Day 24 of the 25 days of TF-mas! (contains flattening and girl to doormat tf)

Today was the day. This was it. Nearly an entire month of nonstop preparation and a slew of unsuspecting humans turned to objects, animals, and everything in between had led to this moment. Most impactfully, Elliott, once a simple barista girl hellbent on finding the truth, and Kat, the cosmic entity at the source of the recent disappearances, had become one. Unfortunately, this union had some far reaching side effects. In addition to the newly acquired human empathy and perspective, or newly acquired cosmic influence over the human mind and body, depending on which piece of the fusion one asked, Elliott had been plagued by issues with memory. She hadn't become forgetful, mind you. No, what Elliott suffered from was conflict in memory. Fragments of opposing sides and emotional standing constantly tugged her in opposite directions. She was simultaneously the one appalled by Carla having become a mug of hot cocoa and the one that drank her after the fact. Such dissonance was never for the human mind to process. Recently, Elliott had come to a decision to embrace the fact that she held a new status as a human with the powers that she currently wielded. It was impossible for her to truly relate to humans on the level that she once did, but she did not want to abandon her humanity to think of herself as a god. After all, that's what had driven Kat to do what she had done. Instead, she was a new category. She was just Elliott, and she'd use her abilities as she saw fit for no other reason than for what she felt justified with, refusing to apologize or compromise.

So it was that Elliott made another decision. She no longer cared for Vanessa's wish and the absurd stipulations that Kat had made for itself during its little game. Nothing truly bound Elliott to see the party through. It seemed simple, but shedding that shackle she'd bound herself to was extremely liberating. The power she'd been so hesitant to call her own until now surged through her body, leaving her giddy and cackling to herself in the middle of the living room. Of course she didn't have to follow some stupid wish! Let alone the wish of a human. Besides, the preparations were finished, right? Wish complete, and now Elliott was ready to take on the world and make a name for herself on her own terms, unbound by the actions of either of her previous lives.

Her glorious ascent was, what else, interrupted. Such interruptions were like a plague since Elliott became involved with Kat's gimmicks at all it felt like. Still, this time was different. Before, she was frantic and hurried, but now she was happy. She was positively giddy with passion, and nothing any human could do could sour her mood. So it was with aplomb and gusto that she opened the door to whomever it was, already imagining how she might use her new lease on life.

"Oh, hello! You must be a friend of Vanessa's," The woman on the other side of the door greeted. She had the same light brown hair and auburn eyes as the girl she'd mentioned. She was older, but wore it pretty well, looking about forty despite nearing the decade up by now.

"I know her," Elliott answered honestly, looking the woman up and down as though sizing her up, "You her mom or something?" she asked.

"Yes! I'm Grace, a pleasure to meet you," she reached to shake Elliott's hand, but Elliott did not return the gesture, leaving her to sort of awkwardly wait a bit before moving on. "So, anyway I came by because we normally have a big get together, but it'll be a bit smaller this year. We're still going to have a party and it'll still be here, but I thought I'd let her know not to worry about setting up seats for every cousin, uncle, and nephew in the family," she laughed at that.

"I see, so, you're here early then? More people are coming?" Elliott double checked.

"Yes, and I'm already loving the decorations this year! I mean, that inflatable is so cute! Plus this wreath is gorgeous!" She added, gently touching the wreath that had once been Helena.

"Thanks, I uh, I picked those out," Elliott revealed, smiling as well, though probably for a different reason than Heather was.

"Well, you definitely have an eye for the holiday spirit! Mind if I come in?" She asked, having been standing outside the door this whole time. Heather peeked past Elliott, looking for her daughter a bit.

Elliott stroked her chin in contemplation, "Y'know? Now that I'm lookin' out here, I think we are missing something, aren't we?" She pondered aloud, ignoring Heather's request. Heather opened her mouth to try again, but was cut off by Elliott snapping her fingers, "Ah! I know! Stay right there." she slammed the door in Heather's face and could be heard running back inside the home.

Heather stood a bit dumbfounded, but she supposed she ought to refrain from judging her daughter's choice of friends too much. She could wait a few moments longer, and besides, the girl's excitement about whatever other decoration idea she'd had was a bit contagious. She found herself waiting to see it as much as she was waiting to be let inside. Unfortunately, she looked up only with enough time to feebly lift her hands in defense as a large, heavy box was dropped on top of her from the second story window.

The door opened. Heather could hear it, but she could not move or call out. She felt like the wind had been permanently driven from her body. Not only that, but she felt as though she were being crushed beneath an enormous weight. Even when Elliott lifted the box from her, she felt the compact feeling all over. It was no wonder that she did from Elliott's perspective. The box had squashed her into a few inches thick slab of herself. Thanks to Heather looking up and holding her hands out, the top of her new body was her shocked face, frozen in its expression, and her hands, palms up. Beneath that was the rest of her, with some evidence of her clothing and bosom there if one knew how to look for them. Her feet and buttocks made up the bottom face of the slab Heather had been flattened into. Elliott had to peel the woman up to see that. Fortunately for Heather, Elliott set her back down facing upwards when she was done inspecting her body, so at least her day wouldn't be spent in darkness. Later she would wonder if that was really such a blessing. For now though, her mind was preoccupied with quietly begging for help and questioning what had become of her.

Then Elliott stepped on her face.

Elliott had long since stopped feeling the cold, so she wasn't wearing shoes at the moment, meaning that nothing stood between Heather's face and the feeling of Elliott's bare feet pressing into her. Her body still had some give to it, which seemed to be what Elliott was testing for. She stepped once, then twice. She pressed her foot down hard, then lightly. She flexed her toes and wiped her feet on Heather's helpless face and body before looking down at her handiwork again. Seemingly satisfied, she lifted the box she'd dropped on Heather earlier.

"Thanks, Heather. You can be the greeter. You really tie up what I did with the outside here." She told the woman turned door mat before stepping on her again on her way inside. If a party was coming either way, she figured she wouldn't deny them, so long as they didn't bother her too much. Though, if they did, she knew how to deal with people like that, as many new residents in the home could attest.

For Heather, her life became one of two different kinds of torment. Sure, the way her own family stepped, stomped, and wiped their wet, snow-packed shoes and boots all over her fact and body was bad. Her body squished and flattened further from the stampede, and she could swear she was indented with footprints. But the sheer boredom and feeling of claustrophobia despite being outside that followed after the party was underway was its own little torture. They may not have once acknowledged her, but at least being stepped on was stimulation. Hours into the holiday party, she found herself looking forward to the family leaving, knowing she'd get to feel something other than the cold, even if that something was being stepped on.