Perfect Polish

“Thanks for coming over, Alica.”

Alica smiled at her friend, and closed the door behind herself.  “I thought you had a big date tonight.  What’s so important that you absolutely had to see me now, Lena?”

Lena bounced with excitement, then dashed off into her apartment, her long dark hair flowing out behind her like a comet.  “I found this cool nail polish bottle at a vendor in town, and I want to use it to have perfect nails for my date tonight.”

Alica followed her more slowly.  “Okay... why does that involve me?”

Lena returned with an ornate wooden box, and opened it to reveal a simple glass bottle with a stopper.

“Uh, Lena, that barely even looks like a nail polish bottle... though if it was one, it would be pretty cool.  And there’s no applicator!”

Lena handed Alica the sheet of instructions that had come with her find, and Alica started to read with growing incredulity.  “Seriously?  You think that this is a magic bottle...  Lena, you’ve been had.  This can’t be serious, not on your budget.”

Lena lifted out the bottle carefully, and pulled the stopper.  She pointed the top toward her friend.  “So touch it and see.”

Alica reached toward the bottle, then hesitated with her fingers inches away from the opening.

“Starting to think it might be real after all?” asked Lena with a chuckle.  

“Uh...  How do I know you’ll let me out if it works?  My cousin got stuck as a guy due to meddling with magic.”

“You don’t”, said Lena with a grin, as she menaced Alica with the bottle, thrusting it forward.  To both their surprise it touched the shorter girl’s fingertip and started to suck.  Alica’s finger slid inside the narrow neck of the bottle, where it shouldn’t have fit.

“Get it off!” yelled Alica.

They both tugged as hard as they could, but the grip of the bottle was too tight.  It slipped out of Lena’s hands and shot up Alica’s arm, consuming all in its path.  The sleeve of Alica’s t-shirt dangled limply.

“What’s happening?” asked Lena.  “Does it hurt?”

Alica stumbled, dropping as if she’d gone to her knees.  Her other arm sucked into the shirt and vanished.  “I feel all melty,” was all she managed to say.

With a loud slurping noise Alica’s head vanished, and her clothes collapsed into an empty heap.  The stopper, forgotten in Lena’s left hand, flew into the neck of Alica’s shirt.  Lena burrowed after it and soon found the bottle, stopper in place.

The tiny bottle was no longer empty.  It was filled with a shimmering purple liquid that roiled and rippled within.

“Oh!  It actually worked!”  Lena stared at the churning liquid inside the bottle, mesmerized by the changing patterns.  After a time she shook herself out of her daze and touched the stopper.  “Let’s see if the rest does.”

Lena pulled the stopper free once more.  The churning purple liquid surged out of the bottle, making her gasp with surprise.  Despite that, she kept a firm grip on the bottle and watched intently as the burst of liquid solidified into a doll-sized copy of her friend’s upper body.

From the waist down, the tiny Alica figure was a churning cone of liquid that tapered to the bottle’s neck.  Above the waist she was naked, shiny and purple.  She looked like she was made of nail polish.

Alica stared down at herself, then back up at her friend.  “I’m a genie?”

“The genie of the nail polish bottle,” said Lena with a huge grin.  “Teeny powers and extra-teeny living space.”

“Powers?” asked Alica curiously.

Lena set the stopper down in the bottle’s box, then held her left hand out to the tiny purple genie.  “All kinds of nail polish related stuff.  Here, paint my nails.”

Alica brushed her hand across the enormous nails in front of her.  Each one was as big as her hand.  She shuddered as she felt part of herself flow through her arm and coat Lena’s nails with shiny polish.  “As you wish, mistress,” she said as she completed her task.

Lena glanced down at her glittering nails, they were exactly the same colour as Alica’s body, and perfectly glossy.  Then she gingerly touched them with her forefinger while still maintaining her grip on the bottle.

“They’re already dry,” said Lena in wonder.

“And perfect,” added Alica proudly.  “No shoddy work here.”

Lena moved the bottle to her left hand and held up her right.  “Again.”

Alica had those nails perfect within moments.  “Done,  mistress.”

“Why are you calling me that?” asked Lena as she examined the nails of her right hand.  They were perfect – even the pinky nail that she’d chewed to bits in last week’s final exams.

“Because you are my master.  Whoever holds the bottle commands my talents.”

“Oh,” said Lena, taken aback by the frank answer.  “Are you still Alica?”

Alica raised one tiny eyebrow in a familiar gesture.  “Are you crazy?  Of course I am.”

“It’s just... the Alica I know would spit glass before she called anyone her master.”

Alica shrugged.  “But you are my mistress now.  It’s your rightful title.”

“This is getting too weird.  I think I should free you,” fretted Lena.

“Why?”

“Don’t you want to be normal again?”

Alica’s tiny face furrowed in confusion.  “I feel normal.”

Lena’s expression changed to one of deep unease.  “This isn’t right.”  She took a deep breath, and held the bottle firmly in both hands.  “Genie of the nail polish bottle, you are free.”

Alica yelped as she tumbled to the floor, human once more, but still only nine inches tall.

“Uh, Lena,” asked Alica after a moment. “Did you forget something?”

“It just says I have to free you.”  Lena grabbed the instructions and read through them once more.  “Oh, here we are.  To return to your original size, put your clothes on.  Weird.  I wonder why?”

Alica dove into her t-shirt and suddenly stood up full size once more.  “I guess it protects my modesty or something like that.”

“I guess.  I wonder what would happen if...”  Lena scanned through the notes.  “Ah.  You’d change back in a few minutes either way.  Thorough.”

Alica finished getting dressed.  “Well.  That was definitely an experience.”

“Yeah, what was all that business about ‘mistress’ anyway?”

Alica shrugged. “I had an irresistible urge to obey you.  The name just felt natural, given that.”

“Don’t you find that creepy?  Forced submission?”

Alica blushed, and stared at the tiny bottle still clutched in Lena’s hands.  “Not really.  Doing your nails, feeling part of me become the polish.... that felt really... right.  Like I was doing the most important job in the world.  I’ve never felt like that before.”  Alica reached for the open neck of the bottle, but Lena yanked it away.

“What are you doing?” she asked, aghast.

Alica pointed at Lena’s bare nails.  “If you want awesome nails for your date tonight, there’s only one way to do it.”

“I... you’d have to be the genie all evening, though.”

“Eh.  I don’t have any plans.”  Alica’s eyes were still on the bottle.  “I can change the shade to perfectly match your dress,” she offered temptingly.

“I...  I don’t feel right about it,” said Lena.  “Once I close the bottle...”

“Mmm.  I’d just feel your nails and hands.”

“And hands?”

“Yeah.  I could feel you holding the bottle.  It’ll make being stuck in the bottle a lot more fun.”

“You’re actually serious about this.”

“It’s just one evening.  Why not?”  Alica lunged for the bottle again, and Lena only barely managed to pull it away in time.

There was a loud honking from outside.  Lena looked out the window and swore.  “My date’s here.  Honking from the road?  Crude.  What do you think, Alica...”

Lena looked around.  Alica’s empty clothes were lying on the floor, and the bottle was swirling with green iridescence.  “Fine.  You’ll be my polish tonight.  That really is the perfect shade.”

When Lena stoppered the bottle, Alica lost the sense of her genie-self except as a sloshing mass of liquid, and once that was set in Lena's purse even that went away. But she could feel every twitch of Lena's fingertips as they quickly brushed through her hair. The fabric of Lena's pretty green dress imprinted itself on Alica's senses as Lena picked it up and wiggled her way into it.

Alica was proud of her place, she was making Lena's fingernails prettier than they'd ever been. She hoped her appearance, matching the dress so perfectly, would make Lena's date awesome.

Soon the cold metal of the doorknob was under Lena’s fingers, and shortly after that, the edge of a car door.  Alica could feel the rough material of the seat-belt, then the thrum of a powerful engine, and knew that she was finally on her way to her destiny.  She could no longer even imagine anything better than being Lena’s perfect nails.

* * *

The drive to the restaurant was fast, noisy, and annoying.  Lena could barely get a word in edgewise, Franz was always talking about his car.  Granted, it was a very nice car, and it could go awfully fast, but Lena cared more about getting there in one piece.

Things didn’t improve at the restaurant, either.  Franz was rude to the waitress, an earnest young woman by the name of Maria.  Lena wished she could talk with Maria instead of Franz, and smiled her apologies to the woman for her date’s behaviour.

Four beers later, Franz wasn’t any more interesting to talk to.  But he did need to use the washroom, and shortly after he left the table Maria came by to drop off their food.  “I love your nails!” she gushed.  “How’d you find the perfect shade?”

Lena pulled the bottle out of her purse, and set it on the table.  “Magic.”

“Oh wow, really?  You’re so lucky.”  Maria peered at the bottle more closely.  “That doesn’t look like a normal polish bottle.  How do you apply it?”

“Magic, of course. Wanna see?”  Lena had had a couple of mixed drinks while they were waiting, and was feeling uninhibited.

Maria pulled a chair over and sat next to Lena.  The restaurant was pretty empty, which made their slow service somewhat puzzling, but left Maria free to chat.  “Would I ever!”

Lena popped the top off the bottle, and Alica emerged, green as the polish within, but otherwise looking the same as her previous genie form.  “Oh!  I have a body again.”  She looked down at Lena’s nails, and smiled.  “Still perfect.  Yay!”

Lena chuckled. “Wow, you’re really into this.  Say hello to our waitress, Maria.”

“Hello, Maria.  Want some new nail polish?”

Maria stared down at the green polish genie with wide eyes.  “Oh my.  Hello.  Um, sure.  Could you do something that looks natural?  I’m not allowed to have bright colours on my nails here.”

“Easy.”  Alica brushed her hand over one of Maria’s nails, leaving it perfect and smooth, with only a slight gloss.  The colour was subtle, blending with the tone of her skin.  “How’s that?”

“Perfect!  Could you please do the rest?”  Maria asked, putting both hands near Alica.

“I love it when my mistresses are polite.  Of course.”  Alica brushed her hands over Maria’s other nails, and soon they all matched.

Maria grinned, fanning her hands to examine her nails.  “This is perfect.  I wish I could get more of this polish.”

Alica darted a look at Lena for permission just as Franz came up behind them.

“Hey girls, talking about me?”

“Ugh,” muttered Lena.  “I wish I didn’t have to see him again.”

“Granted,” said Alica, and a spray of clear polish shot out at Franz.

Both girls stared in wonder as Franz and his clothes shrunk swiftly.  As he dwindled, his clothes turned transparent, forming a bottle around him.  His puzzled look vanished with the rest of him, and an applicator cap closed the bottle.

“There you go.  One bottle of perfect polish,” said Alica proudly.

“But...  You didn’t turn him into a genie, did you?”

Alica shook her head.  “I don’t have that kind of power, and wouldn’t if I could.  He’s just really nice polish now.”

Maria picked up the bottle, staring at it in wonder.  “How does it feel now, Mr. butt-slapper?  Will he feel anything if I use him?”

“The application, yes.  Once he hardens, very little.  But he’ll know where he is, and what he is.”

“You can’t leave him like that!” hissed Lena.  “Change him back!”

“Sorry, mistress.  I have power over polish, including to turn things or parts of things into polish.  Not the other way.  It’s a one-way trip.”

“Parts of things?” asked Maria.

“I could have just changed his hands, if someone had wished he couldn’t slap their butt any more.  Or I could take part of someone’s height.”  She smirked.  “Or certain offensive bits of anatomy.”

Lena was staring at her with an expression torn between wonder and terror.  “And all of those would be permanent?”

“When I was freed, your nails went back to normal,” Alica pointed out.  “So it’s seems likely it’ll only last if you keep me like this.”

“Oh.  I guess I better free you, then.”

“Don’t!” blurted Maria.  “Franz has been here dozens of times, he’s a boor of the worst sort.  The world’s a better place without him.”

“But that means I have to keep my friend as my nail polish genie.”

“Works for me,” chirped Alica.  “We can get rid of lots of boors, and give them away to deserving girls.”

“Are you serious?  I know you wanted to get out of your parents’ house, but this is kind of extreme.”

Alica nodded happily.  “I’m yours as long as you want to keep me, mistress.”

“God help me.  I might never let you go, if you keep talking like that.”

“I get to keep Franz?  Sweet,” said Maria.  “I should probably pretend to get back to work, though.”

Lena smiled up at her weakly.  “Okay.  Maybe leave me your number, in case I ever decide to free Alica’s victims?  I could warn you before Franz changes back, too.”

Maria scribbled something on a card.  “Call me.  I know of a few other guys that deserve this fate, and I could use some polish to wear on my nights out...”

Lena took a cab home.  As soon as she closed the door behind her, she popped Alica’s stopper once more.  “Hey girl.”

Alica peeked at Lena’s perfect nails before answering.  “Hey mistress.  What’s up?  Why do you look so down?”

“I was kind of looking forward to the sex.”

“I can help with that, too,” said Alica.

“Sorry, sweetie.  I’m not into girls.”

“Who says I have to be a girl?”  Alica’s body reshaped into a muscular male form.  She was still the size of a doll, however.

“I...  You’re kind of small.”

Alica licked her lips.  “Not if you use all of me.”  Her body reshaped once more, becoming slim and phallic.

“Oooh.”  Lena touched the shape of her friend, lust written on her face.  “You’re never going back to human.”

“Neither are you.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Nothing... yet.  But if you wish your nipples were more sensitive, I might just do something... fun.”

Lena licked her lips nervously, then stripped her top off.  Once her bra was off, she said softly, “I wish I had much more sensitive nipples.”

Magic tingled in her breasts, and Lena gasped as her nipples flattened away to nothing.  Her areolae turned a bright, artificial purple.  “What did you do?”

“A flexible sort of polish,” said Alica with a leer, her face appearing on her otherwise cylindrical form.  “Touch it.”

Lena set the bottle down on the kitchen counter, then brushed her fingertips over where her nipples had been.  She groaned with pleasure and collapsed to her knees.  “What,” she panted, “was that?”

“You wanted them sensitive, mistress,” called Alica cheerfully from her vantage point above Lena.  “I can do more.”

Lena groaned again as her hands found her breasts.  “More?”

“More.  Much, much more.”

One of Lena’s hands found its way into her panties.  “Do it.”  She gasped with pleasure, and could say no more.  Alica watched with a huge grin as Lena rubbed her way to ecstasy.  Every time she moaned, “more”, the changes spread, until she could no longer speak.  Squeaking and squirming on the floor was a glossy lovedoll that looked a bit like Lena... but mostly not.

Eventually Lena slept.  When she woke, Alica was still watching over her.

“Good morning, mistress!”

“Mmmmf.  MMFF?”

“Yes, the modifications are quite... extensive.  Are you pleased?”

“MMMF!”

“I’ll take that as a yes.”

“Mo Mf MFmp!”

Alica giggled.  “This isn’t getting anywhere.  Maybe you could write?”

Lena slowly made her way to her feet.  Everything about moving was distracting, her skin felt on fire just from brushing against the counter as she stood.  She grabbed for a pen, but it just skittered away from her mittenlike hand.  It took two minutes’ work just to get a grip on the pen, and longer to write the note.

“Change me back!”  ‘Back’ was underlined four times.

“Sorry, Lena.  No can do.”

“Genie of the nail polish bottle, you are free,” Lena laboriously wrote.

“Nope.  Doesn’t count if you can’t say it.”

“MMCK!”

“Yep, you’re stuck alright.  As am I.  Isn’t it great?”

Lena glared at Alica, then dumped her purse all over the counter.  She separated her phone, and found the card from the previous night.   It took her ages, but eventually she tapped out a message to Maria.

Maria arrived half an hour later, to find an angry looking lovedoll opening the door for her.  “Lena?  What the hell happened to you?”

Lena pointed at the giggling genie on the kitchen counter.  Alica’s giggling grew louder.

“Ah.  Made some unfortunate wishes, I guess.  Alica, can you change her back?”

“Nope!  I could make her smaller or turn her all the way into polish, though.”

“MO!” cried Lena.

Maria patted her cheek.  “Don’t worry, sweetie.  We’ll take care of you.  Tell me, though.  Was it worth it?”

Lena’s plastic cheek warmed under Maria’s touch, though the blush didn’t show through.  She looked down at the floor, and then slowly nodded her head.

Maria smiled, and picked Alica’s bottle up.  “Who is your mistress now?”

“You are.”

“And if I told you to change Lena further?”

Alica grinned.  “Do it.”

“I need a more portable sort of toy.  Something that would fit in my purse.”

Lena’s eyes widened, then she began to shrink.  Soon she had no face at all, nor limbs.  Maria picked up the shiny cylinder that lay where Lena hand been.  “Will she enjoy this?”

“Oh, yes.  She’s probably already in bliss just from your grip on her.”

Maria laughed softly.  “Ah.  That would explain the squirming.”  She tucked the toy into her purse, then picked up the stopper of Alica’s bottle.

“Me too?”

“But of course.  I start work in a couple hours, and I want my new pets to come with me.  Down you go.”

Alica purred as she sank away into her bottle.  Soon that bottle was jostling against Lena’s sleek form inside Maria’s purse.  Alica thought encouraging things at Lena, but had no way of knowing if Lena could tell.

Once she arrived at the restaurant, Maria noticed a tow-truck backing up to Franz’ Mercedes.  She hurriedly asked her boss what was going to happen to it.  He shrugged, and said he couldn’t have deadbeats leaving cars all over his lot.

Maria cursed under her breath then went back out the employee entrance to have a little privacy.  She pulled out the bottle, and removed the stopper.

Alica gushed forth once more.  “Hello, mistress.”

“I need you to change Franz back.  My boss has already noticed his absence, and soon others will get involved.  Guys like him can’t just disappear without a fuss.”

“Sorry, no can do.  I told you this last night.  Turning people into polish or related objects is a one way trip.”

“Won’t  freeing you fix it?” asked Maria.

“I don’t know.”

Maria started to hyperventilate.  “Oh fuck, oh fuck, have I erased two people?”

“No.  Lena erased Franz.  And herself, really.  You just came along to pick up the pieces.”

Maria calmed down, though her grip on Alica’s bottle only got tighter.  “Okay.  Okay.  I can deal with this.”  She fished the toy and the bottle of Franz nail polish out of her purse, and set them on the ground.  “Genie, you are free.”

“No!” protested Alica, but it was too late, she was already tumbling to the ground as a doll-sized human.  Lena broke her fall, then laughed and hugged her tight.

Unlike the girls, Franz’ clothing had been changed with him, so he swiftly returned to normal size.  He looked Maria over, his eyes lingered long on her feet.  “Well.  That’s one of the odder nights I’ve spent.  Not the oddest, and certainly not the worst.”

Maria stared at him in shock.  “What?”

“You have pretty feet.  Can I get your number?”

Maria pointed out into the parking lot. “Your car’s being towed.”

Franz span and dashed off to argue with the guy in the tow truck without a single glance back at Maria or the two doll sized women at her feet.

Maria crouched down before Lena and Alica.  “Why are you two tiny?”

“Because we’re naked,” said Alica.  Lena was just staring up at the giantess before her, mouth working soundlessly.

“Oh.  Handy.  Should I just pop you in my purse until my shift’s over?”

Alica giggled.  “That would be fun.  But no, we’ll grow back in a few minutes whether we get clothes or no.”  She pointed at the bottle in Maria’s hand.  “Let me in, and I can fix things up.”

Maria lowered the bottle, and Alica practically dove into it.  A moment later she was a polish genie again, this time in pale tan, the same colour as Maria’s nails had been painted.  “Ah!  Home sweet home.”

Lena was still staring.

“Is it so good, being a genie?” asked Maria curiously.

“Yes.  Life is way simpler, I just have to do whatever my mistress asks.  Plus I get cool powers.  I could turn most of Lena into a bottle of nail polish, and leave her stuck at this size, or even smaller if you wished.”

Maria grinned.  “Ooh, that sounds like fun.  Can you make her about six inches tall?”

Lena squealed as she lost even more height.  A bottle of shimmering pink polish flowed into existence beside her.  “What have you done?” she shrieked in her tiny voice.

“Saved you from streaking the lunch rush,” said Alica.

“Oh.”  Lena calmed down.  “I guess there’s that.  So I’m stuck as a tiny person, now?”

“Yep!” Alica chirped.  “Until mistress wants you to be something smaller.  You had fun as her toy, don’t deny it.”

Lena stammered and stuttered so badly that Maria just sighed and scooped her up.  “C’mon.  I need to get to work.  I’ll leave you two in my locker so you can talk.”

“Well,” muttered Lena into the dark of the locker.  “What a pickle you’ve gotten us into.”

“Could be worse,” said Alica cheerfully.

“How?  How could it possibly be worse?”

“You could be a sex doll lying on your apartment floor, unable to move or stimulate yourself.  That was all you, by the way.”

“And being mostly nail polish is better?”

“Yep!  Being painted is gooey, slippy fun.  Being nothing but the paint on someone’s nails is even better!”

They continued talking for a time, but the dark soon lulled Lena to sleep.  Alica curled up in her bottle and did likewise.

* * *

Maria hesitated with her hand on the locker.  She’d had a boringly mundane day, and was having trouble believing that the polish genie and tiny woman were part of the same world.  “Did I imagine it?” she wondered out loud.

“Nope!” called Alica as soon as she opened the locker.  “We’re still here.  Part of that granola bar in your purse isn’t, though.  Lena got hungry.”

“That’s fine.  I can get you something better to eat before we go home, if you like.  The chef here makes a chocolate mousse to die for.  I could get you enough that you could swim in it.”

Lena’s eyes went wide as saucers.  “Please?”

“If it’ll make you happy, pet.”  Maria emphasized the last word.

Lena ducked her head.  “Yes it would, mistress.”

Maria got a plastic cup full of the promised mousse, and sat on the outside step of the restaurant while Lena gorged herself silly.

“Ugh.  I can’t eat another bite.”  Lena slumped to the ground, hands over her distended belly.  “Soooo good.  Thank you.”

“So are my pets ready to go home?”

Alica favoured her with a glare.  “I am not a pet.”

Maria nodded.  “Ah.  Yes, of course not.  You are my genie.”

“And don’t you forget it!” Alica said with a grin.  “Or I might start twisting your wishes.”

Maria raised an eyebrow.  “Is that what you did with Lena?”

Alica giggled.  “Nah.  I might have gotten her started, but once I’d made her nipples super-sensitive, she asked for the rest.”

“Did not,” muttered Lena.

“What were you saying, then?”

“More.”

“As you wish.”

Lena’s eyes went wide as her body took on a plastic sheen once more.

“Okay,” said Alica wth another giggle.  “That was twisting things a bit.”

Maria sighed, and put the Lena doll in her purse.  “You’re something else, alright.  I’m assuming she can’t go back to human unless I free you, right?”

“Yup.  She’s a toy now.  It goes human, pet, toy, then polish.”

Maria carried Alica toward her car.  “Pity.  I was looking forward to having a pet to brighten up my home.  I guess my layabout roomie will have to do... will she end up turned into polish as well?”

Alica nodded eagerly.  “Yup.”

“Hm.  Time to advertise for a new roommate, then.”

“Oooh!  This is going to be such fun!”

Maria started the car, and laughed.  “You’d really go along with turning a succession of my roommates into pets, toys, and bottles of nail polish?  Whether they wanted it or not?”

“If you wished it, mistress.”

Maria let loose with a hearty evil chuckle.  It ended on a coughing fit.  “Sorry.  Can’t pull that off.  I’m not evil, Alica.  I’m going to have to turn you two back.”

“Awwwww.  I don’t wanna go back.”  Alica pouted all the way back to Maria’s apartment.

Once there, Maria fetched two robes, and freed Alica.  After a moment, both Lena and Alica were full sized once more.  Maria kept a tight grip on the bottle, and stoppered it.

“Okay.  Alica, do you still want to be a polish genie?”

“Yes.  I’ve got nothing going on in my life, and my parents would love it if I moved out.  I’m twenty-four, ‘long past time to leave the nest’ according to Dad.”

“And you’d like to move in to a bottle?”

“The living space is teensy, and the powers aren’t exactly cosmic... but I think you’d make a great mistress.  You’ve got a wicked streak you really want to play with.”

Maria blushed faintly.  “Maybe.  If I could find the right... victims.”  She looked over at Lena.

“That was supposed to be my bottle, and my genie,” Lena pouted.  She made no move to take the bottle, however.

“You used it irresponsibly.  You’re just lucky Franz didn’t object, or... can you be sued for unlawful confinement if you turn someone into nail polish?”

“Not if they can’t find him,” answered Alica with a wicked grin.

“Neither of you are responsible enough to have the bottle, I see.”

Alica and Lena shared a guilty look, then Lena reluctantly nodded.  “Yes mistress.”

Maria arched an eyebrow.  “Is that permission?  Would you rather be my pet or toy?”

“Toy, I think.”

“That wasn’t exactly the question I was asking,” Maria said, chuckling.  “But I’ll take that as a yes.  Is there anything you need to do before becoming my toy?  Bills to pay, stuff like that?”

“That depends on how long you’re keeping me.  If it’s going to be longer than a few months, I should put my stuff in storage and break the lease on my apartment.”

It was Maria’s turn to be taken aback.  “Wait.  You’d seriously let me turn you into a toy for months?”

Lena and Alica both nodded eagerly.

“How long?” asked Maria, weakly.

“As long as you’ll have us,” Lena answered, promptly.  Alica nodded her agreement.

“Seriously?  I could... keep you as a toy, or as polish, and you’re OK with that?  You only just met me, why would you do such a thing?”

“Because you let us go, and are letting us choose,” said Alica.  “You’re a good, responsible person, you’ve made that clear too.  If we really want out in a month, or a year, you’d let us go.  Personally, I’m hoping my next jump into that bottle is my last.”

“But that would mean everyone else I change would be stuck too.”

“Everyone else?” asked Alica, perking up.  “You’re going to add more toys and pets?”

“I was hoping to, yes.  But I can’t if they’ll be stuck forever.”

Alica sighed softly.  “Fine.  You can free me whenever one of them wants out.  As long as I can go right back in afterward.”

Maria looked at the two eager young women sitting on her couch, then nodded decisively.  “Done.”  She pulled the bottle’s stopper and pointed it toward Alica.  Alica grinned and fell into it face-first, disappearing in moments then re-emerging as a being of brilliant crimson polish.

“Muuuuch better.  Shall I toy Lena for you?”

“No.  Lena, go settle your affairs.  I will keep you here as long as you are willing to stay.  You will probably end up in a bottle sooner or later, and at that point I’ll stop asking except when others get freed.”

“Yes mistress!” answered Lena happily.  “I’ll be back as soon as I can.  I’m sure I can find someone that’ll buy an apartment’s worth of stuff.”  She was halfway to the door before she turned and admitted, “I might need to borrow some clothes to do it.”

“Of course.”  Maria helped Lena get dressed, and then drove her back to her apartment.  When she returned home, she pulled Alica out of her purse and unstoppered the bottle once more.

“I want pretty nails,” she said.

“Done.”  Alica waved her hand at the nails, and droplets of polish landed on them, covering them perfectly.

“You’re getting good at this.  Ready to tackle my layabout roommate?”

Alica nodded, and squealed with giddiness as Maria carried her to one of the bedroom doors.  A couple of taps produced a muffled reply.

“Come on Greta, I know you’re in there.  Do you have this month’s rent?”

The door opened, revealing Greta’s disheveled form.  She was clutching a video game console, and her pyjamas looked like they’d been worn for more than a few days.  “You know I don’t.  No job, right?”

“I have another option for you.”  Maria held up Alica’s bottle, and Greta went wide-eyed at the appearance of the polish genie.  “I’m looking for a pet.”

“A pet?  As in, no work except to cuddle and lay about all day?”

Maria nodded.  “About a foot tall, I think.  Cute cat ears, tail, collar.”

“I don’t think I can do fur,” said Alica, ducking her head apologetically.

“That’s fine.”

Greta was staring at Maria, her eyes even wider.  “You’re actually serious.”

“Yes.  No rent, no expenses, nothing to do but play games and give me cuddles.  You’d just not be human any more.  And if you can’t even manage that, you might end up as a toy, or a bottle of nail polish.”

Greta grinned.  “Now you’re really pulling my leg.”

“Do it.”

Alica flicked polish at the shrinking Greta.  Two drops landed near her ears, and another at the base of her spine.  By the time she’d climbed out of the crumpled heap of her pyjama top, Greta was sporting shiny pink cat-ears, a matching collar, and a long shiny tail.  It bounced and swayed as she pranced about.

Greta stared up at Maria.  “You’re serious.  I can stay like this?  And not have to pay rent?  Or for food?”

“Nope.  You won’t eat much, I think I can afford to feed you.  I’ll need a new roomie, though.”

Greta snuggled up to Maria’s leg, hugging it tight.  “May I ask one teensy favour?  Can you shrink my console down a bit so I can still play it?”

Maria looked at Alica, who nodded.  “Sure.”

When Alica was done, the console was perhaps a third its original size.  Greta was ecstatic, the net result was that it was much bigger than before.  “Widescreen mode!  This is so cool.”  She was soon absorbed in her game once more, sitting on the floor against Maria’s foot.

“Aaand, we’ve lost her,” said Maria with a grin.  “I’ll see if being a cat doesn’t improve her grooming habits.  If it doesn’t...  Well, I’m sure you can come up with something.”

Alica giggled.  “Toys stay clean.”

Maria laughed.  “They do, at that.  Hear that, Greta?  Clean up your act or you’ll be demoted to a toy.”

Greta perked an ear at her.  “Yes’m.”  She put the game down, and scampered off toward the bathroom.  “Uh... can I get a ladder in here?  No wait, I can jump up on the toilet...”  There was a loud splash followed by swearing, and both Maria and Alica started giggling.

“I’ll make a ladder or ramp or something,” said Maria, setting Alica down by the phone.  “You call your family.”

When Maria came back, she caught the tail end of the conversation.  

“Yes, I said a genie.  Yes, it’s magic.  I get to do cool stuff for my mistress, like turning Lena into a pet or a toy.”

Alica sighed softly, then hung up.  “That went well, I think.”

“What’d they say?”

“Dad said, ‘That’s nice, dear.  Make sure to call at Christmas or your Mum will be upset.’  He did say he’d box my stuff up and store it, though.”

“So... that’s it?  I get to keep you?”

Alica’s mood swung back to giddiness.  “Yeppers!  Come on, let me turn you partway into a toy, too!  Lena loved it when I made her nipples more sensitive.”

“Tempting... but no.”

“Aww.”  Alica didn’t stay disappointed long.  “Still, I’m your nail polish, and that’s good enough for now.”

Maria patted her little genie on the head.  “One day I’ll find someone who I’d trust with your power over me.  And on that day you’ll get to turn me into his doll, or pet, or toy.  Hopefully all three.”

“Yay!  Let’s get you set up on a dating site!”

“Alica!”

“Hey, I’m impatient.  Plus, I can turn the ones who don’t make the cut into more toys.  Or better yet, into more polish!”

“You are going to be such trouble,” said Maria with a sigh and a grin.  “I can’t wait.”