A teenage girl with a braid of hair running down her back waved to a boy on his porch, then hopped up onto the swing-chair beside him.  “Hey Finn.  What’s this favour you need to ask?  You know I’d do anything for you.”

Finn sighed, brushing unruly blonde hair out of his blue eyes before glancing over at his childhood friend.  “Thanks, Miriam.  I’m really worried about the History final tomorrow.  I’ve studied until my brain’s running out my ears, and...  You aced yours back in January, right?”

Miriam nodded eagerly.  “Yeah, that stuff comes easily to me, not like Math and Chemistry.  I’m more than a little stressed about those myself.  I’d trade you my History and English knowledge for your Math and Chem, if I could.”

“Hah, that’d make this easier.  But there is a way we could help each other.”

Miriam raised an eyebrow.  “Finn Engstrom, cheating on a test?  I’m shocked, shocked I tell you.”  Her tone of voice clearly said otherwise.

“I promise I have a way for you to talk to me during the exam where we can’t possibly get caught.”

That got the other eyebrow.  “Really?  Because your attempt to smuggle in walkie-talkies in eighth grade failed abysmally.”

Finn snickered.  “That was four years ago, before I learned about this.”  He held out his hand, showing off a ring with a blue quartz cabochon set on it.  The crystal wasn’t perfectly clear, but Miriam had always admired how the whorls of white within it looked like real clouds.

“That’s your mother’s ring.  She wears it all the time.  How’s it going to help us cheat?”

“It’s magic.”

Miriam’s eyes went wide. “You’re kidding.  Your Mom’s ring is magic?  You’re not kidding...  That’s... that’s awesome!  What does it do?”

Finn pointed his finger at her.  “Want a demonstration?”

“Is it safe?”

“As houses.”

Miriam grinned and draped herself against the arm of the porch swing.  “Hit me with your best...”  With a pop of displaced air, she vanished.  Her dress did not, and fluttered down to lie on the seat of the swing where Miriam had been.

It took Finn a few moments to realize his error.  “Oh crap.”  A moment later, the dress vanished as well.

*** *** ***

“...shot.  What the hell?”  Miriam stared around her.  She wasn’t on the porch any more.  She was standing in what looked like a cute little wild west town, or at least a Hollywood mockup of one.  It was too clean, too perfect, and the road was far too smooth and even.  The bank simply said ‘BANK’ over top of the doorway, in paint that looked like it hadn’t weathered a day.  Across the street from it was ‘STORE’.  “Am I in a toy town?”

It wasn’t until her dress fluttered down in front of her that she realized she was only wearing her bra and panties.  She snatched it up and quickly shimmied into it.  Then she yelled up at the sky where the dress had fallen from.  “Finn!  What the hell did y...”

That’s when she saw the eye.  Behind the clouds, behind the blue sky, an eyeball that was vastly bigger than the town was peering down at her.  Finn’s eye.  The patterns of clouds looked eerily familiar, and she finally realized where she was.  Inside the ring.

“Sorry about that,” came Finn’s voice from behind her.

Miriam whirled around, finding herself face to face with Finn.  “What?  Are you stuck here too?”

“No.  I’m still outside.  This is... sort of a projection of me, so I can interact with the stuff in the ring.  And you’re not stuck, all you have to do is ask nicely three times and the ring will let you out.”

“Oh?  Well, that’s nice.”

Finn waited for a moment, puzzled.  “Aren’t you going to try it?”

Miriam shrugged, and turned back to the store.  “I want to poke around here first.  This place is cool.  Did your Mom pop actual buildings into here?”

Finn shook his head.  “These are some of my old toys.  You can mess with scale in here, though I’m not quite sure how that works.  Mom only taught me the basics.”

Miriam darted up to the store, and peered into the windows.  “There’s just cardboard boxes in here.  Disappointing.”

“Mom uses this place to store all the junk she doesn’t need, but isn’t willing to get rid of.  C’mon, the best part’s over here.”

The town library had the same one-word name as the other buildings, but once they got inside the building itself was full of rows and rows of polished wooden bookshelves.

“Wooow,” breathed Miriam.  “There is no way this was a toy.”

“Mom did some work in here, I guess.  Installing bookshelves, shelving everything.”

“There must be a million books in here.”  Miriam ran her hand along a shelf, peering at the spines.  “This shelf is all encyclopedias.”

“Many thousands, anyway.  Mom loves garage sales,” said Finn with a chuckle.  “Boxes and boxes of books, and it all ends up in here.  I used to wonder what she did with them.”

“This is amazing.”  Miriam pulled out a book, flipped to a random page, shook her head, then closed it again with a snap.  As she reshelved it she asked, “How can you have a resource like this and suck so bad at History?”

Finn laughed.  “I can remember all the dates perfectly.  It’s the people that get muddled up in my head.”

“So... I sit in here with an encyclopedia at the ready, and answer your questions?   That’s how we’re going to cheat?”

“Pretty much.  Let me try this out...”  Finn vanished.

“Can you hear me?” echoed Finn’s voice from all around Miriam.

“Oh yeah.  Just fine.  Can you hear me?”

“Yup.  Looks like this’ll work, I can think at you and you can hear me.  Nobody will notice a thing.”

Miriam giggled.  “Because I’m a teeny tiny speck inside this ring.”  She skipped back out of the library, and peered up into the sky.  The eyeball was back.  “Can you see me waving?”

“I think so.  Want out?”

Miriam shrugged.  “I suppose I’d better see how this works.  Ring, please let me out.”  She repeated the phrase twice more, then suddenly was standing in front of Finn.

Finn blushed and looked away.  “Oops.  I guess since the dress went in separately...”  Miriam’s dress popped into existence in front of her, and she snatched it out of the air.

Miriam sighed, and dressed herself for the second time in ten minutes.  “Did you get a good look?”

“Um...”

“Okay, here’s the deal.  I’m willing to overlook the dress incidents under one condition.”

Finn brightened and turned to face her with a grin.  “Anything.”

“I get to use the ring on you.  I mean, I’ll have to for my Math and Chem exams, right?”

“Right.  Um... Look, I’m not sure that will work.  Mom said it only works for family.”

“One way to find out.”  Miriam stepped over to the door, and rapped on it sharply.

By the time Finn had gotten disentangled from the swing, the door was opening on a middle aged woman with the same blue eyes as Finn.  “Miriam!  Good to see you again.  How’s your family doing?”

“You know,” said Miriam with a noncommittal shrug.  “Dad’s still off travelling for work, but he calls most weeks.”

“And your mother, is she doing any better?” asked Finn’s mother gently.

Miriam shook her head.  “No.  The doctors want to put her in... in hospice care.  She’s not going to be coming home this time.”

“Oh sweetie!”  The older woman pulled Miriam into a motherly hug.  “Are you all alone in that house?”

“Most days, yeah.  Dad’s hired Mrs. Lund to come over and clean and cook a couple times a week.”

“That father of yours.  He should be here, not...”

“I know,” said Miriam softly.  “But he took it so hard, Mrs. Engstrom.”

“Call me Agnetha, dear.  You’re welcome here any time if you need some company.  Always have been, but especially now.  Be nice to her Finn.”

“Yes, Ma.”

“And find something to distract her.”

Finn held up the ring.  “She wants to use this on me.  Would that be distracting enough?”

His mother laughed.  “How’d she take it?”

“Fine,” said Miriam with a lopsided grin.  “Other than showing up without my dress.  Twice.”

Finn blushed, and kicked his toe at the hardwood floor.  “I didn’t mean to.”

“And now he owes me a chance to do it to him.”

Agnetha smirked.  “Oh really.”  She held up her hand and snapped her fingers.  The ring disappeared from Finn’s hand, and reappeared on hers.  “So just what do you want to do with him?”

Miriam flushed faintly.  “I...  There was something about... scale?  We were walking around inside Finn’s old toys, he said.  But they didn’t look like toys.”

“Oh yes, once something’s inside the ring I can do whatever I like to it.  So I expanded them, and refined them, but kept the basic theme the same.”

“It’s really cute.  Wait, could Finn have changed me?”

Mrs. Engstrom smirked and nodded.  “Indeed.  If you stay in the ring, anything can happen.  But before you fret, you go back to normal the moment you pop out.  He told you how to get out, yes?”

Miriam nodded.  “Ask nicely.”

“It’s a very good lesson.  And it works even if you can’t speak.”

“Can’t speak?” asked Miriam, puzzled, then her eyes opened.  “He could make that happen?”

“And rather more.”

Miriam glanced over at Finn.  “Staying focused on the exam might be challenging.”

Finn sputtered.  “What?”

“I suppose that was going to be a problem anyway.  Given a choice of looking at me, or the exam, which will you choose?” teased Miriam.

“Uh...”  Finn looked between Miriam and his mother, getting no help from either. “Fine,” he conceded with a sigh.  “I’m sure Miriam could be distracting if she tried.  If she was nice and wanted me to pass the exam, however...”

“What scheme have you cooked up now?” asked Finn’s mother, fixing him with a steely gaze.

“Wear the ring, put me in it, ask me the tough questions from the exam.  That, or have a cute cheering section, I’m not sure which he needs most,” said Miriam with a grin.

“That would work...  What do you get out of this that’s worth putting yourself in his power for hours on end?”

“That’s what I was hoping to find out.  Can he help me the same way?”

Agnetha studied her son, then suddenly Finn vanished.  “There’s only one way to find out.  Here.”  She slipped the ring off her finger, and offered it to Miriam.  “The ring won’t let non-family move stuff in or out, but from what my grandmother said it should let others interact with the contents.”

Miriam eagerly put the ring on.  “Oooh, so pretty.”  She squinted at it closely.  “And I think I can see the town, not sure about Finn.”

Agnetha chuckled merrily.  “That will be a challenge.  Try thinking at the ring.”

Miriam closed her eyes, and murmured something under her breath.  Agnetha urged her to be even quieter, and after a few seconds, Miriam giggled.  “He says you made him tiny!”

“Now try imagining yourself inside there with him.  The tricky part is to maintain awareness of the outside... and you can’t hear me.”

Inside the ring, Miriam stared around at the buildings of the town.  She strode over to the library and peered inside.  “Finn?  Where are you?”

A noise from one of the shelves led her to investigate further, and there she found Finn, perched in front of a copy Gulliver’s Travels.  He waved up at her.  “Hey.”  From a foot away she could hear him clearly, and was a little surprised that his voice sounded perfectly normal, just softer.

Miriam giggled.  “Oh my God you’re so tiny!  Can I hold you?”

Finn nodded, and walked to the edge of the shelf.  It took him five steps to cover as many inches.  “This is so cool.”

Miriam moved her hand to the shelf, then hesitated with it inches away, leaving what was to Finn an enormous chasm.  “Is it safe?”

“Oh yeah.  I mean, you could hurt me, sure, but I’d just pop myself out and be fine again.”  Finn backed up a few steps then took a running jump off the shelf and into Miriam’s waiting hand.  

Miriam reflexively clutched her hand tight around him, then opened it with fearful eyes.  “Are you okay?”

Finn gave her a thumbs up, then sat down abruptly as the hand holding him lifted toward Miriam’s face.  She stared down at the tiny figure in her palm, he was about the size of her index finger.  “This is so weird.  A bit like having a little bird in my ... awk!”

Finn was gone, and in his place was a sparrow, just like the ones that flitted through the bushes on their street.  “Finn?”

The sparrow chirped at her cheerfully, then spread its wings.  It peered over the edge of her palm, then jumped into the air.  Miriam watched it glide toward the door of the library, then darted after it.  “Finn!”

Once its glide took it out the library door, the sparrow flapped its wings twice, rolled to the side, and crashed.  Miriam rushed over to it and scooped it up.  “Be Finn again, please.”

The sparrow disappeared.  It took Miriam a moment to figure out what had happened, and then she opened her eyes in the real world.  Finn was standing there, grinning like mad at her.  “That was great!”

“You suck at flying,” retorted Miriam.  “And you scared the daylights out of me when you crashed.”

Finn shrugged.  “That stung a little, yeah.  I wasn’t badly hurt.  Can you do that to me again?”

Agnetha frowned.  “Do what, exactly?”

“Finn turned into a bird!”

“You turned him into a bird?” asked Agnetha, eyes wide with surprise.

Miriam brought her hand up before her, cupped as if holding something.  She considered the question.  “Uh...  I was thinking holding him felt a bit like holding a little bird.  I just figured he heard me and changed himself.”

Finn and his mother both shook their heads.  “Only the person wearing the ring can make changes,” said Agnetha.  “And only if they’re related to the owner – me – by blood.  Humor me, will you?”

Miriam shrugged.  “Okay...”

“Point at Finn and imagine him disappearing.”

Finn popped out of existence.  His shirt, however, did not.  Miriam giggled at Agnetha’s frown.  “What?  He still has his pants.”

Finn reappeared a moment later.  “How’d you do that?”

Miriam’s eyes went wide, and she snatched Finn’s left hand, holding it beside her own.  Both had small crescent shaped scars.  “Remember when we swore our blood pact?”

“You did WHAT?” shouted Mrs. Engstrom.

“Health class back in grade eight covered some basics about magic, and we... uh... did some more research.  We really, really wanted to be brother and sister, and...”

“You said you cut your hand by accident!”

Finn winced at his mother’s tone.  “I didn’t lie.  I said I was cutting with my knife, and you jumped into lecturing me.”

Agnetha sighed softly and rubbed her forehead.  “Why would you even do such a thing?  The point in that class was the risks of bloodborne diseases, wasn’t it?”

“And the risk of magical contagion.  I guess that bit’s new,” added Miriam.

“You two were practically siblings already, growing up together.  Why the ritual at all?”

Miriam looked down at the floor.  “That’s when Mom was first diagnosed.  Everything was suddenly about her.  Dad was moving heaven and earth to find a cure, and I got forgotten.  Plus they were saying all kinds of platitudes about promising this, and likely that, but she kept getting sicker.  I was scared, and I wanted a family.”  Miriam sniffed.

Mrs. Engstrom pulled her into a hug.  “Oh, sweetie.  You’ll always be welcome here.  You’re a little too old to adopt into the family, but honorary daughter...”

“I’ll take it.”  Miriam leaned into the hug.  About ten seconds later she suddenly jerked upright.  “Wait.  If I'm your daughter does that mean I can't date your son?”

Finn choked.  “D... Date?”

Both women rolled their eyes.  “Why not?” asked Finn’s mother.  “You two already spend all sorts of time together.  Go see a movie.”

Finn fumbled for his wallet.  “I think I have enough for two tickets.”

“I'll drive,” offered Miriam.  “And arrange for snacks.”  She grabbed Finn’s hand and dragged him out the door.

A dash to Miriam’s house was followed by a whirlwind tour of the kitchen then back out to the car.  They were halfway to the theater before the reality of the situation sunk in for Finn.  “You want to date me?”

“To be honest, it surprised me almost as much.  I don't know if this is a great idea or a horrible one.”

“How will we know?” asked Finn.

Miriam shrugged, keeping her eyes on the road.  “Not a clue.  I’m winging this, trying not to think about...”

“Oh.  Right.  Um, what movie do you want to see?  I don’t usually go, my allowance is pretty limited.”

“I go with some of the other girls from class now and again.  So I’ve seen all the chick flicks.  I want something brainless and absorbing.”

“Something with lots of explosions?” asked Finn hopefully.

Miriam giggled.  “Sure, why not.  And tense moments so I can clutch your hand.”

Finn held out a hand to her.  “Any time.”

Miriam gave it a quick squeeze then returned her attention to driving.  Once they were at the theatre, she grabbed it again, running her thumb over the scar in his palm.  “I can’t believe that crazy ritual we found actually did something.”

“I guess it means you’re stuck with me,” joked Finn.

“It also means...”  Miriam giggled, her eyes bright with mischief.  “I can save you some allowance.  Just buy one ticket, okay?”

Finn did so, then followed Miriam out of the ticketing area of the multiplex and back into the mall.  “What do you have in mind?”

Miriam looked around, and found a service door between two shops.  She tugged it open, then both of them were hidden from view.  “Give me the ticket and you’ll see.”

Finn did so, and a moment later he was in a familiar little town.  “You still have the ring?” gasped Finn.

Miriam’s voice echoed around him.  “Grab the snacks I put in the Store, and ... maybe you can find a blanket?  You could sit out in the field and watch the sky.”

Finn chuckled.  “I don’t know how much I’ll see, but... okay, let’s give this a try.  Are you having fun?”

Miriam giggled.  “I’ve got my boyfriend hidden away on my finger and I’m going to sneak him into a theatre using magic.  Best caper ever.  Hang on...”

Miriam made her way into the multiplex, handed over the ticket, and found a seat toward the back of the mostly-empty theatre numbered on her ticket.  As she settled in, she realized she hadn’t even checked the name of the movie.  “Hey there little one.  Cozy?”

Finn sat on a blanket in the field outside of town.  “Come join me until the movie starts.”

“Won’t they notice me vanish... oh right.”  Miriam’s projection appeared beside him.  “This is cozy.  I wish we could see the movie from here.”

Finn blinked at the screen that appeared in front of them.  “Wish granted?  Are we... looking through your eyes?”

“Can’t be, I closed them.  Still, it’s the same view I have from my seat...”  A hand waved in front of the ‘screen’.  “Huh.  Weird.  It’s what I would be seeing if my eyes were open.  So cool.”

“How are you doing this?” asked Finn.

“No idea.  Just sort of thought of a movie screen, and...  Pass me a grape, will ya?”

Finn handed one over, and Miriam popped it in her mouth.  “Feels like I’m eating it, but...”

Miriam blinked out for a few seconds, then returned.  “Hey, that worked.”

“What worked?”

Miriam giggled.  “Hold up another grape.”

The grape vanished out of Finn’s hand.  “Mmm.  Right into my mouth.”

They did the same with the bag of chips Miriam had popped into the ring as well.  Finn ate experimentally, but agreed that real food plus really being inside seemed to work right.  “Couldn’t you taste the grapes you ate here?”

Miriam nodded.  “I can feel and taste everything, but it didn’t make me feel any less thirsty.  Drat, should have brought a soda along.”

Finn remembered seeing some boxes of canned soda and other long storage life items near the front of the store, and volunteered to go get a couple.  Miriam snapped her fingers, and two of the tins appeared beside them.  “Hey, this is pretty handy.”

“Can you pop us some comfy lounge chairs instead of this blanket?” asked Finn, and a moment later they were sitting on a overstuffed two-person recliner.  “Hey, this is even better than the theatre seating.”

Miriam giggled.  “Yeah.  Next movie, I get the good seats.”

Finn looked puzzled. “Next movie... you want to be in the ring?”

“We can celebrate you passing your History exam.  Now shush, the movie’s starting.”

As promised, there were many explosions, including half a dozen before the opening title.  Despite that, the movie proved engaging.  So much so that at the climax Miriam vanished from beside Finn, and so did the movie.  To Finn’s puzzlement, the screen itself was still standing.

It didn’t take long to realize that Miriam had lost focus on the ring.  Finn politely asked to leave, and blinked into the theatre where Miriam quickly and softly urged him not to stand in her way.  Luckily, the movie was several weeks into its run, so there were plenty of seats.  Finn sat beside Miriam, and got caught up in the movie once more.  When it seemed like all was lost, Miriam burrowed in against his side, and stayed there until the credits started to roll.

“That was nice,” said Finn.  “But I think the other seats were nicer.”

Miriam agreed then giggled.  “Oops, lights are about to come up.  Better hide you again.”

Before Finn finished saying “wait” he was back on his lounge chair.  

Miriam appeared beside him a moment later.  “I don’t want to look suspicious, right?”

Finn snickered.  “You wanted to play with me in here, more like.”

Miriam nodded, eyes bright.  “Please?  I...  Look, I can’t promise I’ll be good.  Because I really...”

Finn chuckled softly.  “Go ahead.  Have fun with it.”

“Really?” asked Miriam excitedly.

Finn shrugged.  “Sure.  If you do anything I really hate, I can pop back out again.”

Miriam got a dangerously thoughtful look.  “Wait here.”

Finn snorted as she vanished.  “Sure.  Where else am I going to go?”

The view from the movie screen returned, and he watched as Miriam walked out of the theatre and back out into the mall.  Soon she was in the same access corridor where he’d...

Finn popped into the corridor.  “I don’t see what’s so bad ab...”  He vanished again.

“What was the point of that?” Finn asked the sky.

Miriam’s voice giggled around him.  “Look down.”

Finn yelped, and covered his privates with his hands.  “Damn it Miriam!”

“Turnabout is fair play.  You owe me this.”

“But you had underwear, and I’m naked!  Where are my clothes?”

The view panned to the floor where a shirt, a pair of shabby jeans, and some underpants lay crumpled atop a pair of socks and shoes.  “It’s hilarious to watch the clothes fall,” giggled Miriam.  “But I should put them somewhere safe.”

Finn watched his clothes vanish.  “I notice you didn’t give them back to me.”

“Nope,” chirped Miriam cheerfully as she headed back out into the mall.  “They’re a small white cube somewhere deep in the store.”

“So if I try to get out I streak the mall?  Is that your game?” demanded Finn.

“Give the boy a gold star!”  A sticker appeared in midair, then adhered to Finn’s chest.  “Got it in one.”

“Can I at least get some clothes?”

Miriam looked around, and the view settled on a store full of stylish clothing.  “You’d look good in a suit.”

Clothes materialized around Finn, a shirt, tie, tailored jacket and pants.  He sighed with relief, then brushed his hands over the jacket.  “Hey, you didn’t steal these from the store, did you?”

“Nope.  I popped the ticket stub into the ring and turned it into a copy of the suit.  C’mon, let’s go window shopping.”

“Like I have a choice,” muttered Finn rebelliously.

“Aww, you look cute in that suit.”  Miriam appeared beside him, and gave him a hug.  “Maybe even sexy.”

Finn blushed even more brightly than he had when he was naked.  “S... sexy?”

Miriam tousled his hair.  “Be brave, and I’ll give you a show.”

“Why are you doing this?”

“Because having you in my power is enchanting.  C’mon, time to find some cute dresses.”

Finn watched the view shift as Miriam walked further into the mall.  Despite his misgivings, he congratulated her at her control of both her real body and the projection in the ring.

Miriam tried to claim that practice before the exam was her intention, but her giggling made it clear that was a fib.  While Finn grumbled she strolled deeper into the mall and soon enough found some dresses she liked.

She took one into a changing room to try it on.  As she posed in the mirror she asked Finn what he thought.

“You mean, other than the peep-show of watching you undress?  Did you forget you had the viewer on?”

Miriam giggled.  “Nope!  The show was entirely intentional.  Besides, it's not like you haven't seen me in my underthings before.  Earlier today, even.”

“Never going to let me live that down, are you?” sighed Finn.

“Aww, don't be like that.  I forgave you, least you can do is let me tease.”

“Was the show part of that teasing?” asked Finn with a smirk.  “Because if so, carry on.”

Miriam appeared beside Finn in the ring to stick her tongue out at him, then pirouette in place to show off the dress.  “Kidding aside, tell me I look pretty in this.”

“You always look pretty,” said Finn without thinking.  “Not sure about the colour, though.  Pale blue doesn't suit you.”

Miriam summoned up a three-panel mirror and studied herself in it.  “You might be right at that.  It'd go better on someone blonde and blue-eyed, don't you think?”

Miriam summoned a mirror between Finn and herself, reflecting the dress but leaving her boyfriend's head exposed.  “Oh yes, much better.”

She dismissed the mirror then broke down in a paroxysm of laughter.

Finn put his hands on his hips.  “What's so funny?”  The fabric under his fingers felt odd.  Too velvety, and distinctly too swishy.  He slowly looked down.  “You put the dress on me?  How is it even fitting?”

Finn stepped into the focus of the three-fold mirror and gasped.  “You turned me into a girl!”

Miriam’s laughter managed to intensify further, until she blinked out entirely.  A few moments later she reappeared, slightly more composed.  “I honestly didn’t mean to.  I think the image was there in my mind...  Oops.”

Finn touched his face, which had suddenly become softer and rounder.  “I look like you now.  Except blonde, and blue-eyed.  And short hair.”

“And the voice.  You still sound like you.  It’s weird hearing that voice from my body...  You’d look cuter with shoulder-length... oh, right.”  Miriam giggled uncertainly.

Finn sighed sweetly as he examined his newly-grown hair.  “Of course.  Hey!  You did my voice too!”

“Oh, ah... I guess I did.  So... now that you’re all girl...  We can try on dresses together!”

Finn turned to face her and tried to look annoyed.  But his new face didn’t work right, and he looked petulant instead.  “Seriously?”

Miriam snapped her fingers and the dresses vanished, leaving the two of them wearing only matching bras and panties.  “Tell me the truth.  You like seeing me like this.”

Finn tried to look away, failed.  “Don’t you mind?”

Miriam stretched her arms above her head, stuck out her chest a little.  “We’re all girls here.  You get a show.  I get to play dress-up doll with my sister.”

“Sister?” protested Finn.

“I’m not turning you back into a boy until you’ve tried on at least ten dresses, and picked out a favourite.”

“Ten dresses!”

“Okay, you twisted my arm, I’ll make it an even dozen,” giggled Miriam.  “Best get started.”

A dressing room appeared around them, a luxurious one that Miriam half-remembered from a movie.  There was a chaise longue and several comfy chairs, the three-fold mirror from before, and two curtained-off changing stalls, also with mirrors.  A clothes rack stood to one side.  Initially empty, it soon filled with dresses sampled from the store.

“Try something on,” encouraged Miriam. “I'll be back in a bit.”  She vanished, leaving Finn half naked next to the rack of dresses.

Finn grumbled a bit, but soon figured a dress was better than standing around in underwear.  He was studying his second pick in the mirror she Miriam walked in, carrying an armful of dresses.  She set hung them up on the rack, then studied Finn.  “That one looks cute on you.  I could buy it for you,” she teased.

Much to her surprise, Finn took time to consider the question.  “I wouldn't be able to wear it outside.  Not much point.”

“How are you taking this so well?” blurted Miriam.  “I mean, any other guy would be furious with me for this.  You’re...”

“Not every other guy?” asked Finn with a shrug.  “I know this is temporary.  I’ll be male again the moment I pop out of the ring.”

“And you only haven’t done so because you’d end up nude in the mall.”

Finn shrugged.  “Hasn’t been that bad, really.  The fabrics feel nice.  And seeing a pretty girl in the mirror has perks.  She’ll do whatever I want her to.”

Miriam giggled.  “So you’ve been perving at my boobs when I’m not here?”

“My boobs.  You have your own,” said Finn with a straight face but a twinkle in his eye.

Miriam popped both their dresses out of existence.  A moment later their bras vanished as well.  “They look good on you.”

Finn blushed cutely.  “Thank you.”

Miriam snorted.  “I still can’t believe how well you’re handling this.  Even your blush looks more cute than embarrassed.”

Finn shook his head.  “This is nothing compared to what you could do to me.  Just now, you exposed both of us, not just me.  It’d be worse if I was nude and you were clothed.  For that matter, you could have made me the size of a Barbie doll, and dressed me your... hey!”

Miriam crouched down in front of her tiny, female boyfriend.  “I’m sorry, it’s just the image was so cute.  Can I pick you up?”

Finn hopped into her outstretched hands.  This time he more than filled her palm.  He was the length of her forearm instead of just a finger.  Miriam brought him up to her face to study him.  “God, you’re so cute like this.  I could eat you all up.”

Finn’s expression flashed from amused to fearful.

“What?  What’d I say?” asked Miriam.

“You could literally do that, here.”

“I’d never eat up a person.  Ew.  A cupcake, now...  Oh no.”  Miriam stared down at the cupcake in her hands.  It was frosted a delicate pink, exactly the blushing shade of Finn’s cheeks before he’d vanished.  Before, she finally admitted to herself, she’d turned him into a cupcake.  A delicious looking cupcake that smelled heavenly, and was making her mouth water...

Miriam whined wordlessly and abruptly set the cupcake down on a side table.  A moment later she vanished from the ring.

It took three tries to change Finn back into a girl.  Not trusting herself, Miriam mentally told him she’d go find some more dresses, and to keep trying them on.  “Don’t forget to keep count, and pick out your favourite.”

Finn chuckled softly, and called up to the ceiling.  “I’m OK, Miriam.  Honestly.”

“I need a few minutes,” came the reply from all around her.  “I’ll find you something cute.”

Finn looked at the rack, and picked out the prettiest dress she could find.  There was a coral pink dress with a long, flowing skirt that called to her, so she put it on and twirled about the room pretending she was dancing.

Miriam didn’t show up, but more dresses did.  Finn kept going from dress to dress, and if it wasn’t for piling the tried dresses on one of the chairs, she’d have lost count completely.

Buried among the new dresses Finn found something that made her cheeks pinken.  It was a tiny slip of satin, that barely made it to her legs, and did very little to cover her breasts.  Posing in the mirror, she found her cheeks going red and her breath getting short.  She didn’t look pretty... she looked sexy.  The bra and panties interfered with the effect, so she lost them.

Finn was still wearing the slip and posing for the mirror when Miriam finally returned.

“I’m sorry I took so...”  Miriam’s jaw dropped.  “Finn?  What are you doing?”

Finn slunk up to Miriam, wiggling to show off her curves.  “I like this one the best.  What do you think?”

Miriam gaped at Finn, mouth working but no sound coming out.  When Finn suggested she’d look hot in a similar slip, Miriam couldn’t help but agree and her clothes changed into a black one as a counterpoint to Finn’s white.  Finn pulled her in front of the mirror.  “See?  Light twin and dark twin.”

Finn leaned against Miriam, then kissed her full on the lips.  Miriam’s hesitation vanished in a flash, and soon they were in each other’s arms, tongues wrestling vigorously.  As Finn nuzzled down Miriam’s chest, the chemises got in the way and vanished with a thought.  Miriam’s legs soon failed her, and they ended up sprawled together on the plushly carpeted floor of her fantasy boutique.  Finn nuzzled lower, and just before she found her prize, Miriam vanished.

Finn sat up and pouted.  “Why’d you go and do that?”

A moment later, Finn vanished as well, leaving the changing room empty.

Finn blinked at the room she was in.  Teasingly familiar posters were half-covered by newer ones of Miriam’s favourite bands.  It took another moment to click.  “Is this your bedroom?”

Miriam nodded.  She was fully dressed, and looking blushingly away from Finn.  “I took us back here while you were dancing around in dresses.  Felt guilty about the mall thing, so this way if you bailed, you wouldn’t end up naked in front of anyone.  Um, except me.”

Clothes appeared in front of Finn and tumbled to the floor.  Finn glanced down, and frowned at her body.  His body, as he was obviously male once more.  He picked up his pants and held them in front of his hips.  “I feel very odd.  I’m still expecting to see breasts when I look down.”

Miriam sighed softly.  “I wish...”  She shook her head.

“What?  That I was still female, and we could keep going?  Because that still sounds pretty good to me.”

“I’ve never, ever had a kiss like that.  You set me on fire.”

“Then why’d you leave?”

Miriam shook her head.  “Wasn’t voluntary.  I lost focus on... well, pretty much everything.  You were very distracting.”

Finn grinned at her prettily.  “Thanks.”

“God, you’re still in female mode, aren’t you?  Is that... normal?”

Finn shrugged.  “I don’t know.  Being a sparrow felt natural enough, except for the lack of flight instincts.  And being a cupcake was something else again.”

“What?”

Finn wrapped his arms around himself, pants falling forgotten to the floor.  “Feeling your hand squeezing my soft cake body, feeling my icing crinkle as you set me down...  I was so disappointed when you didn’t eat me.”

Miriam whined softly, and mimicked Finn’s pose.  “You smelled divine.  I was a heartbeat away from eating you, but you’d been so worried about it a moment before.  Did you really want to be eaten?”

“When I was a cupcake?  So badly.  Now...  Now that I know I could bail if I got cold feet at the last moment?  I...”  Finn frowned, and considered it.  “I can remember how it felt.  Call it up and...”

Finn vanished.  Miriam whimpered softly, and brought him back once more.  “This is crazy.”

Finn grinned at her.  “That cupcake definitely wanted you to eat it.”

Miriam yanked the ring off, and pushed it at Finn.  He looked down at it in surprise, then accepted it.  “What?”

“I don’t trust myself with it.  Because that image isn’t going away and I’m terrified I’ll do something to screw this up.”

Finn stepped within arm’s reach of her.  “Screw what up?”

Miriam clung to him.  “Us.  That kiss?  I want so many more like...”

Finn kissed her, trying to remember how the kiss inside the ring felt.  It wasn’t the same, they’d been the same height in the ring and now Finn was three inches taller than Miriam.

A moment later Miriam stumbled away from the kiss, backing into her bed and sitting down on it hard.  She was hyperventilating, and looking anywhere but at Finn.  “Put me in the ring.”

Finn looked down at his hand, realized it was still clutched about the ring, and slipped it on.  “Why?”

“Because I can’t do this here.  This house is full of pain for me.  Please?”

Miriam vanished.  Finn stared down at the ring.  “Now what do I do with you?”

A voice echoed in his mind.  “Anything.  Keep me, if you like.  I’m not coming out until...  Until you make me.”

Finn licked his lips.  “Are you sure?  Because...  After the stuff you did to me, I’m feeling like I should have some fun with you.”

“Anything.”