel as lthe black and gray striped white thigh highs. “You won’t mind if I take them then.”

Ellie got up from her seat, looked to the living anklets with a glare that had to have been intended to set them on fire, then leaned in to dare to give a kiss to Lexi, a move in which even visibly, had those anklets shaking in anger. “I hope to see you again soon, hopefully under better circumstances.”

“If my mistresses permit it,” Lexi nodded. “So do I.” Letting Ellie slip away as she practically ran out of the locker room, leaving the two behind once again.

“I’m rather looking forward to getting home, to be honest.” Lexi turned to her anklets, lifting up her feet to let them slip on before slipping on her shoes. “Been a very eventful day, can’t wait to tell my Mistresses all about it.” For once, there was no reply from the anklets themselves, not even any movement, it was as if they were already inanimate once again. “Nothing to say? Hmmm...interesting. I’d kind of suspected you’d plan to fuck me stupid on the drive home again.” Again...utter silence. “Maybe you’ve grown a few brain cells...or you know...whatever it is you have in place of brains.” Lexi wiggled her toes, then got up to begin the journey home. For once, feeling a bit of hope once again.