Chapter 12 - Dressy Dates

Violet yawned as she answered her phone.  “Hi Mom.”

“Don’t just ‘Hi Mom’ me, young lady.  Where are you?  Where were you?”

“Bailey’s.  Last-minute sleepover.  Kinda.  I spent most of the night as her bra.”

“And was there a boy at this sleepover?” her mother asked acerbically.

“No there was not.  Technically.”

“Technically?”

“Jimmy’s currently a hermaphrodite.  And didn’t stay the night.”  After a moment, Violet added, “And he’s a sweetie.”

Ruby sighed.  “You’re treading close to the line, dear.”

“But not over it?” Violet asked, her grin leaking into her voice.

“No.  And I may be willing to consider a ‘Jimmy is a sweetie’ exemption.”

“If?” asked Violet.

“Someone promised me a dress.”

Violet’s eyes went wide.  “You’re going to go through with wearing Mr. Castile as a dress?”

“He’s willing to be helpless for me.  I want to see what that’s like.”

“It’s so good...” Violet enthused.

“Do tell.”

Violet’s blush was incandescent, making Bailey giggle.  “I’d rather not?” she squeaked.

Ruby chuckled warmly.  “I’ll see you at the mall in an hour.”

Violet stared down at her phone.  “An hour?  I can’t be ready in an hour!  I don’t even have clean clothes.”

“We’ve got a stash of t-shirts here.  We’ll whip up something new for you to wear at the mall.  C’mon!”

Violet managed to get a shower and a few bites of breakfast before they had to dash to the mall to meet her mother.  Violet had a bagel clutched in one tentacle, and ate it on the go.  

They made it there before Mrs. Powell, and hopped into a Venn Machine to get Violet presentable.  The resulting dress was simpler than Violet’s usual work, but it had an elegance in its simplicity and its colour matched her eyes perfectly.

Violet peered closely at her reflection.  “My eyes weren’t purple earlier.”

“It’s a pretty shade for you.  You should keep them like that.”

“You're just saying that because it suits my name.”

Bailey shook her head.  “Honestly, I think it’s a good colour on you.  Would I steer you wrong?”

Violet considered her reflection, taking a step back.  “Weird.  It’s wrong, but it's also perfect.  I could get used to having purple eyes.  What do you think?” asked Violet, turning to her friend.

Bailey answered by leaning in for a kiss.  Violet responded eagerly, until she spotted something over Bailey’s shoulder.  She broke from the kiss and waved, smiling a bit too brightly.  “Hi Mom!”

Ruby grinned at her daughter.  “Are we interrupting something?”

Bailey turned and smiled.  “Yes.  But we can pick it up later.  Ready to be an awesome dress, Mr. Castile?”

“A man does not go back on his word.  Besides, if what Jimmy was telling me this morning is true, you’ve had some experience with people as clothing.  How was it?”

Violet grinned hugely.  “Awesome.  You’re going to make my mom look so pretty.”

“Good.  And speaking of my children, how’s Katie doing?”

Violet put her hand to her necklace. She tried to, at least.  All she found was her bare throat.  “Katie!  I…”  She looked around in panic.

“You didn’t leave her in your locker, did you?” suggested Jimmy.

“No, of course not.”

“Were you wearing her when we Venned your dress?” asked Bailey.

Violet nodded. “Oh!  She’s probably my dress now.  Silly me.  She’ll be fine.”

“If fine includes being stuck as clothing for a month,” added Bailey helpfully.

“A month!” protested Mr. Castile.

Violet rolled her eyes.  “We can change her back any time.  We’ll make her human again for today.  Maybe a little older, so she fits in better.”

“Please?” asked Katie’s father.

Violet nodded.  “Of course.  Give us a few minutes to sort out the logistics.”

After a quick consultation with Bailey, Violet hopped into the Venn Machine.  Katie and Violet emerged in rumpled clothes.  Katie gave her father a quick wave and a smile before hopping back in again, this time opposite Violet.  A few minutes later Violet emerged in the purple dress she’d been wearing earlier, and Katie stepped out of the booth looking like an adult.

Jimmy whistled softly.  “Nice.”

“That’s your sister!” protested Mr. Castile.

“It’s hard to see her as my baby sister when she’s looking Ruby’s age,” said Jimmy, pointing to Katie, then to Violet’s mother.

Katie darted to the mirror, then tried to straighten up and look mature.  “Woah.  This is me?  Or how I’ll look in another decade?”

“Thereabouts,” said Violet.  “I’m not sure how well the Venn Machines understand ‘older’.  It presented a lot of options.”

Ruby studied the no longer young girl.  “I think I should go a little older.  Late twenties, maybe?”

“It would make you feel a little less like jailbait,” conceded Mr. Castile.

“And we should make you the same age!”

“After we turn him into your dress, you mean?” asked Violet.

“Have you figured out who’s going to get twinned to your mother so we can design for her?” asked Bailey.

Violet’s face fell.  “Oh.  Right.  I hope that’s not a problem, Mom?  I need you to turn me into a copy of you for this to work.”

“You’ll change back afterward, I assume?”

Violet nodded.  “I’d rather be me.”

Katie whispered something into Violet’s ear, and Violet blushed.  “Nope, would still rather be me.  Uh, most of the time.”

Katie giggled.  Violet shook her head at the mature-looking woman Katie had become.  “You’re trouble, no matter what shape you’re in.  C’mon, Mom.  Let’s do this.”

Soon two Mrs. Powells emerged from the Venn Machine, looking a little older than when she first entered.  One studied herself in the mirror, turning this way and that.  “I still feel young.  What do you think, Scott?”

“Dad’s already in the Venn Machine with Violet,” said Bailey.  “I think you look great.  You still look young, but there’s a maturity there that better matches your poise.”

Ruby dimpled at Bailey’s compliment.  “Thank you.  It does feel like it suits me better.  I hope Violet comes up with a dress that works with this new look.”

“I’m sure she’ll… oh, here we are!”  Bailey dashed to the open door of the Venn Machine, and scooped up the dress that was lying within.  She held it up for Mrs. Powell to look at.  It was a deep wine red, with a modest neckline and a calf-length skirt that rippled and waved as if alive.  “Go ahead, put it on.”

Mrs. Powell accepted the dress reverently, and carried it to the nearby changing room.  When she emerged, her face was slightly flushed.  “It moves!  On its own!”

Violet grinned.  “Bonus feature.   Have fun, you two.”

“How much mobility did you give Dad?” asked Katie.

Violet’s grin widened.  “Enough.  For a first date.  I’m pretty sure I could have made this a very interesting day indeed, but that’s my mother…”

They all watched as the elegantly dressed woman walked on into the mall, apparently talking to herself.  “Maybe we should get out of here and go do something fun,” suggested Jimmy.

“We’ve got a pretty full client list,” said Bailey.  “Do you two want to hang out with us, or…”

Jimmy grinned at Bailey.  “Or let you play dressup between clients?”

Bailey grinned at Violet.  “I suppose that could work.  Why don’t you two go get some more T-shirts and we’ll change them into something fun.”

The first order of business was to put Violet back to her normal shape.  Katie took care of that while Jimmy was fetching more T-shirts.  Violet emerged with added muscles, enough height to make her half-a-head taller than Jimmy, and an extra tentacle-arm on each shoulder.  Violet posed in front of her friends, giggling at their reactions.  When Jimmy suggested she stay that way, she agreed to do so for the rest of the day.  She’d become facile enough with tentacles that operating without hands – but with what she deemed “opposable tentacles” – was easily managed.

They spent the morning and half the afternoon at the mall, working through the backlog of Violet Bailey Design clients.  They even had a couple of walk-ups who mentioned the new display in the mall, the one that Stella was inhabiting.  In between clients, they made four new dresses for adult-Katie, and two for Jimmy.  Wearing a dress and with his hair teased out, he made a passable girl.  Katie suggested a padded bra, and Violet crafted one out of yet another of the ubiquitous t-shirts.

“Done!” said Bailey at last.  “Though I really should take some time to make a new sign for the display.  Can I leave you three alone for a few hours?”

Violet looked at Jimmy and Katie.  Jimmy was still wearing a dress, and even had some light, tasteful makeup courtesy of Bailey.  “Three girls out on the town?  I don’t know, could be trouble...”

“Be good,” said Bailey.

“We will.”

Once she was gone, Violet turned to Katie.  “We need to talk.”

Katie whined and fussed.  Jimmy took Violet’s side, and pointed out that if Katie wanted to be taken as a mature woman, she needed to act that way.

“Fine,” Katie grudgingly admitted.  “But I get to Venn you two into something fun afterward.”

Violet looked over to Jimmy, who nodded.  “Okay.  But we have to be animate for the sleepover tonight at Bailey’s.”

“Another sleepover?” asked Jimmy.

“You saw how our parents were together.  Do you want to be at either of our houses tonight?  Is it worth the risk?” asked Violet, grinning.

“Now that you put it that way...  Party time!  Girls night in!  Woo!” cheered Jimmy in a high-pitched voice.

“Oooh,” purred Katie. “I know what I’m doing with you.”

The three of them retired to Jimmy’s car for some privacy.  “So,” sighed Katie.  “Talk.  How much trouble am I in?”

“It’s not trouble,” said Violet.  “It’s boundaries.  I’m in love with Bailey.  Bailey seems pretty sweet on Jimmy here, and I can see why.  Especially now,” giggled Violet.

Jimmy giggled along.  “So you’re both lesbians?  I can work with that.”

“I’m more flexible than that, I can find anything sexy.  Even monsters.  I’ll let Bailey speak for herself, but I think she was having fun with you last night in male phase, yes?”

Jimmy blushed, and looked away from Katie.  “I’d rather not talk about that in front of my little sister.”

“Do I look like a little sister?” Katie fired back.

“In my head, you’re still six.”

That led to a loud, circular argument.  Violet had to muffle the two of them with her tentacles so she could speak.  “Enough.  You two have issues.  Those are not what I want to talk about.  The problem is, I love Bailey, Bailey is at the very least lusting after Jimmy, and I find him pretty cute myself.  With a little help from the Venn Machines, I think the three of us can have fun.  Jimmy?”

Jimmy nodded.

“But the hypergolic reactant in all this is you, Katie.  You’re madly in love with someone who might not be entirely real.  What do you know about me?”

Katie wriggled free of the tentacle.  “You love monsters.  I mean, really, really love them.  You’re amazing with a Venn Machine, crazy brave, and...  What?”

“Brave?  I didn’t fight off the whole football team.”

“You took months of abuse from them without breaking!” protested Katie.  “I broke in a day.  Couldn’t take it.  I’m weak and broken and I just want to... to...” Katie looked away.

“What do you want?” asked Violet softly.

“You were nice to me,” said Katie.  “Nobody’s ever nice to me, my Mom was awful as were all her friends.  Even here, Jimmy’s a brat and Dad just sees how much money he doesn’t have to pay in child support.”

“That’s not true!” protested Jimmy.

“Where was he last weekend?” asked Katie coldly.

“On a long-postponed fishing trip with his friends.  His friends go almost every weekend.  He used to work most weekends just so we’d have something left after your mother got her ‘share’.  Dad is due some relaxation!”

Violet muzzled them both again.  “Fine.  Katie’s life sucked.  Why’d you stick with your mother anyway?”  

After Violet released her, Katie sighed.  “I was six, okay?  You shouldn’t have to make life-altering decisions at six.  Mommy was the nice one, I picked her, turned out to be the worst mistake of my life.  She’s weak, spends all her money on alcohol and all her time watching online porn.  I’ve seen things no kid ever should.”

Violet winced.  “Ick.  Forget about all that.”

“Okay,” said Katie, leaning toward Violet eagerly.  “Make me forget.”

“I...”  Violet did her best to match Katie’s intensity.  “I think you’re amazing.  Maybe a little crazy, but in a good way.  I can’t imagine finding anyone else as keen on monsters.  I want to help you become an amazing person.”

“That would be cool,” said Katie softly.  “So why am I cringing inside?”

“I don’t want to hurt you,” said Violet.  “But you’re fifteen.  I don’t know that a... physical relationship is something I can do.”

Katie pulled a face.  “Ew.  I’ve seen enough porn that the very idea sickens me.”

“That’s... not the reaction I was expecting,” said Violet.  “When Jimmy said you were in love with me, I thought...  Never mind what I thought.  What do you mean?”

“Exactly what it says.  I love you, and want to spend all my time with you.  If that means being the hairbrush in your purse, or a pet cat, or a hair scrunchie...”

“But not my vibrator, or a condom?”

“EWWWW!” cried Katie.

Violet and Jimmy giggled at her reaction.  “Are you sure you can’t be schoolgirl Katie, and maybe my assistant on the weekends?  Have a life, and live it near mine?”

“Can I try the other until my suspension is over?” asked Katie.  “You know, to give it a fair comparison.  Maybe I can be something really useful.”

“Katie...” sighed Jimmy.

“Sure,” said Violet firmly.  “On one condition.”

“Anything,” agreed Katie without hesitation.

“You spend the weekends human.”

“Being adult-Katie is human, right?”

Violet nodded.  “You can spend all your weekends like this.  Or as my twin, or a blue-haired girl with purple scales for skin.”

“That’s a pretty broad definition of human,” grumbled Jimmy.

“I’m mostly looking for able to move and speak.  The rest...” Violet shrugged.  “Blame the Venn Machines for blurring the lines.”

“Monsters can move and speak,” mused Katie.  “Can I be a monster?  I’ll trade the Venning you promised me, Violet.  Instead of changing you, you change me into a monster.”

“You may end up being a cute monster.  Can you live with that?” asked Violet, grinning.

“Yep!  Are we done talking?”

Violet shook her head.  “Not quite.  I want to pursue physical relationships with Bailey and Jimmy.”

“That again?” moaned Katie.  “I’ll get out of the way from now on.  Let you put me in your locker, or stuff me in your purse so I’m not in the way.”

“From now on?” asked Jimmy.

“Oh shit.  Please don’t ask, Jimmy.  You really don’t want to know.”

Jimmy looked over at Violet for help.  “Do I want to know?”

“It’d be best if you don’t poke at this.”

Jimmy studied the two of them, then his eyes widened.  “You were with Violet last night.”

Katie winced, but nodded.  “I was scared.  I didn’t want to let go of her to get stuffed in a dark locker all night.  It won’t happen again, I really really don’t want to be there when you two... three... do whatever.  No.”

“But... sleepover?” asked Jimmy plaintively.

Violet smiled, and patted both their hands with her tentacles.  “Sleepovers aren’t supposed to be orgies.  We’ve pushed Mom’s ruling on that too far already.  So we will have sleepovers, where you will not be male.  And we will have dates, where Katie will find some other way to occupy her time.  Fair?”

Katie gripped Violet’s tentacle tightly.  “Do we have to?  What am I supposed to do while you three are doing your thing?”

“Homework?” suggested Violet.  “You do need to catch up.  Unless you’re looking for a career in Venn Machines.”

“Tempting,” said Katie.  “I suppose there isn’t much money in being things, though.”

“I have heard the ingredients at the bakery get paid pretty well,” said Jimmy, reluctantly.  “And there’s this place that does long-term jewelry rentals.  Though I suppose you could use a technique more like ours so the jewelry isn’t alive.”

Violet put her hand to her bare neck.  “I... wearing Katie as living jewelry was something else.  Did you like it, Katie?”

Katie’s eyes shone.  “I loved it.  Being so close to you all the time?  And able to move, to hold your tentacle?  I could be happy like that forever.”

“What about date nights?  You wouldn’t want to be worn then, would you?”

Katie whined piteously and her grip on Violet’s tentacle tightened as she squeezed her eyes closed.  “Make it so I can’t see or hear.  Then...  God, not even then.  I don’t know what to do!”

“Go home human and do homework?” suggested Jimmy.  The other two glared at him.  “Right, right.  Who does that on a Friday night?  What if we made a soundproof jewelry box?  One with a cell-phone charger built in?  You could sit in there and watch videos with the sound turned up.”

“A little monster home for my monster necklace?” asked Violet, smiling, squeezing Katie’s hands in reply.  “We could make it portable, and decorate it however you like.”

Katie grinned.  “Oooh.  Can I make it all scaly?”

“Sure.  That way I’ll know where you are, and think of you when I look at it.”

Katie sighed happily.  “Okay.  Make sure it has a good solid latch on it.”

“From the inside?” asked Violet.

Katie shook her head.  “Outside.  Because I’m a curious little monster who won’t stay put.  If I can get out, I will.  And regret it.  But I’ll still do it.  That’s how I got traumatized by Mom’s porn.”

“And yet you return to the flame.  Why?” asked Violet.

Katie curled up on herself, but kept a hold of Violet’s tentacle.  “Curiosity.  Urges.  I don't know.  I couldn’t look away, even though it made me feel ill.”

“I’ll keep you safe,” reassured Violet.  “From yourself, if need be.”

“Thanks,” sniffed Katie.  “Are we done talking, yet?”

Violet looked over at Jimmy.  “Yeah, I think so.  We can make this work.  That jewelry case, should we try to figure out how to Venn it?”

Jimmy shook his head.  “It’d be better if it was permanent.  Real.  Dad’s good at woodworking.  We’ll come up with something.  Trying to explain that it’s for Katie to sleep in might be fun.”

Katie giggled.  “Oooh.  A new bed!  With a cozy velvet pillow to curl up on?”

“I’m pretty sure I remember enough sewing skills to make a pillow for you,” offered Violet, which made Katie grin even more.

“Okay.  We have a plan.  Hopefully we can get it together for the next date night.  Next Friday?”

Violet nodded.  “Sounds good.”

Katie bounced in place.  “Venning now?”

Violet and Jimmy laughed and agreed.  Soon Jimmy and Katie were in a Venn Machine set for a day, and not long after that two girls emerged.  Katie looked like herself, and Jimmy was very emphatically female.  Jimmy walked to the mirror, high heels clicking on the floor, giving her wide hips a delightful sway, matched by the swish of long blonde hair that went halfway down her back.  She was still wearing the same dress that Violet had made for her earlier, but now it was filled out and curvy.  Her eyes glittered like sapphires.  “Holy...  I’m hot!”

Katie giggled.  “Yep.  Enough of this wishy washy not quite guy or girl stuff.  No boys allowed at the sleepover.”

“And that is very much not a boy,” agreed Violet.  “Jimmy doesn’t fit this body.  What should we call you?  Jane?”

Jimmy pouted.  Even her pouts were pretty.  “So plain.  Can I have a pretty name?”

“You are such a girl!” exclaimed Katie.  “And you’ve only been one for minutes.”

“We could rearrange the sounds of your name,” suggested Violet.  “How does Miji sound?”

“Cute.  A little asian, maybe.”

“Oooh!” exclaimed Katie.  “We could Venn you to fit the name!”

Her enthusiasm would not be denied, but Jimmy chose Violet to make the change.  Katie agreed with Jimmy’s choice, because Violet made the prettiest forms.  She was a little disappointed to see her brother emerge slimmer and less curvy, though no less emphatically female.  Miji was a couple inches shorter than adult Katie, it looked as if she was Katie’s usual height.  She had glossy black hair that was so smooth it looked like a beetle’s carapace, and matching jet black eyes in a heart-shaped face.

“What do you think?” asked Violet nervously after Miji had studied herself in the mirror for almost a minute, swishing her pale green kimono back and forth.

Miji smiled.  “I’m pretty.  And so very much not Jimmy.  This is interesting.  Happy with your creation?”

Violet grinned.  “You’re sexy.  So, yes.”

Miji danced up to Violet and kissed her on the lips.  The kiss lingered on, until someone coughed for attention.  They broke apart to see Bailey watching them, an amused smile on her face.

“I really can’t leave you three alone, can I?  Jimmy?”

“Miji, like this.”  Miji curtsied to Bailey.  “Like it?”

“Watching my girlfriends kiss like that?  Mmm, yeah.  C’mere.”

Both of them snuggled up against Bailey.  Katie looked away, then smiled and waved.  “Hi, Mrs. Powell!  How’d your date go?”

Violet pulled out of the snuggle to wave to her mother.  “Hey mom.  How’s the dress?”

Ruby bit her lip, and blushed.  “Your experiment was very successful.  Can you change Scott back to human.”  She was wearing the dress she’d originally worn to the mall, and had a wiggling burgundy dress clutched to her chest.

Violet nodded, and popped the dress into the Venn Machine.  When Mr. Castile didn’t immediately emerge, she went in to the other side to explain the controls.  

“Could I get a change?” he asked, after accepting.  “Say, to around Ruby’s age?”

Violet’s uncertain expression blossomed into a smile.  “Oh!  Sure, I can do that, no problem.”

“What did you think I was going to ask for?”

Violet snickered.  “I’d rather not say.”

Scott shook his head.  “You kids.  Do I even want to know what you’re getting up to with these things?”

Violet pressed the green circle, reducing Scott’s age to something in his late twenties.  “Probably not.”

Once they were back outside, Scott studied himself in the mirror.  “I don’t remember being quite so muscular back in the day.”

“Bonus feature.”

“For who?” asked Scott, sharing a grin with Ruby.

“Looking good, Dad,” said Miji.

“Dad?”

Once Mr. Castile was brought up to speed as to who Miji was, he studied his “son” critically.  “You make a fine looking girl.  Is there something I should know?”

Miji shrugged.  “I think that being a girl is fun.  I’m not planning to stay this way long-term.”  She pulled her girlfriends closer.  “Both my sweeties are at the very least bisexual.”

Violet and Bailey both took that as their cue to kiss Miji on the cheeks.

“See?”  Miji said with a grin.

Mr. Castile shook his head.  “Kids.  But if you’re happy, I guess it works.  You can’t get pregnant like that, can you?”

“I don’t think so...” said Miji uncertainly.

Katie giggled.  “You sure can.  Have to be changed for at least a few days, though.  Short changes are safe.”

“Holy...”  Miji’s eyes went wide.  “I’ll be careful.  I’m not ready to be a mother...”

“Yet?” asked Bailey as Miji trailed off.

Miji’s pretty eyes went even wider.  But she nodded, too.  “I might like that.  Someday.”

“Seriously?” asked Miji’s father.

“Mostly teasing you,” replied Miji with an impish grin.  “But the thought is growing on me.”

Mr. Castile just shook his head.  “I’m not quite ready to be a grandfather, but...  Well, if it makes you happy, I suppose it can’t be too bad.”

The three girls hugged each other again.  “We’re in no hurry, Dad,” said Miji.  “We’ve got a lot to figure out.”

“Good.  Take your time.”

Ruby tugged at Scott’s arm.  “Speaking of not taking our time...  Can I take you out for dinner?”

Scott smiled indulgently at her.  “Sure.  And maybe dancing later.”

“So it’d be handy if we weren’t at home when you get back?” wheedled Miji.  “Sleepover at Bailey’s?”

Ruby grinned.  “That sounds like a great idea.”