Elsa meets Jabba meets Dr. Cyclops

[LittleAlisa]

(For Doc Rick)

“No! Absolutely not!”

In her short but active career as a professional cosplayer, Nora Hansen has been asked to play a myriad of roles.

The most recent request blew the rest out the water.

Nora didn’t think of herself as a professional cosplayer. She was an undergraduate student with ambitions of earning a doctorate in applied mathematics one day. But scholarship money and grants only went so far.

Nora got into cosplaying by playing a certain Disney princess at the birthday party of one of her professor’s children. Nora didn’t have Idris Elba’s voice, but her singing was more than passable.

Somehow that one stint blossomed into performing at a number of children’s party, and even at a Disney-centric comicon. This in turned blossomed into opportunities for playing other roles, from Marvel suoervillainesses to barbarian princesses.

Nora quickly developed her own rules. She never wore anything too risqué, if she worked a private function it had to be held at a public venue, and if her potential employer started asking about her “limits,” she broke off any and all contact with said person.

Nora made it clear that she wasn’t a stripper, and she wasn’t a sexworker.

Nora’s latest job offer was for a private function at the upcoming comicon. The outfit was basically Disney’s Elsa as sl@vegirl Orimcess Leia. The costume was bluish-silver, with the chain resembling carved ice.

The money offered was good. Very good. Tu the costume was embarrassing and degrading. There was no way she was going to wear it.

The potential client offered Nora her basic fee if Nora would just meet with him for five minutes in private, so he could try to convince her to do his function. Of course, Nora would have to wear the costume provided (sans chain) for the meeting. But for a five minute meeting that oaud that well, Nora decided she could grit her teeth and “bare” it.

[LittleAlisa]

Nora felt like a pervert.

She was standing in the office of one Robert Phule, wearing a trench coat over the bikini costume that Mr. Phule wanted her to wear at a private function associated with the upcoming ComiCon. The costume came with a chain and collar, which Nora was thankful that she didn’t have to wear for this interview.

Nora wouldn’t have shown up for the interview at all if Mr. Phule wasn’t paying her basic appearance fee just to listen to his spiel. Mr. Phule wanted Nora to wear a “Frozen” version of the slave girl outfit Princess Leia wore in “Return of the Jedi” for his private function. When Nora saw the costume, the answer was a hard “No.” Nora’s answer remained unchanged even when Mr. Phule offered her an exorbitant fee over the phone.

Mr. Phule then offered to pay Nora’s normal appearance fee if she would just come to his office to listen to his pitch. Of course, there was a catch. Nora had to wear the bikini for the visit.

Which is how Nora ended up standing in Mr. Phule’s office with a trench coat covering her bikini clad body.

So far Mr. Phule hadn’t asked Nora to remove her trench coat, an oversight which Nora was very grateful for. There was something distinctly slimy about Mr. Phule. There wasn’t enough money in the world which could compel Nora to have a second meeting with him.

After listening to Mr. Phule give his presentation, Nora again politely but firmly refused his offer.

Surprisingly, Mr. Phule didn’t argue the point. Instead, he reached for a button on his desk. Nora thought the button was to buzz in an assistant with a cheque for Nora.

Instead, when Mr. Phule pressed the button, Nora found herself blinded by a bright light. When Nora’s vision returned, the first sight she saw was a gigantic Mr. Phule lowering a cubic glass case over her.

[DocRick]

[LittleAlisa]

To say Nora was stunned by her sudden size change would have been a gross understatement.

So she can be forgiven for remaining frozen (no pun intended) in place as Mr. Phule lowered a clear cubicle container the size of a small aquarium over her. As soon as the clear container touched the floor, Nora heard four distinct clicks.

When Mr. Phule lifted the container up, the floor underneath Nora came up with it. Nora found herself encased in the cubicle, being carried to…

She didn’t know where she was being carried to. Mr. Phule placed the cubicle on his desk, then wrapped it in a nondescript blue-gray packing blanket. The shell shocked found herself being jostled and slid about in her glass prison, while beyond the blanket she heard the slamming of doors and trunks, muffled voices, traffic noises, and other indecipherable sounds.

After what seemed like an eternity, the glass cubicle Nora was put on something solid and unmoving, and the packing blanket removed.

[LittleAlisa]

It had been a week since Mr. Phule had shrunken Nora to her present height of eight inches. An experience that has started off as a nightmare, and now combined elements of the nightmarish and the monotonous.

Mr. Phule had handled Nora’s diminutive form exactly once, and that was very briefly. Mr. Phule had transferred Nora from the original container he had transported her in, to the much larger display case that was her home now.

That one brief touch still made Nora’s skin crawl. Now all Mr. Phule had to do was threaten to open the display case to get Nora to do whatever he wanted her to do.

Not that Nora had to do much. Her new home was a replica of the deck of Jabba the Hutt’s sand yacht, scaled to Nora’s new size. Nora was required to spend most of her time on deck, wearing her “slave Elsa” costume, with a collar around her neck, with the chain on the collar being held by a Jabba the Hutt replica.

Nora was allowed to go below deck for her meals, getting cleaned up and other private functions. But she was warned not to try to hide below deck, on threat of having the display case opened.

So Nora resigned herself to a new life of being constantly on display.

Most of the time, Nora was left by herself. Her display case was on the desk in Mr. Phule’s home office. Mr. Phule came in every night, perfunctorily checked her food and water, then left her alone, all while not saying a word.

The last two days, though,Mr. Phule brought in visitors to gawk at her. The way some of the gawkers leered at her and tapped on the container walls made Nora glad there was a transparent wall between her and them.

When one of the gawkers asked Nora her unshrunk bra size, she almost answered with an expletive. When Mr. Phule flexed his fingers, Nora forced herself to answer “36D.”

Nora was hoping that the worst thing she was going to have to put up with was voyeurs with inappropriate questions. She was afraid, though, the worst was yet to come.

[DocRick]

******The last two days, though,Mr. Phule brought in visitors to gawk at her. The way some of the gawkers leered at her and tapped on the container walls made Nora glad there was a transparent wall between her and them.********

[LittleAlisa]

Karl held his cousin James in open contempt, but secretly he envied James. That envy was a secret, even from Karl himself.

Karl was the scion of Hunter Westbrook, the manager of one of the world’s largest hedge funds, and Dana Wyatt, THE supermodel of her day. Karl was predestined to grow up to be an Adonis. Athletics, academics, romance…everything came easy to him.

By contrast, James was less gifted.

James was not bad-looking, in a darker, rougher sort of way. And he did not lack in intelligence or athletic abilities. But James paled in comparison to Karl.

Karl expected James to be envious of HIM! Instead, Karl’s cousin seemed to be content with his lot in life, and even worse, didn’t seem to automatically want to be in Karl’s orbit.

Karl, of course, had first pick of all the women in school. He even stole one from his cousin. Rather than being crushed, James took it in stride. The girl Karl stole didn’t take it as well when Karl later ignobly and unceremoniously dumped her. She even went running back to James. The two never dated again, but they did become friends.

At school, everyone wanted to be Karl’s friend for the social opportunities. But people wanted to be James’s friend because James would be there for them.

At sporting events, Karl was always the star player. But when it came down to crunch time, the coaches looked to James.

After high school, Karl went to Harvard, eventually getting his MBA and going to work for his father. James went to MIT on a ROTC scholarship, where he got an engineering degree and the pirate certificate. James served six years in the military meritoriously, then also went to work for Karl’s father.

At age thirty, Karl liked to think of himself as a rising star. He always assumed he was destined to take over the hedge fund one day. Everyone at the company wanted to be his friend.

Of course, everyone wanted to be Karl’s friend because of his father. But people were wanting to be James’s friend because of his insight and instincts. People were talking about James as the rising young star, not Karl. Even Karl’s father was speaking favorably of James.

Karl was not perturbed. He knew he would end up winning. He always did. It was his birthright.

Anyway, Karl was going to a very special auction that Saturday. He was already planning on all the things he was going to do with his prize, once he won her.

Karl decided to invite James to the auction, to reinforce the natural law in James’s mind: there were some things Karl was destined to have that would never be James’s.

[LittleAlisa]

James loved the local Comicon. Yes, there were bigger events in other cities, attended by bigger celebrities. But the local Comicon had things you couldn’t find in other venues.

Like Phule’s Paradise, for example.

Phule’s Paradise was the name of an invite-only event where one could pick up a number of interesting items. For example, a couple of years ago, James had bought an ancient Mesopotamian bronze dagger at an auction at the Paradise.

The authenticity of the dagger was beyond question. It’s trail of ownership…less so.

The rules of the auction required “cash on hand,” which these days usually meant bitcoin.

James was going to skip Phule’s Paradise this year, but his cousin Karl insisted that James go with him.

James had always had a strained relationship with his cousin, who always acted like the two were in competition. Things had gotten even worse after high school. Where James had excelled in college and the military, Karl had struggled, and had required the assistance of his father’s money on more than one occasion.

Now both of them were working for Karl’s father, and while James was shining, Karl was given a title with very little responsibility.

Karl usually made snide remarks about James yearly attendance at the Comicon, always dressed as an eighteenth century pirate. This year, though, Karl was insistent that James accompany him to the Phule’s Paraduse, and kept on asking exactly how many bitcoins James was bringing on his memory stick.

James had to hide a smile every time Karl had a conversation with him about the Phule’s Paradise. Apparently, Karl had gotten wind of some trinket that would be auctioned off at the Phule’s Paradise that Karl was sure James would want. Karl wanted to be in a position to take it away from James.

James decided he would let Karl have his petty little victory. Besides, if James really wanted something, he’d tap the “contingency funds” he always carried to these events.

[LittleAlisa]

Both Karl and James handed over their memory sticks with their bitcoins on them as soon as they checked in at Phule’s Paradise. A smirk appeared on Karl’s face when it was revealed that he had brought ten thousand dollars more in bitcoins than James had.

James suppressed a smile. He actually felt a little sorry for Karl. If outbidding James on an artifact made Karl feel better about himself, then James was willing to let his cousin have his victory.

The two cousin walked around, taking complimentary drinks and appetizers. James was dressed as an eighteenth century pirate, complete with cutlass, while Karl was dressed as a seventeenth century French nobleman.

The two had been walking around for an hour and a half before the staff of Phule’s Paradise began rolling out the items that would be auctioned off that night. James was curious about what auction item was the one Karl wanted to beat him out of.

James noticed everyone gathering around an encased model of some sort. As he got closer, he saw the model was the sand yacht from the Star Wars movie. The figurines in the model didn’t look like anything special. Perhaps they were used in the movie? Whatever the story was, the model wasn’t something that would pique his interest.

The thing that caught James’s eye was the Princess Leia figurine. The figurine was incredibly lifelike, if woefully the wrong coloration.

Then James got the shock of his life when the figurine moved.