The Button, Chapter 6 - Turnabout
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"OK, Yana.  You've been moping around all week - what is it?" Darryl
asked with a sigh.

Yana shrugged, but at least looked up at Darryl briefly.  "I just...
oh, you know."

Darryl shook his head.  "You're not still worried about changing me
into a dress and getting me torn, are you?  I've told you a dozen
times, it's OK.  It was an accident, and I'm fine!  Please, sweetie,
stop fretting about it."

Yana sighed.  "It's not just that, it's...  I was so looking forward to
wearing pretty things."

"And?"

"How can I use that button now?  It was bad enough to be afraid of it
accidentally changing me... but it's not accidental, is it?  I just
can't do it, Darryl."  Yana started to cry.

Darryl pulled her into a hug.  "Shh, it's OK."

"How can it be?"  Yana asked through her tears.  "If I want a dress,
it means... <sniff>"

"It means I have to change, yes."  Darryl wiped a tear off her
cheek.

"But I don't want to hurt you!" Yana wailed.

"Shh, sweetie.  It's not like that.  The button hasn't hurt me yet."

"Yet."  Yana pounced on the word.

"I don't think it will.  I don't even think it can!"

Yana frowned in puzzlement.  "How can you be so sure?"  At least the
tears had stopped falling.

"I'm not sure...  I've just always felt, well, safe.  Maybe it was
because you were near.  But I think it was also the button itself."

Yana snorted.  "That button doesn't seem safe to me."

"Sure it is.  You just have to have a feel for it."

"Right.  You've managed to change yourself by accident... how many
times, now?"

Darryl ducked his head to hide his grin.  "Uh, well.  That was
before we figured out the rule of three."

"Rule of three?" Yana asked, curiously.

"The button...  I guess you could say it "wants" to change someone,
every third use."

Yana nodded, slowly.

"So we let it."

"What?"  Yana exclaimed.  "Deliberately?"

Darryl nodded.

"But..." she added, uncertainly.  "That would mean..."

"That I would get changed into a dress, yes."

Yana's eyes went wide.  "You would do that?" she asked, in a
voice barely above a whisper.  "For me?"

"For you.  I love you, don't you see?  And it's worth it, to
make you happy."

"Oh, honey.  Thank you!"  Yana kissed Darryl soundly.

When they finally came up for air, and Darryl had his breath back,
he asked for one little favour.

"I guess."

"Maybe it would be best if you didn't wear me outside."

* * *

Yana, of course, wanted to wear a new dress out right away.  Darryl
could hardly say no, after all.  So he called in a reservation at
a cozy local restaurant they'd come to favour over the past ten
months.  They could usually manage a few nights out per month,
and Romeo's didn't stretch their budget too badly.

"All right, that's settled.  Think you can be ready by 8?"

Yana smiled at him brightly enough to light the room.  "If you can get
my dress ready by then, sure."

"Maybe it's time you learned how to use the button yourself.  I'm never
really sure just what you want..."

Yana's smile faded abruptly.  "But...  I might..."

Darryl shook his head.  "Not if you only use it for the first
two changes."  He took her hand and pulled her towards the stairs,
and their bedroom beyond.

"But... but..."

"Trust me."

Before Yana knew what she was doing, the button's box was in her hands,
and Darryl was holding out an old dress of hers.  "Here, try it."

Yana shook her head, holding the box out to Darryl.  "No!"

"Why not?  It's the only way you'll get the dress of your dreams."

Yana stared through the transparent box at the button within.  "I...
I don't trust it.  You say there's a rule of three, but what if
you're wrong?"  She thrust the box at Darryl.

"Fine.  Let me prove it to you."

"How?"

Darryl shrugged.  "Empirically, of course."

Yana arched an eyebrow, but said nothing.

"I'll test it."  He set the dress on the bed, opened the box, and
showed the button off with a flourish.  "Twice the dress..."  He
touched the button to the old black dress, turning it blue.  As
soon as the change was done, he pulled the button off and replaced
it, this time turning the dress red.

"And once, me."  Before Yana could think of protesting, he'd pulled
the button off the dress, and touched it to his shirt.  A moment
later, a purple cotton dress crumpled onto the bed.

"Oh.  I guess that would do it, yes." said Yana, weakly.  "Now what?"

After only a few moments' hesitation, Yana plucked the button off of
Darryl, restoring him to normal.

"See?" he cried.  "Nothing to it.  Now we do it again, to prove that
it's safe."

"Again?" echoed Yana.

"Again.  Until you're willing to try it yourself."  He held out his
hand for the button.

Yana looked at his hand, then at hers.  She startled slightly to
see that she was still holding the button, and quickly dropped it
into Darryl's outstretched palm.

"All right, then.  Dress."  With a touch, the black dress became
yellow.  "Dress."  Green.  "And... dress."  Darryl crumpled again,
this time as a bright orange version of the dress.

Yana made a face at the colour, then plucked the button off.  "Orange
is not a good colour for me.  Or you."

Darryl shrugged, apparently unperturbed by his rapid changes.  
"Well, I was running out of ideas.  Willing to try it yet?"

Yana shook her head, and dropped the button in his hand.

"All right then.  Hmmm.  How about... slip!"  The dress changed into a
flimsy, satin thing with narrow shoulder straps.

"That's not a slip," commented Yana idly.  "That's a chemise."

"Really?" Darryl inquired.

"Yup."

Darryl pulled the button off the chemise.  "OK, then.  Chemise."
This time the result was structured a bit differently, but still made
of the same black satin.

"No, that's a teddy."

"A teddy, you say?"  Darryl grinned.  With a flourish, he pulled the
button free, and drew it to his chest.  "Then teddy it is!"  But
instead of crumpling to the floor as Yana expected, a giant plush
teddy bear stood where Darryl had been.

It was fully his height, and Yana discovered just how soft the cinnamon
coloured fur was as it fell forward into her arms.  Finding it to be
quite light, she giggled and swung it about.

"You're even more cuddly than normal like this.  But I guess it's time
to bring you back."

Yana set the bear on the bed, and pulled away the top button on its
chest.  A moment later Darryl grinned up at her.  "So.  Ready to give
it a go?"  He paused, but no answer came.  "Right, then."

Plucking the button from Yana's hand, he turned to the dress sitting
beside him on the bed.  "Bra."  A small one, matching what Yana
usually wore.  "Bra."  This time, the dress turned into a version
about two cup sizes larger.

"Hey!" exclaimed Yana.  "That wouldn't fit me."

Darryl grinned.  "And neither would this bra."  Again he melted into
a crumpled pile of fabric.  

At first Yana thought he'd turned himself into a dress again, the pile
was big enough.  But when she lifted it up, she saw it was an enormous
bra, with each cup easily three feet across.  She started laughing out
loud.

After restoring Darryl, she put her hands on her hips in a mock-
angry pose.  "What was the big idea with that hammock?  I mean, I
knew you liked chesty girls, but seriously!"

Darryl blushed, and looked down.  "Just being silly.  Again?"

Yana looked down at the button in her hand, but before she could
answer, Darryl took it.

"Boob."

"What?"  Yana giggled at the sight of the forlorn little plastic
breast.  "That's just tacky."

Darryl nodded.  "Yeah, it needs work."  Pulling the nipple free
returned the dress to normal.  "Boob!"

This time the result was a very realistic looking silicone breast,
somewhat larger than Yana's own.  "Hey!"

Darryl grinned, and then held the button out towards Yana's chest.
"Watch it, buster."

"Oh, all right then."  Darryl touched the button to himself yet again.

His limbs and head shrunk into his torso, which reformed into an
enormous pink sphere, the size of a bean-bag chair.  Which then
promptly rolled off the bed and onto the floor, landing on the
prominent, button-like nipple.  Yana had to strain, giggling all
the while, to move it off so she could get at the button and
restore him.

"You're insane, you know."  Yana made the comment sound offhand,
like a statement about the weather.

"It's my most appealing quality."  Darryl grinned.

Yana laughed, and then looked down at the button in her hand.  "I...
think I'm ready, now."

Darryl's smile widened.  "Cool."  He gestured at the dress.  "It
might be best if you started with something simple."

Yana stood there, staring at the dress for long enough that Darryl
started to worry if she was going to back out.  Then she reached
out... and it became obvious that she'd ignored Darryl's advice
completely.  The resulting confection of fabric looked like it
belonged in an avant-garde fashion show.

"Oh.  Wow."

Beaming, Yana picked up the dress, and tried it against her body.
"I think it'll fit..."

"Well, then.  Try it out!  I don't know that it'll really fit in at
Romeo's, though.  It might be just a little bit too much."

Yana ignored Darryl's sarcasm, and didn't waste time shimmying out
of her old clothes, and into the button-created dress.  "Perfect!"

She paraded back and forth in it, getting a feel for how the layers
of fabric swished as she moved.  "It's beautiful.  But I haven't a
*thing* to wear with it."  She giggled.  "I don't suppose you can
think of a way to magic up some matching shoes, do you?"

Darryl frowned a while in thought, taking her playful request
seriously.  "There may be a way, actually."

Yana looked up from the old black dress she'd just restored.
"Really?"

"What if you made a dress with pockets, and shoes tucked into them?"

Yana nodded, and was reaching the button for the dress when Darryl
grabbed her arm.  "Wait!"

"Why?"

"Put the dress down - remember what happened when I made something
too heavy?"

Yana's eyes widened.  "It sucked you up, too!"  She quickly tossed
the dress onto the bed.  "That was close."

Darryl gave her a quick hug.  "It's OK.  Nothing happened."

Yana gulped once, and nodded, then turned to the dress with a
determined look in her eyes.  She put button to fabric with only a
moment's hesitation, and was rewarded with a simple but elegant
blue dress, wrapped around two blue shoes.  She eeped softly when
she realized that the bedspread had vanished, sucked into the dress
before her.  "But something would have...  Thanks."

Yana unwrapped the dress from around the shoes.  "Hey, it worked!"
But as she picked one up, it vanished from her hands.  "Hey!"

Darryl sighed.  "Or not.  Here, let me try something."  He slid
the other shoe down the dress to its hem.  "Hm.  So as long as it
is in contact..."

"Contact?"

Darryl held the shoe still, and pulled the dress away from it.  The
shoe vanished.  "Yup.  Seems as if the button keeps things contiguous."

Yana sighed.  "So no shoes?"

"And no two-piece bikinis, either."

"Well, that sucks."

"Unless..."

Yana tilted her head curiously.  "Unless what?"

"If there was a thread connecting the pieces, as long as the thread
didn't get broken, they'd be OK.  Maybe some kind of stretchy elastic
thread would be best."

"And invisible."

Darryl nodded.  "That too."

As Yana reached for the button, Darryl stopped her.  "This is the
third change.  Be careful, it will try to pull away from you."

Yana eyed the button nervously.  "Is it hard to stop it?"

"Nah, not if you're expecting it.  Just keep a good grip on it."

Yana nodded, and pulled the button free.  "I don't feel anything."

"You will if you think of a dress you want to make."

"Oh!  You're right.  What do I do now?"

Darryl offered his hand to the button.  "Touch me."  This time,
his crumpling into a pile of silk was a bit less startling - until
the shoes clunked to the floor.

Yana tried the whole outfit on, and smiled at herself in the mirror.
"Yes.  This will do nicely."

Of course, that's when she discovered that the button wouldn't come
off.

[I was *so* tempted to end the chapter here.  <grin>]

After a few minutes struggle with the balky button, its grip
suddenly eased, and it came free in Yana's hand.  Darryl's head
popped out of the top of the dress, but the rest of him didn't
follow.

They stared at each other.  "What happened?" they asked, in unison.

Before either could worry too much, Darryl's limbs started to slowly
emerge from the dress, though his skin was still the blue of the
fabric.  "I guess I'm taking the slow road back..." he said,
unperturbed.

Yana looked down at him with concern.  "Are you OK?"

Darryl gave his arms a shake.  They flapped a bit at first, then
settled down.  "I think so, yes.  What took you so long?"

Yana brandished the button.  "This stupid thing wouldn't come off!"

"Ah.  Hm.  Just how long was it before you could remove it?"  Darryl
stood up, unsteady on limbs that still had a rather blue-ish tint to
them.  He looked down at his watch, but it was still made of fabric.

Yana shrugged.  "I don't know.  About five minutes?"

Darryl nodded.  "And how long did you wear that first, frilly dress?"

"It wasn't frilly, it was... oh, never mind.  Philistine.  It was...
about five minutes.  Oh."

"Looks like there's a bit of similarity, there."

Yana drooped.  "So if I wear a dress for an evening..."

Darryl hugged her.  "Then I have to spend an evening as a dress.
Though maybe I could sleep it off.  That wouldn't be so bad, would
it?"

Yana looked up hopefully.  "You'd still do it?  Seriously?"

"Yup.  Ready to go to Romeo's?  We're running out of time..."

"OK!  You get changed, I've got a dress to make!"

For once, it went uneventfully.

* * *

It wasn't until they were in the car, driving home from dinner, that
Yana lit into Darryl.

"What the hell were you doing back there?"

"Sorry?"

"You barely looked at me once the entire evening!" cried Yana.
"At first, I'd just figured you were distracted.  Given what this
stupid button has put you through, I'd hardly blame you.
But you weren't staring into space, were you?"

Darryl mumbled a reply.

"No, you were staring at the bimbo at the table behind me."

"But..."

"And I didn't even find out until we were actually getting up to
leave.  If you'd been able to control yourself and hadn't actually
walked into a pillar beside her table, I'd probably have missed it.
But no, you had to spoil a perfect evening out."

"Yana, I'm sorry."

"What was it?  I mean, her dress was nothing special...  Oh, I know."
Yana paused for effect.  "It was her tits!"  She gestured at her own
chest angrily.

"I know, I just couldn't..."

"Couldn't help yourself?  Men!  Don't you love me?"

Darryl quickly replied, "Of course I love you!" well aware of the
danger... but still deep in a hole.

"Then why were you staring at *her* and not me?"

"But they were huge!"  As soon as he said it, Darryl knew it was
the wrong thing to say.

Yana's voice rose to a shrill pitch.  "Right!  They were monsters,
jelly-filled bags of flesh.  What the hell do you see in that?
Who could possibly be attracted by something like that?"

Darryl's guilty silence spoke volumes.

"Right," muttered Yana.  "Well, if it's tits you want..."

Darryl saw the button approaching out of the corner of his eye.
"Yana, what are you doing?"

"I'm going to turn you into a sports bra and leave you at the
Salvation Army, that's what I'm doing."

He tried to pull away.  "But I'm driving!"

Yana pulled back.  "Then stop the car!"

"No!"  Darryl accelerated instead.

Yana retreated, cursing a blue streak.  After a while she quieted,
and sighed.  "Ah well.  You'd probably have enjoyed that too much,
anyway."

Darryl chuckled softly.  "Probably.  At least up until the part where
you gave me away."

Yana snorted.  "Yeah.  Like I'd really give up the button."

"Hey, what about me?"

"You're the one who wants the overinflated airhead, remember?"

"Hey, who says she's an airhead?"

"Ah, like you'd have noticed.  But she was overinflated."

"Granted."

Yana crossed her arms over her chest, pouting.  "Bloody inflatable
dolls...  AWK!"

"What happened?"  Darryl kept his eyes on traffic, which had
gotten a bit busy.

"Uh, Darryl..."

"Yes?"

"I can't move."

Darryl risked a glance to his side, and couldn't help but stare.
Yana's breasts had expanded into great balloons, threatening to
tear their way out of her dress.  "What did you..."

"Look out!"  Yana's yell startled Darryl into looking back at the
road.  There was much screeching of tires and honking of horns, but
thankfully, the other drivers that night had been paying more
attention than Darryl.

Shaking, Darryl parked at the side of the road.  "Maybe we'd be
safer here."  He stared at Yana and tried to collect his thoughts.

"Well?"

"Um... what did you do?"

"I don't know!  My body feels weird and I can't move it!"

"It looks kinda different too.  Wow."

Darryl tilted the rear-view mirror so Yana could see what had
happened.  "Oh... wow, indeed.  The button?"

"It must have been.  Where did you put it?"

"It was in my hand... oops."

Darryl lifted Yana's right hand from her shoulder.  "I don't see
it... but there's something here that looks like an air valve."
He chuckled.  "I guess you're the overinflated one now."

Yana growled, "Just fix it."

Darryl's eyes roved over her body, and her furtively licked his lips.
"If you're sure... this is a good look for you."

"Sure I'm sure.  Do it!"

Darryl tugged at the air-valve, but instead of coming free, it merely
popped open.  Air spilled out with a whoosh.  Yana screeched,
"Stop it!"

Once the valve was closed again, Darryl inspected Yana with concern
on his face.  "Are you OK?"

"I feel really weird."

"I'm not surprised!"

"No, before I was just stuck.  Now... I feel... kind of hollow.  Like
some of my muscles just aren't there."

Darryl pinged a finger against her side.  "There's nothing inside
you at all.  Just air."

Yana looked frightened.  "What if this is permanent?"

"It'll be OK."  Darryl leaned over and kissed her cheek.  "Oh!  Your
head feels different.  Real."

Yana's brow furrowed in concentration.  "It does feel different.
I wonder why."

"What were you thinking when you changed?"

Yana blushed.  "About what that woman would look like as a... well,
as an inflatable doll."

"But why didn't you get her head, too?"

Yana blushed a bit brighter.  "Then I was thinking about what it
would be like to have a body like that."

Darryl hmmed softly.  "So thinking about your head, and that body...
neat.  So that's how you do partial changes..."  He looked off into
the distance.

"Darryl!"

"What?"

"Fix me.  Now."

"Um... can it wait until we get home?  The light will be better.
And it's not that far, now."

"Please?" she begged.

"I tried once already.  I don't know what's wrong, you'll have
to wait."

Yana badgered him for the rest of the ride home, but it didn't
have the same bite to it.  She wound down, and finished the
ride in silence.

When they got home, Darryl stopped the car and turned to her.
"Are you OK?  You were freaking out before..."

Yana sighed.  "It could have been worse, I guess.  At least I
can see.  Just get me out now, please?"

"OK.  Nobody's watching, as far as I can tell."

"What are you... yeeek!"

Darryl scooped Yana up under his arm, and quickly carried her
into the townhouse.

"You're awfully light like this.  Talk about a diet!"

Yana giggled softly.  "Put me on the scale!  I have to know..."

Darryl carried her into the washroom.  "Looks like... hm, about 12
pounds.  That's got to be mostly your head."

"So... I'm the opposite of an airhead?"

"For the whole time I've known you."

"Awww.  Enough silliness... can you change me back now, please?"

Darryl nodded, and started to strip Yana's dress off.

"Ahem!"

"First step - find the button.  Yes?"

"And getting a good look and fondle is no part of it?"

Darryl managed to grin through the blush.  "Nope."

"Riiiight.  Ah well, it's not like I can stop you."

A thorough inspection and a few giggles later, it was clear that the
valve was the only likely candidate.  Darryl's hand hovered over it.
"Are you sure?"

"Yes, just pull it."

Darryl dolefully tugged at the valve, to the same result - rushing
air.  This time he pinched it off quickly.

Yana rolled her eyes to stare into his.  "Don't you want to change
me back?"

Darryl blushed brightly, and ducked his head.  "Not really, no.  You
look so hot like this!"

"Please?"

Darryl recognized her tone - not wheedling, not demanding, but
playful.  Remembering some of the fun they'd had in the past with
such games, he dug out his best domineering tone.  "No, I'm going
to take my toy upstairs, and have fun with her."

Yana gasped softly, then purred in his arms as he carried her light
form into bed.

* * *

While Yana's new body was more sensitive than Darryl had been as a
dress, it still wasn't enough.  By the time he was utterly spent,
she was begging for him to do something, anything...  But all he
was able to manage was pulling the button off, and returning her
to flesh and blood.

"Come on, Darryl - don't go to sleep on me now!"

Darryl blinked up at Yana sleepily.  "But... late.  Tired!"

She snatched the button from his hand.  "I know something that can
get you up again."

Darryl's eyes widened as her hand dropped between his legs.  "Kinky."

Yana grinned ferally.  "Yup."  She touched the button down, and her
eyes grew wide as she watched Darryl's manhood transform into a
stiff, pink dildo.  "Maybe a bit bigger..."

"But..." was all Darryl got out, before Yana's greed tipped the
balance.  With a soft shoop, his body was sucked away to make up
the deficit, and all she was left with was an oversize sex toy in
her hands.

"Drat.  Partial changes are harder than I thought."  She stared
down at the lump of pink rubber in her hand.  "But then again...
turnabout is fair play."