“Anything?” repeated Finn.  “Okay.  First things first, let’s get you out of this house.”

“Thanks,” murmured Miriam from inside the ring, her voice echoing in Finn’s head due to the ring’s magic.

Finn dressed quickly, then headed over to his place.  “Hey Mom.  Can I hang on to the ring a little longer?”

His mother shrugged.  “Sure.  I don’t use it so much now that the house is organized.  If I really need something, I can summon it from you.”

“Can you... uh... warn me first?”

Agnetha looked at her son intently, then down at the ring.  “Miriam’s in there, isn’t she?”

“Can she stay for a bit?  Her house isn’t a good place for her to be.  She won’t take up much space...”

Agnetha laughed at that.  “She can’t stay in there indefinitely.  Her body keeps going, she’ll need to eat, and... other things.”

“Maybe I could get her one of those composting toilet things people use when camping...” mused Finn.

“Finn...  You can’t keep her in there.”

“Tell her that.  She managed to keep me inside for hours...”  At his mother’s incredulous look, Finn explained that Miriam had sent his clothes in separately, and stayed in the mall.  He could have left any time, at the cost of appearing in a public place, naked.

Agnetha’s expression soured.  “I tried that on your father once.  He never let me put him in the ring again.  You didn’t hate it?”

Finn blushed.  “She turned me into a girl, and made me try on dresses.  It was... surprisingly nice.  Does the ring force you to adapt to whatever you’re turned into?”

His mother’s look grew distant.  “Not entirely.  You can fight it if you want, but you have to put some effort into it.  Grandma used to turn me into...”  She smiled wistfully.  “Never mind.  I’d rather not give you ideas.”

“I have plenty of my own,” said Finn with a big grin.

“Be careful, sweetheart.  When you hold the ring, you can do anything.  It’s very easy to let that go to your head, and do things you’ll later regret.”

Finn nodded.  “But we can take turns, which will help balance it.  Right?”

Agnetha smiled at him encouragingly.  “I hope so.  Just... remember to de-escalate from time to time.  You don’t want to get into a grudge match, not with someone that makes you smile and blush the way you’ve been doing.”

Finn blushed at that, ducking his head to hide it.  “Yes Mom.  Can Miriam have dinner with us?”

“Tell her that would be lovely.  Now shoo, off with you.  Talk to her, not me.”

“Yes’m.”

Finn scooted off to his room, and there on his desk was his history text and all his notes.  “Aw, crap.”

Finn thumped down into his chair and stared at the text, the notes, and the practice test he’d abandoned earlier in the morning.  “Hey Miriam?”

Miriam’s voice called back to him from inside the ring.  “Oh, are you back?”

Finn appeared in the middle of town, smiling to note that there was a new boutique at the end of the block.  He followed his sense of Miriam’s location in the other direction, and was unsurprised to find her in one of the library’s leather chairs, a book in her hand.  “Sorry, I ended up talking to Mom longer than I figured.”

Miriam put a bookmark in her book, then closed it and set it aside.  “Anything interesting?”

“You’re invited to dinner.”

Miriam grinned.  “Cool.  Did she tell you anything about the ring?”

Finn nodded slowly.  “The ring helps you adapt to new shapes.  You can resist it, but... well, after a while I stopped trying, I guess.  I was having a good time.”

“Even as a cupcake?” asked Miriam, licking her lips.

“Even then.  Being eaten might not have been fun, but...  Sorry.  Sidetracked.”

Miriam giggled.  “Pretty easy to get distracted when you can create any fantasy you desire.”

Finn closed his eyes.  “I know what I want to do with you for the next couple of hours, until dinner.”

“And that is?” asked Miriam lightly, trying not to sound worried.

Finn sighed, and vanished.  “Practice for my history exam,” came his voice from all around.

Miriam laughed.  “Seriously?  You could turn me into anything you want, and you’re going to study?”

“No, I’m going to do a practice exam with your help.”

“I guess that’s a little better,” sighed Miriam.  She sighed again, more loudly, when Finn’s history text appeared in her hands.  “And what do I get if I stick this out with you?”

“Back to the boutique to pick up where we left off?” offered Finn.

“It’s a deal.”

Finn set out a fresh blue-lined notebook and the practice exam.  At first he asked Miriam every question and awaited her reply, but the process was much too slow.  Once Finn shared what he could see, Miriam was able to answer more quickly.  After a few questions, just as Finn was getting into a good rhythm, Miriam stopped answering.

“You must know this one.  Try it.  I'll watch, and correct you as you go.”

That worked even better, and as Finn gained confidence Miriam had to correct him less and less.  For the last few questions she boisterously cheered him on, and blew him a kiss when he was done.

And then he turned the paper over to the essay question.  Miriam whined softly in disappointment, then gamely conferred with Finn about ideas for a thesis statement.  Instead of writing down their opening paragraph, Finn closed the test book.

“Done.  I'm sure we can sort out whatever I face tomorrow with plenty of time to spare.  Time to get you out of there.”

“Nu-uh,” denied Miriam.  “Your anything is still going.  Until you pop me out, remember?”

“Dinner’s in twenty minutes.”

“Then make good use of your time, oh master of the ring.”

Finn chuckled as he appeared in front of her. “Master of the ring, is it?  Does that make this a circus, or a harem?”

“I know which one I’d prefer,” purred Miriam.

“Circus it is!” cheered Finn.

“What? Hey!” protested Miriam, but when she tried to argue further her tongue got all tangled.  It was growing thicker by the moment, and her hair was shagging out into a broad mane.  She stared cross-eyed at the muzzle extending out from her face.  When she put a hand up to touch the addition to her face, Miriam found herself staring at a growing paw instead.

Miriam growled at Finn, but that just made his smirk grow wider.  “And now, in the one-ring circus, Finn tames a ferocious Lion!”

Miriam dropped to all fours as her legs shifted.  She picked each one up in turn experimentally, getting used to her new balance.  Flexing one paw popped out wicked looking claws.  

Finn gulped as Miriam’s body grew bigger and more muscular.  “Maybe turning you into an apex predator was a bad idea?”

Miriam’s long tail swished behind her as she prowled toward Finn, a low, threatening growl presaging just what the beast wanted to do to him.

Finn ran for the library door.  Miriam’s leap carried her to him in a single bound, but just before she hit him, he vanished.  Miriam roared her frustration, then saw Finn reappear in the middle of the road.  She gave chase, grinning widely at the power her new body afforded her.

Finn darted away as fast as he could run, which was not nearly fast enough.  He had to teleport ahead of her three times before they got to the grass outside the city, though something changed once they were in the grass.  It got harder to catch up, and every pounce fell just a maddening bit short.

Miriam chased further into the grass, and with each pouce the grass got taller, until finally she was stalking through it and could hide among its blades.  Finn seemed to lose track of her then, and she finally snuck up close enough for a pounce to connect.

To her amazement, Finn didn’t blink away this time.  Instead, he tumbled to the ground under her like a rag doll.  A moment later, she realized that she had in fact pounced a rag doll that just happened to look somewhat like Finn.  Miriam shrugged, and worried at it like it was a catnip mouse, shaking it in her powerful jaws then tossing it into the air and pouncing again.

“Having fun?” came Finn’s voice from above her.  Miriam looked up.  Way up.  Finn towered over her, a dozen times taller than her.  His running shoe crushed the grass next to her, and it was the size of a car.  Something about the shoe and the grass suddenly clicked for her.  Finn hadn’t grown... she’d shrunk.  So small that she could play kitten-in-the-grass...

Miriam huffed up at Finn, but it came out like a very cute mew.  She looked at her body in startlement.  Still feline, but instead of the lines of a great predator, she was now a tawny kitten.  Finn scooped her up in his arms and skritched her between the ears.  She tried to be annoyed with him, but all she could do was purr.

A moment later, Miriam was sprawled on Finn’s bed instead of his palm.  She purriped at him curiously.

“Sorry, Miriam.  Mom just called us for dinner.”

“Mew?”

“Uh... can you talk?”  Finn asked worriedly.

Miriam tilted her head as she considered it, and Finn could almost see the way her ears would have canted as a confused kitten.  “Mew.”  She shook her head.

Finn helped her stand up, which she did with some difficulty.  “I’m sure it’ll come to you.  Like walking.”  Miriam leaned on him as they headed downstairs to the dining room.  

By the time Finn pulled out a chair to offer Miriam a seat she was moving almost normally.  She flashed him a smile and said “thank you” in an uncertain voice.

“Are you okay, dear?” asked Mrs. Engstrom.

Miriam nodded.  “Was a cat.  Getting...”  She wriggled her tongue and lips to remember the shape of them.  “Getting used to talking is weird.”

Mr. Engstrom waited until his wife and guest were seated before taking his place at the head of the table.  “A cat, you say?”

“I loaned Finn the ring,” said his wife.  “He has some scheme where Miriam will help him on his history test from inside.”

Mr. Engstrom raised an eyebrow.  “And that turned you into a cat?”

“No, that was from celebrating a successful practice test,” grinned Miriam.  “Finn did great once he had some confidence.  Told you all he needed was a cheering section.”  That last was addressed at Finn’s mother.

Agnetha smiled back at Miriam.  “I never doubted it for a moment.  So you’ll be in the ring again in the morning?”

Miriam wiggled in her chair excitedly.  Apparently there was still a little bit of kitten left in her.  “I’m looking forward to it.”

“Doesn’t the power imbalance concern you?” asked Finn’s father.

Miriam shook her head, and jumped into an explanation of the blood ritual that had made her family enough that the ring would work for her, too.  That seemed to mollify Mr. Engstrom slightly, though he still looked concerned about something.

After that, they ate in relative silence until the meal was over.  Miriam thanked Mrs. Engstrom for letting her stay to dinner.  However, once she was at the door she found she couldn’t let go of Finn’s hand.

“If you’re going home you’ll have to let go at some point,” joked Finn.

Miriam shook her head.  “I know, it’s just...  Today has been amazing, and...”  She closed her eyes.

Finn’s mother came to her rescue.  “There’s a big contrast between this house and your empty one.”

Miriam nodded, eyes closed tight and leaking slightly.  “I don’t want to go home,” she whispered, clutching Finn’s hand even more tightly.

“You wouldn't notice her if she was tucked away...” Finn held up his other hand, showing his mother's magic ring.

Agnetha shook her head.  “Staying so long in the ring isn't a good idea.  What if you have a nightmare?”

Miriam winced.  “Still better than the alternative.”

“Really?  Well, if you're that determined, I suppose...”

Mr. Engstrom spoke up.  “She can use the guest room. It won’t take long to set up the bed.”

“Please?” asked Miriam softly.

The guest room usually served as Mrs. Engstrom’s sewing room, but as promised the bed was swiftly relieved of its burden of fabrics.  Miriam and Finn helped stack the material in the closet, folding it neatly.  

Buried in the pile was a mostly-finished sundress, which Miriam held up against Finn.  “This would look good on you,” she claimed with a giggle.

That got a very odd look from Mr. Engstrom.  “I don’t know what you two got up to in that ring.  But there is to be no funny business under my roof.  Understood?”

Both Finn and Miriam nodded contritely.  Later, she whispered in his ear, “does being inside the ring count as under his roof or not?”

Finn smirked.  “Shall I ask Mom about that?”

Miriam shook her head. “It has been a long day.  Pass your exam, and then we’ll see.”

Finn sighed and nodded his agreement.

*** *** ***

Miriam helped Mrs. Engstrom make Finn’s favourite breakfast, and the oatmeal and hard boiled eggs were ready by the time he made it to the kitchen.  Miriam even arranged the fruit on top of the oatmeal into a smiling face, which made Finn chuckle.  “I’m not four any more.”

“Made you smile.  Don’t get stressed, you’re going to rock this.”

“We’re going to rock this,” agreed Finn, holding up the ring.  Miriam grinned.

Just before it was time to go, Finn handed Miriam his textbook.  “Ready?”

“One moment.”  Miriam went up on tiptoes and kissed Finn on the lips.  “For luck.”

Finn grinned at Miriam goofily, and it took a prompt from his mother for him to remember to pop her into the ring.

The school cafeteria was filled with students, at least half of whom looked as nervous as Finn had felt the previous day.  While he waited in his seat, exam face down until they were all handed out, Finn started to fidget with his pens, then decided to send some of his attention into the ring.  As expected, Miriam was set up in the library.  She’d pulled out a couple of reference books, and had the class text open in front of her.

Miriam smiled up at him.  “Pay attention, Finn.”  She tapped a sheaf of blank papers in front of her.  “And turn these into a copy of the exam.”

“Now?  But that’s cheating!”

Miriam just looked at him with a raised eyebrow.  When he still looked puzzled, she gestured to herself.  “Hello, secret hidden girlfriend is here to feed you answers.”

The issue was rendered moot as the call to start the exam went out.  Finn flipped the exam over and skimmed through the questions.  Miriam asked him again to send her a copy, especially the third page where a few of the questions were on less-familiar topics.  She started reading up on them as Finn started on the easier, earlier questions.

Once Finn finished the first page, he called softly to Miriam to check his work.

“Why are you whispering?” asked Miriam loudly.

“Just... seems appropriate,” came Finn’s murmured voice.

“Looks good, carry on. I’ve got two of these questions sorted, but the third isn’t in the index.  I’m going to have to dig a bit.”

“Don’t,” said Finn.  “There’s no way I’d have remembered that question.  Getting it right would look suspicious.”

“Oh!  That’s nasty.  And clever.  I like it,” finished Miriam with a grin.

They settled into the routine from the practice exam, with Miriam watching Finn’s answers, cheering him on when he was right and going quiet when he was making a mistake.  In what seemed like no time at all he was through the multiple choice and short-answer part.  They spent a few minutes batting around thesis ideas for the essay question, then Finn asked Miriam to research a few key facts while he worked on writing the opening paragraph.  As he was working through the rest, Miriam offered suggestions that Finn mostly turned down, wanting the writing to feel like his own work.

With half an hour to spare, the exam was finished.  Finn stared at it and wondered what he should do next.  Miriam jokingly suggested that he should spend the rest of the time in the ring with her, and he did at least project his body there to accept a hug.  They then went on to review his work, but Miriam agreed with him that nothing needed changes.

They waited and watched the clock time down, and Finn was first out of his seat when time was called.  He handed in his exam and workbook, and was off like a shot.  Once they were outside, he asked Miriam what she wanted to do next.

“What I want is for you to enjoy your victory.  You rocked that exam, and you have a teeny girlfriend who you can turn into anything you like.  I can’t even flee, as it would give away the secret of the ring if I were to suddenly appear where people could see me.”

Finn licked his lips.  “I’d rather go somewhere more private, where you can bail if you want to.”

“Aww, that’s sweet of you.  But I’m not going to bail.”

Finn smirked.  “Even if I turn you into a cupcake and threaten to eat you?”

“Even then.  Heck, I’m surprised I’m still human.”

Finn headed for the bus stop.  “For now, I’d rather talk.  Don’t want to get too distracted until we’re home.”

“Home?” asked Miriam.  “It’s a lovely day, why not go to a park?”

Finn agreed readily, and suggested one of the nicer parks near their neighbourhood.  He got off the bus a stop short.  Miriam was puzzled by this, until she saw his destination, an ice cream shop not far from the entrance to the park.

“I figure I have enough allowance left over to get us a cone each.  Sound good?” asked Finn.

“Why not put that toward a single hot fudge sundae for the two of us to share?” Miriam suggested brightly.

“You have a plan,” muttered Finn.

“A fun plan.  Trust me.”

Finn chuckled as he studied the menu.  The biggest hot fudge sundae cost less than two small cones, so he ordered it.  Asking for two spoons got him only the slightest of curious looks.

He carried the treat into the park, and found a bench in a secluded corner.  “Coming out to enjoy this?”

“Nope!  Bring it in here and enjoy it with me.”

“But... park!”  Finn peered inside to see that Miriam had found a table and added it in front of the comfy lounger they’d used for the movie.  With a sigh, he popped the sundae into the ring, perched in the middle of the table. A spoon appeared to either side of it, and a moment later his projection settled onto the lounger.

Miriam grinned.  “Better.  Why were you staying out there anyway?”

“Because it’s too easy to change you when I’m inside.”

“That’s the whole point!  Make me small enough that those spoons will look like shovels to me.”

Finn groaned as Miriam vanished, her clothes suddenly empty and tumbling to a heap on the lounger.  A tiny and quite naked Miriam grabbed the spoon that was by her feet, and scampered over to the ice cream treat.  The waxed-paper bowl came up to her waist.  “Yes!”  She lanced the spoon into the sundae, and pulled back a scoop of ice cream and fudge as big as her head.

Chuckling at his sweetie’s antics, Finn scooped out a bite of the treat from the side opposite her.  “Oh!  Now I see your point.  Having fun?”

Miriam giggled and climbed up over the side of the bowl, then tumbled into the fudge.  “Mmmm.  It’s still all warm and gooey.”

“Planning to become the garnish?”  Miriam was abruptly replaced by a maraschino cherry atop the treat.  “Oops.”  He stared at it for a moment, then poked it gently with his spoon.  “Are you okay in there?”

A bit of focus turned the cherry back into Miriam, even smaller than before and buried to her waist in ice cream and fudge.  She smiled up at him.  “Go ahead.  You know you want to.”

Finn tapped the edge of the bowl with his spoon.  “But do you want to, or is this the cherry speaking?  And I'm talking to a cherry again.”

Finn imagined Miriam back to human once more.  She grinned up at him.  “Does it matter?  I'm saying yes now.”

Before he could second-guess himself again, or transform Miriam further, Finn’s spoon darted out and took the top off the sundae.  Miriam squealed as she rushed through the air, but there was a huge grin on her tiny face, and her arms were waving in the air as if she were riding a rollercoaster.  Her ride ended in Finns mouth, as it closed around the spoon.

Finn carefully and delicately licked the sticky goodness off the wriggling morsel in his mouth.  She didn't seem to be complaining, so he kept at it, making sure every little bit of her was clean.  He felt her grab his tongue in a bear hug, and wrestled her with it.  The uneven contestants squirmed back and forth until a flailing limb kicked the back of Finns mouth and made him gag.  He suppressed the worst of it but it made him worry about how close he'd come to swallowing her.

Finn brought his hand to his mouth and carefully pushed Miriam out onto it.  She tumbled to his palm, grinning up at him soggily.  “Again!”

Finn snorted, and instead grew her back to full size, cleaning off his saliva with the same thought.  He tried to focus on her thinking normally, and knew he'd come close when she suddenly realized she was naked, and covered up as best she could with her hands.

“Want a bikini?”

“Please.”

Once she had a bit of fabric covering her privates, Miriam lowered her hands.  “That was...  I really wanted to be in your mouth.  How weird is that?”

Finn took one of her hands in his.  “I thought it was the cherry talking.  Are you mad?”

Miriam shook her head.  “The desire isn't immediate, but I can still...”  She kept hold of Finn’s hand as she sat down beside him, then snuggled against him.  “That me had fun.  She wanted to be in your mouth, and was eager to be...”  Miriam's eyes went wide.  “Swallowed.  Even now I'm curious.  I can't tell if that's me or something imposed.  Were you trying to make me like it?”

Finn nodded, unable to meet her gaze.  “I thought it was fun, and I'm sure it leaked.”

Miriam put her free hand under Finns chin, lifted his head, and kissed him full on the lips.  “I had fun.  Don't push your worry on me, I can feel it.  If you're going to change me, make me enjoy being your tongue-toy.”

Finn felt Miriam's hand vanish from his just before the squirming started in his mouth.  He pressed Miriam to the roof of his mouth, pinning her there to squirm helplessly as he pondered his next step.  To swallow or not to swallow...  He tried deliberately pushing each desire at Miriam in turn.  Both made her squirm, but only one made her beg for him to do it.

Finn swapped her desire again, and got curses for his trouble.  The begging was nicer, he thought... and just like that, Miriam resumed her entreaties.  Her pretty words and promises made it sound appealing, and try as he might, he couldn't dislodge her desire any further.  An attempt to fish her out of his mouth was met by a dive toward the back of his throat.  This time he couldn't help it, and he swallowed.

Miriam was tiny, but still quite the mouthful.  Finn felt his throat distend as she sank, and had to fight the urge to cough.  For a moment he felt as if he were choking, then Miriam slipped further down.  A relieved gulp and gasp for air distracted him from her descent, and by the time he'd gathered his wits she was in his stomach.  Finn put his hand over his belly, trying to understand what had just happened.

Finn took a couple of slow breaths, focussed his mind, and summoned Miriam before him.  Her wild-eyed look matched his own, he suspected.  He broke away from her gaze, summoned her clothes around her, and sent her out of the ring.

When Finn opened his eyes, Miriam's expression was even more dazed than before.  She turned and sat heavily on the bench beside him, then scooted to the far end of it, out of reach.

Finn summoned the sundae to his hand and held it out to Miriam as a peace offering. Her eyes latched on a tiny set of fudge handprints on the rim of the bowl.  “That... really happened.”  She brushed a finger over them, then lapped the fudge from her fingertip.  “Wait!  I thought you said we couldn’t get harmed in the ring.  But now here’s the ice cream, changed.  Eaten.”

“Food is handled differently,” said Finn confidently.  “You need to be able to eat if you’re inside for long.”

Miriam eyed him warily, but accepted a spoon and took a bite from the sundae.  She closed her eyes to savour it, and opened them to see Finn watching her intently.  “What?”

“Just...  Sorry.  Remembering.  Are you okay?”

“Physically, yes.  Mentally... not a freaking clue.”  Miriam took another bite, scootching a bit closer to put it in easier reach.  Once she’d done with that bite, she bit her lip and asked, “what was it like?”

Finn snorted.  “I don’t know.  You surprised me, I was too worried about choking to feel anything other than panic.  The tongue-wrestling beforehand was...”  He blushed, looked away, then looked back to meet Miriam’s eyes.  “It was really nice.”

Miriam speared the next bite off the top of the sundae, much as Finn had when she was embedded in it.  This bite got lasciviously licked off the spoon, and Miriam kept her mouth open while she teased the morsel with her tongue.  Normally Finn would have made a face at such a rude display, but he couldn’t tear his eyes away.  Miriam tilted her head back and made a show of swallowing, tracing a finger down the side of her throat.

Finn whined softly, then pulled the ring off his finger and offered it out to her.

“Are you offering me the chance to eat you to somehow make up for what you did?” asked Miriam, arching an eyebrow severely.

Finn shook his head, eyes still glued to her lips.  “No, I’m offering because you make it look hot.”

Miriam accepted the ring.  “Cool.”  A moment after she’d put it on, Finn found himself standing naked beside a car-sized bowl of ice cream.  Giantess Miriam appeared in front of him, grinning down at him ferally.  “I think I’ve had enough ice cream for now.  How about a cupcake?”

Finn smiled up at her.  He tried to speak, but his mouth didn’t seem to be there any more.  Something nearby smelled heavenly.  It wasn’t until Miriam’s hand closed around him and his body yielded like delicate cake that he realized the smell was him.

“Oooh, you look positively scrumptious.”

Miriam’s enormous tongue lapped out, taking just the tiniest bit of Finn’s icing.  He could feel it melt on her tongue.  Two more delicate laps followed, then a swipe of the tongue that took away a good chunk of icing.  Finn tried to map the sensation to his body, but it was getting difficult to connect.  He wasn’t a... whatever he used to be.  He was a cupcake.  A moment later it couldn’t even remember what it was struggling against.

The cupcake quivered in anticipation as Miriam lifted it up to her mouth.  She bit down gently, slowly teasing a small bite’s worth of moist cake away from the rest.  Her tongue tumbled the fragment this way and that until it was broken down to paste.  Cupcake thrilled at the experience, and another bite soon followed.

Then Miriam’s willpower broke, and she gobbled down the rest as fast as she could chew.  She flopped back on the lounger and patted her belly.  “So good.  I wonder if he’ll let me do that again.”

Finn popped into existence in front of her, and borrowing his trick from earlier she popped his clothing around him.  Before he could get his bearings, he was standing in front of a park bench, staring dazedly down at Miriam.

“How do you feel?” Miriam asked her dazed boyfriend, an uncertain smile creeping over her face.

Finn moaned happily.  “Delicious.”