Moontouched 29

“At least you didn’t crystallize inside me,” said Gwen.  “Not much, anyway.”

“Are you sure it didn’t do any damage?”  Donna checked her friend over worriedly, scanning as best she could at this late phase of the Moon.  “I don’t see anything.”

“I’ll be OK. Going to have to be, I guess I’ve lost my babysitter.”

“And I’ve lost my host.  Time to see what happens if I’m not part of you when the Moon sets.”

Twenty minutes later, Duncan was still human, but he could feel the changes starting.  By dinnertime he was shiny-skinned and he was moving a little more slowly than usual.  Sidney did not take the news that she’d soon have a statue for a husband well.  In the morning, Duncan was able to return to human, as the Moon was up, but when it set he started changing back into crystal, faster than before.

As the new Moon approached, Duncan found it harder and harder to retain human form, naturally drifting to crystalline ones.  He had flexibility as to the shape and size of the crystal, so he could make a statue of himself, or a fist-sized diamond, or even a stone small enough to set in a pendant and be worn.  Sidney found the latter much less creepy than having a frozen statue of Duncan around the house.  On the plus side, Duncan could still see in crystalline forms, and was learning how to speak in them even when the Moon wasn’t up.  He also had the ability to sense and radiate electromagnetic waves, and did a number of experiments with Gwen’s assistance to test the limits of that ability.

By the night of the new Moon itself, Duncan had been stuck as a pendant for two days, with the prospect of two more ahead.  Being a pendant wasn’t all bad, however.  He had finally managed to persuade Sidney to wear him, and being tucked in between her breasts as she went about her day was fun.

And then the Moon was waxing once more, every hour bringing closer the day when Duncan could be whatever he wanted to be.  The first thing he did when the Moon rose on the fourth day was to turn himself into a human, and gather Sidney in his arms.  She gasped, and hugged him tight.  “Oh, Duncan, you’re back!”

“I am, during the day.  In a couple more days I’ll be able to stay human.  And when the Moon is full, I’ll be able to alter robo-Duncan so I can control him while I’m a crystal.  Then I’ll always have a body.”

Sidney grinned at him.  “That’s great!  Wearing you as jewelry was fun for a bit, but I missed you.”

Duncan grinned back.  “Then I’ll work out a way to be your pendant and your robo-Duncan at the same time.  Best of both worlds.”

Soon Duncan could stay human full-time, and he started going in to work instead of working from home.  Life returned to something that could, if you squinted just right, resemble normal.  Therapy with Arwen had been going well, so well that Gwen had started looking for a new apartment.

Better yet, this year Duncan wasn’t stuck as anything for Valentine’s Day.  He ordered a bouquet of two dozen roses, and while Sidney was gushing over them he summoned up an enormous box of chocolates.  Sidney eyed them suspiciously.  “You know I’m trying to lose weight.”

Duncan just grinned.  “These will disappear shortly after you eat them.”

Sidney eagerly popped one into her mouth.  “Mmm.  Cordial cherry.”  She swallowed, and reached for another.  “Wait.  Does this mean they’re part of you?”

“Not really.  No more so than a shed eyelash is.”

“I’m eating eyelashes?”  Sidney stared at the chocolate in her hand, then put it back in the box.

“No!  Just...  They’re made of magic, not transformed matter.  It’s more like you’re eating... ah, moonbeams, say.”

“And they’re not going to transform me into anything?”

Duncan shook his head, then held his hand up to his forehead in a salute.  “Scout’s honor.  Guaranteed transformation-free.  Though if you wanted that, I could arrange for it in a few days.”

“I...”  Sidney looked at the chocolates.  “What would they do?”

“Turn you into chocolate, of course.”

Sidney bit her lip, then picked up another chocolate and ate it.  “These won’t make me fatter?”

“Zero calories.  The ones you’ve eaten have already vanished.”  Duncan pointed to the box, which was still as full as when it had appeared.

“I love you so much.”

“Mind if I have one, myself?”  Duncan asked, after watching Sidney eat two more.  “They look tasty.”

“They’re amazing.  Help yourself.”

Duncan picked one chocolate out, and savored it slowly.  “Mmm.  That did work well.”

“Duncan, what’s happening?  Your face is changing.”

Duncan tried to answer, but his head was now solid chocolate and the effect was spreading further down.  He could hear a faint giggle and knew just who was responsible for his change, so he didn’t try to fight it.  A few heartbeats later the solid chocolate Duncan statue shrunk down to the size of the other chocolates, reshaping into a simple cordial cherry.

“Duncan!”

“Oh, don’t worry,” drawled Gwen from the doorway.  “He’s fine.”  She walked over to where the cordial cherry was lying on the floor, made a show of dusting it off, then dropped it into the box where it was identical to all the others.

“Gwen!  But what if I eat him?”

Gwen shrugged.  “He’ll be fine.  Just like you were.”

“I just want my sweetie back.”

“Eat up.  I’ll change him back once he’s had his fun.”

Sidney grabbed a handful of chocolates from about where Duncan had been dropped, and ate them one by one.  “Well?”

Gwen chuckled throatily.  “I’m impressed.  You didn’t hesitate.”

“This wasn’t about me... was it?”

Gwen winked, and Duncan blinked into human form behind Sidney.  He gave his wife a big hug.  “Thanks, sweetie.”

“Don’t thank me, thank Gwen.”

Duncan nodded at his friend.  “Scamp.  You got me pretty good.”

“Ah, you wanted it.  You just needed someone to nudge things along.  And with that, I’ll be off.  Valentine’s Day is always fun at the Vixen, and you two need your privacy.”

“Hah!  Privacy, with two little kids in the house?”

Gwen frowned.  “Huh.  To be honest, I’d never really thought about that.  When do you two get time alone together?”

Duncan and Sidney looked at each other and shrugged.  “We don’t, not really.”

“Really?  Well, that’s not right.  Go out, dinner and a movie, whatever.  I’ll keep an eye on the kids, and get them to bed.  The club doesn’t start hopping until later, anyway.”

Sidney looked nervous.  “Are you sure?  They can be a handful.”

“Aww, they’re sweeties.  You’ll behave for Auntie Gwen while your parents go out for dinner, right Courtney?”

Courtney grinned and nodded.

“See?  No worries.”

As an extra precaution, Duncan made sure robo-Duncan was sitting in the living room instead of lying in bed, so that the kids knew there were more watchful eyes on them.  It also meant he could be “home” in a few seconds if the need arose.

Three hours later, Duncan and Sidney were back home.  Sidney hugged Gwen, as did Donna.  “Thanks so much for letting us have Valentine’s dinner out.  Were the kids OK for you?”

Gwen was looking more than a little frazzled.  “How do you two manage?”

Donna flicked back to Duncan, and shrugged.  “They know that if they don’t do what I say, there will be consequences.”   At Gwen’s concerned look he added, “Usually that means being sent to their rooms, nothing dire.  Though I think Courtney would do almost anything if I promised to let her have wings next full Moon.”

Gwen chuckled.  “You’ll make a transformation junkie of her yet.”

Sidney sighed, and shook her head.  “I think it’s already too late for that.  I just hope she doesn’t decide she’s going to work at the Blue Vixen like her daddy when she grows up.”

Gwen figured that was a good time to scoot, and left them to their argument.


The day before the full Moon, Gwen brought a box into the house, with a bow stuck to the top of it.  Duncan looked at it curiously, and Gwen urged him to open it, but carefully.  Inside was what looked like a large bulk-food dispenser, covered in fine silver filigree.  Duncan picked it up cautiously by the unsilvered handle.  “What’s this for?”

“The genie bottle worked.  So I got this made.  You can fill it with the power marbles, it should hold a little over a thousand of them.”

“Cool.  And dispense them as needed.  I didn’t think of that, I just bought the sheet silver to make a big silver box.”

“Oh.  Well, you can refill this from the box, then.”

Duncan grinned.  “Thanks.  This is an awesome gift.”

“And a bit self-serving, I’ll admit.  I’m hoping you’ll have enough to feed me a little power now and again when the Moon isn’t full.”

It was Donna that hugged her.  “Of course!  We can do fantasies for weeks, now.”

“Ahem.”

Donna looked guiltily around at Sidney.  “Oh come on.  It’ll be great.”

“Sure.  My husband looking like a tart, planning to spend weeks at the Blue Vixen.  Just great.  We have plenty of money now, and enough gold to keep us in style for years.  Plus you can make more, right?”

Donna nodded.  “Easily.  I could fill the basement with gold tomorrow night.  Might cause some slight structural issues, though, so I think I’ll just replace what we’ve sold and given away.”

“So you don’t actually need to go to that place at all.”

“But...”  Donna’s face fell.  “I was...”  She sighed, and looked over at Gwen.  “You can manage the fantasies, right?  If I’m feeding you power.”

“Will it work that far away?” asked Gwen.

“Might not.  But you figured out how to pull power from the marbles, right?”  

“I think so.  I felt you do it enough times, I should be able to figure it out.”

“So I can send you off with a crate of them.  If you run low, just come back for more.”

“What about Arwen, and the hospital?” Gwen asked.  “You promised Doctor O’Brien that you’d come by when you had your power back.”

Sidney shrugged, and turned back to her dinner preparations.  “I don’t have a problem with those.  Just the strip club.”

Donna sighed, and slumped her shoulders.  “Fine.  At least I’ll get to do some good with it.”  She went off to play with the kids.  In the distance, Courtney cheered, “Auntie Daddy!  Can I be a dinosaur?”

Sidney shook her head.  “You’re still going to the club, of course.”

Gwen nodded.  “Of course.  There’s a lot of people looking forward to tomorrow night’s fantasies.  Being able to carry on for a few nights is going to make even more happy.”

“I still don’t see the appeal.”

“Really?  There isn’t a single fantasy in that clever head of yours that you’d pay to play out?”

Sidney smirked.  “There are... a few.  So far, I haven’t had to pay for them.”

“Then ask Donn... Duncan for one, tomorrow night.  The crazier, the better.”

“I do have something I’d really like to see...  Duncan might not find it fun, though.”

“Ask.  You’d be surprised.”

“It involves renovations,” Sidney said.

Gwen laughed.  “OK, point taken.  I bet he’ll find some way to make it fun even so.”

When the Moon rose, Duncan and robo-Duncan were standing by the window, waiting for it.  The sky was filled with clouds, though there were hints that it might break up later.  Duncan barely even saw them, his vision was filled with the Moon’s stately progress up to the horizon

The moment it cleared the horizon, Duncan vanished, and robo-Duncan was wreathed in a pale glow.  Gwen grinned as she watched.  “Yes!  Time to get my body back!”  She closed her eyes, and a moment later was caught up in Duncan’s trance.

“Duncan?  What are you doing?”  Robo-Duncan looked like an exploded diagram of a robot, except in 3D.

“Oh, hey Gwen.  I’m trying to figure out this remote-control idea, and it’s not as simple as I’d figured.”

Gwen gave him a little mental poke, and he collapsed into a crystal.  “You’re missing your transceiver spec.  Here.  And there, and... done.”

The crystal turned to regard Gwen.  “Thanks!  I would have thought of that... eventually.  So what do you want to be this month?”

“Honestly?  Just me.  My body.”  As she said it, her body reshaped, from Donna’s with Gwen’s face on her breast, into just Gwen.  No enhancements, no modifications, Gwen as Donna had met her that first day, legs atrophied with disuse.

The crystal made a sound like a clucking tongue.  “This will never do.  This isn’t you anymore.”

“It isn’t?”

“No.  The Gwen I know is strong, and an amazing dancer.”  Gwen’s legs filled out, toned muscle under the slightest bit of fat to lend them luscious curves.  “And she’s stacked.  Those breasts simply will not do.  Nor that hair.”

Gwen stepped closer to the crystal, staring at her reflection in one of its broad facets.  “Oh.  Yes.  This is who I’d rather be.”

“Good.”

The trance broke, and Gwen stood smiling and also quite naked in the middle of Sidney and Duncan’s living room.  A four foot tall crystal hovered beside the upgraded robo-Duncan.

“Gwen!” yelled Sidney.  “Not in front of the kids.”

Gwen covered herself with her hands, then clothing spun into existence around her, a long sparkling ballgown whose hem swept the floor.  “Better?” asked the crystal.

Gwen giggled. “I’m tempted to go dance like this and see what the crowd thinks.”

“Here,” a large box floated into Gwen’s arms.  “You’ll want these.  You’ve figured out how to draw power off them, right?”

“I’ve seen you do it.  I’ll manage, I think.  If not, can you make sure the conduit is open?”

“Of course it is, my Priestess.”

“Donnnaaaa,” chided Gwen.

The crystal laughed, a tinkling noise.  “Sorry.  It goes to my head.  I’ll be good.”

“Oh, I’d never ask that,” Gwen said with a saucy wink.

“Minx.”  A bit of power flicked out, and Gwen grew a long, spade-tipped tail.  “Go, have fun.”

Gwen shrugged.  “The club isn’t open for hours.  Can I tag along to Doctor Arwen’s?”

Gwen and the crystal condensed into a point, and flashed off before Sidney could wave goodbye.

Arwen managed to disguise her surprise as the two of them materialized in her office.  “I thought you’d be along about now.  Instant travel must be handy.”

Donna, who was human but not provocatively built or dressed, grinned.  “Heck yeah.  Not quite instant, though.  Gwen figured that we topped out around two thirds the speed of sound.”

“Still pretty handy.  Our clients for tonight should be here shortly, since they’re coming by car.”

“OK.  How have you been?  Want any upgrades tonight?”

Arwen laughed and blushed.  “Maybe.  After this, though, so I don’t end up too distracted to think straight.  I asked Joseph to pop by afterward...”

Donna chuckled.  “How did his ‘Tiresian therapy’ work out for that couple, anyway?”

“Really well.  They’re talking about taking a month-long vacation later in the year and doing it again.  He’s bringing another couple in for the same thing.”

“Awesome.”

There was a hesitant tap on the door, and Arwen called out, “Come in!”

Zoey stepped through the door, looking uncertain.  “Why are we meeting so late...  Oh!  Donna!  Is it the full Moon already?”

“Yep.  How’s Liana doing?”

Arwen answered that.  “She’s a lot better.  All of her memories from the last five years or so are back.  We’re still working on reconstructing her childhood, but I feel that she’s made excellent progress.”

“So I can be her insert again?” asked Zoey eagerly.

Donna looked her over.  “Are you sure that’s what you want?”

Zoey’s eyes went very wide.  “You promised!  No takebacks.”

“But you aren’t sure.  Having a body for the past month, how has it been?”

Zoey looked away, then sighed.  “There have been... benefits.  But I don’t want to be stuck in a boring old human body all the time!”

Arwen looked over at Donna.  “You’ve made more progress with her just now than I have in a month.”

“I have more options.  In particular, this.”

Zoey looked puzzled, then staggered and sat down heavily.  “What... what was that?”

“You have an insert in your left breast.  Let it out.”

Zoey stripped her top off, and held her hand up to her chest.  A familiar pink form oozed out of her nipple and into her hand.  Zoey’s body stiffened, and the insert stared up at everyone.  “Wait, what?”

“Best of both worlds.  When you’re inside, you have control of your body.”

Gwen clapped her hands excitedly.  “You generalized what we did with robo-Duncan?  Cool.”

A voice spoke up from inside Zoey's body, asking plaintively, “Can I have one too?”

Donna grinned and nudged a pale purple insert out of Zoey's other breast.  “Of course, Liana.  The same thing, or did you just want to be human?”

The little purple blob stared at the pink one, then grinned.  “If I get the same deal as her, someone could wear both of us?”

“If Gwen or I gave them suction boobs, sure.”

“Then I'd very much like a setup like that, if you please.”

Donna smiled broadly at the polite request.  “As you wish.”

“I didn't!  I was careful not to,” protested Liana.

“I know.  And I'm going to give you some extras just because you were so careful.”

“Thank you!”

Liana's body built up, towering over her tiny purple form.  Liana practically jumped into its breast when given the chance, and smiled so happily to have a body of her own that Donna already considered herself well paid for the night's efforts.

“Take a little time to sort out your new toys.  Your skin colour should be under your mental control, as well as your hair and eye colour.”

Liana hugged Zoey to her chest.  “C'mon, go back in your body so I can hug you properly.”

“Just hug?” asked Zoey innocently, and both of them laughed.

Arwen showed them out, and returned with a broad smile on her face.  “That was inspired.  And inspiring.  You'll do me out of a job if I'm not careful.”

“Never,” said Donna.  “Not everyone can be fixed by changing their body.”

Arwen laughed a little bitterly at that.  “All too true.  Sometimes you just have to slug it out the old fashioned way.  Still, seeing them so happy warms my heart.  And I can think of a few clients who could use a day as a slug to snap them out of their self-imposed misery.  Show them that it could always be worse.”

Donna snickered.  “That can be arranged.”

“Donna!” exclaimed Gwen.  “Against their will?”

“I'm sure Arwen could convince them that it's for a good cause, without letting them know just what would happen.”

“You're actually serious about this,” breathed Arwen.  “You'd do that?”

“If you convinced me it was in their best interests, yes.”

While Arwen was digesting that, Joseph tapped on the door.  “You guys ready for my couple?”

Arwen waved him in.  Donna quickly showed off some changes to the couple that filed in behind Joseph, to convince them that magic was actually real.  At Arwen's request and Joseph's nod she even swapped Arwen and Joseph’s genders.

The couple looked stunned.  

“So,” asked Jo-Jo, “Are you ready to try walking in each other's shoes for a week?”

“Do we have to be each other?  You’re way sexier than she, I mean he was... this is confusing.”

The woman nodded along with her husband’s question.

Jo-Jo looked to Donna.  “Do they?”

“If you’re willing, let’s try something different.  Both of you, sit back on the couch, close your eyes, and summon up an image of your ideal lover.”

“What are you doing?” whispered Jo-Jo as Donna waited.

“You’ll see...”

The couple started to change.  Both got shorter, and he bulked up in front to make up for the lost height.  She remained slim.  When he was done, a busty bombshell sat where the husband had been, looking ready for a turn on stage at the Blue Vixen.  The person beside her was... still female, just slimmer and prettier than before.

The bombshell opened her eyes.  “Woah.  What a trip.  What are you...”  She stared at her still-female wife.  “You turned yourself into Tina?  Wait, she’s your ideal lover?”

“Uh...”

“Apparently we have more to talk about than I thought.”

The slim woman blushed.  “I... yeah.  I’ve known I was bi for years now, and...  God, I wanted her so bad.  I never did anything, though.  Sorry, I’ve muddled this up.  Can you turn me into some guy instead?”

The busty woman held up a hand to Donna.  “Wait, please.  Can you swap our current shapes, instead?”

“Sure.”

“Really?” asked the slim woman, who was already starting to grow.

“We might as well both get our fantasy lover,” said the shrinking woman.

“You’d do that with me?  Really?”

“Really.”

They hugged, and Donna smiled.  “Well.  You two have fun.  Shall I leave them with you?”

Jo-Jo nodded.  “Yeah.”

“Any further requests, Arwen?”

Arwen flexed his muscles.  “Nah.  This’ll be a fun couple of days.  Can you get in touch on Sunday to change us back?”

Donna grinned.  “Or further, if you’d prefer.”

Arwen’s eyes widened.  “You’re going to be so much trouble.  Yes.”

Gwen and Donna took their leave.  “Where are you off to next?” Gwen asked.

“Hospital.  Want me to flit you off to the Vixen, first?”

“Nah.  It’s cold, but I can add some fur if I need it.  I’ll walk... oh, bother, I didn’t bring the box of marbles along.”

“It’ll be OK. Get in touch if you run into trouble.  Even if I can’t feed you power, I’m sure I’ll know what you’re up to.”

Gwen touched her chest, where the moon-shape mark glowed brightly.  “No doubt.  We shared a body for a week, I feel like...”

Donna grinned.  “Me too.  Have fun.”  She hugged Gwen, then disappeared from the embrace.  Gwen could feel the point presence that was her friend race away.  Then she laughed and called out through the link, “Hospital's the other way.”

Donna turned, and followed familiar roads made alien by their wire-frame like existence in her perception.  Moments later she was hovering outside the hospital, wondering where to find Doctor O'Brien.  There was a familiar aura standing on top of the parkade, so she flicked herself into existence in the stairwell, then stepped out onto the roof.

“I thought I'd provide you a private landing pad,” said the doctor when he noticed her presence.  “Nice trick walking through a locked door, by the way.”

Donna chuckled softly.  “I hadn't even noticed.”

“You are something else, aren't you?”

“Exactly.  So.  You have some patients for me?”

He nodded. “I managed to escape attention last time due to all the chaos after the fires, but tonight isn't so busy.  We'll have to be more circumspect.”  He unlocked the door to the stairwell and led the way into the intensive care wing.

“How so?”

“Can you... heal them less?  Get them past the crisis, but leave them with some natural healing still to go?  It would be less suspicious.  The statisticians will still figure out something is up, but not soon.”

Donna made a face.  “That's considerably harder than just healing them.  I could stand right here and give everyone in the hospital the body of their dreams... but that really would cause chaos.”

“Please don't.  The ensuing panic would cause needless deaths.”

“How do you figure?”

“If nothing else, simply evacuating the hospital and closing it for a few days is likely to cause a few people to die due to overcrowding at the alternatives.  Not to mention longer transport times potentially killing a few, and so on.”

Donna winced.  “Lovely.  Fine, we’ll do it your way.”

Despite the extra effort, Donna found the work very rewarding.  Every room she visited meant less pain, less sorrow, and better hopes for tomorrow.  When they’d done the patients that Doctor O’Brien had secured some very vague waivers from, she begged to do more.

“Hold your horses.  I’ll try to line up more next month.  Have you thought about setting up some kind of clinic?”

“Oooh.  It’d only run once a month, but can you imagine?  I’d have to be indirect to escape scrutiny, but...”  Donna lost herself in the considerations for long enough that her body flickered and ghosted.

Doctor O’Brien coughed to get her attention.  “Maybe you should do your thinking where fading away won’t cause undue panic.”

“Oh!”  Donna snapped back into focus.  “Right, sorry.  Thank you so much for letting me do this.”

“Hah!  I should be the one thanking you.  So many lives improved tonight.  And so much paperwork to do... Thank you, from the bottom of my heart.  I’ll see you next month, and see if I can arrange for an escort at another hospital as well.”

“I’d like that.”  Donna stepped into the nearby linen closet, and vanished.  She was home in time to put Courtney to bed.

“Can I have wings, Auntie Daddy?” Courtney asked as Donna brought her a night-time drink of water.

“Of course.  What kind?”

Courtney’s face was a mask of seriousness as she contemplated her options.  “Would butterfly wings get hurt while I sleep?”

“Probably, I’m afraid.  Fairy wings or feathery ones might be more sturdy.  Or you could have bat wings.”

Courtney made a face.  “No bats.”

“They could be pink,” tempted Donna, a grin on her face.

“No.  Angel wings like at Christmas.”

“As you wish.”  Wings started sprouting from Courtney’s back as Donna continued to speak.  “You'll get wings for your birthday party, too.”

“Yay!  I love you, Daddy.”

“I love you too, sweetie.  Now off to sleep, your wings will still be there in the morning.”

“G'night.”

As soon as Courtney's door was closed, Sidney exclaimed, “Are you serious?”

“About the wing party?  Very much so.  That's at least half the reason Gwen and I worked out how to store power in silver containers”

“But everyone will find out about all the weird stuff.”

“We'll put a partition inside the door, nobody outside will see.  I've already cleared that with the staff at the gym.  Besides, I thought you liked the weird stuff.”

“Maybe, but that doesn't mean I want all Courtney's friend's parents to know.”

“We're not going to do anything freaky at the gym.  Just wings, most of them more like Courtney's costumes from last month than real changes.  We'll save the freaky stuff for in private.  Speaking of which, Gwen said you had a fantasy in mind for tonight?  She laughed when she said it, and wouldn't say why...”

Sidney smiled, and pointed down the hall.  “I want my kitchen reno.”

“But...  I can’t do that without blocking the view of the kitchen. We’d need to set up tarps all along the deck, or something.  Plus there’s all our stuff in the kitchen.  We need to take all that out first, trying to organize all that on top of the rest...  That might be a bit much.”

“Some Goddess,” snorted Sidney.

“I can’t read your mind.  I don’t know where stuff would go in the new kitchen.  Plus you need to decide a lot of what stays or goes.  We’ll also need to add a bunch of wiring, and there’s no way I’m doing that without Dad checking it to make sure it’s up to code.  We will do it.  I will give you your kitchen, just... not tonight.  We need a design, and a plan.”

Sidney sighed.  “Fine.  I was looking forward to designing a whole new kitchen and having it appear by magic.”

“And that will happen.”

“If I can’t get it tonight, can I at least get new countertops?  I’ve hated these ones since day one, you know I have.  We repainted the cabinet doors, but...”

The kitchen lights went out, and the doors slid shut.  “Done.  Just... wait a minute to turn the lights back on in there, OK?”

Sidney waited impatiently by the kitchen doors, until finally Donna flung it open and turned the lights on.  Sidney dashed into the kitchen, and ran her hands reverently along the gleaming stone countertops.  They were dark as night, absorbing light like a sponge.  A speckling of mica chips made flecks of light gleam like stars, and a palm-sized circle of pure white sat near the sink.

“Oh!  They’re gorgeous... and they don’t go with anything else in here.”

“See.  This is the problem.  You have a very specific image of what you want in here, and I can’t just pull it out of your... head...”

“What?  What are you thinking about?  No opening up my head!”

Donna held out her hand and a tiny box appeared in it.  “Come on.  Let’s do this somewhere we can’t be seen.”  She led the way to the bedroom.

Once there, with Sidney trailing most curiously behind, Donna expanded the box until it was a one-twelfth scale replica of their kitchen.  “So.  How would you change it?  This is magic-made, so I can change it with little more than a thought.”

Sidney crouched to peer into it.  “Wow.  It’s so detailed.”

“It’s a perfect copy... well, of the core stuff.  Cabinets, countertop, fridge, stove.  That stuff.  And the exterior walls, too.”

“Is there some way we can get a closer look?”

Donna set it on the bed.  “I could grow it a little bigger, but much more than a doubling and it wouldn’t fit on the bed.”

“Oh.  I still wish I could see it up close.”

Donna slapped her forehead.  “Stop using the w word!”

Sidney looked up at her.  “I’m shrinking?  Why am I shrinking?”

“Because that’s the easiest way for us to get a good look.  I can stop it.”

Sidney hesitated, watching Donna’s chest slowly rise above her head.  “You’ll keep me safe, right?”

Donna nodded.  “I’ll be right there beside you, let me give you a boost up into it first.”

“Okay.”  Sidney held her arms up exactly the same way the kids did when they wanted to be picked up.  

Donna couldn’t help but giggle as she scooped Sidney up and set her on the bed.  She was twice the height of the kitchen model, and still descending.  A moment later, giantess Donna was gone, replaced by one perfectly scaled to the kitchen.  She opened the door, and welcomed Sidney inside once her shrinking had stopped.

Sidney stared around in wonder.  “Wow.  If it wasn’t for the view of the bedspread, I’d swear we were normal sized and in our own kitchen.  Well, it’s a lot cleaner, too.”

“Yeah, I didn’t see any point in duplicating all the dirt and junk, too.  So.  Demo first, then build up your ideal kitchen?”

Sidney nodded.  Donna handed her what looked like a lightsaber.  “Go to town.”

Sidney spent the next few minutes gleefully hacking her old kitchen into flinders with the glowing blade.  It wasn’t a real lightsaber, thankfully, as she hit Donna with it twice, and would have taken off her own leg once.  Only the kitchen was damaged by it.

“OK, that’s enough,” said Sidney, panting.  “Can you get rid of the rest?”

A gesture from Donna cleansed the room to the bare walls.  “Done.  So.  What goes where?”

It took almost an hour of back and forth to settle on the details.  The kitchen was much more open, with a big island in the middle, and counters around the edges under the windows.  Cabinets and drawers lined every available space, providing masses of storage.  The fridge was a huge stainless steel model, and the stainless stove-top was built into the island.  A double oven was opposite the range, against the outside wall.

“This!” declared Sidney finally.  “This is a perfect kitchen.”  She patted the island with an impish grin.  “Could you make this a little softer, just for now?”

Donna did so.  “What do you have in mind?”

“We’re tiny, right?  So no matter how noisy we get, we won’t wake the kids?”

Donna nodded.

“Then I want to make love in my new kitchen.”

Donna disappeared, and rising up out of the island’s countertop was a shape that looked very much like Duncan, just made of night-black counter-stuff.

“What are you doing?” asked Sidney, her eyes very wide.

“Letting you make love to your new kitchen.”

Sidney’s eyes went much, much wider.  As did her grin.


Later, as Duncan was tucking a full-sized, sated and happy Sidney into bed, she murmured, “I wanna do that again.”

“Now?”

Sidney chuckled tiredly.  “God, no.  I’m wrung out like a dishrag.  I mean in the real kitchen, when it’s done.”

“Of course.  I could start packing the kitchen up tonight, I guess.”

“You’re not coming to bed?”

Duncan shook his head.  “I’m still full of energy.  Full Moon night, you know.”

“Right,” muttered Sidney.  “I bet Gwen’s having fun.”

“Oh yeah, she just changed this guy who wanted to be worn by a dancer.  Into a feather boa, of all things.”

“Wait... you can feel what Gwen’s doing?”

Duncan winced at the tone in Sidney’s voice.  “Not exactly.  It’s more like... video chat, I guess.  I don’t get everything, just what she shares.”

“Oh.”

“She left us alone... earlier.  I didn’t share that.”

Sidney sighed softly.  “Get robo-Duncan in here.”

Duncan’s robot body slipped in between the sheets, snuggling up against Sidney.  She looked into its eyes.  “That is you in there, right?”

“Yes,” Donna said, from where she was standing beside the bed.  “Anything you say, I will hear, no matter where I am.”

Sidney looked over at Donna, and smiled.  “You really, really want to go.”

“Yes.”  Donna tried and failed to hide the eagerness in her voice.

“But you’d stay here, miserable, if I demanded it.”

“Yes.”  Softly, hesitant.

“Then go, and tell me all about it afterward.”

“I love you,” whispered Donna’s voice as she vanished.

THE END (for now)