Moonstone - Chapter 3
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The next day - Saturday - found Duncan outside "Corrie's Collectibles" once more, this time with a rather large cashier's cheque in his hand.  Sidney had been as shocked as her husband at the price, as it would wipe out their line of credit at the bank.  Duncan's argument turned on three points.  First, since his latest raise at work they'd been slowly paying the line of credit down.  Second, formula was expensive - "think of the savings!".  Third, he really, really wanted it.

Duncan hesitated briefly, took a deep breath, then pushed the door open.  Corrie looked up and grinned at him.  "I knew you'd be back.  What took you so long?"

"Getting this," Duncan replied, setting the cheque down on the counter beside the till.  "I didn't want to carry that much cash about. Heck, most days I barely have any cash on me at all."

Corrie inspected the cheque closely, then nodded.  "I'm surprised you didn't try to bargain the price down."

"Would it have worked?"

"No.  Magic has its price."

Duncan smiled wryly.  "I'd kind of figured that.  The price you named exactly zeroed out my accounts."

Corrie slipped the cheque into the till. "Come with me, I'll box it up for you."

Following her behind the till and into the storage room Duncan asked, "So that's it?  Just 'here you go, some magic in a box'?"

"Pretty much.  This is still a business, after all," Corrie noted as she dumped a handful of packing peanuts into a cardboard box.  She opened the slats on the Moonstone's wooden box to show its contents to Duncan once again before stowing it away.

"Seems a bit... duller than last night."  He looked down at the slip of paper that had been sitting beside the Moonstone's box.  "Ah, a moonrise schedule, and last night it rose...  I see.  It only works when the Moon is up?"

"You catch on quick."  Corrie taped the box shut and handed it over.

Duncan stared down at the unassuming box in his hands.  "I... uh, have a few questions."

Corrie shook her head.  "You're clever.  You'll figure it out.  It's best that way."

Duncan continued, undaunted, "I just need to know - why me?  Couldn't my wife use it with a nursing bra instead?"

Corrie looked at him sternly, then sighed.  "I guess I can let you have that one, it's not obvious...  The stone doesn't change people's intrinsic nature.  It doesn't heal it just... turns you into the you that fits."

"What about longer lasting changes?"

Corrie smiled, but said nothing.

"Ah well.  As you said - I'm clever, I can figure it out."  Duncan grinned back at her.  "Truth be told, I'm looking forward to the challenge."

As he was heading out the door, Corrie called to him.  "One last piece of advice.  It's the full moon tonight.  Let the stone see it."

Duncan gave her a jaunty wave.  "I will."


To forestall questions from his daughter, Duncan left the box unopened on his dresser until she was in bed, and hopefully asleep.

As he pried the tape open, Sidney looked on, curiously.  "Well, the box is nice enough... what's with the blinds in front?"

Duncan lifted the box out of its packaging, then opened the slats.  "So you don't accidentally see it, I guess.  Don't worry, the Moon doesn't rise for another hour."

Sidney peered at the stone.  "Doesn't look like much.  It's nicely polished, though.  Are you sure you didn't get ripped off?"

In response, D doused the room's lights.  Now the glow was visible, if faint.

"Oh!  Now I see why you called it a moonstone.  It really does look like a tiny moon in a box.  Still doesn't mean it's magic."

Duncan turned the lights back on, then checked his bedside clock.  "You'll see in an hour or so."


As if it were any other night, they sat together on the couch and watched TV.  Afterward, Duncan couldn't have named the show - his focus the entire time was on his mental countdown to moonrise. As the show was ending, Duncan looked outside once more and finally - finally! - the Moon was visible over the horizon.  Only just peeking out, but hopefully that was enough.

"Come on!" he called to his wife, as he dashed off to their bedroom.

Sidney blinked in surprise as she entered the bedroom to find her husband naked except for...  "Why are you still wearing that nursing bra?"

"Support.  And somewhere to put the absorbent pads."

Sidney laughed.  "Right.  But I meant... you're naked but for the bra.  Why?"

"Test #1"

"Which is?"

Duncan turned to the Moonstone's box, and opened it.  He'd turned it so it faced his side of the bed, away from the door and Sidney.  "It's a bit brighter now."

Sidney shook her head.  "I'll pass.  I don't want to find out what effect it'll have on the bun in my oven."  She put her hand protectively over her swollen belly.

"Oh.  Right.  Keep those silver rings on...  Hm.  Do you have any spares?  That would make a good test #2."

She looked her husband up and down.  He was looking less like a husband already.  "Where's your chest hair going?"

Duncan looked down at the retreating hair and grinned. "Test #1.  How far will I change with only one small piece of clothing on."  As he was speaking the pitch of his voice rose.  "Test... test... test?  Wow, I sound... different."

Sidney peered at Duncan's face.  "Your stubble is gone, too."

Duncan reached up to touch it, then groaned and put his other hand to his belly.  Sidney looked on in alarm.  "What?  Are you OK?"

Duncan panted a few times then in a soft, delicate voice replied, "Internal... rearrangement."  He looked down at his groin.  "Um, and external, too.  Remember how you used to joke that if I wanted a third kid I'd have to bear it myself..."

Sidney just stared at him.  "Uh..."

"I'm pretty sure that's possible now."  Duncan gave his wife a lopsided grin.

"Surely you're not serious."

"I'm in no hurry to get pregnant.  And don't call me Shirley."  They both laughed, very briefly.  "Though... Duncan seems somewhat inappropriate right now, too."

Sidney looked a little alarmed.  "If you're thinking of changing your name, this has officially gone waaay too far.  Change back."

Duncan's eyes flashed with rebellion.  "Are you telling me what to do with my body?"  he asked softly.

Sidney sighed.  "Please... just... This feels too weird."

Duncan looked down.  And promptly got distracted by his near-hairless feet.  He gave slender toes a wriggle, then reached out to close the slats on the Moonstone's box.  "Let me have a few minutes.  I want to see how I look."

Sidney followed warily as Duncan walked around the bed and into their ensuite bathroom.  Duncan turned this way and that in front of the mirror.  "I'm actually... pretty."

Sidney acknowledged with a nod at the mirror and a noncommittal noise.

Duncan struck a few poses, then smiled at his reflection.  "With a bit of work and a cute bra, I'd be downright sexy."

Sidney muttered, "That's the problem."

Duncan turned to face her.  "Jealous?"  A frown creased his pretty face.

"A bit.  But that's not it.  Well, not all of it.  I want to cuddle up to my husband," she emphasized the word, "and you're some female doppelganger of him."

"Oh," replied Duncan lamely, eyes downcast and starting to tear up.

"Aw, don't cry.  God, you're even cuter when you're tearing up.  Come here."

As Sidney wrapped her arms around him, an electric tingle made Donna shudder.  Soon Donna relaxed into the hug and started nuzzling at her wife's neck, which naturally led to kisses.  The kisses got deeper, led to fondling, and the fondling was starting to lead Donna and her wife toward the bed.  Suddenly Sidney broke away, backing away until she fetched up against the bed and sat down rather abruptly.

Duncan stood stock still, hands frozen mid-grope.

"What the hell was that?"  Both asked in unison.

Duncan looked away from his wife, partly abashed, partly lost in thought.

"Well?" Sidney demanded.

"I was...  a girl."

Sidney glared at Duncan's feminine body.  "I can see that."

"No... inside.  Now, I'm a guy who's temporarily shaped like a girl.  Then... I was a girl.  A woman, hugging her lover of eight years plus.  What I did felt natural and right."

"That's scary as hell."

"I know!  I need to know why...  You were hugging me, then when you touched my butt, everything was suddenly... different.  Wait, are you still wearing those silver rings?"

Sidney mutely held up her hands, showing an array of white gold and silver.

"Can I... borrow one?"

"Sure, I'm wearing three right now."  Sidney pulled a ring off her right ring finger and offered it to Duncan.

The shuddering, tingling feeling returned, and Donna looked over at her wife.  "How peculiar.  I know the ring is doing something... but I feel like I've always been a woman."

"Who are you?"  Sidney asked, curiously.

"Donna.  I'm your wife."  She looked up at the picture on the wall, from the day their wedding.  "I remember wearing that tux.  It feels a bit weird to see me as male in that picture, to be honest.  I remember being there with you, helping you fix your bouquet after you tripped."

"Give me the ring back."  Donna dropped it into Sidney's outstretched hand.

Duncan shook his head to clear it, then sighed softly.  "That felt... very odd."

"That's all you have to say about it?  Very odd?"  Sidney shrilled.

"I... think I'll be avoiding silver."

Sidney sighed.  "Just change back so I can give you a proper hug."

Duncan laughed softly and shrugged into his now slightly oversize shirt.  "Hm.  OK, one more test.  Can I borrow that ring again?  Just for a minute."

"Oh alright."  Sidney tossed the ring to him, and watched warily as Duncan opened the Moonstone's box.  Then waited.  And waited.  "Nothing's happening."

Donna tossed the ring back to Sidney.  "That's what I figured.  It blocks the magic.  The Moonstone can't change me while I'm touching silver... but it can't change me *back*, either, like when you were stuck as a catgirl."

"Then why does it mess with your head?"

Duncan shrugged, still standing in the Moonstone's light, looking more and more masculine again.  "The difference between being a temporary woman versus a permanent one?  Something like that, I suppose."  He stayed in the Moonstone's light until his body was as it had been before.  Even the spiderweb of scars on the back of his right were back.

As they hugged, Sidney grumbled.  "You still have boobs."

Duncan kissed her gently, avoiding scraping her with his again-stubbly cheeks.  "I'll fix that later.  I should charge up the Moonstone first."


Outside on the sundeck, Duncan set the Moonstone's box on the picnic table, then turned it toward the Moon and opened the slats.  Looking down at the Moonstone he could see its glow rapidly brighten.  "Ah!  So you do like that."

Only then did he turn to look up at the Moon that was bringing such changes into his life.  He'd never before seen it hang so big in the sky, so lush and inviting.  Its visage filled his eyes, flooding his mind with moonglow.


The next month was uneventful.  Duncan had figured that hiding his breasts at work would be problematic, but a tight binding combined with loose shirts left little enough to notice.  And it's not like people there paid him a lot of attention anyway.  Toward the end of the month it occurred to him to wonder why the breasts hadn't gone away at the new moon as Corrie had suggested, but somehow the thought slipped away, as did the idea of using the Moonstone to get rid of them.   Life with breasts didn't seem much different from life without, he was pleased to learn.  Perhaps a bit more painful between the binding and the pumping, but had to admit to himself that he was happy he had them.


Duncan shook his head and looked around.  The daydream didn't seem to have to have lasted for more than a minute or two.  The Moon hadn't shifted position much in the sky, though he quickly looked away from it lest he get lost in it again.  Looking down at the box and the Moonstone within, Duncan saw hat the stone was now glowing as brightly as the Moon itself.  Even after taking it back inside, away from the eyes of the Moon, it still glowed.


The next week was uneventful.  Duncan used the Moonstone to return to normal later that evening, then tried to put the box out of mind.  He didn't entirely succeed, and would peek in at the Moonstone in its box on his dresser from time to time.  Sometimes he'd wear a sock on his hand and let it change, just to be sure that it still worked.  Later, he changed to using the nursing bra instead, letting his hand transform into a breast.  One morning, he even showered with it that way, which proved very inconvenient, very distracting, and kind of fun.

The following week started out ordinarily enough, but about midweek Duncan started to feel odd.  By Wednesday it was becoming clear... his breasts were growing!