Our lead’s benefactor is cautious saying she doesn’t know if he’ll be ready for a house boy show this year. The neighbor insists that they absolutely MUST get involved now rather than waiting. The shows are the height of elegance and what brings the whole society together. Why just having a house boy out there meeting the public would bring untold attention to the archaeological society and help fund projects for months. It doesn’t take much to get her to agree and enroll our worried lead.
After being dropped off at the show, our lead is concerned when his benefactor gives him a peck on the cheek and wishes him well. He’s quickly collected by a showrunner, an elegant woman in a slim gown of her own. A thought enters his mind so naturally that he desperately wants a gown that small, before becoming ashamed that was his reaction. Backstage, he’s freed from his gown only momentarily before being placed in a new one, designed with the front of the skirt stopping at his bust but the back behind frilled with layers that dance about with every step. He’s brought on stage and his hand is given to another house boy in a matching gown. Looking around in a panic, his partner asks if its his first show. Not to worry, just follow his lead. The curtain soon rises and the stages fills with spinning frills as the cast perform a dance to a cheering house.
After the show, his benefactor rushes to him and squishes herself up against his padded bosom and proudly announces that he passed the audition and is in for the show season. Once changed into his normal gown, the pair head home and she explains his good fortune. Highly praised house boys bring themselves and their partners to a social class unattainable by just power, money, or education. His acceptance alone has boosted the standing of her institution and everybody she employs has received new benefits. And he will gain boons as well. Everybody is happy to sponsor a winner and the cream of the crop would be able to pay off cryostasis debts in no time. He wants no part of this but it’s the fastest way to freedom. A slow humiliation paying off the debt for years versus a new humiliation all up front.
The show circuit makes little sense, in a role already steeped in nonsense. Many events are pageants and fashion shows. Other times, the pair attend social events that seem like high society parties only to have prizes and points awarded at the end of the night. He’s awash in rules and games beyond his understanding and completely out of his control. As the points are awarded and sponsorships roll in, he and the other house boys he sees in the scene are frequently gifted boosts to keep the stakes of the shows high and entertaining. The first gifts came in as glittery makeup she was more than happy to apply for him, only to find afterwards that removing it is no small task. As the molecules bond, they stain the bearer’s face but grant the ability to change the colors with the use of the digital salon programs granted to the benefactors. Wigs concealing caps coated with stimulant goos designed to encourage rapid hair growth, leaving luxurious, full bodied hair behind when the wig is removed. A whisper thin choker that retrains the vocal chords so the house boy on tour has the voice of a siren.
The boosts didn’t guarantee wins though. After losing a competition that saw the new library wing go to the next district instead of his own, our lead endured days of practice in the dance halls so he could claim the next show’s bio scaffold prize. With the scaffold applied, his figure started to grow and expand, allowing him to reach an even grander bust and curves without violating the restrictions on how much padding can be in the contestant’s gowns. With his physical growth and the gown padding, their manor required some remodeling to allow him to fit through some hallways, but his benefactor was happy to foot that construction bill herself.
At the close of the season, he was called on stage as a third to join the other two winners. With their collected curves, a fourth winner wouldn’t have fit on stage with them. Their wins had brought great boons to their districts and their benefactors’ industries. With great emotion, his benefactor let him know that the sponsorships he gained paid off his cryostasis debts so his service was no longer mandatory. But if he ever wanted to take up the duty again, he was always welcome at her manor and she would come visit him soon. The winners were ushered into their craft and zipped off towards the upper reaches of society.
Our lead looked into one of the many, many mirrors his new villa came decorated with and sighed. Permanently etched on makeup, flowing hair, even with the digital choker removed his voice remained changed, and new “natural” curves that were bigger than what his first padded dress had... He picked up his reading pad with the latest books he had queued earlier, had the auto-bartender pour him a cold drink, and made his way to the extra plush seats outside his villa. He looked out across the beach and water that was the key feature of the dome he was graduated to, and the villas of the previous winners that circled the beach. He raised a glass to the redhead mincing her way towards the water and she waved back. How could she win the house boy competition when she was barely bigger than this society’s natural women? Things were just easier in the past, he supposed.