Raveled 10
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"This isn't working," muttered Ed.

Jess sighed.  "I know.  Just try to sleep.  Lots of couples sleep in twin beds."

After another fifteen minutes of trying to get comfortable, even Jess had to admit defeat.  Ed clambered out of bed and started getting dressed.  "I'll go home to sleep.  I'll be back by lunch."

"Aww," pouted Jess.  "There's got to be something.  What about the ribbon?"

Ed dug it out of his jacket pocket.  "Here.  Wait, what's... oops."

"What?"

Ed held out a tied-off bundle of ribbon. "I forgot about Tess."

Jess untied the bow.  The pile of ribbons writhed and into a tall, leggy female.  Tess patted herself down carefully.  She wasn't even silky any more.

"How long?" asked Tess.

"About four hours," said Ed.

Tess shuddered, and breathed a long,drawn-out "ohh."  She looked at Ed with undisguised longing, then over at Jess, who was still naked.  "You are so lucky.  I'll be in my room."

Jess and Ed tried to ignore the hum of Tess' vibrator.  Ignoring her moans was harder.

"So," said Ed loudly.  "You wanted to use the ribbon?"

Tess's moans peaked, then slid off into silence.

"Yes.  Right.  What if you ribboned away most of me?  Then we could both sleep in the same bed."

Ed mused.  "We'd have to tie off the ribbons so your body wouldn't reform."

"Sounds good," Jess grinned. "Hide my arm-ribbons while you're at it."

Ed laughed.  "You and the arms.  Sure.  So what do we keep?"

Jess hefted her breasts enticingly.  "How about these and my head?"

Ed grinned and set to with the ribbon.  First off was Jess' head, after a few turns of ribbon about her neck.  Ed gently set her head on the pillow so she could watch the rest.

Next, turns of ribbon looped over and under Jess' breasts, until a slice of her chest was all that was left of her torso.  Some careful ribbon-work separated her breasts and dissolved the remainder into more ribbon.

"Don't forget my arms," called Jess.

Ed carefully ribboned each arm separately, and tucked their tied-off bundles into the back of Jess' bedside table drawer.  Then he did Jess' legs and hips.  Jess moaned softly as her hips spooled away, and again when they were tied off.  Ed looked over in concern.

"Are you OK?"

"Yeah.  It's just... feeling the last of my body go away."

"What, you can't feel any of this?"  Ed squeezed a bundle of tied-off ribbon.  He was pretty sure it was her belly.

"Nope."

"What about this?"  Ed grasped Jess' breasts where he'd set them on the bed.  They looked like they'd make a comfy pillow.

"Nope.  When you pressed them against the sheets, they stuck there and became part of the bed.  Not mine any more."

Ed looked at Jess' head.  "You're just a head now?"

Jess didn't even have enough of a neck to nod, though she tried.  "Yup."  She sung softly, "I ain't got no body..."

"Oh, that's terrible," Ed grinned. "But I think I can fix it."

Ed pressed Jess' head against the bedsheet near her breasts, overlooking them.

Jess gasped.  "Oh!  Wow.  I can feel the whole bed, now."

Ed gave her breasts another squeeze.  "Even these?"

"Mmm.  Especially those."

They fooled around for a bit, then Ed slid under the covers and lay his head on the pillow.  "Goodnight, Jess."

"Oh come on.  You're not sleeping on that pillow when you have a much cozier one right here..."  Jess looked significantly at her breasts.

"I wouldn't want to keep you awake..."

"I can feel your whole body lying on top of me.  A bit more won't matter."

"I'm not hurting you, am I?"

"Nah.  I'm made for lying on.  Feels nice."

"Cool."  Ed wriggled over and put his head on Jess' breasts.  "Heavenly."  He drifted off to sleep.

In the morning, Ed reassembled Jess, despite her protests that she wanted to stay a bed.  He did compromise and leave her arms as tied up bundles of ribbon.

As Jess went about her morning routine, Ed followed along in fascination.  It was one thing to hear how she'd liked being without arms, and quite another to see it.  She made it look effortless and natural.  Ed began to realize that he not only didn't mind Jess being this way, he was enjoying it.  She seemed more graceful without her arms, and though he was hesitant to admit it to himself, more beautiful as well.  Though perhaps that was a reflection of how happy she seemed to be.

Ed was watching Jess lap her breakfast cereal when he heard Tess drop a box on the floor outside her bedroom.

"What's up?"

"I'm packing up Don's crap.  Could you get me some more boxes, pretty please?"

"Well, when asked so nicely, sure.  I'll be back in a bit."

By lunchtime, there was a pile of boxes in the entryway that nearly blocked off access to the apartment.

"Is that all of it?" asked Ed.

Tess nodded.  "Except for this." She held out a pill bottle.

Jess leaned in to peer at it.  "Lethe?  Wait, I've heard of that.  Someone in the Chem department makes it."

"What does it do?  I can kind of guess by the name..."

"I don't think it's sleeping pills.  Take a picture of it with my cell and I'll ask around."

Tess did so, then put Jess' phone back in her pocket.  "Now what are we going to do with this heap of boxes?"

"I have an idea," ventured Ed.  "But Don won't like it."

"Excellent!" cheered Tess.

When Don finally showed his face that afternoon, Tess shoved a shoebox into his hands.

"What's this?"

"All your crap.  You've moved out."

Don opened the box.  "But it's just ribbons."

"Untie them when you've got space for a box to appear.  They'll stay like that until then."

Don still looked puzzled. "This is... all of my stuff?"  He barged into the bedroom and looked around.  None of his things were there, even his side of the closet was empty, down to the hangars.

"All packed, and in an easy-to-carry form.  Now get out!"

"But... but why?"

"After what you did last night you even need to ask?"

"But I thought you like that kind of thing!" protested Don.

"You weren't dealing with me.  Once my head came off, that was Jess' body again."

"How was I supposed to know that?"

"I was telling you, but you ignored me.  On top of which, you left me in pieces in a motel room.  Helpless!"

"You seem fine now."

"No thanks to you!" shouted Tess.  "Now get out!  I don't ever want to see you again."

"Fine," growled Don.  As he stormed into the hallway he muttered, "Have fun paying for this place without me."

Ed and a still-armless Jess emerged from her bedroom.  "So.  How did it go?"

"He's gone."

"So why the long face?" asked Ed.  "I thought you wanted him gone."

Tess sighed, and sat down heavily. "O, I am fortune's fool.  Jess and I can't afford this place.  He was paying half the rent."

"How much was it?"

Tess named a figure, and Ed shrugged.  "Is that all?"

Jess nodded.  "It's more than I can manage."

"But you could handle it if someone else was paying a share?"

"Who are we going to find on short notice?  We're going to be busy with exams."

"Me."

"I thought you were staying at home," Jess pointed out.

"Yeah.  Mom's cooking, not because I can't afford not to."

"So... we can stay here?" asked Tess hopefully.

"Yup."

"We're going to need a bigger bed, though," said Jess.

"Fine," Tess sighed.  "We can swap rooms, so you two have the queen sized bed."

"We're going to need new sheets," both girls said in unison.

"New sheets?"

Jess and Tess laughed, while Ed just blushed.

Wasting no time, Tess started moving her stuff out of the bigger bedroom.  Jess offered to help Ed pack his stuff up.  She waved the ribbon around carelessly, accidentally silkifying part of the couch.  "We can do it in one trip."

Ed thought that sounded like a great idea.   During the half-hour drive he had plenty of time to reconsider that thought.  However, each time he started to raise his doubts, Jess just smiled at him and everything was right again.

At the door, Ed finally realized just what he was doing... bringing a girl home to his family.  Was that what this was?  He stammered something incoherent to his mother as they entered.

"Hi Mrs. Cooper," said Jess.

"Hi Jess!  How's your mother doing?"

"Oh, she's much better this week, thanks."

"Good, good.  And your exams?"

"First one's Tuesday.  I think I'm ready."

Ed stared back and forth between them.  "You... know each other?"

Mrs. Cooper gave her son a sympathetic look.  "You went to kindergarten with Jess' brother.  She was at your sixth birthday party."

"I'm supposed to remember that?"

Ed's mother and Jess shared a chuckle.

"Come on Ed.  Let's get your stuff packed up."

"Packed?" asked Mrs. Cooper.

"Yeah.  I, er, well... Jess and Tess needed a roommate after Don left, and I..."

"Do you have something to tell me?" asked Mrs. Cooper.

"I'm, uh, moving in with Jess."  He looked at Jess pleadingly, and she stepped up and hugged him.

"My little boy finally has a real girlfriend!  Oh, I'm so happy."  She pulled both of them into a hug.  "You have to stay for dinner."

"Mom!"

"That would be lovely, Mrs. Cooper."

"Please, call me Sarah.  I'll leave you to your... packing."

Ed nervously led Jess to his room in the basement.  "It's not all that tidy.  I'm afraid this is all a bit sudden."

Jess pulled him into a kiss.  "Any regrets?"

Ed smiled. "None."

He swung open his door with a wince.  The room was actually fairly tidy, other than the socks on the floor by the hamper, and the various bits of electronics scattered across Ed's desk.  Jess wasn't looking at any of that.  Lounging on the overstuffed chair was what Jess thought at first was an actual woman.  She recognized her from the picture of Ed's doll.

Jess walked over to her, and touched her cheek.  "My God.  She looks so real.  Even this close."

Jess gave Ed a sly look.  "So did you ever..."  His blush was all the answer she needed.

"So I guess we're taking her?" asked Jess, after an uncomfortable silence.

"Yeah.   You wanted to try her on, right?"

Jess nodded.  "Even more so, now that I've seen her in person... as it were.  She's so pretty.  I can't believe you picked such nice clothes for her."

"Oh, that was Daisy.  She treats her like a dress-up doll.  I gave her a budget, and she got all this pretty stuff.  She'll probably miss her."

"Who's Daisy?"

"My little sister.  She's sixteen now, but Mom still won't let her wear this kind of stuff."

Jess laughed.  "It's just a miniskirt."

"I know.  But Daisy's the 'little girl' of the family.  Mom still seems to think she's six."

Jess started ribboning the doll, clothes and all.  "Will Daisy be at dinner?"

"I'm surprised we haven't already seen her."

"Hey!" called out a young girl's voice.  "What are you doing to Molly?"

"And there she is.  Hi Daisy.  This is my... girlfriend Jess."

Jess sized up the teen.  She was gangly, like her brother.  It looked like that in a few more years she'd grow into her frame, and become quite pretty.  For now, though, she looked more like an awkward gosling.  The braces didn't help, nor did the plain black-rimmed glasses.

"Yes, Ed has a girlfriend.  He's moving in with me.  My roommate's boyfriend got kicked out, and we need the help to make the rent."

Daisy snorted.  "Right.  And that's the only reason he's moving in."

Ed blushed brightly.  Daisy laughed, then hugged her big brother.  "I'm glad.  Maybe I can get dibs on your room, instead of sharing with the others?"

Ed shrugged.  "Take it up with Mom.  I'd be OK with it, though."

"Can I keep Molly too?" Daisy asked, making puppy-dog eyes at Ed. While Ed stammered, Daisy looked at Molly's legs.  She touched the ribbons there wonderingly.  "What did you do?"

"Careful!" called out Ed.  Daisy yanked her hand back, then stared at her silken fingers.

"Ed?" she asked weakly.  "What's going on?"

Ed sighed.  "A magic ribbon.  Don't worry, it'll be back to normal in an hour."

"Oh.  Huh." Daisy ran her fingers up her arm.  "Feels nice."

Jess chuckled.  "Your whole family is crazy."

"Nah.  Just the two of us.  The rest are happy with this hobby farm of Dad's.  May as well show Daisy what the ribbon can do."

Jess nodded, and continued ribboning the doll.  Soon all that was left was a pile of ribbons.  A large pink one, two shorter red ones for the top and miniskirt, and two purple ones.

"Where did these purple ribbons come from?" asked Jess.

"Her lingerie, I'd guess." said Daisy.

"Ed had you buying sexy underthings for her, too?"

"Wasn't his idea," grinned Daisy.  "But he sure didn't complain."

Ed said nothing, and very studiously kept packing up his clothes in boxes.  Daisy and Jess pitched in, and soon there was a small pile of boxes ready to go.

Jess started ribbonizing the boxes before Ed had closed the last one.  She caught Ed's hand in a loop, and despite his protest it was soon nothing but a ribbon.  Jess tugged it free.

Daisy stared at it with eyes like saucers.  "Doesn't that hurt?"

Ed shook his head.  "Not a bit."  He shuddered as Jess threaded his hand-ribbon through her fingers.

"We should show her what four strokes of the ribbon does," Jess said with a grin.

"But... oh, fine.  Turnabout and all that.  Dinner's at six, so there's time."

Jess grinned, and tossed Ed's hand-ribbon into the air.  She attacked it with the magic ribbon, and by the time it had hit the floor, Ed was half-gone.  Another toss and swish, and he had disappeared entirely, leaving behind an empty set of clothes.

Daisy picked up the ribbon wonderingly. "This is Ed?"

"Yup."  Jess started winding the ribbon up into a neat bundle.

"And he can feel all that?"

"Until I do this, anyway."  Jess tied the bundle off neatly.

"What do you mean?"

"Once you tie the ribbon off, it's just ribbon."

"Forever?" Daisy asked worriedly.

"No, of course not!  Just until you untie it."

"So he can't hear anything we say?"

Jess shook her head. "Nothing at all.  He's not even aware."

"What's that like?"

So Jess told the tale of the last night's mess with Don.  She especially noted how Ed had tucked her and Tess into pockets.  And how he'd forgotten about Tess for half the night.

"Sounds like Don's a right bastard."

"He's... yeah, I guess.  He wasn't so bad, but the ribbon really throws him."  She told Daisy about Don's first encounter with the ribbon, and how he'd run screaming from a disembodied wrap-coloured arm.

"I see.  Better not let the rest of the family see that, to be honest.  I don't think they'd do much better.  Well, they probably wouldn't get abusive."

The two girls talked for hours.  Jess got a better idea of what Ed was like as a big brother.  In turn, she answered dozens of questions about what university life was like.  Daisy was well ahead of her class and was hoping to take a few university courses during her last year at high school.

When Mrs. Cooper called them to dinner, Jess tried to send Daisy ahead while she restored Ed.

"I wanna see!" Daisy cried.

"He'll be naked," Jess pointed out.

Daisy shrugged.  "We only have the one shower.  Nothing I haven't seen."

She pulled the knot of Ed's ribbon, and he rapidly expanded into shape like a self-inflating raft.  As soon as he noticed Daisy he yelped, and dove behind his bed.  "Shoo!"

Daisy laughed, and headed upstairs.  "Don't be too long, or you'll miss dinner."

Dinner was a quiet affair.  Mrs. Cooper's cooking was excellent, the roast chicken was so tender that it practically fell off the bone.  It was only once everyone was done eating that the questions started.  Ed's mother wanted to hear how they met, and crowed when she found out that it was due to the dance classes she'd strong-armed Ed into taking.  Ed's father wanted to know Ed's plans - it was clear that he wasn't quite used to the idea that Ed had made good money with "those silly games".

"I'm hoping we can keep the apartment over the summer.  It's really close to campus.  I can be in class in minutes, rather than almost an hour."  Ed said.

Jess smiled approvingly.  "We'll work it out."

As they were leaving, Ed's father stopped him at the door.  "Take care of this one, son.  She's a keeper."

Ed smiled. "I'll do my best, Dad."

Jess laughed in the car as Ed told her about it.  "Did you mention you'd already rescued me from the clutches of evil?"

Ed shrugged. "I'd have had to explain far too much."

"I'm surprised Daisy let us go with the doll."

"I had to promise she could visit from time to time."

Jess grinned.  "That'll be fun.  I like her."


Back at the apartment, Tess had already swapped her and Jess' things between bedrooms.  Ed had given her some money for sheets, so there were fresh linens on the beds, too.  (It wasn't until later that Ed and Jess discovered that their new sheets were satin...)

"Wow," said Jess, as Ed started unribboning his boxes in their bedroom.  "We're really doing this."

"Yeah.  I can hardly believe it myself."

Jess hugged him, and he kissed her soundly.  "Happy?" she asked.

"Heck yes.  You?"

"And nervous."

"Nervous?"

"Exams start tomorrow.  My first one is Tuesday morning."

"Better get back to studying, then.  I'll try not to be too distracting."

"Aww."


Ed was true to his word, letting Jess study largely undisturbed all day Monday.  He even brought her snacks and refilled her glass.

That night she asked why he wasn't busy studying.

"This is a makeup term for me.  I just have to pass the two classes I failed last year when we were busy with the mobile games."

"Why'd you come back at all?  It sounds like you were doing pretty well."

"We had a lucky break with one game.  Who knew that exploding penguins would be so popular?  But it didn't last.  We made a few more games after that, but none of them took off.  Still, it paid all of us enough to finish our classes and then some, can't complain."

"Ever thought about doing a sequel to the hit?"

Ed nodded.  "Going to work on it this summer.  Scott even got his sister to make up plushies of the main characters, to inspire us."

"Cool.  G'night sweetie."

Ed cuddled up to his armless girlfriend, and they drifted off to sleep.

Jess almost left for her exam without her arms, but Ed stopped her in time.  Tess was giggling up a storm.  "How were you going to write the exam without arms?"

"Pen in my mouth, of course," replied Jess calmly.

"Good luck!" called Ed as Jess left.

Half an hour later, Tess sighed.  "Sooo bored with this.  Can you put my head in my textbook again?"

Ed nodded.  "Sure.  But isn't that cheating?"

"Can I possibly get caught?"

"Well, no.  Not any way I can think of."

"Then it's not cheating."

Ed tilted his head the way he always did when studying a problem.  "How much do you remember from when you did that last week?"

Tess flipped the book open.  "Venus at a Mirror," she said, without looking at the text.  "Painted by Peter Paul Rubens in 1615, believed to be a copy from a lost painting by Titian."

Ed looked at the picture, and the text, then back at the picture.  "Huh.  Looks a bit like Tess, actually."

Tess laughed. "I've tried to tell her that she's pretty by these standards.  She won't believe me."

"But she is!"

"Good luck convincing her of it, though."

Ed sighed.  "I'll work on it.  So if you've got the whole book memorized, why do it again?"

"When in the why and the wherefore is neither rhyme nor reason?" Tess quoted.  "The art isn't organized in my head.  If you asked me about works of art by Rubens I'd have to wander through my mental gallery until I found them."

"Ah.  So you need more time to sort it better?  I guess that makes sense.  How long?"

"All day."

Ed nodded.  "What should I do with the rest of you while your head is in the book?"

Tess grinned.  "Something creative."


When Jess came home after her exam, she asked why Tess' torso was being used as a vase.

"I think she looks good like this."

Jess nodded.  "With the carnations she does brighten up the place, I agree.  Is she OK with this?"

"Her head's in a book.  Literally."

"Where's the rest of her?"

Ed pointed to a row of objects on the kitchen counter, each tied with a bow.  One was tied around a glass, another around the shiny stainless steel handle of their ladle.  A third was around a banana, and a fourth around a wooden cooking spoon.

They pulled Tess out of her book, and let her see what Ed had done with her body.  Tess laughed, and asked for a closer look.

"What did you use to hold the flowers?"

Ed shrugged.  "I put a jar down your neck.  Washed it really thoroughly first, of course."

"No wonder I can't feel my body.  I really like what you've done here, except..."

"What?"

"Well, there's just too much clothing."

"I only left your bra on..."

"And a good thing too, mister," piped up Jess.

Tess stuck her tongue out at her friend.  "You have to admit, the vase would look better as a nude."

Jess evaluated the body-vase critically, then sighed.  "You're right, of course."  She unhooked the bra, and tossed it toward Tess' room.

"See?  Beautiful.  Where's the rest of me?"

Ed set Tess down on the coffee table, beside the 'vase' and started untying her limbs.  Jess and tess both laughed at the banana-coloured leg.  The wooden one amused them as well, but they did agree that the concept had potential - assuming nicer wood was used.  "Try the table-leg next time."

The arms stopped Tess' breath for a moment.  "They're gorgeous!  Oh, put me back together, I have to see what this looks like."

This was accomplished with a bit of ribbon work to free the jar from her neck, and more to get rid of the silly banana and wood textures on her legs.  Tess posed and preened in front of the bathroom mirror.  One arm was clear as glass, you could see right through it.  The other was shiny and silvery.  "I don't know which I like better.  Being see-through would be fun, though. Can you do me in all glass, next?"

Jess dragged Ed away.  "Come on, we need to get studying.  And Tess, for God's sake put some clothes on."

"You didn't mind when Don lived here."

"Don didn't traipse around naked, only you did.  And I'd prefer if you didn't do that in front of Ed."

"I'm sure he doesn't mind.  Do you, Ed?"  Tess posed sexily, though slightly demurely - one hand covered her crotch, the other her breasts.  The effect of the latter was to magnify her breasts through the curved glass of her arm.

Ed's strangled reply was not particularly intelligible.

"See?" said Jess, "You've broken him.  I'll need him later, to unwind from the exam."

"How'd it go?" asked Tess.

"Good, I think.  I felt pretty confident on most of it.  There were a few questions where I wished I could have had the text handy, though."

"You should try putting your head in a textbook," Tess gestured at the art book she'd recently been inhabiting.  "Just make sure to spend some time in the index."

Ed made another strangled sound, and Jess sighed.  "Tess, you're still naked.  Could you put some clothes on, or at least some panties."

"How about erasing my bits instead?"  Tess countered with a saucy grin.

"Sure, but I'll do it.  I'd rather not have Ed playing with your private parts."

Tess grinned even wider.  "That works for me too."

So they spent a little time turning Tess' hips to ribbon, then reassembling what was left.  Tess found it very much harder - but not impossible - to walk without hip joints.  Once she was comfortable moving about, she started tying her hip ribbon around the glass jar that had been in her neck.

"What are you doing?"

"Well, I figure if my hips and bits are made out of glass, you'll stop whining about me walking around naked."

"I... um...  I guess that counts," mused Jess.

"Sweet!"

Ed finally found his voice.  "Did you ever figure out what that Lethe stuff was?"

"Oh yeah, I asked around a bit.  Quite a few of my classmates had heard of it, but it took a bit of hunting to find one that knew any details.  That led me over to the Chemistry department and some of the TAs there."

"So what did you figure out?"

"It's based off Doctor Winston's work on memory enhancing drugs.  Some of the trial drugs instead erased memories, and one of his post-docs has been making more of it.  Nobody's talking as to just who it is, though."

"It erases memories?  That's pretty scary."

Jess shook her head.  "No, it just blocks formation of short-term memory.  For about four hours after you take it you won't remember anything you do.  Apparently that makes you pretty suggestible."

Tess frowned.  "That sounds like it would make a perfect date-rape drug."

Jess nodded.  "That's what the girls I talked to said.  They were pretty shocked that Don had a bunch of it."

"You told them that we got it from Don?"

"Um... shouldn't I have?"

Tess sighed.  "You know what the rumour mill is like around here.  Don's going to know we started the rumour, and that we have this stuff.  Double, double, toil and trouble."