Part 16
By Nomdreserv
Karen and Lisa bustled about the kitchen the next morning, both preparing to leave for work. Bob sat unhappily at the table, his feet not quite reaching the floor, and sipping coffee from a mug that felt huge in his hand. He almost needed both hands to keep the hot beverage steady.
“I've got the meeting at
Lisa nodded. “Gina’s away, so I have to be there for deliveries. I can probably close the store for the afternoon. If I hear anything from Gregor, I’ll call immediately.”
Karen looked at Bob, almost swallowed up in his oversized clothes and looking like a little boy playing in his father’s things, and blanched. He was beginning to look so small, it was hard not to think of him like a child. She came over to touch his shoulder.
“Are you sure you’ll be all right?”
Bob, who had just been noticing how heavy the coffee mug seemed, looked up – and up – into his wife’s concerned eyes. He tried to smile reassuringly.
“Of course. I've already called in. They were pretty mad, but I promised I could work on the new protocols here at home.” He paused, trying to joke. “Assuming I can still reach the keyboard.”
Karen’s eyes showed only a flash of fear at the comment. Bob had already lost another few inches overnight, and was under 5 feet in height now. At this rate, it would only be a few days until his joking concern became a reality.
“Bob, we’ll fix this,” Karen assured him.
“I'm sure we will,” he agreed, neither of them seeming to believe it.
“Gregor may have an answer already,” Lisa suggested hopefully.
There was a moment’s awkward pause, as if they were all hoping Gregor would materialize in the kitchen and prove just that point, but, alas, there was no sign of the sorcerer.
“Call if you need anything,” Karen said, sounding increasingly maternal. “Do you want me to make you anything or get anything for you before I leave?”
“I'm not helpless,” Bob said, feeling the sting of implied dependency. Not yet, he added silently to himself.
Karen bit her lip and stood back slightly, opening her arms for a customary goodbye hug. Bob hopped off his chair and accepted the embrace, nearly disappearing inside her arms. They both received a shock when they found he was only chest high to her in her heels, and Bob found himself resting his head directly on her breasts when they hugged.
They seemed huge and pillowy, and they would have been a very nice place indeed to rest his head - if he hadn’t been standing on his toes to reach them. Karen, hardly suppressing her shock, made to kiss him, saw him struggling to reach her, and had to bend over to allow their lips to touch.
Given their surprise and flare of fear, it wasn’t the most satisfying or passionate of kisses, but their was reassurance there at least. When Karen left, Lisa came over. Recognizing the awkwardness in Karen’s attempt, she actually sat down before trying to hug him. Ostensibly, she did so to pour herself a travel cup of coffee, but her real motive was obvious to them both.
She looked him square in the eye from her seated position.
“We will reverse the spell,” she promised. “I’ll make some calls while at work. We can go back to the Institute tonight. If we don’t have any answers within another day, I’ll …” She swallowed hard. “I’ll take care of it. We’ll do what we have to.”
She clearly meant the absorption procedure Gregor had mentioned. Knowing he had no intention of letting her or anyone else sacrifice herself for him, Bob just smiled.
“Hey, maybe I like being small,” he said. “You know, there are worse things in life than having two gorgeous amazons taking care of me.”
Lisa felt an odd tingle when he said this, and when she moved her arm, there seemed to be a little more of a biceps bulge than there had been moments before. She wasn’t sure if this was a residual of the magic that had transformed her before, or a sign that Gregor’s protective ward was losing potency against Bob’s magic. She also didn’t want to alarm Bob or indicate his magic might be leaking through the dampener, but either way, she decided she should leave before it could progress further. Ignoring the increased tightness in her clothes, she held out her arms and hugged him lovingly.
“I’ll always be your amazon,” she promised.
Bob didn’t say anything. It was a promise he’d never expected to hear from a lover, and he wasn’t sure the implications were comforting, but the hug and obvious love emanating from Lisa were themselves very reassuring, and he actually felt a little better when she had left.
Of course, at the moment, he was feeling a little everything.
Kei was afraid to open her eyes for several seconds after waking up, for dread of seeing how big the room might look around her. She carefully stretched her hands out, trying to gauge the feel of the sheets and the size of the bed around her, half expecting to feel like she was lying on top of a football field, but was relieved when everything felt normal. She could even reach to the edge of the bed!
She sat up, opening her eyes, and rejoicing to see that, indeed, everything looked close to normal size around her. Her sleep had been mercifully free of erotic dreams, and the respite seemed enough to bring her back to normal size.
Or almost normal size. She realized she wasn’t quite back the moment she got up and found she could had to slide off the bed before touching the floor. Her t-shirt also hung to mid thigh, meaning she was probably no more than an inch or two clear of five feet. Still, compared to her recent sojourn at about 4 feet in height, not to mention the prospects she had been imagining, she felt almost huge by comparison.
She walked out to the common room and found Callista sitting at the kitchen table with a box of donuts and a couple of venti Starbucks (yes, the coffee giant had infiltrated the Institute just as it had every place else). The donuts looked good – almost too good: Kei’s nose twitched slightly, and she experienced a fierce, almost primal sugar desire that made her wonder once again if all traces of her mouse transformation had been removed. Keeping the movement casual, she actually reached around behind her to make sure there was no trace of the tail returning, and then reached for a donut. There were still several kinds, although it seemed as though Callista had already finished half the box by herself.
“Hey,” Kei called in greeting.
“Hey,” Callista answered. She held up the cups. “Vanilla latte or machiatto? I’ll warn you, I couldn’t decide which I wanted so I've been drinking them both.”
“Um, the latte,” Kei said, accepting the proffered drink. “Donuts too?” It seemed a little like a sugar overdose, but one she was all too willing to join in.
Callista shrugged. “I just had a taste for them.” She selected a glazed donut petrified with layers of sugar icing and bit a quarter off at once. “Mmm. These are so good. I think I’ll eat them every day.”
“Not the healthiest,” Kei said, but admittedly, she quickly helped herself to another.
“So? I'm tired of doing healthy stuff. What good does health do me? Has healthy food gotten me any sex?”
“Um, well…” It was a deceiving question to simply answer as phrased.
“Exactly. Starting today, I eat whatever I want, whenever I want. Sugar and sex – those are my new bywords.”
“Okaaaayyy,” Kei said, recognizing the night hadn’t changed Callista’s new attitude. She also noticed Callista was wearing very skimpy shorts and a tight shirt without a bra. “And looks like you’re primed for both.”
Callista noticed Kei’s eyes drawn to the clearly visible points of her nipples through the shirt and giggled.
“You got it. It’s amazing how much attention you can get just by showing off your boobs. It’s fun! You should have seen the looks I was getting in line at the store.” Callista smiled knowingly, and added with a lower, playful voice. “Kind of like the look you’re giving me now.”
Kei blushed, and worse, felt her first tingle of the morning. Her shirt settled slightly lower, and she resolvedly averted her eyes.
“So, any sign of Yuri?” she asked, already anticipating the next arousal threat.
“Oh, yeah. She went out,” Callista answered nonchalantly.
“Went out?” Kei spat out a small spray of latte with the exclamation.
“Uh huh. Said she was going to the library to research your problems.”
For a moment, a thrill of hope surged through Kei. Perhaps the night’s sleep had restored Yuri most of the way too. She could just imagine her friend, hair reassuringly dark, back in form and devouring texts to solve their curse. On the other hand…
“How did she look?”
After several seconds without an answer, Kei looked up, and was surprised to find Callista staring blankly off into space. The question hadn’t seemed that difficult.
“Um,
Callista suddenly blinked and looked at Kei’s concerned face with surprise.
“What’s wrong?”
“Um, nothing I guess. You were kind of spacing out on me,” Kei said.
“Was I? Sorry. I've had kind of a weird feeling the last couple of days, almost like…” Her eyes started to lose focus again and her words trailed off.
“
Callista shook her head as though clearing it.
“Sorry. I'm all right now. What were you saying?”
“Wait a minute. What do you mean weird? Are you OK?”
“Sure. It’s the lack of sleep and stress. It’s almost like falling asleep for a few seconds.”
“
“It’s nothing! I'm just tired. Look.” She held up her latte. “A little caffeine and I'm fine. Now, what were you asking me?”
Kei was worried about Callista’s new mini-trances, but her immediate concern was her missing partner.
“Yuri. You said she went out and I asked what she looked like.”
“What? Oh, right. Sure. She looked great. She seemed really cheerful too.”
“And her hair?”
“Her hair?”
“What color was it?”
“Blond, of course. You saw what it looked like yesterday.” Her voice dropped slightly. “Though between you and me, I think she must have been changing it a little more herself. It looks kind of unnatural now – platinum. Cheap, you know?”
Kei’s head was swimming. Still, there might still be hope.
“And how was she dressed?”
“Dressed?” Callista asked, puzzled. “Oh, yeah. She was wearing this totally hot little number. A purple skirt – I didn’t think she had anything that short – and a halter t…hey, where are you going?”
Kei had dropped the rest of her makeshift breakfast and started back to her room.
“To go get her, of course! Fuck,
Callista was offended. “There is nothing wrong with my judgment. And it’s not for me to tell Yuri where she can or can’t go.”
Kei paused, caught between anger and surprise at Callista’s carefree attitude.
“Ordinarily, yeah, but, fuck – come on! She’s under a spell. We all are.”
“I'm not.”
Kei hesitated again, beginning to wonder if this was true. “Yeah, well, la de fucking la. The point is, Yuri’s not herself – she’s not responsible at the moment. We have to watch out for her. She’s liable to have sex with anyone who so much as smiles at her.”
“You say that like it’s a bad thing.”
“
“Oh, all right. I’ll help find her.” She put aside her drink and started for the door. “You’re going to feel pretty silly when we find her studying. You’re forgetting – this is still Yuri we’re talking about. Who knows what she might already have discovered?”
“Wow! Strawberry lip gloss with sparkles!” Yuri marveled, turning a page. “How cool is that?”
Yuri was happily reading a fashion magazine in the periodicals room. She had really intended to research beauty curses and size spells, but the magical research area just looked so foreboding and dull. Besides, she had never realized what an amazing array of fun magazines the library subscribed to, or how much she needed to learn about health and beauty care. Based on everything these magazines suggested (“Vitamins Critical For Healthy Skin!” “New Conditioners That Revive Your Hair.”) and her own shocking personal neglect (imagine using soap and water on her face all these years!), she was surprised she even had skin and hair to revive. But now that she knew better, she was determined to devote herself to the subject.
Or would, if she could just keep the tips and instructions straight. She found it increasingly difficult to read the articles through, and instead kept finding herself distracted by the pictures and ads – they were easier to understand.
She was also distracted by the people walking through the library, especially the guys. There were so many cute ones! She was amazed she’d ever been able to concentrate while reading here before – it was like a smorgasbord of men. She discreetly rubbed her thighs together, reveling in the pressure and feeling of warmth. It made her all hot and wet just thinking about all these men close by.
She managed to restrain herself from acting on the impulses, however. Part of it was the recognition that she was under a spell – and she was reminded of this when she realized that just every man looked so attractive: looks, physique, and age seemed minor, as long as they had that certain something where it counted. And at the moment, that certain something was usually found hanging between a person’s legs.
Mind you, her supercharged sexuality was still much more inclusive than it had been before, and she noticed the women as well as the men, but as far as the women were concerned, she was still a little hesitant. Maybe if it were the right woman – and her libido flared impressively as she noticed a pretty brunette in tight jeans – she would expand her horizons. But at the moment, she craved more of what she knew.
And as her eyes swept the entrance lobby one more time, her heart leapt even higher. Dropping her magazine, she all but ran to intercept the newcomer, stopping at the last moment to make sure her hair and clothes looked straight. Confirming that her huge breasts were thrust out to maximum effect, she took the last few steps.
“Hi there!” she called chirpily, flipping her hair and deliberately bouncing a little on her heels to make her breasts jiggle.
The man stopped in surprise. He was tall, several inches over six feet, square-shouldered, and obviously athletic. He was also remarkably handsome (handsome enough for most women to openly enjoy, and most men to feel immediate hostility towards him), although his face looked perhaps just a little too serious and self-involved.
Serious or not, his eyes couldn’t help briefly dropping to enjoy the spectacular display of Yuri’s huge breasts still jostling for a place within the too-small tube top. His eyes widened slightly, and he forced them back up to a polite level.
“Um, hello.” He paused, clearly not recognizing her.
“Darcy, don’t you know me?” she giggled, twirling her hair. “It’s me, Yuri.”
Now his eyes widened another notch. Briefly losing his propriety, he let his eyes once more move down to take in the cartoonishly spectacular body, before righting himself and studying her face. Her eyes, lips, nose had changed in addition to her hair color, but there was still enough of them there to confirm her claim.
“Oh, Yuri. Yes, of course. I, um…” He tried to keep his eyes from making one more trip to chest level as his peripheral vision caught the indentations of two stiffening nipples making small points in her shirt, and the male part of his brain demanded immediate confirmation. “I heard about your curse. I'm so sorry.”
“Sorry? You don’t have to be sorry. I was worried at first, but now I kind of like it. This is kind of cool, you know? I mean, like, I'm so pretty right now and everything. Don’t you think I'm pretty?”
“I uhhh…” Darcy suspected a trap, perhaps out of experience with leading questions from women. “You’re always beautiful, Yuri.”
Yuri giggled and jumped a little again, and flushed happily when she saw his eyes dart down involuntarily to enjoy the bounces that resulted.
“Aww, that’s so nice! And I think you’re really nice too. And the best part is, now we can, like, do something about it. Cuz, I'm not, you know, smart any more.”
He stiffened noticeably, and not in the way Yuri was hoping.
“What do you mean?”
Yuri saw the change in his attitude, and twirled her hair more nervously.
“You know. Because I was like so totally super smart before, and you’re not.” His eyes flashed, and she hurried on desperately. “I mean, weren’t. I mean….I'm sure you’re totally smart. It’s just, you know….just because I was waaayyyy smarter than you before, you were probably afraid to ask me out and stuff, and now that I'm not, you can… can …”
She trailed off, seeing the chill in his eyes.
“I think I know exactly what you mean,” he said quietly.
Yuri’s hair twirling was frenetic now.
“No, wait! We could…you should…you know…do stuff,” she suggested lamely.
“If you’ll excuse me, I need to have my teleporter coordinates set for my next assignment,” he said, walking past her with a nod of goodbye.
“No, wait!” she wailed. “I thought you’d like me now!”
He paused, turning to address her once more, while a small audience watched with increasing interest.
“So, you’re saying you think I'm best suited for a vacuous, buxom voluptuary? And that, given my own obvious limitations, my romantic inclinations should be inversely proportional to a woman’s intelligence?”
Yuri shifted from foot to foot nervously, having no idea what he had just asked. But she had caught the references to romance and woman.
“Um, yes?” she guessed.
“I thought so.” He nodded brusquely in a last dismissal. “I'm glad we had this chance to learn a little more about each other, Yuri. Again, I'm sorry about the curse. Even if it has proved most…” One last, purely academic sweep of his gaze over her extravagant figure and skimpy clothes. “Revealing. Good day.”
He left Yuri devastated, her lip trembling. How could he do that to her? She had big breasts, damn it! Guys liked big breasts. Everyone said so.
In fact, if anything, he seemed even less interested than before. Could she still be too smart for him? How dumb would she have to be before men started liking her? It was an overwhelming realization. What were those words he had used? She tried to remember, but the only that had stuck was ‘vacuous.’ That sounded like a good word. That was presumably the problem – she needed to be more vacuous.
Still stinging from the very public rejection, she tried to compose herself; though she worried she might start bawling any minute. She needed to keep herself together - show him how wrong he was about her. She’d show him there was less to her than a pair of huge breasts and a pretty face.
She stopped. Wait, was that right? She shook her head – it didn’t matter. She’d show him what he was missing out on.
Just as soon as she had a chance to look up ‘vacuous’ in the dictionary.
Bob was reading the paper in the hopes of keeping his mind off their situation when he heard an odd chiming noise, seeming to originate in mid air. He looked around in confusion, and had just decided he imagined it, when it sounded a second time. Something between a doorbell and phone ring, it didn’t sound like anything he’d heard in the house before. He stood up, but then realized he had no idea how to proceed further.
The chime sounded again after a minute. This time, he thought it might be originating in the family room, and he stepped from the kitchen in confusion. He stood, tense but unmoving, wondering if auditory hallucinations might be another symptom in his curse.
He was startled when the phone rang, but felt an immediate rush of gratitude afterwards to hear a more familiar sound that he did know how to respond to. He grabbed the receiver.
“Hello?”
“Ah, Bob. Marcus Canis here. We met yesterday.”
“Of course.” His heart jumped. “Have you worked it out already?”
“Oh. Sorry. Alas, no. I wanted to run a few more tests and check in to make sure you were all right. I rang, but no one answered.”
Bob was puzzled.
“The phone only just rang.”
A moment’s silence. “Oh, the phone! Yes, of course. I'm glad I tried it. You probably aren’t used to having teleportation nodes in the house.”
Bob considered that a given for just about everybody.
“Tell me, do you hear a sound now?”
Once again, the mysterious chime resonated.
“Yes! What is that?”
“A contact request. To ask if you’re receiving. Terribly rude to just pop in on people you know.”
“Pop in? You mean…?”
“Yes. I have a teleporter to make things easier. Thought I’d drop by. So much better than verbal or text communications, and so much faster than ordinary travel. Not much for traveling anyway. Between you and me, I much prefer staying in my own home.”
Bob remembered the warm, comfortable house and boggling array of its gourmet pantry and could understand why.
“Still, promised Gregor I’d check in this morning. Would it be all right to stop by?”
Bob, not expecting company, and dressed very casually in some oversized shorts and shirt, hesitated.
Seeming to sense this, Canis reassured him. “Very informal. Stay as you are, so to speak.”
“Um, OK.”
“Good. Just respond to the sound then.”
The less mysterious but still frustrating chime rang out again.
“Hello?” Bob tried.
“Ah, there we are. Splendid. The connection is made. May I proceed?”
“Proceed?”
“You need to invite me in.”
Fighting his sense of unreality, Bob cleared his throat.
“Come in?” he said uncertainly.
There was an electric tingle in the air, and a soft whoosh of air, and then, amazingly, the large form of a pleased Canis appeared in the room next to him. Bob jumped despite thinking himself prepared.
“Ah, good,” Canis said, tugging at his clothes to make sure they were in place. “I …” He stopped suddenly, looking around. “Did you hear…?” he started to ask, but shook his head as though he had imagined something. “I dislike teleportation – that moment of nonexistence is disconcerting - but there’s no denying its convenience.” He beamed at Bob. “Good morning! How are you, my good sir?”
Bob, who was still contemplating that comment about nonexistence, found his tongue but not his eloquence.
“Um, fine.”
“Good to hear it.” Canis made no attempt to hide the way he was sizing Bob’s condition up. “Another few inches overnight, I would guess. Yes, that would fit. Theoretical rate of 2-8%. Yes. Hmmm…”
Bob listened idly as Canis spoke, the magical formulas he spouted being as unintelligible as if a Nobel physicist had suddenly dropped in to discuss particle theory. While Canis spoke, Bob noticed the sorcerer was still displaying his expensive, affected and archaic fashion sense, including a massive riding cloak (massive both in size for the man’s bulk and in the luxuriant, thick material), boots, an ornate, embroidered waistcoat, and another ascot. A closer look revealed the waistcoat to be missing a button, a flaw that seemed very unlike the fussy mage.
Since Canis seemed to be drifting into reverie, Bob tried to make conversation.
“Looks like you lost a button.”
Canis’ face froze.
“What?”
Bob pointed. “You lost a button on your coat.”
Canis’ expression of alarm seemed totally out of proportion to the minor fashion faux pas. He looked down immediately and blanched at the omission.
“Good heavens!”
Bob felt alarm by osmosis.
“Is a lost button really that bad?”
Canis looked up. “In this case, yes. I most certainly had that button when I put the coat on this morning.” He looked warily at the empty spot he had materialized in.
“Oh,” Bob said, assuming he wanted to look for it. “Well, it’s probably around here on the floor.”
Canis shook his head. “I doubt it. My coat is pure barathea wool, and the buttons are triple sewn with cotton-wrapped continuous fiber thread.”
“Sounds…nice,” Bob said, marveling that any man would know – or want to know – that much about his coat’s manufacture.
“It is. But my point is rather that the buttons should not simply pop off.” He seemed to be examining the room and air around them, and suddenly pulled out an examination lens like the one Bob had seen Gregor use. The lights played around and through the lens as it swept the room. “Who set up this teleportation node?” he asked suddenly.
“Yuri and Kei,” Bob said. “Well, mostly Yuri.”
Canis nodded. “Ordinarily, that would be reassurance enough. But in this case, she was already under the influence of her curse.” He fingered the spot of the missing button on his coat. “I think it would be best if we had a team out to examine this node more thoroughly.”
“You think there’s something wrong with it? Is it dangerous?” Bob asked, suddenly haunted by visions of their house winking away in some kind of magical implosion.
Canis was thoughtful, but finally smiled.
“No, no. Nothing that dramatic. Probably just an annoyance.” He fingered the hole for the missing button. “Still, best to have it checked. I'm very thorough about such things. It’s my only weakness.”
Bob smiled at the admission of yet another “fault,” but persisted.
“It’s safe to use then?”
Canis seemed to be recovering.
“Oh, yes, certainly. That is, most likely.” When he saw Bob’s worried expression, he hurried to add. “I assure you, there’s no danger to you or your, er… that is, anyone else here. No, the problem is if there’s a … well, to put it simply, a leak.”
“A leak?”
“Yes. An improperly set node drifts. That could cause problems in teleportation, but more commonly just results in stray magic escaping.”
“And that’s a problem?”
“Again, not directly. It does, however, sometimes attract … well, things. Things that thrive on or seek magic.”
“Oh, wonderful.”
Once again, Canis tried to laugh it off.
“Seen any leprechauns about, laddie?”
Bob’s eyes widened. “Leprechauns? You mean there are really…?”
Canis chuckled. “I make it a point never to see leprechauns until after my third sherry.”
Bob grimaced. “But you think there is a problem with the teleportation point?”
“Pure speculation, my boy. I daresay there’s nothing at all. With my girth, I'm apt to lose buttons at any time.” He chuckled and patted his prodigious stomach. “And speaking of which, what do you say I prepare us a little something for breakfast?”
Bob looked surprised. “We already had breakfast.”
“Why, so did I,” Canis exclaimed. “But what about second breakfast?”
“Second…?”
“A Halfling tradition, and a very good one. If I might presume to make myself at home in your kitchen? We can talk while I indulge myself and prepare us a small savory. A bit unorthodox, I know, but I simply love exploring a new kitchen. It’s my only weakness. So many possibilities. Always an adventure.”
When Bob nodded in surprise at the request, he watched in surprise as Canis hurried to start his explorations, already nodding approvingly at the well-stocked spice rack, firm onions, and fresh garlic in the pantry. He still felt some annoyance at the intrusion, but the obvious delight in Canis’ expression and manner was rewarding.
“I'm afraid you won't find the sort of gourmet items you’re used to,” he warned, as Canis, having deposited two onions and a garlic clove onto the counter turned to the refrigerator.
“Balderdash!” Canis snorted, seeming to inventory the refrigerator contents in a matter of seconds. “My dear boy, sweet onions? A plump clove of garlic? Eggs, cheese and …” He flourished some portabella mushrooms triumphantly. “Champignons frais! Why, these are the very foods of the gods. Allow me to demonstrate.”
He started measuring, mixing and separating. Bowls and pans appeared, and soon the mushrooms were simmering in butter and wine while Canis whisked the eggs. To make conversation, Bob retuned to the mysterious subject of teleportation.
“So, do all mages teleport?”
“What? No, no. Teleportation is an exceedingly dangerous magic unless you use a dedicated teleporter device. Impossible for most. Not unlike asking one of your colleagues if they fly without an airplane.”
“Then why doesn’t everyone use the teleporters?”
“They use a tremendous amount of magic. Very few mages could empower them by themselves. That’s one of the advantages of having an organization the Institute’s size. We have a tremendous magical reserve. Even so, access to teleportation rare, either by talent or privilege.”
“People sure seem to be using it a lot lately,” Bob sighed.
“The urgency of the situation,” Canis nodded. “Oh, and of course the CSA agents have always used them. They need to be able to move and react very quickly indeed.”
Bob remembered the way the agents had swooped in upon them the night before, and frowned.
“Seems they don’t need to ask before coming in, either.”
“Ah, yes,” Canis sighed. “Emergency powers. Regrettable but understandable. They felt the threat demanded intervention. Zhukov may have overreacted, but I can assure you his motives were good. And it was fortunate your home had been set up as a node. Otherwise, the agents wouldn’t have been able to intervene quickly, and they never would have allowed you off the Institute grounds under the present circum…” He paused, stopped easing the gently simmering eggs around in their pan, and frowned.
“Something wrong?”
“Gregor,” Canis grumbled, gritting his teeth again. “He was the one who insisted they establish a node here. It’s almost as if…” He shook his head and sighed. “He is a frustrating man. Very quick. Very bright. But to a scientific mind such as my own.” He looked at Bob and smiled. “Maddening.”
“I always assumed magic and science were opposed.”
“What? Not at all! In my mind, the pure forms of both represent the pinnacles of human achievement. It’s true that magic is more intuitive, being a representation of will, and some abhor my own attempts to codify the spells. It is also true that some mages cling to traditional methods quite deliberately, but who would prefer scratching his spells into a leather and parchment folio using a quill pen instead of using clean paper and a ballpoint pen? Or, for that matter, importing them directly into electronic storage for the ultimate in retrieval and referencing? You might as well forego the telephone or instant messaging and send your messages by owl!” He laughed. “And many liken magic to an art, fearing science will destroy the beauty of it. But to me, art and science support each other. Consider, well, cooking.” He was adding the last ingredients together without even looking. “Who would deny that a simple gas range, controlled temperature oven, and modern refrigeration haven’t transformed the culinary arts? Factor in internet resources for recipes and unparalleled access to for rare and fine foods from around the world, and voila! We have lifted an ancient art to new levels.”
He presented a picture perfect mushroom and cheese omelet: puffy, golden brown, and laced with an intense reduction sauce featuring wine, onions and garlic. Bob, who would have truthfully testified mere minutes before that food was the furthest subject from his mind this morning, suddenly found his mouth watering. Canis could see his reaction and smiled.
“You see? Magic comes in all shapes and sizes. My own talent in the kitchen is one Gregor can never hope to match. Now then, a bit more of this excellent wine – a nicely robust pinot noir, by the way…I confess, a hearty red wine is my only weakness – and a quiet and well-deserved repast, and we shall be ready to face the day come what may.”
Bob knew the sorcerer meant well, but somehow the last part of that statement sounded a little more sinister than he assumed Canis meant it.
Callista and Kei were an odd looking pair as they searched the library and research facility. Kei’s normal clothes were much too large, with the result that her shirt hung on her like a blanket, and her pants were dragging the floor. She made a particularly laughable figure standing next to Callista, who possessed Amazonian stature even under normal circumstances. And yet, looking at their expressions, there was no question which of them evoked more trepidation, and one or two off-duty agents who started to come up to tease Kei about her height quickly retreated after catching one glimpse of her face.
After several interrogations, they finally found Yuri sniffling quietly in one of the private study rooms. Kei was instantly tense and angry, assuming the worst.
“Who did it to you?” she asked tersely. “What son of a bitch took advantage of you? I’ll castrate him and then kill him.”
Yuri looked up with wet eyes.
“What?”
“Did some bastard rape you? Is that it?”
“No.”
“What then?”
Yuri’s eyes overflowed, and she started sobbing.
“Darcy doesn’t like me!”
Kei stood flabbergasted, and then turned to Callista.
“
Yuri’s waterworks subsided slightly, dried by anger over the lack of sympathy.
“Oh, ha ha. Easy for you to say. You could always have any man you wanted.”
Kei smiled.
“Is this a trick question?”
“You know what I mean.”
“Yeah, OK.” Kei and Callista sank into adjoining chairs, relieved to have found their friend without mishap. “Anyway, if Darcy doesn’t like you, then Darcy is a fucking idiot.”
Yuri’s eyes widened, perhaps afraid he would overhear them.
“Oh, no! He really isn’t. He’s very smart. Really.”
“Ha.”
“So what happened?” Callista prompted.
Yuri started leaking again.
“He…he said … he said I'm vacuum-packed.”
Callista and Kei exchanged blank glances.
“He did, huh?”
More sniffles.
“Uh huh. And he said I was like broken statuary.”
Kei raised an eyebrow. “Unusual insults.”
This only triggered an answering wail. “The point is – he hates me!”
“Bullshit! Fitzwilliam told me…”
“Uh uh!” Yuri interrupted her. “You told me that yesterday, but I just saw him today. And he hates me.”
“What was the last thing he said to you?”
Yuri concentrated, trying to remember, but organizing her thoughts was like trying to mold molasses.
“Um…’good day,’ I think.”
“Whoa! That is cold.”
“You weren’t there!” Yuri said angrily, but her temper had once more driven away the tears. “He totally shot me down.” The tears threatened a comeback. “I…I thought he’d like me now that I'm so beautiful.” She looked at Kei tearfully for reassurance. “I am beautiful, aren’t I?”
“Hell yes,” Kei answered, feeling a warning tingle as her body confirmed the testimony.
“Then why doesn’t he like me?”
“Maybe it’s a good thing he didn’t,” Callista suggested thoughtfully.
“What?” Yuri asked in shock. Even Kei looked doubtful about the tactic’s comfort value.
“Yes. Don’t you see? He liked you before, right?”
“I don’t know,” Yuri mumbled.
“Yeah, he did,” Kei confirmed, guessing where Callista was going. “Absolutely.”
“Well, there you are. He liked you for you. He wasn’t looking for you to be blond, or to have big breasts, or …” she hesitated while searching for a way to put it delicately. “Or to be less intellectual. He was interested in you while you were being you.”
For the first time, real hope showed in Yuri’s expression. “You…you really think so?”
“Of course.”
The hope faded. “But…but what if I can’t change back? What if I stay like this?” Her lip started trembling again.
“Then he’ll like you again,” Kei jumped in. “He’ll just have to get used to having you super beautiful and drop-dead sexy.” She snorted. “Like any guy is going to have problems with that.”
“Really? You really think so?”
“No question. You could
have any man you wanted. Hell, you’re
driving the straight women crazy.
Even
Yuri looked decidedly pleased at the comment, and when she looked at Callista for confirmation, Callista blushed and nodded. Yuri giggled happily.
“That’s so cool!”
“You see? There’s no downside here. Hell, he probably didn’t even recognize you when you saw him. That’s why he hesitated. You can’t just expect him to see the new version of Yuri and jump into bed with her, can you?”
Yuri looked as though that was exactly what she wanted, but she reluctantly shook her head.
“I guess not.”
“Besides, partner. We’re beating these spells. You’re better off doing the dirty when you’re back to normal. You’d never keep your balance if you were riding him with these things.”
She poked at Yuri’s enormous breasts, though her hand seemed to linger a little longer than necessary to make her point.
“They are big,” Yuri sighed happily. She looked from one to the other. “Thanks, Kei.
Thanks,
Yuri jumped up to hug them both. Callista continued to reassure Yuri while they embraced, leaving Kei a chance to collect her thoughts. The agent sighed at the crisis averted, and then mumbled, “Junior high intervention completed. Time to bake the brownies and play truth or dare.”
Then it was Kei’s turn to be embraced, and the shrunken woman all but disappeared into Yuri’s vast cleavage. If her partner’s breasts were large in an absolute sense, they seemed truly gigantic to her reduced perspective – they were like huge pillows engulfing her head, and Yuri seemed to take extra delight in squeezing her as tightly as possible.
“You’re the best, Kei!”
“Mmmph!” Kei answered, struggling – but not too fiercely – against her erotic imprisonment. They felt warm, soft and wonderful.
Yuri seemed to be enjoying the sensation of her struggles too, as well as the feeling of Kei’s hands on her breasts as she pushed. Her eyes became less focused, and the murmurs of approbation regarding Kei’s friendship started to degenerate into less articulate and more sensual comments.
“Oh, Kei! Mmmm. Oh yeah, you’re the best.”
Kei felt a strong tingle move through her body, and instantly Yuri’s breasts grew even larger around her. Her struggles became less for show and more purposeful.
“Yuri.” She pushed harder, but Yuri was holding her so tightly, her feet actually lifted clear of the floor as she shrank, and she was left kicking helplessly as she dangled, still trapped in Yuri’s cleavage. “Yuri!”
“Mmm?” Yuri was lost in dreamy enjoyment.
Kei finally reached around and squeezed the strawberry-sized nipples which stood out so prominently on Yuri’s melon-sized breasts. Yuri made a surprised “Eep!” and finally let Kei escape their embrace.
Kei dropped to the floor and found herself gazing up and up and up. Even after she jumped to her feet, she discovered she was under chest height and needed to look past the twin mountains adorning Yuri’s chest to see her face.
“Yuri, what the fuck were you doing?”
“Um, nothing? I mean, I was just enjoying our hug.”
“Uh huh. Do you have any idea what that was doing to me?”
Yuri looked at how much her partner had shrunk from the encounter and giggled.
“I guess you liked it too, huh?”
Kei’s size reduction had already proved the accuracy of the assessment, but she had no intention of admitting it.
“Damn it, Yuri! This isn’t funny.” Her comically large clothes and ridiculous expression as she glared up at her gigantic partner argued otherwise, but Yuri conceded the point.
“But it felt nice.”
“No fuck! But that’s not the point: me - sex - smaller. Remember? Were you going to wait until I was small enough to hang like a necklace between your boobs?”
Yuri looked absolutely delighted and intrigued by the prospect.
“Oh, Kei! That would be so coo…”
“Forget I said it. Fuck! It’s not safe to be around you like this.” Her pants started to slip off her reduced hips and she grabbed at them. “Damn! And now I'm going to have to sit here and read until this wears off a little. I think I'm still shrinking.”
It was true. She was no more than 4 feet tall and still seemed to be losing height, looking more and more like a little girl in her mother’s clothes.
Well, except for the generous amount of cleavage that began to be exposed as her shirt sagged lower onto her chest. Yuri seemed to notice this, and the hungry light came back to her eyes.
“I’ll stay with you,” Yuri she volunteered happily.
“No!” Kei’s voice was comically high and thin from her
combination of lost size and apprehension.
“I’ll never get back to normal with you … well, like you are. OK,
“Aww,” Yuri pouted.
“Come on, Yuri.
“I do n…” Callista started to object, but saw Kei nodding knowingly towards Yuri, as though to imply she actually wanted Callista to do the protecting. “Oh. I guess we should stick together.”
“Exactly.” Kei actually thought they both needed protecting, but until she could get Yuri out of sight so she could stop shrinking, she didn’t feel quite “up” to the task. “Maybe you two could go hang out with Chira or something.”
“Chira?” Yuri said doubtfully. “That doesn’t sound like much fun.”
“You’re not looking for fun,” Kei said in exasperation, and then, when she saw Yuri’s expression added. “Really, you’re not.” She tried to think of other safe – and female, given Yuri’s uncontrollable impulses – havens, but she also felt her panties start to slide down after her pants and became desperate.
“How about shopping?” she suggested, figuring it was the best nonsexual appeal to Yuri’s new personality. She also added while looking meaningfully in Callista’s direction. “At women’s stores. Hmm, how about it, Yuri? Shopping. Clothes.”
As she had hoped, Yuri’s eyes lit up in a different light.
“Ooh. New clothes. Cool. Maybe I can get something sexy.”
Kei glanced cuttingly Yuri’s stretched tube top (decidedly inappropriate for her new Harvard-sized endowments) and short skirt, and the way her cartoonishly proportioned body threatened to overwhelm both.
“Yeah. Maybe.”
She gave a pleading look to Callista, who nodded understandingly. Relieved, Kei hopped up into one of the increasingly oversized chairs.
“We’ll meet up this afternoon. We’re still on for the gym,” she told Callista.
“What? Are you sure you want to work out with all this happening?”
“Hell yes! I need to
work off a little physical energy.
Shit! Make that a fucking boatload
of energy.” She narrowed her eyes in
mock menace. “You are going down,
Callista’s response was an unexpected leer.
“Promises, promises.”
Momentarily shocked, Kei merely nodded (and felt another distressing tingle) as they agreed on their meeting, and then the smirking, smoky-eyed Callista and giggling, jiggling Yuri went to leave.
“Hey, before you go, how about getting me something to read?” Kei asked, despairing that she could keep the images of the libidinous Callista or ultra-curvy Yuri out of her mind to allow recovery. She examined her oversized, baggy clothes and sighed. “Something really, really dry and boring.” A moment’s consideration and a grin of inspiration. “Just ask them for whatever Yuri was reading last week.”
Scarabus found Belisarius meditating in his chambers. The demon’s borrowed body seemed to be losing its battle against the unnatural energies its invader brought with it. The face was gaunt, with sunken cheeks, paper-thin skin marred by blotches and red lines, as though it had been burned, and sparse white hair which waved slightly as though stirred by heat or wind. The skin exposed at his hands and neck looked lined and broken, as though no longer able to contain the monster within.
As Scarabus entered, Belisarius opened his eyes, revealing dark sockets lit by fire, the eyes themselves seeming have collapsed into dim but still burning red coals within.
“You have control?” Scarabus asked.
The demon grimaced, thin but deep lines racing away from the cracking skin around the lips.
“No.”
Scarabus almost smiled. He had expected as much, and enjoyed watching the arrogant ifrit admit defeat. Fortunately, his plan didn’t require full control.
“But you are still in contact.”
“Of course.”
“Very well. Will you be able to blank her when the time comes?”
Another grimace, and a fresh set of red lines. Looking at them, it seemed there should be active bleeding, but there was only an angry, dark red, as though the blood had already congealed within him.
“Yes. I am learning. She is strong, but I gain strength from her with every contact.”
“As expected. The difficulty then?”
“There are … distractions. Voices… a voice…”
Scarabus nodded, assuming Belisarius meant the people around her.
“We are removing her friends now. She’ll be isolated.”
Belisarius, who hadn’t referred to the friends around her at all, simply nodded agreement. Scarabus looked at him darkly.
“All we need are a few minutes. Are you certain you can do it?”
“You insult me, sorcerer.”
“Not at all. I merely wish to be certain of our course. If you can’t, I have contingencies I will implement instead.”
Belisarius laughed. “Worry about your own agents, human.” He closed his hands and his eyes at the same time, as though mentally and figuratively closing a trap. “The ifrita is mine.”
Callista’s eyes slowly focused and the store around her came back into view. A voice was calling to her, but she could have sworn it was a different voice from the one that now filled her ears.
“So, what do you think?” Yuri asked Callista as she modeled a pair of platform sandals, micro denim shorts, and a baby T that left half her breasts uncovered. “Too much?”
Callista’s mind was still cloudy, and the half-remembered voice disappeared. She was sitting in the mirrored viewing area of the dressing rooms while Yuri shopped, and only now realized she must have slipped again into one of her trances (or daydreams, as she preferred to think of them). She cleared her throat.
“It, um, looks fine.”
“Really?” Yuri squealed happily, her jiggling breasts almost popping into view beneath the overmatched shirt. “I was afraid you’d think it was, like, you know, too much. Or too little. Or too, you know, whatever.”
Only now did Callista realize just how ridiculous the clothes looked. Yuri looked like she was getting dressed to make a porn video. She thought quickly, clearing her mind of the last shreds of fog that clung after her fugue-like episode.
“What I mean is, it looks fine…if you’re hoping to make poor Kei shrink away to nothing.”
Yuri giggled, once again picturing her friend caught between her breasts. “That would be … I mean, I guess it is a little much.” Her nipples showed clearly through the fabric, and she reached up to rub them slightly.
Callista thought, “No, it’s your body that’s a little much,” but just smiled in agreement.
“Do you think the silk top looked better?”
Callista was stunned. Silk top? She didn’t remember Yuri in a silk top.
“Or the green one?”
Green? Again her memory failed her. How long had she been daydreaming? Only now did she notice the pile of clothes on the nearby chair.
“Um, maybe I should see them again.”
Yuri nodded enthusiastically and promptly pulled off her shirt, exposing the largest breasts Callista had ever seen. They were past cantaloupes and approaching small watermelons, but stood out unnaturally high and proud on her chest. The nipples were bigger than thimbles and stood out sharply in the combination of recent stimulation and the cool air. Callista gaped for several seconds, feeling her own breasts seem to shrink at being so outclassed, but finally recovered from her shock at Yuri’s casual nudity (and an even more surprising arousal on her part). Yuri unbuttoned the shorts.
“Yuri, what are you doing?”
“Changing.”
The term had never been so literally true.
“Out here?”
Yuri giggled.
“You didn’t mind before. You even seemed to like it.”
She gave Callista a knowing smirk that quenched Callista’s unexpected lust. What had happened while she had been daydreaming before? Was she talking or acting in her sleep now?
Her alarm was heightened as Yuri slipped the shorts off, revealing virtually all of her super sexed body. Callista averted her eyes and stood up.
“I'm just going to, um, look for something for myself.”
“Cool,” Yuri called, now totally naked. “Then we can change clothes together.”
Callista ignored the suggestive suggestion (and again, the unexpected twinge of excitement) and pretended to look through a rack of skirts. She had just started to reconsider Yuri’s proposition in a more receptive light when she heard a voice behind her.
“Ah, Ms. Albeon. So good to see you again.”
Her stomach churning, she turned to see Javert smiling at her, his smile cold and predatory.
“Oh, Mr. Javert,” Callista nodded unhappily, then smirked as she thought to tease him. “Do you shop here too?”
His smile faded, and he made one slightly uncomfortable gaze round the stylish but ultra feminine fashions the boutique specialized in.
“No, of course not.”
She pretended surprise, enjoying his discomfort.
“Really? You looked like … oh, never mind. Just here to ogle then?
Callista didn’t know why she was baiting him like this – it was nothing like her usual respectful, retiring self. Not to mention the fact that he represented authority – indeed, a hostile authority that had opposed her admission to the Institute at all. However, it was this very fact that increased her irritation and aggression now. Indeed, her dislike of Javert was turning to anger, and the combination was dangerous. Callista was ever mindful of her instinctive powers and enhanced physical strength and worked to suppress both, but for the first time in years she was tempted to lash out, wondering how well Javert’s false, mirthless smile would hold up under that strength.
Javert was either unmindful or uncaring about her antipathy. He ignored the jibe and fixed her with that selfsame cold smile and the piercing eyes above them.
“Ahem, now then, Ms. Albeon. As to some of those questions I needed to ask you…”
Yuri pranced out of the changing room in a miniskirt and halter combo that left little to the imagination. She was curious to see the effect on Callista, but frowned to find her friend still missing. It had been at least 15 minutes, and she suddenly became mindful of Kei’s assignment to keep an eye on her. Suppressing alarm, she stepped out from the modeling area, and a look around the store finally revealed Callista deep in conversation with a man, who she recognized a moment later as Javert.
“Uh oh,” Yuri said softly to herself. Her voice remained the same, high singsong it had settled into with her new persona, but for a few seconds, a few strands of darker hair, almost black in contrast to her now platinum blond, appeared on her head. She actually looked down at her clothes (and how much of her body was visible) in slight embarrassment. Deciding she didn’t have time to change back into more modest attire, she strode towards the pair.
The nature of their conversation left as little to the imagination as Yuri’s clothes. Both were clearly angry, though Javert disguised his emotions better. Callista, on the other hand, looked as though she had stepped into a breeze, with her dark hair moving on its own accord, and a dull red appearing near the ends. If Javert realized the danger he was in, he didn’t show it, but Yuri recognized the threat at once and hurried to intervene.
“…for your own protection,” Javert was finishing.
“You’re arresting me,” Callista said angrily.
“No, not yet,” Javert let the thought slip out. “There are simply too many questions and uncertainties at present. However, a more thorough examination by the healers…”
“And saying you’ll use a mind probe spell!”
“Only the guilty fear the truth,” Javert shot back sharply, watching her reaction.
Yuri came up behind them.
“
Callista whirled, her eyes half red and beginning to glow. “Yuri! Thank God! Come on, we’re getting out of here.”
She reached out and grabbed Yuri’s hand in a grip that left no doubt as to her emotion-enhanced strength. Yuri actually found herself being dragged across the floor.
“
“Never mind,” Callista snapped, glaring back at Javert as though daring him to interfere. “We’re done.”
“But my clothes…” Yuri argued.
Callista paused long enough to finally notice just how little the agent was wearing. Her melon-sized breasts swayed freely in the light satin halter, threatening to spill out over the top, and her skirt barely covered her bottom.
“Shit!” Callista hissed. “Yuri, what were you thinking?”
Yuri blushed. To be honest, she couldn’t remember exactly why she thought the nearly indecent outfit was appropriate. Seeing Callista in trouble had driven the thoughts straight from her mind.
“I don’t know.” Her thoughts were clouding again, but somehow, that seemed to jog her memory. “I think I wanted to make you…to see if you would…”
“Forget it. We’ll just make do.” She glanced around. They were nearly at the exit, and so far neither Javert nor any of the shop personnel had moved to stop them. Callista paused long enough to toss one of her credit cards to a clerk, and then pulled Yuri outside.
Yuri noticed several men’s eyes immediately target her, and then saw those same eyes widen in a mixture of surprise, delight and ill-disguised lust. Her last fragments of clarity drifted away with those leers.
“This feels kind of funny,” she giggled. “Everyone’s staring. It makes me feel all squishy.”
“Um, yeah, I guess it would,” Callista said, now wondering about her impulsive decision to run out. On the other hand, she drew some satisfaction at the way the men quailed when she glared at them, and they recognized Yuri’s protector.
A morning breeze stirred Callista’s hair, simulating the unnatural movement inside the store. She shook it into place. Meanwhile, Yuri sighed.
“Ooh, that feels nice.”
“Yeah, I … I'm sorry, Yuri. I guess I kind of …” She paused. Yuri seemed to be enjoying the breeze a lot more than usual. Her nipples were tenting the halter fabric, and she seemed to be squirming her thighs. “Um, Yuri? Are you all right?”
“Oh, yessss,” Yuri moaned.
She turned slightly to let the breeze hit her square on. The ruffling of her skirt in the wind lifted it slightly, and Callista’s eyes widened in shock.
“Yuri!” she whispered urgently. “Where the hell are your panties?”
“Still…in…the…dressing…room,” Yuri answered in distraction. “This feels sooooo nice.”
Callista yanked Yuri’s skirt down as low as it would go and marched her back towards the store. She was relived to see that Javert had disappeared, apparently using a magical exit, though she worried where he had gone, and what her angry defiance would cost her. Maybe it would be to everyone’s benefit if she submitted to a mind probe.
And then, she heard an echo of Carol Anne Geist’s scream in her memory, and she dismissed the thought.
She needed to talk to someone. She was feeling less and less herself, and more and more isolated. She needed reassurance and support. But who?
Gregor was off alone somewhere. She felt a surge of anger at the thought, and a feeling of suspicion. Why was he avoiding her just when she had decided to…?
Well, she couldn’t do anything about that now. Kei was preoccupied with her own problems, and as she watched Yuri’s naked bottom bounce as she skipped back to the dressing room, she realized Yuri wasn’t really available either. She was afraid to talk to Danae about her problems (she made excuses as to why, but the real reason was fear about corruption – if she had been tainted, she had to make sure Danae wasn’t affected).
By the time Yuri came back, still dressed indecently but no longer illegally, Callista had made up her mind.
“Yuri, you still have your teleporter set for the last couple of days?”
Yuri nodded. “Uh huh. But I don’t think I can, you know, set it myself anymore.”
“That’s all right,” Callista said. “We can use the same coordinates from your last trips. We’re going back to see Lisa.”
Jessie walked into common room of the small suite of rooms she shared with her brother. She had been exercising and working out strenuously, as she always did in the early morning hours, but today it seemed she had been pushing herself especially hard, and she sat down heavily in a chair, soaked in perspiration, and obviously sore.
James was already in the kitchen, bustling happily about wearing a traditional chef’s hat on his head, sitting comically high and stiff (James himself used the term, cryptically saying he preferred them stiff), and whisking eggs in a bowl.
“Good morning,” he sang.
“What’s good about it?” Jessie demanded.
“The sun is shining, the birds are singing and the butterflies are, um, butterflying,” he answered cheerfully, humming a jaunty tune as if to accompany them.
Jessie looked dryly around the windowless kitchen of their interior room.
“James, you really live in your own little world, don’t you?”
“It’s a nice world,” James replied simply. “Most of the time.”
“Whatever.”
“I'm making myself a puffy baked apple pancake,” he continued. “It’s guaranteed to be scrumptdidelicious. Would you like one?”
James took great pride in his cooking abilities, and was certainly the only one of the twins who showed any interest in that area. He was used to looking after Jessie in the kitchen, just as she looked out for him…well, everywhere else.
“No.”
“Your usual omelet then?”
“No.”
“Come on, Jess. You have to eat something.”
“Why?”
James started to answer then paused uncertainly. “Because…umm…”
Jessie scowled while he worked on the problem, and meanwhile helped herself to the juice he had already poured for her. She wasn’t refusing his offers maliciously – she just hadn’t felt right all morning.
She had spent a very happy night celebrating, or so it had seemed at the time. Word of her fight with Kei had spread quickly, and many people either jealous of Kei or disposed to gain favor with the new queen of the martial arts had come up to congratulate her. Drinks and praise had been drunk in with equal enthusiasm, and Jessie assumed her morning funk was just a form of hangover.
Or was it? She felt out of sorts, as though she’d lost something. She hadn’t felt anything close to the usual energy or rush that accompanied her strenuous physical regimen, and it was for just that reason that she had pushed herself even harder, but instead of feeling invigorated and satisfied, she felt listless and frustrated.
And so she sat, drumming her fingers impatiently, while James stood at the counter, still trying to think of an answer. She considered interrupting him, since James could sometimes become lost in his internal logic loops for hours, like a frozen computer.
However, in this case, his face cleared abruptly on its own.
“To keep up your strength,” he declared happily. “Remember Kei. You don’t want to lose your advantage.”
“What do you mean by that?” Jessie asked, her voice sharp with both anger and suspicion.
James quailed under the unexpected irritation in her reply.
“Nothing. It’s just that you were so obsessed with beating Kei, that I thought now that you’d finally done it…”
“No, no, not that. What did you mean about my advantage?”
“Nothing,” James promised, eager to mollify his temperamental twin.
“Are you saying I had an advantage on her?”
“No, no. I mean, well, you were bigger and stronger than she was, but I wouldn’t call those advantages. No way.”
Jessie’s eyes narrowed dangerously.
“I beat her.”
“I know you did.”
“It was a fair fight. And she even started it.”
“Absolutely. Two eggs or three in your omelet?”
“Two. And don’t try to change the subject.”
“I would never do that,” James said indignantly. “Um, which subject?”
“About me beating Kei.”
“Oh, right. Don’t worry. Everyone knows you beat her. Remember all those cheers last night? Rah, rah!”
Actually, there hadn’t been many literal cheers beyond James’ own, when he had taken the opportunity of an attentive crowd to demonstrate some old moves from his high school “spirit squad” days.
Jessie nodded. “Damn right.”
She finished her juice and held out the glass, waiting for a refill that James automatically attended to. There were several minutes of silence while James cooked.
“So…” Jessie started and stopped.
“So,” James agreed carelessly.
“So, why do I feel so weird this morning? I thought this would feel a lot better.”
She didn’t really expect an answer, especially from James, but her twin apparently considered the question as more than rhetorical.
“Sometimes, getting what we want isn’t what we really want, especially when we didn’t get it,” James said after a moment’s consideration, setting down their breakfasts: a mushroom and cheese omelet with a familiar reduction sauce, and a crusty, puffed-high, oven-baked pancake for himself.
“What the hell does that mean?”
“It’s, like, well…” James looked around the table. “It’s like a puffy pancake with baked apples.” He took a forkful of his food and held it aloft. “Suppose you wanted cherries and all you had were apples? You eat, but you’re not happy. And you blame the pancake.”
Jessie simply stared at him uncomprehendingly.
“Are you saying I'm a pancake?”
“Exactly!” He clapped his hands in delight. “You do see.”
“James?”
“Yes?”
“You’re an idiot.”
“Yes, Jess.” He nodded obediently and went back to eating, hoping to avoid more physical rebukes.
Jessie grumbled, decided not to hit him, and started eating her omelet. After another few minutes, however, her eyes widened.
“Unless…”
James looked up uncertainly, wondering if the anticipated blow was about to fall.
“Unless you’re saying I'm not satisfied with the win because Kei was handicapped. You’re saying I only won because she was shrinking?”
James thought he recognized a trap being laid, and shook his head desperately.
“I would never say that!”
“But you’re thinking it.”
“I don’t think!” he bleated. “You know that.”
“You’re saying I'm not happy because I need to beat Kei at full strength. I can do it, you know.”
He nodded vigorously, threatening to dislodge his head. “I know you can!”
“And that’s why I don’t feel satisfied,” she continued, musing. “It was a victory, but not the victory. Damn! Of course! James, you’re absolutely right!” She slapped the table, rattling the plates, but already feeling better at understanding her letdown. She also felt a welcome and missed fire in her heart. Her vendetta against Kei burned afresh, rekindling her enthusiasm and energy. She set to her breakfast with vengeance, her appetite fully restored. “Revenge will be even sweeter the second time, right, James?”
“Oh, yes,” he answered without enthusiasm, quickly forgetting his short-lived joy at being called right. He had thought her obsession was finally over. “Sweet. Ha ha.” He seemed to have lost his enthusiasm for the meal. After a few minutes, he asked, “Jess, do you ever wonder if we should have stayed with the CSA?”
“Never,” Jessie snorted. “Look at everything we have now.”
James looked around with her, but his gaze seemed less impressed.
Jessie was really enjoying her omelet.
“James, you’ve outdone yourself. What’s in this sauce?”
“Oh, some wine, some garlic, you know.” He hesitated and then added. “I've been taking some lessons.”
Jessie laughed. “Lessons? Why would you study cooking when you can learn magic? Don’t be stupid, James.”
“Yes, Jess,” he nodded meekly.
She finished her omelet, stood, and came to stand behind him, stooping to growl softly into his ear.
“Baked apples and pancakes,” she repeated in exasperation, shaking her head. “James, do you know what?”
He steeled himself, hoping it was just another verbal rebuke in the making. “What?”
To his amazement, she kissed the top of his head. “You are not an idiot.”
Gregor had spent the entire night consulting with other sorcerers, but still moved with an energy and purpose which belied his lack of sleep. He had literally been searching around the world in his quest for a solution. Unfortunately, his uncharacteristically serious expression testified quite accurately to his lack of success in finding the right countermagics.
He had returned to the Institute to have new coordinates
programmed into the teleportal he had borrowed from
Kei. It had been irreplaceable in his
need to travel quickly and far to confer with his fellow mages. Although many of the greatest magical minds
in the world lived and studied at the Institute, many others preferred
solitude, or less “official” affiliations, and it was just these unconventional
types that Gregor thought most likely to help him. The only drawbacks were the device’s need for
constant recharging (which Gregor managed by draining his own body’s reserves)
and the necessity for programming destinations through the constantly nature of
the coordinates – which necessitated the constantly changing and updated astral
charts in the
Gregor allowed himself a few moments rest and closed his
eyes while a star-charter programmed in destinations of a forbidding mountain
in
He had barely composed himself before he heard an inquiring and apparently deferential cough.
“Ahem, Councilor Zauberersohn?”
Gregor opened his eyes. A second later, he closed them stubbornly, hoping the apparition would go away.
“I'm asleep.”
“Oh. Heh, heh. Yes, your … sense of humor. So refreshing.”
Javert made the weakest and driest of laughs and sat down next to him.
“Just a few words regarding the recent demonic attacks.”
Gregor’s eyes opened with sudden concern.
“Attacks? There’s been another desolation?”
“Ah, desolation. No. Thank goodness. There is still just the one tragedy. I refer as well to the curses which have afflicted two of our CSA agents.”
“Yuri and Kei?”
Javert grimaced slightly at Kei’s name. “Yes.”
Gregor closed his eyes, as if putting an end to the discussion and dismissing the theory at the same time. “Unrelated.”
“Ahem, yes. I disagree.”
Gregor couldn’t resist, and opened his eyes once more, this time with a hint of a smile.
“You say you’re disagreeable? Stout man. Difficult admission.”
Javert flushed slightly.
“Not disagreeable. No, I meant that I disagree with your conclusion about the attacks being unrelated.”
“Ah.” Gregor sounded unconcerned. Indeed, he picked up his old, weather-beaten hat (which was even the worse for wear after recently being caught in an Ecuadorian thunderstorm and a sandstorm in the Moroccan desert in rapid succession) and dropped it over his face to insure greater privacy.
“Councilor,” Javert’s voice rose. “I don’t think you realize the gravity of this situation. Do you not take these attacks seriously?”
The hat remained in place.
“Councilor?”
“I take the attacks very seriously.”
“Well then, I should think…”
“I just don’t take you seriously.”
Since Gregor couldn’t see him, Javert made no attempt to hide his antipathy. He had never liked Zauberersohn, and had barely believed the news when he heard the Council had accepted such a notoriously unreliable personage into its ranks. It only went to prove what Scarabus and the others said about the Institute’s problems. He was tempted to leave the sorcerer to what he expected would be an imminent and fatal destiny. However, at the moment, he still needed information. He grimaced and continued.
“I represent an important office, Councilor. You would do well to remember that.”
The hat remained unperturbed.
“Nonsense. Obsolete and dangerous. I think it’s time Council looked into its dissolution.”
Javert flushed pink. His voice showed a strain to maintain its practiced control.
“Obsolete? Dangerous?” he sputtered. “Our record is exemplary! Until this recent attack, there hadn’t been a desolation on Institute grounds in over …”
“Bah! You think that’s you’re doing? Hmmph! I suppose you’ll try to take credit for the low incidence of tiger attacks from bedroom closets next.”
Javert’s mouth dropped open briefly.
“Tiger…?” He shook his head. “We protect the Council and all the Institute.”
“You engage in witch hunts,” Gregor shot back, meaning the term in both figurative and literal senses. “No one expects the Spanish inquisition, eh?” He lifted his hat, and his usually jovial eyes were icy. “Well, I do. Put away your soft pillows and comfy chairs.”
“My … what?” Javert demanded, flustered.
Gregor looked past him and saw an aide approaching with his appropriated teleporter. He jumped up.
“Ah! So sorry to cut short our delightful conversation. You must stop by my office to continue it some time. I believe I'm away all next week – that should be perfect.”
Javert raced to intercept the teleporter, whether because he considered it contraband or simply wanted to stop Gregor from leaving, but in either case, Gregor was too quick and snatched it away.
“Councilor, wait! This is too important to dismiss. It concerns your own safety.”
Gregor was checking the first set of coordinates preparatory to leaving. He barely glanced up.
“What?”
Javert relaxed slightly, thinking he had him. Personal safety or advantage always outweighed any other considerations.
“Your safety, sir. You must realize what the facts imply. A vicious demonic attack within the grounds. The culprit undetectable, suggesting a recognized member of the Institute – an attack from within. An attack that could only be carried out by a demon.” He paused, assuming the conclusion was obvious, then added smugly for added effect. “Chaotic magic directed at her closest friends.”
Now it was Gregor who flushed. The coldness and annoyance in his manner were replaced by emotions much hotter, and his eyes flashed dangerously.
“Javert, I'm warning you…”
“No, sir, I'm warning you,” Javert interrupted with a sneer. “She is not only the most likely suspect, she is currently the only suspect with means and opportunity. Corruption is inevitable, as some of as have always maintained. We should not be surprised.” His voice hardened. “But that does not mean we should not act to protect ourselves and remove the danger. I intend to do that.”
When Gregor became very angry, the usual jauntiness to his speech - the verbal ricochets, clipped phrasing and random ideas - disappeared, and both his eyes and voice became very fixed and deliberate.
His words now were very, very deliberate.
“Javert, if you even go near her, you’ll answer to me.” Their eyes locked. “And I'm speaking now not as a member of the Council, but as a very angry, very powerful sorcerer.”
The aide who had brought Gregor the teleporter watched in silent trepidation while the two angry men stared each other down. Just as she considered signaling for guards and intervention, Gregor saw something flicker in Javert’s eyes, and the spell was broken.
Javert sensed it too, and seemed to swell indignantly, an apparently confident smile on his lips.
“You can’t intimidate me.”
For Gregor, the contest was over. His manner was once more relaxed and cool.
“No? Well then, best not to keep trying. So sorry to waste your time. Goodbye.”
Before he could activate the teleporter, Javert tried one more tactic. In his defense, it was motivated not only by the desire to forestall Gregor’s departure, but out of a genuine desire to protect him, just as his office demanded.
“You are the logical next target.”
Gregor sighed.
“Only if your hypothesis were right. It is not. Let me correct you on two points. The attacks are not directly related. And I am in no immediate danger.”
With that, he activated the teleport device and vanished to a dismissive pop of imploding air that seemed to mock the angry and frustrated inquisitor.
And Gregor had no way of knowing that he was wrong on both points.
Karen looked up as the blond woman entered her office. She was beautiful, young, and very expensively dressed, and, despite being a stranger to her, seemed to be looking at Karen with a familiar and satisfied, indeed almost predatory, smile. Karen returned her look quizzically.
“Hello. Can I help you?”
“What?” the woman asked. “Nothing more than a polite hello? Must be my vanity that I expected more of a reaction.”
Karen was puzzled. She was sure she’d never met this woman, yet there was something familiar about her voice. And the way she looked at her, especially her eyes. The irises danced with green, blue, brown, even hints of red. Almost…
“Oh my God,” she thought, standing in her shock and turning almost white in pallor. The woman laughed.
“Yes, exactly. That’s more of what I was looking for.”
“Kelly!”
“So nice to be remembered. I hope I didn’t confuse you too much with my little deception here. I am getting pretty good at disguise spells, if I say so myself.”
She drew her hand in front of her face and it transformed. Waves of rich, chestnut brown rolled through her short blond hair, transforming it and lengthening it until it hung past her shoulders. Her cheekbones, nose and lips reformed to their familiar lines. Only the sharp, kaleidoscope eyes remained unchanged in the transformed face.
“Of course, I had to get pretty good at disguise spells, what with being identified as a renegade. Thanks to you, Karen.” She briefly checked her reflection to confirm that her beauty was fully restored, her eyes using the mirror to find Karen’s. “I thought it might be more convenient not to be recognized, what with everyone knowing me here. I so wanted to see you alone. Please, sit down.”
Karen did so, and saw a cruel smile mar Kelly’s otherwise model-beautiful face at her apparent obedience. Kelly took the chair opposite her.
“Gosh, where to begin?” Kelly asked in a mock-cheerful voice, crossing her shapely legs delicately. “If I remember, you had turned me into a helpless baby and were about to hand me over to the Institute authorities for God knows what punishment.” Her eyes blazed. “That wasn’t very nice, Karen.”
Karen met her gaze levelly. “You’re the one who attacked us, Kelly. You got what you deserved.”
Kelly looked at her almost pityingly. “What I deserved? I like that. Who ‘deserves’ anything? And who would you be to judge me anyway?” She tossed her hair and sat back. “People deserve whatever they can take. That’s the law of nature. People try to subvert it because they’re weak. We’re going to change that.”
“We?”
Kelly hesitated, as though uncertain if she’d erred, then tried to change her smile into a warm one.
“It might be ‘we,’ yes. Depends on how smart you really are.” She paused, clearly unsure how best to proceed. “We got off to a bad start, didn’t we?”
Karen laughed sarcastically. “You shrank us, tortured us, threatened to turn us into bimbo sluts and feed us to your cat, and as a bonus, tried to take my husband from me. Yeah, I guess you could say that was a bad start.”
Kelly glared icily. “You had power – power that was handed to you. I wanted it. It isn’t fair that some stupid cun…” A pause and long breath. “Look, let’s not talk about that. I made a mistake. I …misjudged you. All of you. I realize that now. My mast… I mean, we think you have potential, and it’s particularly important that you listen to me with an open mind. Let’s go somewhere to relax and talk this out.”
Karen crossed her arms. “I’m not going anywhere with you, Kelly.”
A flare of anger. “Fuck this! I’m tired of mewling nicely for you. Let’s do this the fun way.” Her voice became hard. “Get up and come with me.”
She stood herself, then gaped in surprise as Karen simply sat and watched her.
“Get up, I said!”
“I heard you,” Karen replied. “I just don’t care.”
Kelly looked from Karen to her own chest. She lifted an ankh-like medallion on a chain and held it out.
“Stand up!” she ordered, as though willing the command through the medallion.
“No,” Karen answered, wondering why Kelly was so confused.
At that moment, Gina, walked in.
“Oh, excuse me, Ms. Rhodes. I didn’t know…” She trailed off as she recognized Kelly. “Ms. Donas! What are you doing here?”
“Gina,” Kelly smiled in recognition. “How’s my favorite little secretary? Still wiggling that cute ass of yours in those short skirts I see.”
Gina stiffened. She hadn’t missed Kelly’s attitude or demeaning comments at all since her abrupt resignation.
“Please, Ms. Donas. You know I don’t like…”
“Oh shut up,” Kelly snapped, rolling her eyes at the start of the same old complaints.
To Karen’s surprise, and even more to her own, Gina did just that. She looked at them in mute confusion as she found herself unable to speak.
Kelly recognized the reaction and smiled. This was more like it. She walked past the startled woman to close the door. The lock clicked.
“Gina, honey, why don’t you just stop teasing everyone and take that skirt off entirely. Karen, here, happens to swing both ways and should appreciate it.”
Gina’s confusion began to transform into fear as she obediently reached towards her short skirt. She made a quick unbuttoning and unzipping, then shimmied her hips to drop the skirt to the floor, stepping neatly out of it. She stood blushing in her pantyhose and heels, trying to pull her shirt down to better cover herself.
“Not bad,” Kelly admitted, looking her nearly bare legs over. “A little short overall and your ankles are too thick, but quite nice. Youth helps a lot, of course, so you might want to start cycling or stairs to tone them up a bit. Turn around, show us your butt.”
Gina was near tears and flushing crimson as she pirouetted, then leaned forward slightly to emphasize her behind.
“How are you doing this?” Karen finally demanded for them both as her shock subsided and Gina remained unhappily mute.
“The same way I thought I was controlling you,” Kelly explained, again touching her hidden medallion. “You must have some kind of protective ward around. But darling little Gina here doesn’t, do you Gina?”
Gina simply shook her head in confusion and looked at them in mute appeal, her eyes turning especially to Karen. She tried to pull her shirt down over her shapely bottom.
“Oh, don’t be so bashful,” Kelly chided her. “It’s just us girls here.” An inspiration. “But maybe that’s the problem. You’re straight too, aren’t you, Gina? Well no wonder you’re not getting into this! Karen, do you prefer your women bi or completely lesbian?”
Karen looked at her in confused astonishment.
“What?”
“It’s a simple question, Karen, dear. Do you prefer your women to be bisexual or lesbian?”
Karen spluttered, “I, uhhh…”
“Quick on the uptake as always,” Kelly laughed. “Let’s just wing this. OK, Gina, from now on, you’re intensely bisexual. By which I mean you actively lust after women as much as men - not that you’re just receptive to them. Got it? In fact, you sort of prefer women. You ever done another woman, Gina? You can answer now.”
Gina almost exploded with her breath. “No,” she blurted plaintively. “Please, don’t. How are you…?”
“That’s enough. Shut up again. Let’s just have you answer when spoken to for now, all right? So, tell us, feel any different?”
Gina, who was feeling only fear and embarrassment, shook her head.
“Really? Are you sure? Look at Karen again. Don’t you find her more attractive now?”
Gina did as she was bid, and her heart jumped. It was true. In addition to the normal friendly feelings she had for Karen, and the hope for aid she was feeling now, she now recognized a new element. It was as though she suddenly recognized Karen as a sexual being, and an attractive one at that. She saw Karen’s full breasts and shapely calves in an entirely different light, like looking at her for the first time. If possible, her blush deepened even more.
“I …um,” she stammered.
“Ah, I see that you do. Feel a little funny about suddenly fancying other women?” Kelly paused as she felt a warm tingle move through her medallion. “Apparently yes. Good. That’s what they want. Now, you still seem a little shy about showing off for us here. Am I right?” Gina only nodded as she tried to simultaneously hold her hands over her crotch and pull her shirt lower. Lesbian or not, she still felt terrible about being exposed and manipulated this way. “Hmm. Well, that’s no good. What else could be wrong? Oh, I know.” A snap of her fingers. “Those darned morals and things. We’d better take care of those to make you more comfortable here.”
Karen stood up and advanced menacingly. “That’s enough, Kelly. Stop this right now.”
“Or what, Karen? You’ll hex me again? Without any of your precious medallions? I don’t think you have that kind of control yet, do you?”
Karen paused. Her only inherent power so far was age manipulation, and that was sporadic. She tried to picture Kelly getting younger, but couldn’t concentrate through her agitation.
“I thought so,” Kelly said approvingly. “You still need the matrices set up for you. Like me, admittedly, but I’m learning so much faster than you, Karen. And I have access to so much more power in the meantime. I almost pity you.” She touched a ring on her right hand.
Karen advanced for a purely physical intimidation, then paused. When had Kelly gotten so tall? She looked like she was at least six feet in height, and had a significant size advantage that made a physical assault seem less appealing. Kelly smiled triumphantly.
“He was right. Aren’t residuals a bitch?”
Karen looked up without comprehension at her taller foe. “What are you talking about?”
“Let me show you. How tall are you? Five-three?”
Karen was indignant. “No. I’m…”
“Of course. Five foot even.”
This time, Karen felt it. The slight tingle and shift in perspective that announced she was shrinking. She saw Kelly get even taller, smiling exultantly, then looked down at her now slightly baggy clothes, with the sleeves half over her hands and her skirt past her knees. She unconsciously turned her hand to make sure her warding ring was on. Kelly immediately locked her own gaze there.
“Is that where you keep it? Good to know. Don’t worry, it should resize itself to stay with you, even though the rest of your clothes won’t. Or will they?”
Kelly concentrated and watched Karen dwindle another few inches, then laughed as she grabbed at her slipping skirt.
“No, I guess they won’t. God, this is fun. When you seemed immune to my mind control, I’ll admit I was worried.”
“How…?” Karen asked in bewilderment. Gregor’s warding magic was supposed to protect them from just such unexpected attacks.
“You are such a baby, Karen.” Her eyes flashed spitefully. “Which is just how I should leave you. Like you tried to do to me.” She turned just enough to see Gina, now thoroughly panicked, trying to sneak out, reaching for the door. Kelly gestured. Gina turned the handle quietly, then went pale when it didn’t work, finally rattling it desperately. “Sorry, Gina. I’m not ready for you to leave yet. Why don’t you masturbate for us while we talk? Show us just what a slut you are.”
Gina started to cry as one hand moved inside the band of her pantyhose, underneath her panties, and towards her crotch. She began to slowly caress her pubes and labia, forced to try to arouse herself despite her humiliation. Her other hand began to touch her breasts through her shirt.
“Now then,” Kelly continued, settling back into a chair and indicating that Karen should do so as well. Karen felt the unsettling feeling of her feet leaving the floor when she did so, and winced at how loose her shoes were. “You’re wondering how I can still shrink you through your wards. I’m not sure I should tell you. It’s much more fun to watch you squirm.” A long pause while she stared expectantly. “I mean that literally, Karen. And since I can take it out on either or both of you if you don’t obey, let me repeat myself. Squirm.”
Karen hesitated only a moment, allowing herself a glance at Gina’s miserable expression, before obliging. She moved back and forth in her seat, feeling her loose skirt and underwear shift uncomfortably.
Kelly smiled. “That’s better. Those baggy panties getting in a bunch yet? No? well, let’s wait a few more minutes, shall we? In the meantime, let me explain something to you. You’ve been exposed to size magic repeatedly. This leaves you particularly susceptible to new spells of the same kind. Even worse, you’ve been exposed to chaotic size magic. Oh, don’t bother to deny it,” she hurried when Karen started to object. “I know all about your - or should I say Bob’s? – particular problem. That’s part of why I’m here.” She paused, as Gina’s sniffling became louder. “Oh, for Christ’s sake! Are you still whimpering? Honestly! I was just trying to be nice and let you do something you could maybe enjoy while Karen and I talked, and you’re getting all weepy. Listen, everyone here knows what a complete and total slut you are. Understand? You’re a slut. A bimbo. A skank. You have no morals, and no modesty as far as getting yourself off. Now, stop pretending you’re such a nice girl and get busy.”
Gina’s face relaxed as her new persona was written. God, it felt good to finally let herself go. Who cared how or why Kelly was controlling them? At last, her true character had been revealed and she could stop pretending. Even better, she had a chance to get herself off (she hadn’t masturbated at work at all that day!), and maybe even excite Karen so they could have a little more satisfying episode once Kelly was gone.
She now looked at Karen in open lust as she pulled her panties and pantyhose down to reveal her rapidly moistening sex. Not caring about her stupid shirt, she tore it off, losing a few buttons, and then pulled her bra down to expose her boobs. She was pleased to see that Karen was suitably impressed by her firm, pert breasts, since she stared at them with a look of delight. Or shock. Gina didn’t care which at the moment as she started to wantonly slide her finger along her slit, reveling in her own touch. At last, she was really getting wet (she couldn’t understand why she had been taking so long to warm up), and her clit started to really respond to and enjoy her attention. She looked at Karen invitingly and began to masturbate in earnest.
“That’s better,” Kelly said. “Remember, Gina, you’re desperately attracted to Karen. You’re crazy in lust with her. You’re trying your best to seduce her, and would do anything – anything – to have slurpy lesbian sex with her.”
Gina began sucking her fingers, showing Karen how much she savored the taste of pussy and emphasizing how wet and ready she was. She lifted her breasts, teasing the nipples and pointing them straight at Karen.
“Stop it!” Karen shouted at Kelly. “Let her go!”
“Gina,” Kelly prompted, loving every minute of the secretary’s humiliating show and Karen’s horrified reaction. “Karen doesn’t seem to be getting into this. Maybe you should try something else. Grovel a little. Maybe she likes being the bitchy boss.”
Gina took the hint and dropped to her hands and knees, beginning to crawl towards Karen while her panties and hose bunched up around her ankles.
“Oh, please Ms. Rhodes! I’ve been so bad. I’ll do anything – anything – if you’ll just let me touch you.” She started to reach submissively for Karen’s shoe.
“Gina! Stand up!” Karen ordered, trying to do what she could to ease Gina’s nightmare.
Gina did so, obviously desperate to obey her potential mistress’ commands but also desperately disappointed.
“Oh,” Kelly complained, sounding disappointed. “It still looks like she doesn’t want to play, Gina. But, you know what? Look how small she’s getting. Pretty soon she’ll be helpless, and you can do whatever you want with her. Isn’t that exciting?” A pause. “Let me rephrase that: seeing Karen shrink is very exciting to you. It’s driving your lust to new heights.”
Gina looked at Karen’s baggy clothes and moaned, openly finger-fucking herself.
Kelly felt a surge of inspiration.
“Of course! You know what, Gina? I think this is a classic case of the alpha female making other women feel smaller. It turns out Karen is the one who likes to be dominated. And you’re the natural dominatrix. You love the power. Just being around a powerful, sexual woman like you is making her seem smaller and smaller, isn’t that exciting?”
Gina’s moan and increased pace of masturbation proved that it was. She drank in the sight of Karen seeming to melt into the puddle of her clothes. Her feet were well clear of the floor, and beginning to point straight out as the chair expanded around her.
“Gina, fight this!” Karen called, wishing her voice sounded less high-pitched and childlike.
Unfortunately, at this point, Gina saw the way Karen’s oversized shoes were dangling precariously off her tiny feet.
“Oh, God! Ms. Rhodes, you’re so …you’re soooooo …..ooohhhhh!” She shuddered as she reached climax.
“Ms. Rhodes?” Kelly gasped. “That’s no way to talk to such a small woman, Gina, especially one who you want as a lover. She’s Karen or Carrie or maybe Cumslut to you from now on. Let’s try that again. Tell, Karen what you think of her shrinking.”
Gina looked at her with undisguised lust.
“Oh, Karen, seeing you shrink is making my pussy so hot and wet. I'm just coming and coming over and over. Mmmmmm. You’re so fucking small and hot. Please, please…I've wanted you for so long…”
Kelly shook her head.
“Gina, Gina, you have to stop this begging. Remember – you’re the powerful one here. Karen’s shrinking away just by being near you. Soon, she’ll be totally helpless before you.”
Gina’s eyes lit up, and she looked at Karen with a smoldering, triumphant desire and anticipated mastery.
“And she’s going to keep shrinking until you tell her to stop,” Kelly added with sudden inspiration, invoking the ring again. “That way, she can be as small as you like. And your desire to dominate her is just going to get stronger and stronger. In fact, as soon as she’s under three feet tall, you’re going to turn into a complete, dominating sexual bitch. An uber- bitch. You’ll love to shrink her, make her suffer, have her completely under your control. Your own little sex toy.”
Gina squeaked, and seemed to have just climaxed from the thought alone. She began to pump herself wantonly while looking at Karen hungrily.
“Stop this!” Karen cried. “OK, OK, I’ll do what you want. If you let her go.”
“Spoilsport,” Kelly pouted. She touched her medallion lovingly, feeling the residual surge of pleasure from her domination. “This thing was just beginning to really kick in.” A sigh. “Well, maybe later. Very well. Gina, relax. Your horniness just subsided, and you’re feeling normal. Get dressed. When you leave this office, you will forget about me being here and everything you saw, and just think you picked up some papers for Karen. Then you can go back to work.” Another pause, and a cruel smile. “Oh, but as soon as you leave, you’ll need to go to the restroom and play with yourself yet again. Don’t bother trying to be quiet or disguise what you’re doing if anyone comes in. Masturbate until you come to a very loud, long orgasm – give a nice, long scream, will you? – and every afternoon from now on, instead of getting coffee, you’ll do the exact same, understand?”
Gina nodded while putting what was left of her clothes back together, and Kelly laughed again. “Fine. Now, get out of here.”
Gina buttoned the two buttons left on her shirt, leaving most of her chest and bra exposed, pulled her wrinkled skirt over her torn pantyhose, opened the magically-released door, and walked out. The instant she stepped outside, she froze. What had she been doing? Her mind must have been wandering, and she couldn’t quite piece together the last 10 minutes or so. Something about papers for Carrie…Karen … Ms. Rhodes.
The instant she thought of Karen, she moaned, feeling an overpowering desire move through her. If Ms. Rhodes (or “Cumslut” in Gina’s deepest fantasies) ever figured out how desperately Gina wanted her, it would be sure to get her fired. That was the problem with lusting after the boss, and it was that much more awkward when the boss was another woman. Not that Gina minded – she was happily bisexual, and actually tended to prefer women, but she was sure the staid and conservative Ms. Rhodes would be shocked at her secret longing.
She moaned again, letting her shirt fall open, not yet noticing the missing buttons, and covertly touched herself just a little. Even picturing Karen (her shoes falling off for some reason) in her mind was exciting her beyond control, and she was abruptly overcome with irresistible need. She was surprised but further aroused to discover that she was already soaking wet (she must have been excited longer than she thought), and putting any residual thoughts about papers aside, she hurried to the bathroom to bring herself off.
Karen, meanwhile, was listening to Kelly’s proposals with utter disbelief.
“You’re crazy,” Karen finally said. “Fucking, certifiably insane.”
Kelly colored, her eyes blazing.
“Excuse me?” she asked haughtily.
“I mean, how many ways are you fucked up?” Karen demanded. “Let’s see. Betray Bob and Lisa. Work against the Institute. Sacrifice my own life and free will to serve some nameless ‘master’.” She stopped to catch her breath. “Does that about sum it up?”
Kelly was still staring at her with contempt.
“You just don’t see it, do you? This whole pathetic little world of yours is about to get blown away. We’re offering you a chance to get in early on the winning side. And maybe more importantly for you, a chance to save that sick, little triangle of yours. We can cure Bob. You and Lisa can keep playing with him all you want. Isn’t that what you want?” When Karen continued to just stare in scorn, she exploded. “Fuck this! I don’t know why I even bothered coming here!”
“Why did you?” Karen asked, agreeing with the absurdity. “I can’t believe you want me with you in any way whatsoever.”
Kelly fumed silently for a few more seconds, then forced a bitter smile. “You got that right.” She stood up. “I’m glad you’re still such a clueless bitch.” She came close to tower over the diminutive Karen. “And when the time comes to finally, permanently take you down, it’s going to be me doing it.” With one last sneer, she turned and walked to the other side of the desk. “But, since I’m not allowed to do that yet, I’ll leave, and let you think about things for a while. Give you one last chance to change your mind, maybe, though at this point I'm hoping you don’t.”
Kelly knew she was risking Scarabus’ wrath by venting her feelings, but she decided that coercion and fear were her best weapons now. After all, he didn’t say they had to recruit her willingly. And once she joined them, her own will was immaterial.
“I’d love to stay and watch you try to explain your size to people, but I have better things to do.” An evil glint to her eye. Perhaps the key wasn’t to torture Karen, but those closest to her. She remembered how Karen had quickly acquiesced to her demands when she had threatened Gina. How much more effectively could she coerce her with someone even closer to her. “Like visit Lisa. She’s just as susceptible to size magic as you are, and we never really got a chance to sort things out between us. I think it’s time I caught up with her again. And then the three of us can have a nice, long talk.” She started towards the door but paused. “Oh, and in case you thought you’d be calling for help.” She gestured around the room, and Karen could sense the magic charge the air. “Think again.”
She made as though to leave again, but stopped once more, looking down as though to examine her perfect, slender legs and expensive skirt and heels, then back towards Karen.
“Oops, almost forgot. Let’s see, who should show up unexpectedly to see Lisa? Of course!”
Once more she passed her hands across her face, and Karen gasped to see her own features replace Kelly’s. Her hair quickly changed to mimic Karen’s auburn shade, even adjusting to its length. This time, her eyes changed color too, and within seconds, the illusion was as complete as looking in a mirror. Karen simply stared at the bizarre and unsettling sight of her head on Kelly’s body.
Next, Kelly passed her hands across her lower body, and the transformation proceeded. She shrank slightly to Karen’s normal height, but her clothes actually tightened as her breasts swelled, her belly rounded out to give her a new, soft tummy, and a noticeable layer of fat cloaked the rest of her body. Those exclusive, high-concept, designer fashions didn’t look quite as breathtaking on a woman of Karen’s voluptuous proportions.
“What do you think? Isn’t it about time Lisa found out what I … I mean you, really think about her?” Even Kelly’s voice had changed to match Karen’s as she held her hands up as though waiting for applause.
“Don’t worry. I'm not going to hurt her physically. Yet. There will be time for that after our reunion. I think it may help ‘convince’ you to see things my way.” She made another step to leave, but was hampered by her too tight clothes. She snapped a finger. “But wait – these clothes are all wrong. You couldn’t even recognize these designer originals, let alone wear them. Let’s see – how did we define dowdy today?”
She examined Karen’s sagging clothes, nodded, and then moved her hands one more time across her front, now changing her outfit to match Karen’s. When she’d finished, she looked with obvious distaste at her generic suit and shuddered.
“My God. Are these Lane Bryant? You deserve whatever torture I eventually dream up for you just for making me wear these clothes.” She tugged at them, as if that could make them more presentable, and then patted her borrowed and ample behind in distaste. “And, Karen? Lay off the donuts, honey.”
And with that, Kelly walked out of Karen’s office, slamming the door behind her. Karen barely heard her voice – Karen’s voice – insult the office vice president before it faded away completely.
Instantly, she grabbed her desk phone and pressed Lisa’s number. Unfortunately, as she brought the receiver to her ear, she heard exactly nothing: no ringing, no dialing, not even a dial tone. Dropping the useless device, she opened her purse and found her cell phone. Even as she pressed the number there though, she knew what to expect. Nothing again. And now she noticed that her computer was flashing a notification that she’d lost her connection to the internet. This should have been impossible, since the company’s T1 line was always on, but she knew interrupting electronic signals was simple magic.
And Kelly had already shown that she was way beyond simple now.
Cursing silently, Karen stood up, preparing to leave and try to find a working phone. Unfortunately, she had to reconsider her plan when her baggy skirt immediately dropped around her feet. Looking down, she realized she was under 4 feet in height – a young child’s size, and far too small to be seen without an uproar and endless - and very undesirable - questions. They’d never let her use a phone until she explained what had happened.
Reeling, she went to sit in her chair and found it too tall, making her jump up to get back in and leaving her shoes behind. She sat looking at her baggy pantyhose sagging over her otherwise bare feet and let her mind race.
She had to get out, but couldn't risk being seen. A disguise? Perhaps she could rig her clothes and pass as a young girl. That didn’t seem likely. Just run out? She couldn’t leave openly – not until the office was empty. She might be able to sneak out for a quick phone, if she could just find out when one of the neighboring offices was empty. That seemed like the best plan, offering the fastest action and least chance of being discovered.
In the meantime, she was trapped in her own office, and even that wasn’t safe, since anyone walking in would find her like this. She’d have to hide, and then…
Her thoughts couldn’t proceed any further, since at that moment, a knock sounded on her door, and the knob began to turn.
Copyright 2005 by Nomdreserv