The room had greatly thinned out with Mallory and her group of followers leaving. Jordan and Kelli were the only remaining littles. The giant security guard Jessie who had been keeping watch over them was statuesque. It was only when Kayla knocked over the lamp post did Jordan notice her briefly leap into action. However, as soon as she saw Mallory intervene and no littles were in danger she returned to her former position. However now that the teens have pretty much left, Jordan and Kelli watched her ease a bit.
“So, where do we go from here?” Jordan said changing the subject away from Chloe’s staff. In the back of his mind he also wondered where Sara was and what she was doing. Jordan and Kelli casually talked for the better part of an hour.
“Well -” Kelli started to say when the voice of Sara was heard before either Kelli or Jordan ever saw her. “Looks like your guardian is here.” Kelli said with a slight annoyance.
“Jordy! How is my widdle man.” Sara said in a cutesy infantile voice before looking over at Kelli. “Hey Kell, It looks like you’re with me tonight. I heard from Mallory Kayla got a bit to wasted.” Sara said. “Don’t worry though she’s having a sleepover at Mallory’s along with Talisa. They are in safe hands.” Sara said.
“I know. I trust Mallory. Shes never given me a reason not to.” Kelli added as Sara set her hand down. Jordan immediately started walking towards Sara’s hand while still holding hands with Kelli. He paused after a couple steps noticing Kelli hadn’t moved.
“I’m not your little. I’m not gonna walk into your hand just because you put it down like some pet. Jordan come here.” Kelli said as Jordan looked back at her.
Sara smiled warmly as she looked down at Kelli with a gentleness in her eyes. “I know your scared. You probably haven’t been away from Kayla much outside of the home and now you’re in a strange place. You can trust me, Kelli. I’m going to take care of Kayla. She was being bullied and in less than one day I put everything in motion to stop it from happening ever again. I’ve taken Kayla under my wing and you’re her little. So, I will take care of you as well. You just have to trust me.” Sara said in a kind and inviting voice.
“You can’t manipulate me. I know the game you’re playing.” Kelli said
“Shhh, it’s okay Kelli. I know you’re scared. Sara said slowly moving her free hand towards her. Kelli’s eyes darted from the left to right, but it felt inevitable. She had nowhere to go. Kelli expected Sara to wrap her hands around her like Kayla would but instead Sara just let her hand rest next to her. She could smell Sara’s perfume emanate throughout the air. Kelli wished it was repulsive or overpowering but instead it was pleasant and a bit intoxicating. She could feel the warmth radiate off of Sara’s hand. The air grew warmer and more comfortable around Kelli.
Sara carefully moved her other hand behind Kelli who was distracted by the hand in front of her. All the sudden Kelli felt all the muscles in her body want to give way all at once. Gently Sara used her index finger to pet Kelli down the center of her back. The gentle movement of Sara’s index finger seemed to release all the tension in her body at once. It was like her under body was being massaged all at once.
Kayla hadn’t experienced anything like this before. This was beyond anything Kayla seemed to know how to do. Kelli wanted to hate this. She wanted it to be uncomfortable or feel anything but how amazing it felt.
“It’s okay Kelli. I’m going to take care of you. Just like I do Kayla now. You don’t have to be wound up so tightly. It’s okay if someone else takes the wheel for a bit. I can tell you’ve had to be your own guardian in a lot of ways but right now you don’t need too. Just let it all release.” Sara said as she gently pets the small of Kelli’s back.
Kelli found herself taking a few steps back finally stepping into Sara’s hand of her own accord. She had never experienced a little pet before that she could remember or if she had it was certainly not like this. There was a level mastery she couldn’t explain. The way Sara could apply just the right amount of pressure to relax her muscles and ease the tension in her mind it was like part yoga, part full body massage, part meditation all rolled into one. This was so much more advanced than anything Kayla had done ever.
Sara eyes flickered to Jordan for a moment who made his way over to the same hand as Kelli. Sara gave him a gentle brief pet before lifting them both up. “Now let’s get back to the living section of Chloe’s house. Sara started to walk out of the room before pausing.
“Jessie, can you make sure everyone is cleared out. You know how Chloe worries, and I want tonight to be perfect for her.” Sara said
“Yeah, with the last of the littles gone and I will do a sweep before I had to security room. You have my number if you need anything. Really, we’re glad you’re okay. If you ever need anything. I’m just a call away.” Jessie added making sure Sara understood.
“I will. I promise. I got a second chance not many get. I’m going to go find the best part.”
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Sara coming off like a controlling bitch here, #1 ranked guardian my ass.
Agreed. Kelli’s right too. Sarahs manipulating her and trying to get her to accept her “place” on Kayla’s behalf while basically saying she’s replaced Kelli in Kaylas life, in my opinion, and that needs to be shut down real fast. it’s not her place to do any of that.
Absouletly. Sara loves being in control we see it with Jordan constantly where she will disregard his feelings and opinions, but then she spouts the “I care about him” bullshit. No, you don’t because to you and the rest of the world they are pets, mindless animals to be controlled, and bought.
You could also argue if you believe that a little is a pet. She is merely treating like Kelli how she views little which comes off as insulting to most readers beasue that’s your coming from the viewpoint of Kelli is an equal. But if you swap kelli with a dog and Sara did the same thing would you still feel the same way?
As from her perspective she was interacting with a pet not another person.
Not saying its right but just putting a different perspective out there.
that’s fair, but you’d think she’d try to see another guardians little as they do to an extent. like she’s Kayla’s sister first, a little second. though I guess that is subject to change to that way if Sarah is receptive to Kayla and Kelli’s relationship.
I guess, at the very least, there isn’t any real perceived malice, but mentioning covering Kayla and taking care of her and Kelli being able to not worry comes across as double talk to me, and I’m guessing to Kelli to, and Sarah’s too smart for that to not be a deliberate choice in mentioning. She’s too used to talking to Jordan lol
Kelli is a little and cant take care of herself so she should be happy Sara has stepped in. Kelli still has not excepted that her giant younger sister is now her parent/guardian and controls everything in her life. If Kayla wanted to put Kelli in a pink tu tu and parade her around there is nothing Kelli can do.
because Kelli is a little and cant protect her self, Sara has taken over as Kayla’s protector but not her sister.
both can be true. She is ranked #1 based on skill and ability. Just like you can be really good at a sport or activity but it doesn’t have any bearing on your character as a person.
she is being a good parent to her little, and can teach Kelli its good to be pampered lol.
On one hand I like that Sara isn’t being harsh on Kelli for her not fully trusting or wanting to be controlled by her but on the other hand I don’t like Sara hinting at she basically replaced her as Kayla sister in way that felt kinda rude in way I understand Sara trying to be nice and all and glad she’s protecting Kayla for Kelli but it kinda felt weird that she kinda said she’s replaced her in nice and not so obvious way
But I do wonder where this leads now
Thats a interesting conclusion. One I personally didn’t anticipate is it being viewed as Sara replacing Kelli. As the connotation in my mind was completely different she was more trying to give Kelli reasons to trust her by stating the things she done thus proving she isn’t a and person.
Its always interesting to see how things will be interpreted.
Sara’s not being harsh because, like Kelli called her on, she’s being manipulative. Being overtly harsh would make that difficult, but you can see her being dismissive of Kelli’s actual objection and acting like Kelli’s just scared.
I don’t think Sara’s replacing Kelli, though I get why you’d see it that way.
1) “It was only when Kayla knocked over the lamp post did Jordan notice her briefly leap into action.” so they’d have been fine without Mal’s intervention.
2) “In the back of his mind he also wondered where Sara was and what she was doing.” Don’t ruin it, Jordan, your best time post-infection has only gotten better the longer Sara hasn’t aslo been there.
3) “the voice of Sara was heard before either Kelli or Jordan ever saw her” I saw the image, plus generally knew she’d return to him at some point.
4) “Don’t worry though she’s having a sleepover at Mallory’s along with Talisa” Now I wanna see how Mrs Bak handles underage hungover strangers in her home, lol
5) “I’m not your little. I’m not gonna walk into your hand just because you put it down like some pet. Jordan come here.” Good to set boundaries, but, while I agree Jordan should be more assertive, I don’t like Kelli trying to set his boundaries.
6.1) “I know you’re scared. You probably haven’t been away from Kayla much outside of the home, and now you’re in a strange place.” Oh fuck of cunt, she’s setting a boundry not pissing herself.
6.2) “I’m going to take care of Kayla. She was being bullied and in less than one day I put everything in motion to stop it from happening ever again” Bully protects the bullied from another bully is a weird dynamic.
7) “You can’t manipulate me. I know the game you’re playing.” She’s probably played it herself.
8) “Gently Sara used her index finger to pet Kelli down the center of her back. The gentle movement of Sara’s index finger seemed to release all the tension in her body at once” really hate it when Sara uses to bond like that with Jordan, it feels more intrusive with someone elses Little though.
9.1) “It’s okay if someone else takes the wheel for a bit” The problem is that if Kelli relinquishes that control, she may never get it back.
9.2) “I can tell you’ve had to be your own guardian in a lot of ways but right now you don’t need too” Interesting way to describe it, is that how Sara sees healthier Little/guardian relationships.
10) “She had never experienced a little pet before that she could remember or if she had it was certainly not like this” I feel like her first Little pet should come from Kayla, not a stranger.
11.1) “There was a level mastery she couldn’t explain. The way Sara could apply just the right amount of pressure to relax her muscles and ease the tension in her mind” she’s #1 guardian in the USA for a reason, (even if I don;t think she deserves it.)
11.2) “it was like part yoga, part full body massage, part meditation all rolled into one” and all manipulation.
12) “Jessie, can you make sure everyone is cleared out. You know how Chloe worries” Sara’s helping Chloe is good to see.
13) “Really, we’re glad you’re okay. If you ever need anything. I’m just a call away.” Chloe’s staff all seem to really like Sara.
14) “I will. I promise. I got a second chance not many get. I’m going to go find the best part.” Sara is very fortunate, infinitely luckier than Jordan or any Little really.
1) Well i don’t know about fine. Kayla was very inebriated and if Kayla had grabbed Kelli she would have gotten hurt most likely. So i’d say mallorys intervention was ultimately necessary even if the direct event of Kayla knocking the light over didnt hurt htem.
2) His best time post infection also happened because of sara though. As Jordan would have never expierenced it without Sara and not gone out with Kelli without Sara’s intervention. So its not fair to say all thsi good happened without her unless you also acknowledge the good she did and the role she played in having it happen for Jordan.
3) She was bound to return once htings were dying down She wasn’t going to just leave jordan there indefinately.
4) Mrs. Bak may not know until Kayla has sobered up. As im sure Mallory will sneak her in.
5) a person could argue Kelli is doing the same to Jordan as Sara is. But Kelli being liked will have that overlooked by some I think.
6) It is possible Sara isn’t aware of her attempt to set a boundary and is taking it differently.
6.2) I still wouldn’t call sara a bully but i understadn why you do. The dynamic between them is interesting nonetheless.
7) She has, which is why she is able to recognize it so easily.
8) Although she isn’t inherently attemping to bond with Kelli more comfort her. Whilie bonding can grow from it due to the comforting nature of the interaction it isnt exclusively used to bond. It does also just feel good to a little. So there is that part of it.
9) that is a possibility but Sara wouldn’t be aware of that insecurity.
9.2) Well its how she sees Kelli and Kayla. As she sees Kelli trying or attemping to try to control Kayla which does put a strain on Kayla and Kelli which you do see materialize in the Kayla series. Sara isn’t oblivious to what is going on.between them but also reads some things differnetly then KElli does becasue they have diffrent life expierences.
10) Kayla lacks alot of those skills do it well so it definately woudln’t feel like it does now with Sara. There is a level of skill to it just ike not anyone can give a good massage. This is much hte same way. So you also need the aptitude to be able to do it whch not everyone does.
11) Sara is the number 1 guardian period across all jursidictions that guardian train. So it woudln’t be exclusively to the usa. SHe would be the number one guardian in australia as well for example.
11.2) It is possible shes not trying to manipulate Kelli as real talk she doesn’t have much to gain. Kayla isn’t seeking out Kelli’s approval to befriend Sara and sara doesn’t need Kelli’s approval to be friend Kayla and is certainly not seeking out. Sara put more effort into getting Jordan and Kelli together on the date then Kayla or Kelli. As Jordan woulnd’t have went on his own. I don’t really see what angle she would have to manipulate kelli. she’d have zero to gain from my perspective. As while she wants Jordan to have a friend it wouldn’t ahve to be Kelli.
12) Sara does care alot about chloe. so she does try to help out where she can.
13) Chloe’s staff adores Sara. Sara takes time to talk with them and such when she is there and treats them as people not just staff. People recognize kindeness.
14) Well sara’s alternative was she would have passed away. So you can’t get much lucker then that in life I would surmise. You can’t put a price of life.
1) I mean, Jessie could have intervened instead of Mal
2) Sara had a hand in setting it up, but the important part is she didn’t stick around to ruin it.
3) I know, I just wasn’t looking forward to it.
4) What a surprise to see in your own home, an uninvited guest.
5) I literally said I don’t like Kelli doing that, I didn’t overlook it.
6.1) I think Sara’s more socially aware than that, she can read between the lines.
6.2) She’s a bully, she bullied Jordan, she associates with bullies like Mal and Ellie. One might argue that they only bully if they have a reason to, or a just joking, but all bullies have their “reasons” or are “joking”.
8) Yeah, I doubt she’d bond in one touch, but it’s still used to manipulate her.
9.1) She mightn’t be, she mightn’t care if she was.
9.2) I can see that, Kelli is trying to live her life as normally as possible, and is including an amount of authority she had over Kayla, Kayla is not entirely on board with this and is struggling to balance authority, care, safety and love.
Sara is used to a system of “Guardian says, Little obeys”, which would make it weird for her to see a guardian do as their Little commands and make the Little seem more guardian-like.
10) Kayla not being perfect in guardian classes is an interesting difference between her and Sara, especially with her having a healthier relationship with her Little, but yeah, Kayla has room for improvement.
11.1) I thought you said the American System only applied to the US, and other countries had their own systems accounting for different laws, not all of them even having rankings.
11.2) Just to get her to be more comfortable with the idea of taking orders, so she’d be easier for Sara or Kayla to handle
12) That’s good of her.
13) Of fucking course they do, everyone in universe loves Sara except some of the villains.
14) If you can’t put a price on life, how are Littles able to be taught and sold? There are companies like Genritech and Preema Tech buying and selling their lives.
1) I thought about having Jessie intervene but I ultimately wanted Mal to intervene as I thought it woudl further her character more to show some compassion and show that Kayla is included in the group as she goes out of her way to help Kayla.
2) What im hearing from you is praising Sara in giving Jordan space and freedom on his date.
3) fair
4) Well, im sure it wont be the greatest surprise but sometimes it better to ask for forgiveness then permission as they say.
5)I didn’t say you overlooked it i just said some people may. I was speaking in more general terms and not specifcally meaning you. i should have clarified that better.
6) She is also in date mode with Chloe so i think its possible she wasn’t thinking about it but I do agree with you that Sara is fairly aware of things in general terms.
8) I don tthink it woudl be possible to bond i a single touch.
9.2) fully agree no notes.
10) Kayla not being the most skilled is the basis for her character. I like using Kayla to represent skill gap between ranked and unranked. As Kayla is just the typical person who gets trained. Not everyone can be elite kind of thing.
11) US and us allied nations. The countries that are anti-us aren’t included. As the basic skills of guardian training such ashandling, holding, etc are pretty universal. Some of things may be modified from country to country based on laws as far as what is allowed but nothing material enough to change the ranking as a whole as guardian training is a large part skills assessment and little knowledge in general along with a slant to promote generitech products and services.
13) To be fair alot of bad people are charasmatic and likeable. Thats part of the Sara charm is she is likeable to peopl despite her beliefs.
A) I think in this chapter Sara is replacing not the sister role of Kelli but the protector role of Kelli because Kelli is still in the dangerous stage of a little that hasn’t accepted the full scope of her being a little and her needs good and bad. And accepting help isn’t a weakness and to embrace positives of being a little, not all the negatives.
B) I think Sara is being very nice putting Kayla under her wing and teaching her how to be a good guardian and protecting her. And like many I do not agree with the pet out look sometime Sara Talks about but I do agree that little Guardians are like giant parents the little needs to protect and love them because like parents the littles are like little kids and are not capable of doing what needs to be done in there life for them to live because of their size and how other adults look at them.
Littles lack of standing by the government make all littles a dependent like all children are to parents.
C) I love Kelli very much but I think Sara’s pets are good for her because she needs to enjoy some good parts of being a little and I think if she is able to bond with Sara physically I think would be good for her because Jordan is bonded and is more mellow but hasn’t lost who he is, and Kelli needs to mellow a bit and enjoy being in Saras care and being with Jordan. Who knows, maybe Kayla will be hanging out even more with Sara and allowing Kelli and Jordan more quality time and giving Sara more time to treat Kelli like a princess and bond with her to mellow her out.
D) In a way I think Sara getting closer to Kelli is a good thing because it gives a path for Kayla not to give up guardianship of Kelli but to allow Kelli to stay with Sara and Chloe in the house they are going to get and take care of any potential little born like they were their kids.
E) Like in current day, I don’t think Sara and Chole need to go to college and would be better interning at a part of Choles company were they could get real time training and experience to what they are interested in. Most of the teachers in college to teach from a book not experience and it seems Sara and chole already have more talent and resources then teachers in college.
E) I think the Sara hate in later chapters have been unfounded. I agree she wasn’t the greatest in the early chapters but I think has turned in to a great parental guardian figure for Jordan and quite honestly I think would be a great temp guardian for Kelli to mellow her out and show her a better side to being cared for by a guardian. Kelli doesn’t want to be treated like a princess but maybe Sara can bond her into it and Kelli will still have control over a submissive little Jordan because like most little males, Jordan will do as Kelli wants as long as it doesn’t go against Sara. I think Sara training both Kayla and Kelli at the Same time would give Kayla a breather give her more options in the future after high school because of Kelli and Jordans potential closeness with Sara.
I tend to agree with you on a lot of these points. I do think a degree of Sara encroaching in on Kelli’s territory as Kayla’s protector probably would play into how Kelli feels. It could be threatening when you know or feel that you have little power.
One of the interesting facets of Sara is lots of things that she does can be viewed multiple ways from good to bad based on how you are viewing her actions, emotions and your own lifestyle and background.
I can see both sides to the pets. I definitely didn’t anticipate the views some people had about it but after reading their thoughts i understand where they are coming from. Its part of what I like about hearing and reading everyone’s perspectives.
Chloe is already getting hands on experience in various roles in generitech so she is kind of doing that now.
I understand that from Sara’s POV that Littles are not equal, so the way she treats Kelli is not surprising, but I do fall into the camp that I don’t like the behavior (I love the story though and accept this as a nuance of this universe).
I also view the finger pet/rubs as a kind of drug and see Sara as drug pusher to some extent.
Asuka has pointed out that Sara is a top-rated guardian due to her testing and training. Keep in mind that someone following Cindy Wessen’s ideology could be top-rated as well. It is not your attitude towards Littles that determines your rating, but your ability to handle them. Someone with Chloe’s viewpoints (Little humper?) could be a top-rated guardian as well (it would be nice to see someone like that show up in the story).
I also found J-Vader’s view that Sara is somewhat replacing Kelli as the sister interesting. The story could trend that way. I like that Asuka did not see that (I have had that happen to me with a story I am still working on, some of those type of insights actually had me modify my original plot).
Asuka, I hope you realize that your readers can dislike some aspects of characters like Sara but still love the story and what you are doing with it. So when you see me complain about someone, that just means you are doing a good job 🙂
When i originally created Sara. I wrote her knowing people weren’t going to like her. As her character concept is that she isn’t bad but she has views and beliefs people aren’t going to like or agree with. Especially if you are reading it and putting yourself in Jordan’s place.
As nothing Sara does is inherently wrong or illegal. SHes not a intrinsically a bad person but she does do things that with traditionally values and beliefs of our own world are going to be harder to accept as they contrast what is generally considered normal.
People generally don’t like hearing about rights being taken away and that be condoned as the right thing to do and people like these stories for the helplessness a lot of times but it can be uncomfortable when that powerlessness is manifested and depicted in ways that are close to reality or can hit close to home.
I love that people have so many beliefs and thoughts about Sara good and bad. It just means shes a compelling person. As its really hard to work up emotions, and in some cases hatred and animosity over someone who isn’t real. Seeing these comments is really in my eyes the highest vindication of a job well done.
Thank you for your kind words.
You are right in that how ranking of guardians works is that its skill based its not a judgement of character. Just like you can be a bad person but maybe you are an amazing power forward when you play basketball.
I try to put my self in the characters position when trying to understand their view and I think I relate more to Kelli because of dealing with my own accident but Kelli’s big flaw is not understanding how much help she needs because of the danger she is in and I think looking at Jordan’s life I think he has the best life so far of the littles, or one of the best with all the stuff he has access to, and how well Sara takes care of all his needs and then some.
I was wondering, what happens to people have have teeth fillings or large pins and metal pieces in their body’s after the change to a little? If it was only a biological change, would the metal pieces rip them apart? Or would they heal as they come out of their body? I know i am full of metal and their is a large amount of the population in the world that does also because it has become common to leave metal pieces in people to keep the repairs to their body stable. My sister n law got a metal pin put in her hip for pain she was having and she is very fit so It would effect many people around the world.
Aaarrrggghhh! A plot hole I never considered. This affects all virus based stories, including mine!
Guess it will just have to be one of those things for readers to overlook for the sake of the story. I know I can do it, but now you’ve planted that worm in my brain. 🙁
in the case of smallara atleast its documented to heal minor issues such as if you need glasses you don’t post infection. So if you had fake tooth or something a real tooth would grow underneath pushing out the implant. It would be painful but probably not realized over the pain of shrinking and loss of mass.
A) I think because of my experience from my accident, that spinal cord issue would be healed by smallara because its normally just a small cut in the cord but its one of the only nerves in the body that wont grow back, same with many handicaps that start with a genetic issue like ALS, many cancers.
B) I think with the virus is a big jump in being a more advanced body other then in size. The body has a total body metamorphosis, any physical issues other then loss limbs I would think would be fixed with the upgraded little body.
C) I think it would be fun down the road for people to have the option to become a little to live longer or fix a physical issue. It would be great seeing deals of how they would be treated after they change not being caried out like they thought they would or there life getting a lot better after the change.