"Mmph...! Mmph...!"
B wiggled her short legs, her dark leather boots kicking weakly at the empty air as she flailed around in Jen's powerful grip. She tried to squirm backward, but Jen held her fast, keeping B’s pale face resting snugly right between her two massive breasts.
"Where do you think you're going, little angel? Ehehehe" Jen giggled, squeezing B even tighter in her embrace. "You're not escaping my hug that easily!"
B gave up squirming. Moving her muscles took far too much effort, so she just let her body go completely limp, hanging like a sad, fluffy white-haired doll in the clothier's arms.
"I came here for cream buns," B mumbled into Jen's apron, her small voice coming out muffled and flat. "The ones you bought."
Jen looked down at B's soft, white-haired head, a smug, mischievous smile spreading across her green-haired face. She crossed her arms right underneath B, propping the girl up like a human stuffed animal.
"Oho! So you wanted my pastries, huh?" Jen teased, sticking her tongue out playfully. "Too bad, sweetie! These cream buns are fuel for my sewing machine! I'm not sharing a single bite!"
B’s pitch-black pupils widened slightly, and her pale cheeks puffed out into a massive, grumpy pout.
She stared at Jen with a heavy, disappointed glare. She had walked all the way from Blackwood Cemetery with 517 Vicks in her pocket, full of hope and excitement for sweet vanilla cream, only to have her dream stolen by a green-haired fashion designer who refused to share.
"Fine..." B grumbled softly.
Seeing that she wasn't getting any of Jen's bulk-bought pastries, B gestured lazily toward the wooden counter. Martha, who was still eyeing B with quiet suspicion, picked up the tray containing B's two plain white loaves and single chocolate chip cookie.
"That will be four Vicks," Martha said, her voice remaining professional despite her inner thoughts.
B reached into the small pocket of her black shorts underneath her dress, pulled out a five-Vick note, and handed it over the counter. She took her single Vick in change, along with the brown paper bag containing her plain white bread and cookie.
"Thanks..." B muttered, keeping her cheeks puffed in a big pout.
"Alright, back to work for me!" Jen announced loudly, stepping toward the glass doors while carrying B along with her.
She didn't set B down on the floor. She simply tucked the white-haired girl comfortably between her large breasts, holding her securely with one arm while carrying her two heavy bags of bulk bakery bread in the other.
B let out a tiny, resigned sigh. Walking back to the cemetery on her own two feet sounded tiring anyway. Being carried like a oversized stuffed toy by a energetic woman saved her a lot of physical energy, even if her face was constantly pressed against soft fabric.
Jen pushed open the glass doors of the bakery with her elbow, stepping out onto the quiet stone street.
"You have no idea how amazingly well your special dress is turning out, B!" Jen yapped happily as they walked down the lane. "The white and green silk I picked out matches your floor-length hair so perfectly! I am completely obsessed with you! You are my absolute ultimate muse!"
As they strolled past the closed shops, Jen reached into her apron pocket with her free hand and pulled out a sleek, rectangular device made of shiny dark glass and smooth silver metal.
She tapped the screen, her fingers flying across the glass as she typed a few quick messages.
Then, Jen's eyes lit up with a mischievous idea. She raised the shiny metal device high in the air, pointing the glass lens straight down at herself and B.
"Look at the camera, sweetie! Say cheese!"
CLICK.
FLASH!
A bright white light flashed in front of B's eyes.
B blinked, her pitch-black pupils wide as she looked at her reflection on the glowing screen. The photo showed Jen smiling brightly with her green ponytail bouncing, while B was stuck between Jen's massive chest, her short legs dangling in mid-air, wearing a completely flat, exhausted expression.
B stared intently at the shiny device in Jen's hand.
It was thin, sleek, and had a glowing glass screen filled with colorful square icons, small video thumbnails, and social media apps. It looked almost identical to the smartphones from her previous world!
Her old doomscroller spirit instantly flared up inside her chest.
"What kind of phone is that?" B asked, her childish voice full of quiet, genuine curiosity. "How much does one cost?"
Jen's green eyes lit up like bright lanterns. She loved talking about tech almost as much as she loved talking about clothes.
"Oh, this beauty?" Jen gushed, holding the shiny device close so B could see the screen. "This is the brand-new Aether-Tech Horizon 12! It's got a quad-core processor, a high-definition camera, unlimited wireless internet access, and a battery that lasts for three whole days! It can stream videos, play games, and download millions of web books!"
Jen puffed out her chest proudly, making B's head bob up and down slightly.
"It cost me a whopping 480 Vicks!" Jen stated. "I had to save up for two whole months to buy it!"
B's large black pupils sparkled with sudden, intense hope.
480 Vicks!
She reached into her pocket, feeling the thick, crisp paper stack of 500 Vicks she had just received from her mysterious employer's paycheck today, plus her remaining change. She had 513 Vicks resting right in her shorts!
That meant she could actually afford one! She had enough money right now to buy her very own smartphone, bring it back to her cozy cabin, and doomscroll short videos on her couch until her eyes fell asleep!
"I can buy one," B said with a firm, happy nod. "I have 500 Vicks in my pocket right now."
Jen stopped dead in her tracks on the stone street, her green eyes widening in total shock as she stared down at the white-haired girl in her arms.
"Wait, what? Wait wait, really?!" Jen gasped. "A fifteen-year-old girl walking around with five hundred Vicks in her pocket? Where on earth did you get that kind of cash, angel? Are you secretly rich?!"
B shook her head. "No. My boss gave me my weekly pay envelope this morning."
"Five hundred Vicks a week for sweeping leaves in a graveyard?!" Jen's jaw dropped in complete disbelief. "Dang, maybe I should quit making clothes and become a grave keeper too!"
Jen tapped her chin thoughtfully, looking at B's excited, pale face. "Tell you what, sweetie! The local electronics shop in town is closed today because of those silly rumors, but I can help you order one online using my phone right now! It will be delivered to my shop in-"
BANG!
The glass doors of Oakhaven Fresh Bakes behind them burst open with a loud slam.
Martha came sprinting out onto the stone street, her apron fluttering behind her as she panted heavily, her stern face flushed red.
"WAIT!" Martha shouted, skidding to a halt on the cobblestones.
Jen and B both turned their heads in total confusion.
"Martha?" Jen blinked. "Why are you running like that? Did your ovens catch fire?"
Martha panted for air, holding a hand over her chest as her sharp eyes locked onto B.
Inside the bakery, Martha had been eavesdropping on their conversation through the open window. The moment her ears heard B say that she wanted to buy a smartphone, Martha's trained Aegis operative brain had exploded with wild, golden opportunity!
If B bought a normal phone from a public shop, it would be a standard civilian device. But if the Aegis Sanctorum gifted her a specialized phone...
They could pre-install covert tracking software directly into the internal chip! They could monitor her GPS location 24/7, track every website she visited, record her search history, read her messages, and see everything happening inside Blackwood Cemetery through the camera lens, all without the girl ever suspecting a thing! It was the ultimate, flawless intelligence operation!
However, Martha knew she couldn't just walk up and hand a free high-tech smartphone to a suspicious target out of nowhere. That would look completely fake and raise immediate red flags. She needed a believable cover story.
Martha smoothed down her apron, cleared her throat loudly, and forced the most fake, cheerful smile onto her stern face.
"Ahem!" Martha declared loudly, stepping forward with her hands on her hips. "B! You are in incredible luck today!"
B tilted her soft head from between Jen's breasts. "I am?"
"Yes!" Martha lied through her teeth, her voice sounding unnaturally high-pitched. "You see... Oakhaven Fresh Bakes is currently celebrating its... um... Annual Customer Appreciation Month! And you, B... you just happened to be our... Ten-Thousandth Customer of the year!"
Silence fell over the quiet stone street.
Jen stared at Martha with a blank, uncomprehending look. B blinked her void-black pupils slowly.
"Ten-thousandth customer?" Jen repeated flatly. "Martha, your shop barely sees fifty people a day. How did you hit ten thousand?"
"It's a cumulative mathematical formula based on loaf volume!" Martha snapped quickly with whatever bull crap she can made up, glaring at Jen to shut her up. She turned back to B, her fake cheerful smile returning. "And as our lucky ten-thousandth customer, you have won our grand prize! A brand-new, top-of-the-line Aether-Tech Horizon 12 smartphone! Completely free of charge!"
"WHAT?!" Jen shrieked hysterically, her green ponytail bouncing as she nearly dropped B onto the floor. "A FREE SMARTPHONE FOR BUYING TWO LOAVES OF PLAIN BREAD?!"
"And a cookie too." B added to Jen's word.
Jen clutched her head with her free hand, shaking Martha by the shoulders. "Wait a second! If she's the ten-thousandth customer... that means I was the nine-thousand-nine-hundred-and-ninety-ninth customer! Where is MY grand prize, Martha?! What do I get?!"
SLAP!
Martha raised her hand and karate chopped Jen firmly right on the top of her loud active possibly brainless head.
"Ow!" Jen whined, rubbing her bruised head while pouting.
"You get nothing because you bought out all my cream buns," Martha said flatly.
She turned back to B, reaching into her apron pocket and pulling out a neat, sealed white box containing a brand-new, sleek black smartphone. It was a specialized Sanctorum model, built to look completely identical to a commercial phone on the outside, but fully loaded with hidden Aegis tracking software on the inside.
Martha handed the sealed white box to B. "Here you go, little grave keeper. Yours to keep, free of charge. Enjoy."
B held the sealed white box in her small pale hands, staring at the glossy picture of the smartphone on the cover.
Her pitch-black pupils sparkled with pure, boundless, overwhelming joy.
A free smartphone! She didn't even have to spend a single Vick from her 500-Vick paycheck! Her money was completely safe, and her ultimate dream of lying on her cozy couch, eating plain white bread, and doomscrolling videos for hours on end was finally coming true!
A soft, genuine smile spread across B's pale face as she hugged the white box close to her chest.
"Thank you very much, Martha," B said in her sweet, bell-like voice, giving the stern baker woman a polite bow. "You are the best baker in the world."
Martha's heart gave a tiny, unexpected twinge at the girl's sweet, innocent smile. For a split second, she felt a tiny pang of guilt for putting tracking software on the kid's phone.
'No, stay professional, Agent Baker,' Martha scolded herself in her mind, straightening her back. 'This is for world security.'
Meanwhile, B held her new phone tight, her heart singing with happiness as Jen carried her down the street. Doomscrolling was finally here!
Author's Note
EliteToeCollector
Thanks for reading!