Raveled 1 (aka Something To Do With)
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"A magic ribbon?" exclaimed Tess.  "You seriously want me to believe that you got me a magic ribbon for Christmas?"

Jess nodded, watching a bit nervously as her best friend waved the bright pink ribbon about on the end of its stick.  "I know it's a bit late.  When I saw it I thought of you - I know you've been keen on gymnastics since you didn't make the cut for the university's volleyball team.  Hey, careful with that!"  Jess dodged back from the ribbon as it swirled towards her, backing into the front door of Tess' apartment.

"What, you don't want the ribbon to touch you?  Why not?"  Tess grinned and stalked toward her friend, then flicked the ribbon out.  It licked across Jess' defensively raised hands, and away again.  Tess shrugged.  "See?  Nothing happ... wait.  Your hands look different."

Jess sighed.  "That's what I was trying to tell you.  The ribbon is magic."  She held out her hands for Tess to examine.  "The first time you stroke it across something, it turns all silky and smooth."

Tess touched her friend's hands, then started stroking her fingers across them.  "That feels neat.  Wait, you said the first time.  What happens next?"

Jess tugged her hands back, and folded them under her ample chest, trying to hide them and distract Tess from her blush.  "It makes them go all soft, like they're hollow or filled with some kind of light stuffing."

Tess started stroking her left forearm and hand with the ribbon - once, twice.  She wiggled her fingers and giggled.  "Ooh, this feels nifty."  She set the ribbon down, and poked at her hand.  It dimpled easily, and with a bit of work she managed to collapse her hand entirely into her wrist.  "I think it's hollow.  Feels a bit like a soft balloon.  So... what happens next?"

Jess shrugged.  "I don't know.  I used it on my hand twice in the store, and the owner suggested I wait until I was home to go any further - and that the result might be a surprise.  By the time my folks and I had driven home, my hand was normal again, and I've been too chicken to test it further."

Tess laughed. "So you got dragged out on one of your parents' antiquing expeditions again?  Where in the world did you find a place that sold real magic?"

"Some back road or other.  I was hopelessly lost within the first half hour, of course.  I think it was called Brig-something."

Tess stared at her friend.  "Not Brigadoon?"

Jess shrugged.  "Could be.  Why does that matter?"

"Just that you're not likely to ever find it again."

Jess sighed in exasperation.  "Tell my parents that.  We've been through that part of the country again and again trying to get back.  They found this amazing hand-carved canopy bed there, and they want to find more stuff to re-sell."

Tess was still playing with her collapsible left arm.  "So... uh, this wears off, you said?"

Jess nodded.  "Took about an hour to go back to silky, and another to go back to normal.  I hope it's OK if I hang out here for another hour or so - I'd rather not go out in public looking like this."

"Of course!  We even have a second bedroom, so you can crash here if you're on campus really late and miss the last bus home.  Here, let me show you around."

As Tess gave a brief tour of the modest two-bedroom apartment, she also described how she and her boyfriend Don had decided they needed space of their own off campus.  It had to be close enough that Tess could walk when Don couldn't drive her - which was often enough, with all his football practice sessions.  Don was off with his family visiting relatives over the Christmas break, leaving Tess to comb the listings and find something nice.  Her parents had helped her move in the previous day.

The two girls chattered on the couch, catching up as if they hadn't seen each other in months, rather than just the two weeks of the Christmas break.  Anyone seeing the two together could easily mistake them for twins - they both had remarkably similar oval faces, eyes the same shade of brown, and wavy brunette hair.  Jess wore hers longer, and usually had it back in a ponytail.  The one thing no observer would miss is that after the two girls' growth spurts during the last year of high school, Theresa was about five inches taller than her friend, and Jessica had about the same advantage in breast size.  Both girls dressed to minimize the latter - Tess wore heavily padded bras, and Jess wore shapeless clothes to conceal her 'weight'.

Suddenly Tess jumped up.  "Hey, my arm is solid again!  Still feels sensuously silky, though."

Jess laughed.  "You've been playing with it the entire time, haven't you?  I know the feeling, I couldn't stop touching my arm either.  Felt so weird, but kinda neat."

"So... I wonder what three strokes with the ribbon does?"  Tess was already walking back to the kitchen and the ribbon - it was lying next to her little plastic Christmas tree on the counter.

"As long as I'm not the guinea pig..."

"Coward."

"Hey, you're not the one who has to take a bus home.  I'd rather not look weird in public."

Tess laughed, and handed Jess the ribbon, stick-first.  "I'd offer to let you stay here tonight, but Don will be here in a couple hours.  I'll be the guinea pig."

Jess looked down at the ribbon.  Where it had pooled on the couch the fabric looked... shinier.  When she looked back at her friend her eyes widened.  "Why is your blouse off?"

Tess held out her arms.  "I didn't want it in the way.  Do them both, right up to the shoulder."

"Jumping with both feet like always?"

Tess grinned.  "Both arms, in this case.  But yeah, you know me.  Come on, let's see what happens."

Jess quickly ran the ribbon over her friend's arms once, twice, and stopped.  "Uh, Tess... I can't do the third pass if you're feeling yourself up."

Tess was giggling as she rubbed her silky arms over her body.  "But they feel so soft, so silky, so sumptuous.  Stopping would be silly."

"Seriously?  I'm ready to bolt here... I don't know what's going to happen."

Tess sighed, and held her arms out.  "Right, sorry.  Got a bit carried away.  Let's see what that surprise is."

Jess traced the ribbon up one arm cautiously.  Nothing seemed to happen.  She did the other arm as Tess looked more closely at the first.  "Huh.  There's some kind of spiral pattern going up my arm, but otherwise it feels about the same."

Jess set the ribbon aside where it wouldn't be sat upon by accident then examined Tess' other arm.  "Hey, there's a sort of tag here on your thumb..."  She gave it a tug then yelped as it pulled free.  Tess' hand unspooled into ribbon, leaving a foot or so of skin-toned silky ribbon dangling from her wrist.  It was about two inches wide, the same width as the magic ribbon.

Jess stared in shock.  Tess grinned.  "Cool!  That felt amazing.  Pull it further!"

"No!  I don't want to hurt you!"

Tess shrugged, and grabbed the ribbon in her left hand.  "Fine, I'll do it myself."  With a tug, her arm rapidly unraveled into ribbon.  Tess' knees weakened, and she slumped to the couch still pulling and moaning softly in pleasure.  With a final 'pop' the last of the ribbon came free of her shoulder.  Tess shuddered, then looked up at her friend.  "C'mon, give me a hand here.  I'm one short."

Jess continued to stare at her friend, jaw hanging loosely.  "But you... your arm.  It's gone!"

Tess waved her remaining arm dismissively.  "It's fine."  She poked through the ribbon.  "I can still feel it, so I'm sure it'll restore just fine in an hour."

Jess relaxed a little, and sat down.  "I... I guess."  She gently ran her hand through the little heap of ribbon.  "What does it feel like?"

Tess shrugged asymmetrically.  "Kind of like the silky skin, just even more so.  Mmmm, that feels nice."

Jess blushed and yanked her hand back.  "Let's leave your other arm as it is until we know this will... get fixed."

Tess looked down at her hand.  "Nah."  She put her thumb in her mouth and tugged, starting the cascade on her other arm.  Soon that arm was gone as well, becoming another pile of flesh-toned ribbon.  Once Tess' shudders died down, she stood up and posed in front of Jess, flaunting her smoothly rounded shoulders.  She looked as if she'd never had arms, nor ever needed them.  "So, what do you think?"

"You look... armless."  Jess started to giggle nervously, which set Tess off, and soon both of them were rolling with laughter.  When it died down, Tess was still wriggling on the floor, moaning a bit.

"Are you OK, Tess?"  Jess sat up.

"It was..."  Tess panted, "all that rolling around on my ribbons.  Felt wonderful."

Jess blushed, and scooped the ribbons into a pile on the side-table, being careful to keep them away from the magic ribbon.  "Can we talk about something else?  For an hour?  I want to be sure your arms will go back to normal before I go home."

Tess rolled lithely to her feet, and then sat beside her friend on the couch.  "Sure.  Just as soon as you stop staring at me, anyway.  You've seen me undressed before, and not just in the locker room after gym class, either."

Jess blushed brightly and turned away.  "I thought we weren't going to talk about that... experiment."

They managed to dance around the subject for an hour, though Jess couldn't have told you what they did talk about, afterward.  She was watching the pile of ribbons out of the corner of her eye when she saw it start to move.  "Hey, I think your arms are changing back..."

Tess leaned over her friend to watch.  "That feels pretty nifty, wriggling around like that on their own."  Before long, there were two hollow silky arms lying on the side table.  Tess found that she could flex her hands and her elbow, and tried to get one to crawl across the floor to her.  Jess picked the other up and just sort of stared into the hollow end of it for a while.

"Earth to Jess, come in Jess."  Tess tapped her friend on the shoulder with her restored, but still hollow arm.

"Oh!  Right.  I see you got one of them back on."  She turned back to the arm she was holding.  "It's... weird to look into your arm.  It almost looks like a sleeve."

"So put it on."

Jess stared at her friend.  "I couldn't."

"Go for it!  You need to be more adventurous."

"I'm sure it won't fit..." Jess fretted, but she was already trying it on.  It fit her like a glove, and before she knew it her entire arm was inside.  "Wow.  It must have been stretchy enough to..."
she looked at her arms side by side.  "How?"

Tess grinned.  "Cool!  You have my arm now."  She laid her one arm beside her friend's.  "See, they're the same."

"But your arms are longer, and mine are, um, fatter."

"You're not fat," Tess replied, by reflex.

"You know what I mean.  You're more toned, more muscular.  This arm feels..."  Jess flexed it.  "It feels good.  Stronger."

"Want to borrow it?  I can manage with one for a while."

Jess reached up and peeled the 'sleeve' off.  "I couldn't.  Shouldn't.  I'll just go back to being dumpy little Jess who nobody looks at."

Tess took her arm from Jess, and fitted it to her shoulder.  It stuck there, seamlessly.  "Aww, don't be like that.  You'll find a boyfriend - you just need to get out a bit more.  Go dancing, or something.  Heck, there are more guys than girls in your chem classes, date one of them."

Jess nodded doubtfully.  "Maybe.  Just don't go setting me up again."

Tess laughed.  "Oh, come on.  We looked like twins back then, we had to double date Dan and Don at least once.  We'd have made a cute pair of couples, everyone said it."

Jess stuck out her tongue.  "Dan was a jerk.  Just like his twin.  I don't get what you see in Don, except maybe the hot car..."

"Speaking of which.  Don should be here soon.  I want to do something special with his presents.  Something cool."

"And that is..." asked Jess, wondering what scheme she was going to be roped into this time.

"Wrap 'em up with pretty pink ribbons.  I won't be able to tie them with just the one hand, though."  

"There are three by the tree... both legs, and one arm?  Are you nuts?"

Tess tried to snap her fingers, but in their softened state it didn't work.  "Right!  It needs a fourth gift to be symmetric.  You'll have to wrap it, of course - there's some paper on my dresser in the bedroom."

"If you say so..."  Jess went to fetch the paper, and found some tape and a shoebox as well.  She hoped it would fit whatever Tess had in mind.  When she returned, Tess was not only stripped down to her bra and panties, but her legs and one arm were missing - presumably the piles of ribbon lying on the floor near her.

"So... wow.  You're really going to do this?"  Jess tried not to stare, really she did.  But something about the way Tess' hips rounded away to nothing fascinated her.  The curves were perfect.

"Earth to Jess...  Oh, good, you found a box.  That should work for the last gift.  Can you help me with my other arm?  I didn't think to run the ribbon over it before I got to pulling myself apart."

Jess nodded distractedly, and soon she'd stroked Tess' remaining limb into ribbony oblivion.  "Wow.  You look..."

"Short?" asked Tess, grinning.

"Yeah, that too.  OK... so what am I wrapping again?"

"Start with the three gifts on the counter."

Jess was a bit nervous at first, wrapping then tying off the ribbons.  Tess gasped as she finished the first one.  "What?  Did that hurt?"

Tess bit her lip, and shook her head.  "Felt... different."

"You OK, though?"

Tess nodded.  She watched as Jess hummed softly to herself, wrapping the second present.  Again, as the bow tied closed she felt a tugging then... nothing.  It was as if her leg was no longer there - or if it was, she was no longer feeling Jess' touch on it, or the smooth coolness of the wrapping paper.  "Just peachy."

Soon enough, the last gift was wrapped.  Tess put on a brave face as Jess turned to ask, "OK, so what's the fourth present?"

"Me."

"Uh...  You know you're still bigger than a shoebox, right?"

"Use the ribbon, silly."

Jess stared once again.  "Turn that pretty work of art into a pile of ribbon... tuck it in the box, and... wrap it?  With your last ribbon to tie it up?"

Tess nodded.  "And... sort of spool the ribbon up, and use it to tie itself off.  We don't want me popping out of the box too early now, do we?"  She was proud of how she kept the quaver out of her voice.  She wanted to do this, but the idea of waiting in the dark box was starting to scare her.  It was a good kind of fear, but the waiting might change that.

Jess just sighed.  "I suppose you want me to take your bra and panties off first?  Who knows what'd happen if they got ribboned with you."

"Please?"

"Fine, fine.  I hope you know what you're doing."

"So do I," Tess whispered.

Jess quickly stripped Tess, trying not to look too much.  Without arms or legs, the bra and panties came off easily. Jess started twirling the ribbon around Tess, making sure to get good coverage.  Once, twice, three times...  "Hm.  Two tags this time.  One on top of your head, one at the other end.  Where should I start?"

"You'll feel more comfortable at the top, won't you?  Besides, that'll make it finish with a bang.  Do it!"

"OK.  Call me the minute you get out, OK?  I'll worry, otherwise."

Tess sighed, and nodded.  "There might be some sex first.  But after that, I'll call.  This is going to be amazing!"

So Jess pulled.  Tess gasped happily, then there were no eyes to express herself, no more mouth to gasp with.  Her body bucked violently when her breasts unwound, and Jess stopped for a moment.  Tess wriggled the remainder of her torso happily, making it clear that she wanted Jess to finish the job... and she did.  Jess cradled the pile of ribbon in her hands, wondering what it had felt like at the end.

Before long, she had the ribbon bundled up tightly, and tied off.  Into the box, wrap it neatly, spin the ribbon around.  And with that one last knot, Tess' awareness, limited as it was, blinked out of existence.

Jess puttered about for a bit longer.  She arranged and re-arranged the presents neatly, the shoebox containing Tess in front.  After she'd written the big 'untie the ribbons carefully and open me first' note, and put it on top, she noticed the ribbons had changed colour - they weren't really very pink any more.  They seemed to be taking on the colour of the presents.  That made her smile, the pink had kind of clashed with some of the gift-wrap.

Finally, Jess admitted there was nothing left to do.  And she knew she shouldn't be there when Don showed up, she'd just be in the way.  So she borrowed Tess' spare key, locked the door behind herself, and headed home.

Tess never called.  By the time Jess got really worried about it, though, it was too late to catch a bus back, and she couldn't quite figure out how to broach the subject with her parents to get them to drive her.  So she slept, fitfully, hoping that Tess had just had such a good time that she'd forgotten to call.

Jess was on the first bus back to campus the next morning.  Don's car was not in the apartment's parking lot - it was hard to miss.  Jess was already fretting as she dashed up to the door, and she fumbled the key twice trying to get it into the lock.  She flung the door open with a bang, and... nobody squawked.  "Hello?  I'm sorry to bother you, but...  Tess?  Don?  Anybody home?"

No answer.  Jess looked around.  The presents were mostly where she'd left them.  The shoebox containing Jess had shifted a bit, and its ribbon was missing.  That meant her arm should be around here somewhere...  Never mind that, she had to get Tess out of the box!

Normally Jess opened her presents carefully, preserving the paper to be used again.  Today she shredded the paper with abandon, and dumped a tied-up bundle of pink ribbon onto the counter.  She carried the ribbon to the bedroom, set it on the bed, and untied it gently.  She yelped as it started to move on its own, quickly spiralling into a familiar shape.  The ribbon-seams vanished, the shine on Tess' skin following soon after.  Tess took a shuddering breath, and opened her eyes.  She stared up at Jess for a long time, just breathing softly.  Jess let out a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding, then whispered softly.  "Tess?  You OK in there?"

"No."  Tess' voice was little more than a croak.

"Oh," Jess replied softly.  "What's wrong?"

"He left!"  Tess yelled.  "The bastard untied one ribbon, and... left."

Jess yelped as something on the bed moved.  It was bright green and covered in images of little red stockings.  At first she thought it was some of the wrapping paper, but as it kept flailing about she realized it was one of Tess' arms...  It was lying beside her purse on the bed.  A fancy phone was lying beside it as well.  "You... tried to call me?"

"Stupid phone.  I love it, but it's touchscreen only.  It took me forever to just find the bedroom, and longer to claw my way up to the bed.  And then I couldn't do anything anyway."  Tess sniffled softly.

"Oh Tess,"  Jess scooped her abbreviated friend up in her arms and hugged her tight.  "It's OK.  I'll untie your other limbs, we'll put you back together."

"No!" Tess cried as Jess started to put her down.

"No?"

"Just... hold me.  I need to feel, to be felt by someone who lo... won't abandon me."

"I'm here, Tess.  I'll always be here for you."

It had been a long and stressful night for both of them.  Tess cried for a while, then fell asleep in Jess' arms.  Jess rolled part of the duvet over the two of them, and drifted off herself.

That's how Don found them a few hours later.  His heartfelt, "So hot..." woke Jess, and she yelped, waking Tess.

"Sorry, sorry, I'll just go now," Jess said as she scrambled out of the bed and toward the door, blushing all the while.  Before she managed to get out the front door she heard a girlish scream of fright... but not from Tess.

Don came tearing out of the bedroomroom, looking pale as a ghost.  "My girlfriend is... is..."

Jess sighed.  "I'll fix it. You stay out here."  She gathered up the other presents, and carried them into the bedroom, closing the door behind her.  The instant she pulled each ribbon free, they writhed like snakes and reformed into colourful limbs.  Jess looked at them, puzzled.  "They're solid.  Not hollow.  Weird."

Tess sniffed from her perch in the middle of the bed.  "He left again."

"He's just in the other room.  I don't think he likes the Venus de Milo look on you."

Tess giggled softly.  "I guess not.  I've never heard him scream like that before."

"Maybe he watches too many zombie movies.  Your arm is green, after all."  Jess started giggling, too.

"Could be.  I know he's inflicted them on me often enough.  C'mon, get me put together and I'll try to salvage this somehow.  Think he'll go for 'it was all a dream'?"

"Worth a try.  Here, have an arm."  Jess tried pushing the shoulder of Tess' right arm against the corresponding shoulder.  To both their relief, it stuck firmly.  There was an obvious demarcation where the wrapping paper coloured skin ended and Tess' normal pink flesh began, but no seam.  Jess tugged on it experimentally, then declared, "it's as good as new."

"Yay."  Tess grabbed her left arm, and repeated the process.  Soon enough she was whole once more, and headed out to see her boyfriend.  Who screamed once more, and Tess retreated back into the bedroom.

"I'll go see what's wrong now," Jess said with a sigh.

"Thanks."

Out in the living room, Don was huddled on the couch.  "What is it now, you big baby?" Jess asked.

"She was some kind of quilt-monster.  What's wrong with her arms and legs?"

Jess rolled her eyes, and picked up the magic ribbon. "Oh.  That.  I'll see what I can do."  At the bedroom door she paused.  "This might take a little bit.  Grab something to drink and settle down, OK?"

Once the door was closed behind her, she started laughing again.  Tess looked upset, until she was told about the 'quilt monster', which started her laughing briefly.  "Um... I do look rather outlandish with these arms, though.  I'd rather not have to wear gloves and your kind of clothes all the time to hide this - can we fix it?"

Jess shrugged.  "I'm sure we can.  Might have to turn them back into ribbons and tie them around you for a while so they pick up your skin tone, though."

Tess sighed.  "That'll take hours.  But I don't think I can mend fences with Don while like this, so do what you have to."

Fortunately, the first pass of the ribbon over her arms restored her natural colouration.  Soon all her limbs looked normal again, if a bit shiny due to their silky texture.

Tess stood in front of her full-length mirror, inspecting herself critically.  "Back to normal again.  Maybe the gift-wrapping thing wasn't such a good idea."

Jess snorted.  "You think?"

Tess blew a raspberry at her.  "It could have been a lot more fun, if my boyfriend hadn't freaked out."  She slipped on a green satin robe, purring softly at how it played over her silken skin.  "Time to tame the fearful beast."

Jess looked her friend over appreciatively.  "That should do the trick, all right."

"Now scoot, I'll catch up with you for coffee later."

As Jess was closing the door she overheard Don comment, "Hey, your skin's all shiny.  And smooth.  I like it."

"This might work out after all," Tess said.

Jess sighed with a mixture of relief and a hint of regret, then walked away.