"Wait, you? You can…turn people into…statues?" Caz asked Lonnie, her voice wavering. Nervous about ruining everything, Lonnie chewed the inside of his lip. How had the subject even come up? he fretted fleetingly. His heart racing, he took a couple of deep breaths to try to calm himself. He considered trying to lie, to walk it all back and deny everything. But after such a long hesitation, he knew that any denial would ring hollow and false. Nowhere to go but onward.

"I…yeah. Yeah, I can", Lonnie stammered hastily.

"Oh, wow. Wow." Caz caught her own breath. From the chair next to Lonnie's, she reached a hesitant hand towards his arm, then nervously pulled it back. The conversation had started when one of their mutual friends came back from a stage magic show, raving about the performance, which included turning an audience volunteer into a golden statue and then turning her back. Caz, of course, immediately began trying to decipher the smoke and mirrors that made the illusion possible. Lonnie had insisted that there was no trickery, that the performer was probably using "real magic". Caz laughed at what she assumed was a joke; Lonnie felt wounded and shut down. In the apologetic talk on the walk home, Lonnie had mentioned an aunt that knew something about magic and, although he didn't mean to, let slip that she had taught him how to do it.

"So, um. That's my secret." Lonnie didn't want to stare at his crush, but couldn't look away. First, he found her stunningly pretty. Caz's face was shy but curious with glasses and hair pulled back; her body slender and active. She wore a girls' fitted T-shirt, capri jeans, and mule sneakers. Second, he was desperately curious to know how she would react to this revelation. Would Caz be disgusted? Angry that he hadn't told her sooner? Or, more likely, simply afraid?

But she wasn't. She seemed completely lost in thought. After a maddeningly long pause--probably only a dozen seconds--she continued asking questions. "Have you ever done it to someone? How many times?"

"Only under supervision. My aunt is a member of a sort of magical club. A few times I went and they let me practice." That was mostly true. He hadn't yet mastered the version of the spell that left the subject unaware, so he hadn't transformed anyone who was unaware of magic.

"Do you have to turn them back? What does it feel like?" Caz continued.

"Yes, I have to turn them back!" Lonnie exclaimed defensively. "I'm not a monster! Well, the magic doesn't wear off by itself. But this weird effect happens where the enchantment weakens over time, and the universe also doesn't 'like' magical effects to stay in place; so the longer someone stays transformed, you get these weird strings of coincidences where eventually they get turned back. And…it feels good. Really good. Not sexy, but like a hot bath, both inside and out of your body."

"Wow. That sounds…good. I want to learn about that. You need to show me sometime, and I think I want to meet your aunt." Lonnie nodded enthusiastically but silently. "Have you ever wanted to…transform someone you knew? Someone not in the club?"

Lonnie's mind tripped on the truthful answer again, and he fell into awkward silence. Because of course the answer was "yes"; there were perhaps none of his female friends that he hadn't daydreamed about transforming in an everyday moment, about admiring their helpless and immobile forms. Caz wasn't looking for that honest of an answer! He fidgeted with his hands and face, took meaningful and thoughtful breaths while he looked at her and then looked nervously away. Finally he spoke. "Yeah. I guess I have. I've always thought it would be fun to make a statue"--he looked straight at Caz--"out of someone very pretty."

He coughed, embarrassed, and looked away, but Caz was too busy blushing to notice. She reached her hand out for his arm, grasped it this time. His heart leapt at her touch. "You think I'm pretty." It wasn't a question, it was a relieved statement. He nodded, first at the ground, then meeting her eyes. She smiled at him. "Well, I'm very flattered, and…I think I'd like to try that?"

"Um, that sounds…amazing. Do you want to do it…right now?"

"Yes, I think I do!" Caz smiled up at him, grasping his hand in both of hers. On any other day just having his crush hold his hand like this would have been the most exciting moment by far. Right now, amazingly, it was only a close second.

"Fantastic. Your apartment is close by--is your roommate home?"

"No, she's out with her boyfriend at a baseball game this evening."

"OK, let's go!" Caz's apartment was only ten minutes' walk away. His veins full of adrenaline, Lonnie probably could have sprinted the half mile in a third of that time; but he didn't want to betray the depths of his excitement, and Caz's backless shoes didn't allow much for running anyway. He tried to think of innocuous topics for chat, but everything seemed hollow or the thoughts drifted away. Finally, when they were almost there, Caz saved him with more questions. "So…what kinds of things…can you turn me into?"

"Most solid materials. Stone or metal are the easiest, but also plastic, ceramic, glass, even cardboard. Some people are able to change your size, like to make you a figurine or something, but I'm not good at that yet. Also, I'll need to change each article of your clothes separately if you want me to change them. The magic works with the way your brain handles 'objects', or something."

"Do I need to…do anything? To let you change me?"

"No", Lonnie shook his head. They were almost of the door of her apartment building.

"So you could have transformed me at any time?" Caz asked timidly.

Lonnie blushed and nodded. "I wouldn't", he said emphatically. "I might have wanted to, but I know you'd hate me. Anyone would hate me."

Caz paused, reflecting. "Yeah, I guess so." She paused again. "Maybe not if it was as nice as you say it feels, and you turned me right back." She laughed nervously. "But I guess you're good for right now. Here we are." She unlocked the front door and led Lonnie up a flight of stairs to her apartment.

The apartment was medium-sized and clearly shared by a pair of girls; womens' shoes and jackets were arrayed in the entry, with artistic and crafty hangings on the walls. The living room was sparsely furnished but decorated with numerous, tasteful tchochkes and other treasures. Caz backed her feet out of her shoes and walked barefoot into the living room; Brian looked around nervously, taking his own shoes off and trying not to stare. "So, what are you going to turn me into?"

"A basic marble statue is the usual choice", Lonnie replied. "I hadn't given it as much thought as I guess I should have."

"What about a table, could you turn me into a table? We've been meaning to buy one for over there." She pointed at a bare patch of floor by the couch where a coffee table might go.

"...Yes, that sounds great", Lonnie agreed quickly. "And for a table, a brass figure is classic."

"I'm trusting you", Caz said, her voice full of feigned reproach as she padded to the front of the couch, "not to keep me for too long, or do anything…untoward with me."

"Cross my heart", Lonnie said with utter sincerity. "I can't magic up a glass surface, so we'll do that next time, OK?" He managed to make himself say 'next time' as if he really believed it.

Caz lay down in front of the couch on her back, putting her hands and feet up in the air. "Caz, that looks adorable...but maybe a little sillier than you want? Why don't you try on your stomach?" She flipped over agreeably and arched her back, with her head and crossed-at-the-ankles feet in the air. "Perfect. Now hold on for just a moment..."

Lonnie paused, but for only a moment. He summoned his nervous energy and released the power he had wanted to for so long, and in the blink of an eye Caz was transformed into a brass statue in front of him. Her brass arms supported her torso; her brass head and feet, matching each other in height, indicated where the surface of a table might go. As usual with these transformations, she hadn't had time to react at all before the transformation took hold. Caz's glasses, hairband, and clothes remained unchanged on her brass body.

"Wow..." Lonnie said to himself, faintly under his breath. Both to have his crush accept his affection and let herself be turned into a display like this--he could scarcely believe he wasn't dreaming. From his own experience, he knew that as a statue, Caz was indeed feeling mild euphoria in her transformed state; but she was unaware of her surroundings and mostly unaware of the passage of time. He walked over to her and stroked the exposed, metallic brown parts of her body: brass cheek, her arms, her hair, the soles of her feet. He considered, in a brief moment of lust, trying to pull back her clothes; but discarded the idea as not only dishonorable, but impractical and likely to let Caz notice. Instead, he pulled out his phone and took what seemed like a hundred pictures. Not that I'm going to forget this anytime soon, he thought to himself as he sat on the couch to admire the view.

After fifteen minutes that seemed like two, Lonnie sighed: he'd have to turn Caz back now. Eventually her roommate would return, and no doubt she wouldn't be thrilled about staying transformed for too many hours. Again an intrusive lustful thought: why not keep her and transform the roommate too? But even a moment's reflection revealed that path to go nowhere good. No, he'd have to trust that Caz would let him transform her again, and soon. Maybe even without that shirt on...

Lonnie took a long breath, a last look, and released the power that would change Caz back. She gasped, tilted her head back, and smiled...