Raveled 11
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The rest of Tuesday was quiet.  Tess spent the afternoon with her head in her art history book, after unsuccessfully trying to persuade Jess to study the same way.  Jess just used the ribbon to remove her arms, and went back to more conventional study, with Ed happily turning pages for her.

When Jess bemoaned that her next exam was getting so close - Wednesday afternoon - they discovered that all three of them were writing an exam at the same time.  Ed suggested that they should all buckle down and study.  Tess was the one that suggested a big party afterward, and the idea was well received.

Wednesday morning Jess had another armless breakfast.  She grinned at Ed’s fascination with it.

“You know you’re going to have to have arms later, right?” noted Tess.

“Doesn’t mean I can’t go most of the day without them.”

Tess sighed.  “I still don’t see the attraction.”

“I do,” piped up Ed.

Jess smiled at him prettily, and leaned over to give him a kiss.

Ed and Tess finished with their studies before lunch.  Tess had spent the morning in her book once again, so Ed fished her out then went out to get some burgers for the three of them to eat.

Jess was still swotting away over her texts and practice exams when Ed returned.  She was in the middle of writing a practice exam with a pen held between her teeth.  Ed watched for a few moments, then shook his head.  “You’ll never finish in time that way.  Here, have something to eat.”

Ed held out the burger to Jess, who took bites of it from his hand between reading pages of her notes.  “Thanks sweetie.  I can see your point, it’s just so slow.  I’m getting better, but not good enough to dare trying to write my exam armless.”

“You know,” Ed mused, “they do have a special needs department that assists students who need special facilities or more time to write exams.  You could apply.”

“But that wouldn’t be fair to the students who really need it.  I’ll manage a few hours with my arms.”

When it was time to head off for their exams, Ed helped Jess put her arms back on, then gave her a warm hug.  “See, there are good things about arms.”

Jess chuckled softly.  “I suppose you’re right.  Still don’t like ‘em.”

Ed walked Tess and Jess to campus, and escorted Jess all the way to her exam room.  He had to run to make it to his own exam on time.

Ed powered through his exam intently, and turned it in with almost an hour left to go.  He didn’t waste any time waiting around for his classmates, and instead walked back to where Jess was writing her exam.  Tess was already waiting there.

They chatted idly until Jess emerge, looking a the worse for wear.  Ed rushed over to her and gave her a hug.  “How’d it go?”

“I...  Ugh.  I think I did OK.  Sooo much information.”

“Come on,” called Tess, tugging both of them along.  “Let’s go celebrate.”

Jess was only too happy to have a good dinner, and some drinks.  Which turned into a few more drinks, then Tess started to persuade her to go dancing.

“Come on.  Your next exam’s not until Monday.  You’ve got the whole weekend to study, and the ribbon to help.  Besides, you two met in dance class, you should... you know, actually dance.”

Jess giggled. “Fine.  And I’ll even do it with my arms, this once.”

Tess blinked.  “Just like that?  I always have to drag you kicking and screaming.”

Jess tilted her head toward Ed, who was making puppy-dog eyes at her.  Tess laughed, and the others joined her.

They made something of a scene at the club.  Not because they were drunk or disorderly - that was hardly unusual as students decompressed from finals - but because the foxtrot wasn’t exactly typical on the dance floor.  Ed and Jess were having fun, and Tess was doing her best to improvise along with them.

They weren’t the only ones attracting attention.  The loudest of the drunk and disorderly types turned out to be Don, who wasn’t happy seeing Tess dancing with someone else.  Once Tess realized what was going on, she dragged the others out of the club.  Don’s teammates kept him from doing anything too stupid as they left, though some of the things he yelled earned him a withering look from Jess.

Once they were back at the apartment, everyone finally relaxed.

“Well, that was a fun evening,” said Jess, sarcastically.

“I’m sorry, Jess.  I had no idea he’d be there.”

“No, no, I’m not blaming you.  I just wish that lunkhead hadn’t messed things up.”

“I can’t entirely blame him for being upset, though.  You should have heard some of the rumours going around.”

“Rumours?” asked Ed.

“Most notably, that Don has been using Lethe to get girls to sleep with him.  I ran into at least one who claimed she’d woken up at his fraternity with no memory of how she’d got there, and she’s not the only one.  The mood’s getting ugly out there.”

Jess frowned.  “That can’t be just because I asked a few questions.”

“No, you just threw a lit match into a barrel of gasoline.”

“Actually, that wouldn’t produce an explosion,” interjected Ed.  Both girls gave him a withering look.  “Right, not the point, sorry.”

“You could make it up to us by getting some supplies.”

“Supplies?”

“Yeah, we never had dessert.  Can you get some whipped cream and chocolate sauce from the store?”

Ed looked between the two friends.  Tess had a scheming grin on, and Jess looked about as puzzled as he did.  Tess winked at her, then Jess grinned as well.  “Could you, sweetie?”

“Sure, anything for you.  Be back in a few minutes.”

Once the door had closed behind Ed, and his footsteps had receded down the hall, Jess turned to Tess.  “What was that all about?”

“Distraction.  For both of you.”

“Ice cream sundaes are a distraction?”

Tess pulled Jess toward her bedroom.  “They’re not for sundaes.  C’mon, where’s the ribbon?”

Jess was still feeling the alcohol from earlier, so it wasn’t too hard to talk her into another prank on Ed.  Swapping heads was the first part, and was managed with only a slight bobble of Jess’ head while swapping.  She laughed as she bounced bodiless on the bed, while Tess fumbled with two bodies under her control.  She had things straightened out and Jess’ head installed on Tess’ body soon enough.

They both put on matching tight-fitting collars to hide the seam and help hold their heads in place.  Tess had had them custom made by a friend in the props department, they had a grippy inner lining to help keep necks in place.

Tess was trying to talk Jess into wearing some of her more daring lingerie when they heard the door thud open.  Jess squealed and tossed on a robe to cover her nudity. “He shouldn’t be back this soon, should he?”

Tess emerged into the apartment to see Don standing in the entry.  His eyes were bloodshot, and he reeked of drink.  He stumbled toward her, slurring, “Where is she?”

“By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes,” Tess muttered.  Then, louder.  “Get out, Don.  You’re no longer welcome here.”

“Outta my way, Jess.”

Before Tess could correct his understandable mistake - after all, she was wearing Jess’ body - he tossed her aside like a rag-doll, and stormed into the bedroom.  The collar wasn’t quite enough to keep her head on her shoulders as she collided with the kitchen countertop.  Her head bounced to a rest against a loaf of bread, and Jess’ body twitched on the floor as she dealt with the sensory overload of two bodies to control.

That was the scene Ed found when he came back with the treats a few minutes later.  A disembodied head on the counter called out to him.  “Ed!  You have to do something, Don’s got her in the bedroom.”

Ed dropped the bag on the floor, and advanced toward the door that muffled screams were coming from.  Then he hesitated.  “I can’t fight him.  I need... where’s the ribbon?”

“Other bedroom.  Hurry!”

Ed grabbed the ribbon as quickly as he could, and ran into the bedroom he now shared with Jess.  The ribbon fluttered out behind him.  The tail of it never even entered the bedroom before Ed came flying out again, chased by a wordless roar from Don.  He hit the base of the kitchen counter with a horrifying crunch.

After a few moments of silence, Tess’ head asked, “Ed?  Are you OK?”

“No,” came the groan from floor level.  “Fuck, that hurts.”

“Now what?  Call 911 and hope the cops show up before he’s done?”

All Tess could hear was a series of grunts and groans, interspersed with further curses.  “Crap, he broke the ribbon-stick, too.  I hope this works...”

“What works?”

“I got a bit of him ribboned before he tossed me.”  There was a rapid swishing sound from below the counter.

“What are you doing?”

“Same thing I did to you, last time we tangled with Don.  Erasing his leg via the ribbon I took.  I think it’s working!”

Ed’s efforts were soon rewarded by a shout from Don.  “What the fuck is happening to my legs...”  There was a thump as he hit the floor, and soon his diminishing form emerged from the doorway, dragging itself toward Ed, hand over hand.

Ed whimpered, and redoubled his efforts, biting nearly through his lip from the pain just moving caused.  Just before Don reached him, his shoulders disappeared, spiralled away into ribbon, and his arms fell away from his head.

“Why?” was the last thing Don said, before the ribbon took his mouth.  His eyes were full of terror before they, too vanished.  Last was his hands, reaching out in supplication.  Then he was gone.

Ed collapsed with a moan.

Tess called out, “Jess?  Can you hear me?  I’m just a head, if you take yours off I can help.”

There was a quiet sniffle from the bedroom.  Tess was about to call out again, when she felt her body return to her control.  She gasped once from the aches and pains that were suddenly hers to deal with, then took control of the situation.

Tess walked her body out of the bedroom, picked up her head, then helped Jess get back together with her proper body as well.  She pretty much carried the bustier girl to the couch, thinking that the bedroom probably wouldn’t be a comfortable place.

While she was holding the sobbing girl in her arms, and trying to soothe her, Tess worried about Ed.  She hadn’t heard much from him since Don had vanished.  But Jess was her first priority, and until the tears stopped she didn’t feel that it was safe to let her go.

After a time, Jess looked around.  “Where is Ed?”

“Still by the kitchen.  Don threw him pretty hard, and I think he broke something.”

The tears stopped that moment.  “What?  We have to do something.”  Jess practically charged to Ed’s side.  

He smiled up at her weakly.  “Are you OK?”

Jess stared at him, mouth open.  “You...  I’ll be fine.”  She crouched down beside him, looking over his injuries.  “You’re a mess.  That hip is at the very least dislocated, if it isn’t broken.  Where else does it hurt?”

Gingerly, Ed pointed to his side.  “Here.  Hurts when I breathe.”

Jess pulled up his shirt, and touched his ribs gently.  “Cracked or broken.  Fuck, I’m going to kill him.”

Ed gestured at the ribbon lying around him.  “Be my guest.”

Jess scooped up the Don-ribbon, and quickly bundled it into a little spool, finishing by tying it off.  “Goodbye, you bastard.”  She scooped up the magic ribbon, ignoring the fact that the stick was broken in half.  Then she stormed into the bedroom.

When Jess emerged again, Ed was in the wheelchair she’d used some months ago to prank Tess.  “You shouldn’t have moved him!”

Ed shook his head, wincing a bit.  “It’s OK.  My back is fine.”

“You don’t know that!  And your ribs could do more damage if they’re broken.  You should call an ambulance.”

“It’s not that bad.  If they were really broken, getting into the chair would have hurt worse.”

“Look, you just rest here, or in my bedroom,” offered Tess. “I’m going to take him to the all-night clinic on campus to get his hip and ribs checked out.”

Jess nodded.  “OK.  Um, can you do me a favour first, though?”

“Sure.”

“I’d be a lot happier without my arms.”

Tess sighed, but helped reduce Jess to her favourite state.  The arm-ribbons got tied off neatly and tucked away safely.

“Better?”

“Much, thanks.  Really, I’ll be OK.  It wasn’t even really my body.”

Tess made a face.  “Right.  I need to get checked up, too.  We’ll be a bit, don’t wait up.”

“G’night.  And thanks.”


The next morning, Jess sat up in bed, shrugging the covers off.  Ed moaned softly as she got out of bed, jostled by the shifting mattress.  Jess looked over at him in concern.  “What happened to you?”

Ed sat up gingerly. “You don’t remember?”

Jess shook her head.  “Exam, dinner, then dancing... my memory gets kind of hazy there.  Did I drink too much?”

Ed very carefully levered himself out of bed and into the wheelchair parked beside it.  “Not enough to black out.”

Jess stared at the bandages wrapped around the middle of her boyfriend’s torso.  “What happened?” she breathed.

Ed rolled toward the door.  “A bit of help, here?” he asked, gesturing at the door.

Jess walked over to the door, reared back on one leg, and used the toes of her other foot to grab the handle and twist the doorknob.  With a measured hop backward, she pulled the door open.

Ed shook his head in wonder, then winced.  He rolled out the door.  “Breakfast first.  Then we can sort all this out, with Tess to back me up.  I hope.”

Jess insisted on preparing breakfast for Ed, as he couldn’t reach the upper cabinets from the wheelchair.  Her technique had improved - she was able to scoop up bowls and set them down on the tile counter without even a clatter.  What impressed Ed the most was that she could get the screw top off of the milk bottle with her toes.  Previously, she’d needed help with that, or she’d use her teeth.

Soon they were sitting at the table and eating cereal.  Ed was eating slowly with a spoon, distracted by the sight of Jess lapping expertly with her tongue.  She looked up, and caught his eye.  “What?”

“You’re amazing.”

Jess grinned.  “Thanks.”

Tess stumbled out of her room.  “Coffee?”

Ed nodded toward the kitchen.  “I put some on.  Should be ready.”

“You’re a lifesaver.  Especially after last night.”  Tess shuffled into the kitchen, in search of caffeine.

Jess watched her go.  “A saucer for me too, please”

Once Tess was seated with her mug, and Jess had lapped up a few mouthfuls of coffee, she looked from her battered boyfriend to the bruise forming on Tess’ face.

“Can someone please tell me what the hell happened last night?”

Tess looked at Ed concernedly.  “She doesn’t remember?”

Ed carefully shook his head no.  “Might explain why the Lethe bottle was on the counter last night.”

Jess’ eyes went wide.  “Someone spiked my drink with Lethe?”

“No!  I would never,” protested Ed.

“I didn’t, either.  You were fine when we left for the clinic, but I guess... wait, you don’t remember Don?”

“He was at the club, I think.  My memory kind of fuzzes out there.”:

“But that was at least an hour before we left you.  I’m pretty sure you weren’t dosed then...”

“Lethe blocks long-term memory formation.  It takes a while for memories to get stored, so it tends to wipe the last hour or so before it’s taken, too.” said Jess.  “I found that out when I was asking around to find out more about it.”

“Oh!  So you dosed yourself to forget the attack,” concluded Ed.

“Why would I do that?  What attack?”

So Tess and Ed tag-teamed the tale of Don’s return to the apartment.

“So he thought I was you...  Wow, talk about that prank backfiring.”

Tess chuckled ruefully. “Hoist by our own petard, indeed.”

“What happened to Don?”

“Ed got a bit of him with the ribbon before he got tossed out of the room like a rag-doll.  Erased him all up with it.”

“Oh!  Good.  I wish I remembered that part.”

“I won’t forget the terror in his eyes before his head vanished.”  Ed shuddered, then winced again.

“Poor Ed.  How bad is it?”

“Three cracked ribs, and a dislocated hip.  They relocated it at the clinic, and shot him up with muscle relaxants and pain killers.  I wouldn’t want to be him when those wear off.”

Ed shrugged stoically.  “It’s not that bad.  My hips have always been a bit dodgy.  This is the... fifth time, I think.  I know how to deal with it, I just need to stay off of it for the next few days, then go easy for a while.”

“My hero,” Jess gushed.  She crouched beside his chair, and rubbed cheeks with him before giving him a kiss.

Jess soon returned to her studies.  Her next exam was Monday, but there was so much to cover that she didn’t want to waste any study time.  Ed was happy enough to sit near her and turn pages, while puttering on his laptop.

Tess hung around to help out as needed.  Ed really couldn’t do much to take care of himself and Jess, so Tess was in charge of drinks and snacks.  When she wasn’t doing that, she tried to read.  Mostly she got more and more bored.

Jess was the first to break the afternoon’s long silence.  “Augh!  There’s just too much.  I’ll never remember all of this.”

“So stick your head in a book,”  Tess suggested.  “It’s so much better than just reading.  Everything is there - I can still see most of the paintings from my text in my mind’s eye.  After last night’s drinks, I’ve lost a lot of the text, though.”

Jess surveyed her pile of texts ruefully.  “It still seems like cheating.  But I don’t see any other way to master everything they expect me to know.  Fine, let’s do it.”

Ed did the honors, twining the magic ribbon on its abbreviated stick around Jess’s neck until nothing remained but ribbon.  Tess caught her head as it tumbled free.

“Which text?”

“The big one I was reading.  How long do I need to stay inside?”

Ed looked to Tess as he ribboned an opening in the spine of the text.  “How long worked best for you?”

“Two hours and a bit.  Long enough for the book to close up properly, so I’d become one with it.  That’s... well, you’ll see soon enough.”

Ed gave Jess a last kiss before he slid her head into the seam he’d made in the book.  

“See you in a few hours,” she called, as she sank away.

Ed put the text down, and patted it softly.  “See you.”

After a few moments silence Tess sighed dramatically.  “So bored!”

Ed laughed.  “It has been quiet.  Go out, if you like.  I’ll be fine, and Jess is... otherwise occupied.”

Tess made a face.  “I don’t want to go out.  I want to play with the ribbon.”

Ed shrugged, tapping away at his computer once more.  “So go play.”

“Not by myself.  That’s no fun.”

Ed chuckled softly, then winced.  “Always hurts when I laugh.  I’m afraid I can’t help much.”

“What if... we swapped your body out with one that was working better?”  Tess practically bounced with excitement.

Ed looked at his girlfriend’s headless and armless body, still lying on the couch.  “You mean... Jess’ body?  Wouldn’t she mind?”

“It’s not like she’s using it right now.  It’s hard to remember your body when you’re a book.”

“Still, I should ask...”  Ed felt around inside the seam of the text, and pulled Jess’ head out.

Jess blinked at the room.  “Has it been two hours already?”

“No, just a few minutes.  I just wanted to ask... can I borrow your body for a while?  Mine’s in the shop.”

Jess giggled, and looked over at Tess.  “This is your idea, right?”

Tess tried to look innocent.  It was quite a credible job, but in service of a hopeless goal.

Jess giggled again.  “Fine.  Don’t do anything I wouldn’t.  And take pictures.”

“Considering what you’ve done with the ribbon in the past...”

Jess grinned up at her boyfriend.  “Have fun.  See you in a few hours.”

Ed gave her a kiss, and put her back into the book.  Before he’d even put the book down, he felt the ribbon tickling at his hips.  He watched as Tess worked her way up, ribbonizing his clothes and his torso as she went.  The bandages vanished under the ribbon as well.

“Won’t I need the bandages, later?”

Tess shrugged.  “Not if we leave your torso ribboned for the next week.”  She bundled the ribbon up, tying it off.

“But...  Oh, that’s so much better.  No pain!  Do you think it’ll really be OK to leave it like that for a week, though?  If it doesn’t heal...”

“Then you can deal with it a day at a time, or a night at a time, with breaks from the pain.  Did you have any big sports games to attend next week?”

Ed chuckled, and shook his head.  He looked down at what was left of his body.  He had shoulders, arms, and most of his legs.  “So... now what?”

Tess propped Jess’ body up into a sitting position on the couch, then scooped Ed up by the shoulders.  She pressed him firmly down over Jess’ shoulders, then stepped back.  “Hm.  Not a bad match, actually.  You’re only a little bit wider than she is.

Ed got up, cautiously.  “This feels very odd.  I have two sets of legs.”

“Oh, yeah.”  Tess attacked Ed’s old legs with the ribbon, and soon they were bundled up and tied off.  She even took the time to attach a post-it to each of the three bundles, labeling them appropriately.  “Wouldn’t want to untie your torso by mistake.”

Ed winced at the thought.  “Thanks.”   He walked Jess’ body to the full-length mirror in the bedroom, and looked it over.

Tess came up behind him, and clucked softly.  “Those shoulders and arms.  They just don’t match.  Plus some of Jess’ shirt is stuck up inside you.”

“I think you’re right.”

Tess started ribboning away Ed’s arms.  “Might as well go all the way, right?”

Ed shrugged, squirming a bit in Tess’ grasp as she lifted what little was left of him off of Jess’ body.  “I guess.”  Before long, he was ribboned down to just a head and a neck.  Tess slotted that back into Jess’ body, and nodded.  “Much better.  Needs a collar, where did they go...”

Tess started rummaging through the Jess’ bedside table.  “Collar, check.  Where are those arm ribbons... ooh, that’s where some of my toys got to.  Minx.  Huh, still missing the Earthquake, though... Ah, here we are.”  Once untied, the ribbons sprung back into arm-shapes swiftly.

Tess put the collar on first, then attached Jess’ arms.  She surveyed the result, then turned Ed to face the mirror.  “What do you think?”

Ed stared into the mirror.  “I’m a girl.”

Tess made a face.  “Not with that voice you’re not.  And you need a shave, some makeup...  But other than that I could take you out to the mall, and nobody would bat an eye at you.”

“I don’t think I’m ready for that yet.”

“Yet?”  Tess pounced on the word.  “So you might...  What would it take to make you ready?”

Ed chuckled softly.  “You’re as bad as she is.”

“Worse.  What would it take?”

Ed took a few careful steps.  “I need to learn to walk in this body.  My balance is off, and everything wiggles when I move.”

“It wiggles very fetchingly, though.”

Ed blushed, but nodded.

Tess grinned, and leaned in to kiss Ed’s cheek.  He took a step back, lost his balance, and sat heavily on the bed.

“You’re going to be such fun.  I wonder if we could talk Jess into letting you sleep this way.  You’d wake up much more familiar with her body.”

Ed stared up at her with more than a little panic in his eyes.  “Uh...  Jess and I...  Look, I’m flattered, but...”

“The lady doth protest too much, methinks.  You like being in her body.”

Ed gulped, and nodded.  “But I could do without the high-pressure sales act.”

Tess winced.  “Sorry.  I’m just so excited, and I can tell you are too.  I just have one question, then I’ll leave you be.”  She struck a sexy pose in front of the mirror.  “Do I turn you on?”

Ed blushed again, but nodded.

“Even in that body?  Cool.  Alright, I’ll let you get used to your new assets.”  Tess gestured in the direction of Jess’ bedroom toy drawer, then left.

Ed’s blush lasted a long, long time.

Later, Tess got Ed to help her turn her body into living frosted glass.  When they strapped some bright blue LEDs to her back, she glowed.  Ed took dozens of pictures, then showed them to Tess on his laptop.  He also showed her a few pictures from Tron, and Tess spent the rest of the evening with the ribbon trying to get the effect to work.

Jess spent the rest of the day book-hopping, getting through three texts by dinner-time.  She was so excited by just how well it was going that she was perfectly content to let Ed keep her body.  Ed sat her on a folded towel on the table while they ate, and fed her bites alternating with his own.

After dinner, Tess left Jess and Ed alone, claiming that they were just too cute for her to bear.

At Jess’ urging, Ed carried her into their bedroom.  He set her carefully on the bed.

“Now what?”

“Well...  That depends.  Do you really want to know what it’s like to be a girl?”

“I am curious, yes.”

Jess grinned.  “Good enough.  Get undressed.”

Ed stood up from the bed, and started to do so.

“No, try to make it more sexy.  Tease a little.”

“Wait... why?”

“Trust me.”

Ed proceeded to disrobe by fits and starts, following Jess’ advice.  There was a certain amount of giggling involved.  Some of it was Ed’s.

Finally, Ed posed naked for Jess.  “So.  What do you think?”

“You make a good me.  Have you looked at yourself like this?”

Ed shook his head.  “It seemed slightly... improper.”

“Turn around, and look at yourself in the mirror.”

Ed turned.  “Wow,” he breathed softly.  “I’m... sexy.”

“Yes, yes you are.  C’mere sexy, I want to show you some other perks of being a girl.”

Jess had a lot of creative ideas for things to do when your partner is just a head.  When they finally slept, it was out of utter exhaustion, with the contents of her toy drawer scattered around them.

They made a late morning of it.  More of an early afternoon, really.  Ed was still marveling at how easily he had adapted to moving around in Jess’ body when there was a knock at the door.

Ed and Jess hid, while Tess answered the door to find a man and a woman dressed in the uniform of campus security.

“Excuse me, ma’am.  We have a few questions for you about the whereabouts of one Donald Indigo.”