Moonstone - Chapter 25
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Duncan groaned at his alarm clock Tuesday morning.  Sidney was less than sympathetic.  "That's what you get for staying up so late."

Duncan yawned hugely, stretched, and thumped out of bed.  "It's not that bad.  I still feel full of energy.  My body just needs to catch up."

As he drove in to work Duncan mused over the events of the previous night.  Everyone seemed to have enjoyed their changes, even Zoe as a giant boob.  Giving someone a chance to live out an otherwise impossible fantasy had been an incredible experience, despite the false start.  

But what consumed him the most was the failed attempt to heal.  How could someone just walk away from it?  How many people were like that?

Duncan was glad of the chance to throw himself into his work.  Computers didn't make him question his motivations in life.  They did as they were instructed, and if you were clever and persistent enough, any odd behaviour could be discovered and explained.  He liked that.

Duncan barely came up for air the entire day.  There was still so much to learn about the new systems at work, and he'd finally gotten his first assigned project done.  The thrill of actually getting to see it run on a prototype, getting to play with it and listen to the results... that was the best.  Sure, the prototype was mostly running in a virtual machine on his desktop - it was still cool.

His boss was happy to see results so soon, and they talked for a while at the end of the day.  Duncan also got a sense of what the product development cycle would be like - in a few more months they'd have some initial hardware builds.  "Then it gets even more fun."

That night, as they were getting ready for bed, Sidney yelped in surprise.  "What's that on your back?"

Duncan craned around, then laughed.  "It's a patch of fur.  It hasn't bothered your allergies, has it?"

"Why do you have a patch of fur on your bum?"

"Because Donna has a full-blown rabbit's tail.  I thought it would be amusing for Easter.  I ended up with an echo of it."

"Cute.  So you're going to turn into the Easter Bunny for the kids?"

"I could...  If I can keep from accidentally changing myself before then.  Honestly, I'm not sure I'll make it.  I watched TV with you all night tonight just to keep myself distracted."

Sidney mock-pouted.  "And here I thought you were being nice."

"That too."

Sidney grinned, and gave her husband a hug.  "Thanks."

The following night, Sidney pulled out all the stops, and played her most mindless reality TV shows from moonrise on.

As they were getting into bed, Sidney noted that the next day was April Fool's.  "So no sneaky waking me up at midnight with bunny ears, mister."

"What?  I...  Oh bother."

Sidney just laughed and pointed at the giant ears Duncan now had.  "Wow.  You are twitchy."

"No bunny jokes.  You might just end up sleeping next to one."  Duncan laughed with his wife as he put his shirt back on.  A few moments in front of the Moonstone and he was back to what passed for normal this month.

Thursday was much the same, with no actual April Fool's pranks in sight.  Courtney was still a bit too young, and easily frustrated by jokes she didn't understand.

Duncan made good use of Good Friday, by taking the kids to a park.  Even if it was raining a bit, they had fun splashing in puddles.  Sidney was nonplussed with how damp and dirty the kids were when they got back, but Duncan figured it was well worth it for the fun they'd had.

That evening, Sidney was a little surprised when Duncan sat down beside her on the couch to watch TV.

"Not going to the club?" she asked.

"Nah, the Moon doesn't rise until after midnight.  I'd have to stay female all day to get decent shifts in."  Duncan was also quite certain that his remaining store of Moonstone power wouldn't last a moment in contact with Gwen.  He didn't think sharing that thought would be wise.

"Thanks for not subjecting me to that.  But don't we still need the money?"

Duncan shrugged.  "The tips were very good Monday.  Heather figured out how to keep her breasts huge, so I didn't get any tips from her.  Between all the others, though, I did pretty well.  Plus, my first paycheque showed up in our bank account yesterday.  We'll get by, I think.  As long as nothing else goes wrong."

"Who's Heather?"

Duncan snorted.  "Thinks she's the queen of the club.  She's not far wrong, honestly.  With the boost she got from the Moonstone and a custom bra, she's as big as me.  And she knows how to work the crowd.  If we're lucky, she'll join the feature dancer circuit soon."

"Sounds like a piece of work."

"Oh she is, at that.  But she earns more than any two of the others put together."

By Saturday night, they'd run out of recorded reality TV to watch.  The moon was rising late enough that it no longer mattered.  Instead of watching TV, they spent some time together hiding treats for the kids.  They divided the eggs by colour.  Pink, red and purple for Courtney, blues and greens for Victor.  The latter had to be 'hidden' in plain sight, of course.

Courtney's delighted squeals of "The Easter Bunny came!" woke Duncan and Sidney.  Before Duncan even knew he'd started it, the transformation he'd been planning for the past few days was complete.

Duncan found a shirt that he could put on with a little extra effort from white-furred paw-hands.  The only pants that would fit over bunny-long feet were his extra-stretchy track pants.  Next time, he figured, he'd dress, then change.  Or use his share of the Moonstone's power to create some fitting clothes in advance.

When Courtney saw the bunny-faced, floppy eared figure emerge, her eyes went even wider.  "Easter Bunny is HERE!"

Duncan chuckled.  "Yes I am, little one."

Courtney clapped her hands.  "Daddy is the Easter Bunny.  Yay!  Can I have bunny ears too?"

Sidney looked at Duncan sharply.  "I don't know if that's such a good idea."

"Pleeeeease?"

"The Moonstone can change her back.  It'll be fine."

Sidney couldn't resist the smiling face of her daughter.  "Fine.  Just... be sure to change back in time."

Of course, once she had bunny ears, Courtney wanted a bunny tail, too.  Duncan felt the last of his power drain away as he made the change.

Next she wanted a bunny nose like his.  "Please Daddy?"

Duncan sighed softly.  "I'm sorry, sweetie.  The Magic of Easter is all used up.  We'll do it again next year, though."

"You'll what?"

"Yay!" cheered Courtney.

While Courtney and Victor hunted for eggs (with many gratuitous hints), Sidney had an intense whispered chat with her husband.

"What do you mean, next year?"

"That's the thing about Easter.  It's the only day of the year guaranteed to be no more than a week after the full Moon.  We can do this every year!"

"And this is a good thing, how?"

Duncan gestured to the kids with a furry paw.  Courtney was hopping around Victor like a bunny, and he was clapping his hands excitedly.  "Look at how happy they are."

Sidney couldn't help but smile.  "I guess you're right."

She was less happy when Duncan realized they'd missed moonset.  They spent the day at home, bunny man, bunny-eared girl, and two humans.  Missing dinner at Duncan's parents place was a small loss, they saw them often enough.  

Duncan had a lot of fun playing with the kids as the Easter Bunny.  But by bedtime, Courtney was tired of her ears.  "Can you change them back now, Daddy?"

"Sssh, it's time to sleep.  When you wake up, you'll be back to normal, I promise."

To be extra sure, Duncan set an alarm for three in the morning so that he could sneak in and use the Moonstone to change Courtney back.  He changed himself back at the same time.  The extra yawns on Monday morning seemed a small price to pay.

Especially after he got back home to be greeted by, "How long until next Easter?"  That made him smile.

"Sorry sweetie.  It's going to be a whole year until Easter comes by again."

"Oh.  How long is a year?"

"Three hundred and sixty-five days."

Courtney looked up at him mournfully.  "Can I be a bunny before then?"

"Um..."  Duncan looked at his wife.

"How about we get you a hairband with bunny ears on it?" suggested Sidney.

"Yay!"  Courtney ran off to find her brother and tell him the good news.

Duncan favoured his wife with a relieved smile.  "I'll see if I can make her some kind of elastic belt with a bunny-tail on it, too.  Next full Moon."

Sidney gave him a look.  "I didn't want you offering to change her again.  Once per year will be quite enough."

"I'll take what I can get."

The week rolled by quickly as Duncan settled into his new routine.  He was enjoying the work, and truth be told enjoying a little time away from the kids and especially the diapers...

Saturday afternoon saw Donna appear once again.  Sidney giggled a bit at the bunny tail.  "You're a bit late for Easter now.  Hey, wait a minute - you're going to the club?"

Donna nodded.  "Sorry.  I couldn't do Friday, the Moon was all wrong.  But I can do tonight and tomorrow, and spend most of the day male."

Sidney sighed.  "Do you have to?"

"Remember how we raided my retirement savings to survive last year?  The tax bill came due on that.  The only way I can pay that off is to pay the minimums on the credit card bills for a couple months."  Donna closed her eyes, wincing.  "I've been there before.  Let it go any further, and I'll have to pick and choose which bills to pay each month.  The interest will kill us."

"Can we get a loan to cover it?"

Donna laughed sarcastically.  "With less than a month on the job?  I'm not even going to ask."

"This sucks."

"Come on, it's not so bad.  An evening or two a week can make all the difference.  We just need to get through this rough spot, and I can stop moonlighting at the club."

Sidney laughed, wryly.  "Right.  You'd stop, cold turkey?"

Donna bit her lip.  "Um.  I'd still want to go full Moon nights.  I can make so much money those nights. It'd just be once per month," she wheedled.

Sidney just sighed.

Arriving at the Blue Vixen after two weeks away felt like coming home.  There was something reassuring about seeing the same old blue-painted back door.  About walking up to it, breasts swaying.  Had it really only been six months since the wet T-shirt contest that landed her here?

Gwen broke her out of her reverie by pounce-hugging her, as usual.  She wiggled her bum, showing off her bunny tail, and gave Donna's matching tail a tweak.  "Yay!  You still have yours.  I wasn't sure it'd survive the transition to Duncan."

Donna laughed, and told Gwen about Duncan's fur-patch.

"Wait, why does Duncan have fur again?"

Donna shrugged.  "Roughly for the same reason that I can do this at all.  I managed to persuade the Moon to let me have two 'normal' forms.  No one o'clock shadow for me!"

"Neat trick.  You'll have to tell me how you do it some day."

"Maybe.  Better if you figure it out on your own.  I think I've said too much already."

As usual, Heather slotted Donna in with Gwen, so they danced together.  Gwen was proud of her bunny tail, and made good use of it while dancing.  Donna needed a couple sets to get as confident as Gwen was in showing it off.

"I'm amazed," Donna said, after a set.  "Nobody seems to be bothered by the tails at all."

Gwen grinned.  "The opposite, really.  I've been getting the odd private room rental from guys who just want to touch it, to see that it's real."

By the end of the night, Donna's tips were only enough to make a very small dent in her pile of debt.  She sighed as she walked out the door with Gwen.  "There are just too many others around with big boobs."

Gwen laughed.  "That's your own damn fault, you know.  And next month it'll get worse, I think the rest of them have figured out how to get a permanent boost."

Donna kicked a rock, glumly.  "Yeah.  But they're so happy to get it, I can't say no.  Maybe I'll just stick to full Moon nights after all."

"Aww.  But I'd miss you the rest of the month."

"My wife would probably say, 'And that's a bad thing how?'"

"Don't be like that.  I haven't made a pass at you in weeks."

Donna snickered.  "What did you call all that tail-rubbing when we danced, then?"

"Putting on a show.  That it flustered you was just a bonus."

"Rotten girl."

"You know you like it.  And I know you love the dancing.  Even if the money isn't great.  You come alive up on that stage, you can't deny it."

Donna sighed wistfully, and looked away.  "I just wish it paid enough I could justify the time away from my family better."

"Get into the crowd and get more private rentals, then."

Donna hugged her arms more tightly around herself.  It may have been early spring, but this late at night it was still plenty cold.  "I guess.  I just..."  Donna stopped at her car, and leaned against it.

"Hm?  I don't get why you don't work the room."

"It's stupid."

"Tell me anyway."

"I just... hate trying to sell myself like that.  I feel all awkward and... putting on the predator's mask is about the only way I can get through it at all."

"They don't like that."

Donna chuckled, letting it rumble in her throat ferally.  "Oh, I know.  But... that reaction I can deal with way better than the leers and gropes."

"They leer at you even more when you dance."

"That's different."

Gwen shook her head.  "Try to look at it as a kind of flattery."

"Flattery?"  Donna laughed.

"Yeah.  If they didn't think you looked hot, they wouldn't do it."

Donna got into her car.  "I don't know.  I'll think about it.  See you tomorrow."

Gwen brightened.  "Cool.  G'night!"

The next night wasn't any better, though.  Sunday nights were quiet ones at the club.  It thinned down the competition, to the point that Donna and Gwen danced quite a few sets separately as well as together, just to put some variety on the roster.  It also thinned out the crowd, so the tips were sparser.

Gwen managed to scare up a couple guys who wanted to check out both of their tails.  That was fun, and she split the room rental with Donna.

After the private show Donna mused, "You know, I don't think bunny is right for me."

Gwen laughed.  "Yeah, it's getting old for me, too.  I want something more dangerous next time.  Maybe a tiger's tail."

"That'd be cool.  Harder to hide, but worth it.  You'd need the stripes, too, though maybe not the fur."

"Rowan's got a good bodypaint kit, but nobody here's really good at using it."

"Nah, go with the real thing.  Change the skin coloration.  Then use foundation to hide it when you go out."

"Huh.  Might get annoying.  But with gloves and a high collar... hm.  How long until the next full Moon?"

"Two weeks from this Tuesday."  Donna answered, without pausing to think.

"You know that off by heart?"  Gwen asked, surprised.

Donna touched the moon-shaped mark between her breasts.  "Yeah.  I memorized the dates for a few years' worth.  I used to study the rise and set tables, but lately I haven't had to.  I just... know."

"How'd you get that mark, anyway?"

Donna just smiled mysteriously, and led Gwen up to the stage for another performance.

Monday morning made it abundantly clear that Duncan was definitely not doing any more Sunday night performances.  He could barely keep his eyes open, and what code he managed to write had to be entirely scrapped the next day.  He worked a little harder for the rest of the week to cover for it.

Once the new Moon was behind them, his Donna side started to perk up.  Every day brought her closer to another full Moon, and she was looking forward to spending that night at the club.

Work was going well enough to keep Duncan happy.  Life at home was quiet, as the money crunch meant they had to cut back on everything but the basics.  There was even talk of pulling Courtney out of her preschool.  She was having a lot of fun with it, and getting a lot better at socializing with the other kids, so neither Sidney nor Duncan had the heart to cut it.

The Moon rose and set at more convenient times the next two weekends, so Donna only came out when it was time to go to the club.  Sidney was relieved, but Duncan could feel Donna's disappointment every time she changed back.  One Sunday morning, Courtney was up early, as was the Moon.  Sidney was still asleep, so Duncan changed into Donna for a while. They had a lovely time together, until Sidney saw her.

Courtney then asked when Auntie Donna would visit again.  This made Sidney even more cranky, though that might also have been the lack of coffee.

All day Monday, the day before the full Moon, Duncan could feel Donna pacing at the back of his mind.  She was expressing exactly what he was feeling, a nervous eagerness to go do something amazing.  Once again, work on Monday was a bust - between the jarring switch from club time to work time, and the anticipation... Duncan's focus was shot.  He knew he'd have to make it up later, but that hardly mattered.

Finally, finally it was Tuesday night.  Duncan came home, ate dinner quickly, and tried to focus on the kids while every nerve was just waiting for the Moon to finally rise.

"You've got it bad," noted Sidney.

Duncan sighed.  "I know.  The night of the full Moon is the best night of the month."

"Just come back when it's over, OK?"

"I always will."

The instant the Moon cleared the horizon, Duncan went out to meet it.  The weather was due to turn worse before midnight, and he didn't want to miss it.  He came back inside as Donna, wearing a new dancing outfit, all fluffy and white.  She also had a bunny-ear headband and a fuzzy tail for Courtney to wear.  Courtney was just getting ready for bed, and accepted the gifts with glee.

"Thank you Auntie Donna!"

Donna kissed her cheek, wished her goodnight, and headed off to the club.

Gwen met Donna at the door, and noticed the lack of bunny-tail right away.  "What happened to it?"

Donna grinned.  "Gave it to my daughter.  On an elastic band.  I went with something a bit more subtle this month."

Taking off her jacket showed off her new, slightly-expanded moon mark.  She'd managed to get an opalescent look to it, and Gwen spent some time admiring it.

"Are those... scales?" Gwen asked, wonderingly.

"Yep.  I can't show it in public, but it looks so pretty I don't care."

"Can I get a mark like that, too?  Before I trance, so it stays, I mean."

Donna pondered that for a while, then slowly shook her head.  "I'm not the one you should ask."

"What do you mean?"

Donna grinned, and tried to put on a mysterious air.  "Some things are best if you figure them out for yourself.  I don't think it'll take you long, though."

Gwen snorted.  "Really?"

"Yeah.  I got told the same thing when I got the Moonstone.  It worked for me."

"Fine.  Can I at least get some pretty scale-work, that's not a mysterious Moon-shaped mark?  Oooh, like a snake tattoo, wrapped around my waist.  But with real scales."

"And lose the bunny tail?  Sure, easy as pie."

Gwen peered at the glittering emerald scales that entwined her waist.  "Nice, but... needs a bit more oomph.  What if it wound it's way up my leg, as well?"

After a few more iterations, Donna was finally done.  "You know, it would have taken less effort just to turn you into a snake.  Yeesh."

"I can't hear you over how awesome I look.  Wait, where'd the head go?"  Gwen traced the snake around her waist, and then noticed it dipping into her panties.  She pulled them down, and yelped.  The snake's head was there, alright.  It was turned sideways, and a glittering eye sat right beside her pussy.  The snake's lower jaw was on the other side - it looked like her private parts were the snake's mouth.

"That's just...  Wicked.  Oh, I so want to show this off.  I almost wish this wasn't just a topless club."

Donna laughed.  "I'm sure there'll be more than a few guys wanting to play follow-the-snake in private.  Happy with it?"

"It's awesome!"

"Good."  Donna offered her coat to Gwen.  "Go look at the Moon, then.  It's going to cloud up before midnight."

Gwen wrapped up in Donna's coat and bounced out the door.  She was back moments later, grinning like a Cheshire Cat.  "It worked!"

Donna grinned at Gwen's excitement, and nodded sagely at the pale circular mark resting between the younger woman's breasts.  "Very nice.  Did you change anything else?"

Gwen's eyes went wide. "Wait.  Everything I changed in the image will...?"

"What's wrong?"

"I kind of got carried away with your snake-head imagery.  Oh God, it just licked my leg."

Gwen pulled her panties down and stared in dismay at her nether regions.  The snake tattoo ended in a real snake's head inside her panties, replacing her mound.  The top of its head was facing outward, now.  The snake's glittering yellow eyes blinked in the light, and a slim black tongue flickered out.  

Gwen muffled a giggle.  "What?  It tickles."  She sighed softly.  "Am I stuck with this for the month?"

Donna nodded.  "I could make it go away, but by mid-month you'll have a snake's head in your panties."

Gwen touched it, and the snake's mouth yawned wide, exposing retractable fangs.  She shuddered.  "How odd.  But I think I'm starting to like it.  Is that weird?"

"Weird is good."

"I'm just glad I'm not seeing anyone right now.  Can you imagine?"

Donna looked her over, and grinned.  "I can, actually."