The Button, Chapter 4 - Experimentation
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It took some weeks of coaxing - and a lockable lucite box - before Yana was
comfortable enough with the magic button to even be in the same room with it.
Darryl wasn't willing to give up on it, despite Yana's fears - he hoped that
in time she would overcome them, and see that it was not a particularly
dangerous magical tool.

Darryl's curiosity had been piqued by the simple-looking blue button,
especially after what it had done to him.  His Aunt Bea, however, was not
forthcoming with answers to his questions about how it worked, or what it
could do.  "Most people," she had said, "prefer to leave it quite alone.
But then again, you always were the odd one out, weren't you dearie?"

Darryl could hardly disagree.  Of all his family, he was the only one that
truly loved reading - growing up he spent more time with his nose in a book
than anywhere else.  Fantasy and Science Fiction had been his favourites.
Following his dreams hadn't led far, though - he had a modest job as an
editor's assistant in a second-rate publishing company.  It might not pay
so much, but it did give him plenty to read... even if it did follow
Sturgeon's Law as to quality.

Yana had brought a burst of excitement and colour into Darryl's life.
At her urging, he'd tried out dozens of new things, no few of them in
the bedroom...  And she was right, too - he'd spent too much of his time
with a nose in a book, and not looked up to see what he could do to change
his own life.  With sharper clothes and better grooming, he did actually
feel better about himself.  Of course, reciprocated love may have had
something to do with that feeling, too.

Now, he wanted to return the favour.  They were not well enough off for
Yana to have all the pretty things he knew she wanted - she loved to
window-shop at some of the most expensive stores in town.  However, with
the button, she could wear a new dress every night - if only she could
see it.  All he wanted was to do something nice for her, or so he thought.

What finally tilted the balance was the fashion magazines.  Darryl made sure
to buy at least one each time he bought groceries.  Yana couldn't keep her
hands off them, and every now and again, he'd note that she'd look wonderful
in this or that outfit.  "But we can't afford it," she'd reply.

"There is another option..."

Over time the "No!" became softer.  Eventually it turned into, "you're not
going to give up on this, are you?"

"Nope."

"Why not?"

Darryl shrugged.  By now he knew better than to say that he thought she was
being irrational - the response to that line of argument had gotten quite
heated.  He'd even slept on the couch one night as a result.  "Because I want
to do nice things for you - I can't buy you one of those dresses.  But I can
make you one, with the button."

Yana's eyes went wide.  "Make *me* into one?  Not on your life!"

Darryl backpedaled, claiming a slip of the tongue, but it was too late.  
It took another week (and flowers) to persuade her.

* * *

"Tell me again why I need to be here?" Yana asked, tiredly.

"Safety."

"That's not helping my confidence any."

Darryl sighed, shaking his head.  "My safety.  What if I slip and get turned
into a dress, again?  I need you to be here, to rescue me should it come to
that."

Yana nodded slowly.  "I suppose."  She took one tentative step into the room,
and stood there, waiting.  "Now what?"

"Well...  I'd like to find out what the button's capabilities are.  I have
some experiments in mind."

"Do they involve me?" asked Yana, defensively.

"No.  Well, unless you count wearing a button-produced dress.  After all,
that is the point."

Yana smiled a bit, but stayed near the door.  "I guess I'd be willing to do
that much in the name of science.  So what's the first experiment, Mr. Merlin?"

"Merlin, is it?" Darryl chuckled.  "I suppose this isn't exactly science,
though I'd like to approach it that way - experimentally.  First up... we
know the button can turn a person into a dress, but can it do the reverse?"

"Turn a dress into a person?  Into who?"

"I was planning to make it a copy of you.  If you don't mind - I've seen
you naked, after all, and can quite easily form the right mental image."

Yana furrowed her brow.  "I'm not sure I like the idea of another me.
Can't we do an animal instead?"

Darryl nodded.  "Seems like a reasonable idea."  He put the button's storage
box down on the bed, unlocked it, and opened it.  Yana squeaked softly, but
held her ground.  "You sure you're OK with this?"  Yana nodded, curtly.

After fetching one of his old shirts as a subject, Darryl pulled out the
button with a flourish.  "And here we go..."

The transformation of the shirt was rather anticlimactic.  Quietly, without
any fuss, it contracted into a cute little bundle of fluff.

"Well, she looks about right..."  Darryl touched the feline, tentatively.
Then he scooped it up, and chuckled.  "It's a plush version of her!  It's
all soft..."

Yana peered in a bit more curiously.  "Weren't you trying to make a real
cat?"  Despite her interest, her feet stayed outside the door.

"Well, yes...  This confirms my guess, though - the Button is designed to
make inanimate things.  I imagine it's a lot easier than correctly creating
a living thing - imagine if I visualized the lungs wrong!"

Yana shuddered, making a low moan of disgust.

"Oh, sorry."  Darryl tugged off one of the plush toy's button eyes, fighting
with the right eye for a bit before trying the left eye.  The kitten unfolded
into a shirt again.

Darryl turned to show the shirt and button to Yana at the door, causing her
to duck behind it with an alarmed "Yeep!"

"Oh, come out, so I can do the next test."

Yana peeked around the door, cautiously.  "What now?  Some other creepy change?"

Darryl paused for a moment.  "I'll try to find something less... emotionally
charged.  How about a calculator?"

Yana sighed, and emerged fully from behind the door.  "A calculator?  Don't we
have enough lying about the house?  Seems awfully dull."

Darryl chuckled.  "I thought you'd appreciate dull about now."

"Touche.  But... why a calculator at all?"

"Because I don't know how it works."

Yana's brow furrowed cutely.  "I don't get it."

Darryl grinned.  "Another test - can it make a working calculator even though
I don't know how the innards work?  It's inanimate, after all..."

Yana nodded, slowly.  "Okay..."

Taking that as assent, Darryl dropped the shirt to their bed again, and touched
the button to it.  The shirt contracted into a grey lump, sprouting dozens of
little keys with an array of symbols on them.  "Well, it looks OK..."

Tapping the On/C key, Darryl frowned.  "It's not turning on."  Tap tap tap.
"Huh.  Did I forget batteries?"

He flipped it over and popped the cover to the battery compartment.  "Nope,
they look OK.  Maybe they're out of charge, though."  He prized one out of its
socket, and frowned.  "Where'd it go?"

Yana took a tiny step into the room.  "Where did what go?"

"The battery.  It just vanished when I pulled it out.  For that matter, where's
the battery cover?"  A quick look across the top of the bed didn't reveal
anything.  "How... odd.  I guess the Button likes to keep things together."

"What do you mean," Yana inquired curiously.

"Here, watch this."  Darryl presented the calculator to her, so she could see
the battery compartment.  "I'll pry the other battery out, like this..."  And
the battery softly and quietly vanished away, before both their amazed eyes.

"I hope the shirt doesn't have two holes missing from it when I restore it.
I kind of liked that shirt," Darryl sighed.

Turning the calculator upright, Darryl peered at all the buttons.  "Um...
Which one of these is the right one?"  He tugges at the equals key, and
the 0 with no effect.  Muttering to himself about bisection searches, he
walked over to his night-table and dug through the drawer for some usable
tool.

Yana made an exasperated noise and stalked into the room, taking the
calculator from Darryl's hand.  "Here. It's probably the power button..."
She suited action to words and tugged on the bright red button, unsurprised
when it came off in her hand.  As it wriggled in her palm, reshaping into
the familiar blue button she yelped, dropping it and the shirt like hot
potatoes.

Darryl turned from his excavation of the drawer at Yana's yelp, and had to
grin wryly as he watched her scamper back to her safe post by the door.
He scooped up the shirt and the button from the floor.  "Alright.  Where
were we?"

Yana glowered at his grin.  "How about you stop screwing around and make
me a dress?"

Darryl's grin just broadened as he realized she'd made the same slip that
he had.  "Freudian slip?"

Yana's glare only intensified.  "That was *not* a Freudian slip - I have
*no* desire to be transformed by that... thing!"

Darryl's sense of humour couldn't let it go.  "You're right, that's not
a Freudian slip."  He held the shirt up in one hand, and the button in
the other, taking a dramatic pose.  "*This* is a Freudian slip!"  With a
flourish he brought the two together.

Yana's glare turned into a horrified stare as she watched the changing shirt
absorb Darryl's arm, swiftly followed by the rest of him.  A strange looking
pink satin slip plummeted to the bed.

"Darryl?  Awww, damn."

She tried to enter the bedroom several times over the next few minutes, but
in the end her nerves won, and sent her fleeing.

As she sat sipping her tea, Yana pondered her options.  She could try to
find Aunt Bea's number - but that was in Darryl's wallet, which was in the
pants he had been wearing when he... changed.  "So that's not going to work,"
she said to herself.

Once her tea was drained, she got up with a new determination.  "I guess I
have to fix him myself."

Yana marched into the bedroom and picked up the slip that had been her
fiancé.  "Alright, let's see what we can do about...  Ooo, you are an odd
thing, aren't you?"

A closer inspection of the slip showed that it had a pair of rather large
and quite natural-looking breasts protruding from it.  Yana poked at them
curiously, clucking softly at Darryl's imagination.  Fake, definitely, but
of top quality.  "I see.  If any slip were to be Freudian, this would be it.
Very cute."

It didn't take Yana long to find the button, Darryl had thoughtfully
imagined a slip with a single bright blue button at its throat.  The
button looked exactly like the original.  

As she reached for it to pluck it off, the thought crossed her mind that the
slip would be kind of cute to wear, but it wasn't really her colour... red
would be nicer than that fleshy pink.  She squeaked as the button and dress
writhed under her hand, and skittered back a few steps.  Suddenly, it was a
red slip...  And there was only a little red fabric button at the throat.

After her heart resumed a more normal pace, and fortified with another cup
of tea, Yana slunk back into the bedroom.  She hesitantly reached out to
touch the button again, thinking of a green slip.  Much to her relief, nothing
changed.  

An impish grin crossed her face.  "Well.  I'd hate to waste this opportunity to
see what I'd look like with breasts *this* big...  It's only a shame Darryl
won't be able to see."

There was a certain amount of giggling and posing in front of the mirror
before Yana finally decided she'd had enough, and took the slip off again.
Setting it neatly on the bed, she plucked the button off, dropping it with
a yelp as it again changed in her hand.  Darryl emerged from the eruption
on the bed, with his old shirt draped over his head.

"Well," he said mildly.  "That was different."

Yana's face clouded.  "Is that all you have to say for yourself?"

Darryl looked up at her, surprised.  "What?"

"I told you that button was trouble, but oh no, you wouldn't listen.
Seriously, we should give it back!"

"No, no... see, the precautions worked.  As long as we always make sure there
is someone around to see what happens, we'll be fine."

"Fine?  You were a bit of fabric.  Again!  How is that fine?"

Darryl shrugged.  "It was no worse than the last time.  Better, because I knew
what had happened almost immediately.  I couldn't feel you near me, and I did
worry a bit as time passed.  But then I felt you approach."  He smiled at her,
broadly.  "It was nice when you wore me."

Yana blushed slightly.

Darryl continued, "Then suddenly I came back into the light.  There was nothing
to be afraid of."

Yana shivered, backing away to the far side of the room again.  "I... I almost
couldn't touch it.  I'm not sure I can do it again, Darryl.  Why did you change
yourself?"

"I didn't..."

"You did!  I saw you... had to fix you!"

"No, it just... slipped, somehow."

"Slipped?  You expect me to believe it just slipped!  Especially after what
you said?"

Darryl frowned.  "But... I'm *sure* I touched the shirt.  And it reappeared
with me, right?"

Yana shrugged.  "What does it matter?"

Darryl stroked his chin while he thought.  "It might *matter* quite a bit.
Matter, you see."

Yana stared at him, flat-eyed.  "Make sense."

Darryl looked up at her, a bit startled, and recognized the impatience there.
"Sorry, sorry.  It's just... Well, now that I think of it, the cat toy was
quite light - no heavier than the shirt.  And I was thinking about the mass
and heft of the..."

Yana glowered.  "The breasts."

Darryl blushed a bit, and nodded briefly.  "Ah... yes.  Anyway.  If the shirt
couldn't provide that mass, the button had to get it from somewhere... and I
was touching the shirt."

"But it didn't take the bedspread when you made the cat."

Darryl frowned.  "True.  Though... I was only thinking of form, not of weight
as such.  Odd.  Ah well, something else to puzzle out."

"You're not going to carry on with that... thing, are you?"

Darryl looked up at Yana, surprised.  "Of course I am.  You do want your dress,
don't you?"

Yana looked away from him, staring at their rather meager closet space and nibbling
on her lower lip.  "Damn you... yes.  I want something pretty to wear.  Just as long
as it's safe."

"Safe?"

"Safe.  I can't stand the thought of it changing me, making me..."  She shuddered,
and retreated back to the doorway again.

"But it won't.  I'll be using it here, while you're safely over there.  And once
the button has changed something, it's safe, right?"

Yana frowned, remembering how the slip had changed colour.  "Not necessarily."

"Sorry?"

She explained what had happened, and Darryl pounced upon it.  "So if the button
itself hasn't changed...  Cool!"  Before Yana could protest, he'd dropped the
shirt onto a pillow from the bed, and used the button to recreate the Freudian
slip, complete with oversized false breasts and blue button.

"There, see!"

Yana looked at him, puzzled.  "See what?"

"The pillow!"

"What pillow?"

"Exactly!"

Yana growled, "What are you on about *now*?"

Darryl flinched slightly, then pointed to the slip.  "The shirt was resting on
a pillow.  Which got absorbed, to make up the mass of the... uh..."

"Breasts.  It's not actually a dirty word, Darryl."

Darryl flushed a bit, and nodded.  "I know, it's just..."

"You're cute when you're all flustered, you know that?"

Darryl ducked his head, but did crack a grin.  "Anyway.  Now to test your theory."

"Theory?  I know what I saw..."

Ignoring Yana's reply, Darryl touched the button, careful not to touch the slip
anywhere.  Suddenly, the fake breasts grew quite a bit larger - well outside the
familiar range of B, C or D-cups.  At the same time, the mattress vanished.

"Woah!"

"Yeah...  I wonder how much mass it can absorb."  Darryl reached for the slip to
straighten it out atop the exposed box-spring.

"You're not going to make those... bigger, are you?"

Darryl grinned up at her.  "Of course I am!"  He touched the button again, with
equal care... and the rest of the bed vanished.  The slip fell to the floor with
a loud *thud*, attached as it was to a pair of huge false breasts, each as big as
a good-sized watermelon.

"Huh.  Not quite what I expected."

Yana looked on, wide-eyed.  "What *did* you expect?"

"Well, the mattress should have provided enough mass to make them much bigger
than that... it shouldn't have absorbed the rest.  Unless it needs more mass
any time it increases in size..."

While Darryl was contemplating that, Yana just shook her head.  "I knew you were
a breast man... but isn't that kind of over the top?"

Darryl looked up at her guiltily.  Yana arched an eyebrow.  "How big is big enough?"

Darryl blushed.  "In my fantasies?  Uh... a lot bigger."

Yana shook her head sadly.  "That's just weird."  Then she went in for the kill.
"Aren't my breasts big enough for you?"

Darryl looked away, then down at the slip.  "Awww, fooey.  The button's gone...
no, it's just turned pink like the rest.  I'm sure I was thinking of it staying
blue."  He crouched down, and plucked the little pink button off the slip...
while standing where the bed had been.  

The bed's abrupt restoration tossed him halfway across the room.  
It was several minutes before Yana stopped giggling.

* * *

"OK, enough playing around.  Time to make y... that is, make this shirt into
a dress for you."

After helping tidy up the bedroom, Yana had resumed her perch just outside the
door.  "Ready when you are."

"Ready for what?"

"Um... to run away screaming?"

Darryl shook his head.  "Oh ye of little faith...  Did you have a particular
dress in mind, or should I just come up with whatever?"

Yana shrugged.  "I don't know.  Something pretty."

"*That* narrows it down."

Yana shrugged again.  "How about something in green silk, then."

Darryl nodded.  The official test-shirt was on the bed, atop a couple of towels just
in case more mass was needed.  "Green silk it is."  He took a few moments to conjure
up a suitable image, and applied the button with a flourish.  A moment later, there
was a full-length green dress where the shirt and first towel had been.

Yana eagerly darted into the room to see the dress up close.  She picked it up,
examining it critically.  "The fabric is lovely... but it seems a bit odd."

"Odd?  Yana, it was made by magic... isn't that odd enough?"

Yana shook her head, and ran her finger along the hem.  "No...  Something else.
Oh!  It doesn't have any seams.  Or even stitches!"

"Is that bad?"

Yana looked up from the dress, her brow furrowed in thought.  "No, it's good.
The hardest part about sewing is hiding the seams well.  But... it could be
really hard to explain."

"Ah.  I'll try to remember that next time."

Yana nodded distractedly, already slipping off her blouse and skirt.  Darryl smiled
and watched appreciatively as she wriggled into the new dress.  And wriggled.  And
wriggled some more.

"Damn," came her muffled voice.

"What?"

"Won't fit."  Another wriggle got her free of the new dress' confines, exposing a
pouting face.

Darryl got a thoughtful look.  "I guess that's why the button can be re-used a couple
of times.  We could have used it to size the dress properly while you were wearing
it."

Yana squeaked.  "While I'm wearing it?  I saw what it did to the bed!"

"Or not, then.  So... hm.  There has to be some way...  How about you use the button,
then?  You got the size right on your first try with it."

Yana shook her head, backing out of the room still mostly naked.  She tossed the dress
at him.  "I don't want to be anywhere near that button while it's live."

Darryl sighed, looking down at the dress.  "Then we're at an impasse.  I could try
again, see if I can get the fit a bit closer."

Yana smiled despite it all.  "Yeah, and how long would that take?  I've not yet met
a man who can size a woman's clothes well."

Darryl looked about, hoping for inspiration.  It took several moments staring at
the closet before it clicked.  "What if I used one of your existing dresses as a
model?  One that fits nicely...  It's a double-win - not only will it fit, but
if the button comes off accidentally, you won't end up wearing just an old shirt
and a couple of towels."

Yana smiled brightly, her expression almost lighting up the room.  "That's brilliant!  
Do it!"

Darryl plucked the button from the green dress, letting the shirt and towel flutter
to the ground unnoticed.  "Which dress should I use?  This one?"

Yana shook her head.  "No, that one's a bit loose on me.  Try the one next to it...
no, the other way.  That one's nice and snug."

Darryl withdrew the indicated dress on its hangar, and held up the button in his
other hand.  "And now for our final number...  Aw, nuts."

The old black dress fluttered to the ground.  So did the new green one.

"Oh no, not again," sighed Yana.

* * *

This time, it only took Yana a quarter-hour to return to the bedroom.  The fact
that her only clean clothes were in there helped egg her on.

She carefully checked the green dress for buttons, to make sure there were no
blue ones.  Finding only a handful of small green buttons, she grew more bold and
picked it up, holding it against her body to check its size.  As she looked in the
mirror she nodded, appreciatively.  This one looked like it would fit nicely...
"It would be a shame not to at least try it on, wouldn't it?  Of course it would.
Besides, didn't he say it felt better when I wore him?"

The silky green dress did fit, hugging her curves perfectly.  "Wow.  Not fancy,
but... mmm.  I wish I could keep it.  But I think I'd rather have him back."

With a regretful sigh, Yana slithered out of the dress, and deposited it on
the bed.  As she'd expected, the last button on the right-hand cuff was the
one to pull.  As both Darryl and the button returned to their normal forms,
she held her ground.

"What the heck is the big idea?"

Darryl just looked up at her blankly for several moments.  "Sorry?"

"I'm not sure if you noticed or not, but you didn't change the dress."  She held
up the original target, and shook it at him.  "You changed yourself.  You *know*
I hate getting near that thing."  Suddenly she looked down at her feet, and
saw she was standing only inches from it.  She squeaked and stepped back a bit.
"Put it somewhere safe!  Now!"

Darryl complied, still moving a bit slowly.  Once the button was safely deposited
in its transparent box, and the lid once again locked, he turned to Yana.  "OK.
Now what did you want to yell at me about?"

Yana sputtered.  "You turned yourself into a dress!  Again!"

"I didn't mean to..."

"The button wasn't anywhere *near* the other dress.  Nowhere near!"

"It... kinda slipped."

"Slipped?  Again?"

"Yes, again.  It felt like it turned in my fingers."

"I don't buy it.  You just want to drive me crazy with this thing."

"No!  Honestly, I don't know what happened, but it wasn't deliberate!"

Yana just stood and glared at him.

Darryl couldn't hold his gaze against hers, and ducked his head.  He looked down
at the box, still in his lap.  "It must...  Nah, that couldn't be it."

"What couldn't be it?"

Darryl tilted his head, looking over Yana's shoulder and off into the distance.
"There's a pattern.  Aunt Bea showed me how the button worked.  Then I showed it
to you.  Then I got changed.  Then the kitten, the calculator, and I got changed
again.  And now it has been two more changes, and once again...  Three.  And
if you keep the button active to edit a dress, three again."

"Three what?"

"I'm not sure.  Do you mind one more set of tests?  If I'm right, you'll probably
need to fix me again."

Yana stared at him for a long time.  Finally, she asked, "Why?  Why would you even
*want* to do this if that is result you expect?"

Darryl looked down at his hands, turning the box back and forth between them.  "I...
Well, you know how we are for money.  I can't give you pretty things.  We're barely
keeping even this roof above our heads."

Yana sighed, deflating a little.  "I know.  And I'm not helping out much."

"You're doing what you can...  Temps just don't make that much."

Yana looked down, digging one toe into the carpet.  "I just wish..."

"Exactly.  But this can give you that wish.  A pretty dress to go out in - it's
not like we can't afford to eat out once in a while, or anything."

"But still... the risk you're taking!"

Darryl shrugged.  "It's OK.  It's worth it, if the dresses make you happy."

Yana shuddered.  "I just can't stand the thought..."

Darryl chuckled softly.  "Doesn't seem to keep you from wearing me, though."

This time, it was Yana's turn to look abashed.  "It just that... well, the dress
was so pretty, how could I not?"

Darryl set the box aside, stood, and walked to Yana.  He lifted her chin with his
hand.  "It's OK.  It didn't hurt me.  I'm almost... getting used to the quiet and
dark."

Yana met his gaze, a puzzled frown on her face.  "It almost sounds... do you
actually like being changed?"

Darryl nearly dropped his gaze, then he slowly nodded.  "Yeah, it's... well,
it's really different.  And there was something about the slip, I could feel
your touch more easily.  With no distractions from other senses it can get...
kind of intense."

Yana snuggled up to Darryl, hugging him tightly.  "More intense than this?"

"Mmmm.  I'm not sure.  Maybe a little."  Darryl grinned to show he was joking.

Yana stroked one hand up the inside of Darryl's thigh.  "How about this?"

Her own distraction worked rather well, and the button was entirely forgotten
for the rest of the evening.