Miriam and Finn lay panting on the denuded bed of a cheap hotel room.  Finn was watching Miriam breathe, eyes avidly consuming her sweat-glistened form.  Then he chuckled at something he heard her mutter.

“The satin sheets in that boudoir you crafted in the ring are much nicer than these scratchy ones.”  Finn glanced toward the magic ring sitting on the lamp-stand by the table.  “You did say that if I was a very good boy...”

Miriam grinned over at her lover.  “I did, didn’t I?  Do you promise to be a very good girl?”

Finn nodded eagerly.  “I have an idea I want to try.”

Miriam’s eyes narrowed.  “Tell me.  No surprises.”

Finn picked up the ring and rolled it between his fingers.  “I still remember being your sex-pet.  I was thinking I could project myself into that.”

“Oooh!”  Miriam cooed.  Then she schooled her features.  “Why are you sounding hesitant?”

“You got really upset after you said something to pet-me.  I want to make you happy.”

Miriam nodded slowly, eyes full of concern and something deeper.  “Do you remember what I said?” she asked in a voice barely above a whisper.

Finn nodded.  “And what I answered.  I still feel the same.  I love you.”

Miriam hesitated.  “Are you sure?  Our minds have gotten so muddled these last few days.”

“The last half hour muddled me up even more.”

“Don’t sell yourself short,” countered Miriam.  “We’ve been here an hour.”

“I think that first half hour counted more as fumbling than foreplay,” said Finn with a self-deprecating smile.

Miriam laughed.  “Okay, yeah.  Too much fantasy, not enough reality.  Which is why the ring worries me.  Everything is too easy in there.”

“Including contraception.  I had no idea condoms were so fragile.”

Miriam shook her head.  “That was disappointing.  But then...  Where did you learn to do all that with your tongue?”

“From you.  When you turned me into your toy,” said Finn with a reminiscent sigh.

Miriam poked him on the shoulder.  “Snap out of it.  Was it really all that?  I made you think you liked it, but I was so worried you’d hate me afterward.”

“Hate you?  Everything you did to me felt amazing.  Why do you think I offered to try that out again?” enthused Finn.

“Did to you,” said Miriam, emphasizing Finn’s word.  “Not with you.  You had no more say than I did when you turned me into a monster.”

Finn flopped to his back, and wrapped his hand tight about the ring.  “It seemed like a good idea at the time.  Now that you have some distance and hopefully some better memories...  How do you feel about it?”

Miriam shuddered.  “It was so gleeful about ripping you to shreds.”

“So was the lion.  And you voluntarily did exactly that when you turned me into a cupcake.”

Miriam stuck her tongue out at Finn.  “That was different.  Cupcakes are cute, and meant to be eaten.  Not gory and gross.”

“So if I’d been made of cake or candy it wouldn’t have been so bad?”  Finn asked, rolling to face Miriam once more.  “I might be able to imagine myself as a cupcake...”

“Don’t do that!”

“Okay,” said Finn, raising his hands defensively.  “No more Mr. Cupcake.”

“That’s not what I meant,” groused Miriam, poking him again.

“Then what did you mean?”

Miriam closed her eyes.  “It hated you.  It was more than just ‘I want to eat you’, it was passionate about destroying you.  I don’t ever want to feel that way again.”

“Would it help to promise to never do that to you again?”

“How can you make that promise?” asked Miriam, shaking her finger in Finn’s face.  “That thing is super twitchy, a random thought and poof...”  She poked him once more.  “Monster.”

“Stop poking me!”

Miriam giggled, and poked Finn again.  “Or what?”

She got her answer a moment later when she appeared on satin sheets.  A moment later Finn appeared beside her, in much the same pose as he’d been a moment earlier.  “Care to try again?”

Miriam went to poke Finn, but found that her hand was no longer there.  “Hey!”  She poked him with the rounded end of her wrist, and her arm vanished.  Attempts to poke with her other hand produced the same results.  “I’m starting to see what your father means by power imbalance.”

“Then don’t poke people.  I’m not trying to end the argument, here.  I’ll try to keep thinking of you as normal.  You’re not adapting to not having arms, right?”

Miriam wiggled her shoulders.  “Nope.  Still mildly annoyed about it, despite kinda seeing your point.”  She faked a kick at him, and lost her legs.  “Okay.  Now we can talk.”

“About?”

“Maybe about why you like to turn your girlfriend into weak, helpless forms?”

Finn laughed.  “I’d rather see you strong and powerful than like this.”

“No more monsters!”

Finn nodded.  “Okay.  But a tall, strong person would be okay?”

Miriam nodded, and suddenly her arms and legs returned, bigger and more muscular than before.  She hopped out of bed, and flexed her new muscles.  “Oooh.  This is...  Wait.  Is your ideal version of me a boyfriend?”

Finn stared at Miriam, stunned by the thought.  As he stared, Miriam changed, becoming even more muscular.  Her breasts became part of mighty pectorals, and between muscular thighs something very male sprang up.  “Oh.  My.  God.” breathed Finn.  “You’re right.”

Miriam stared down at her body.  “This is your ideal lover?”

Finn shook his head.  “I think I’d want you even bigger.  Towering over me.  Able to scoop me up in your arms.”

Miriam strode to the bed and pulled Finn up into a tight embrace.  “Don’t be afraid.  I’m pretty sure that real-me is enjoying this as much as I am.”  He kissed Finn on the lips, ferociously, and found that his tongue could force its way into Finn’s mouth effortlessly.

Miriam tumbled the two of them back onto the bed, and nuzzled his way down Finn’s lean body.  “Mmm, is this tasty looking treat for me?” he rumbled, chuckling warmly.

Finn nodded, wide-eyed, and was soon groaning in pleasure as Miriam’s muscular mouth went to work on him.  He didn’t last long.

Miriam nuzzled his way back up to share a kiss with Finn.  Then with an impish look on his face, he thrust his groin against Finn’s hips.  “Your turn.  Think you can handle me?”

To Miriam’s boggled amazement, Finn nodded, and nuzzled his way down Miriam’s body in much the same way as Miriam had done not long before.  “Oh.  Oh wow.  That...  How are you doing that?  Oh God, don’t stop!”

Miriam grabbed Finn’s head, and pulled it tight against his body, forcing himself deeper into Finn’s mouth.  He could feel the back of Finn’s throat, muscles spasming, relaxing, and...  Miriam didn’t last much longer than Finn had before an explosion of pleasure racked his body.  When he was next aware of his surroundings, he found Finn watching him, a goofy smile on her face.

Miriam blinked.  “When did you become a girl?”

“Quick bathroom break while you were sleeping.  When I came back in, I was like this.  It felt right, and...”  Finn shrugged.  “It still does.  Being here, with you, like this... it feels...”  She blushed.  “Are you okay with this?”

Miriam kissed Finn in answer.  The way that lithe, curved body melted against his body made him pull her even closer.  “Oh, Finn.  If you stay like this I’ll...”  Miriam’s erection prodded against Finn’s side, and Miriam blushed.  “Uh, that.  Wow, they really do have minds of their own.”

Finn grinned.  “Might have been my mind.  I want you, Miriam.  So badly.  I’m trying very hard not to mess with your mind, but I have no idea if it’s working.  I want your actions to be your choice.”

Miriam growled softly as he pulled back from Finn, creating a little space between him and the delectable woman before him.  “I love you.  She loves you.  I’m not sure if we’re both the same or not, but I am sure that she wanted this from the moment she realized you wanted her to be your boyfriend.  Do it.”

Finn pounced Miriam onto his back, and with the ease of everything in the ring’s fantasy realm, her pussy found its mark, devouring Miriam’s malehood just as eagerly as Finn’s mouth had.

The sex that followed was frenzied and acrobatic, and lasted far longer than humanly possible, in poses that were at best barely so.

It ended when Finn’s hunger overpowered her lust.  Miriam vanished, replaced by a huge pizza.  Finn devoured two slices without thinking, but they did nothing for her hunger.  It took Finn a minute to realize why, and when he popped out of the ring the hunger if anything got worse.  He wondered if Miriam was as hungry as he was, and his eyes went wide.  “Oh hell.”

Miriam appeared on the bed, and it took a minute to rouse her.  Finn was halfway through his second apology when she kissed him.  After she broke away, she admonished him to stop apologizing.

“Are you okay?”

Miriam nodded, then her stomach growled.  “I’m starving.  What time is it?”

“Way, way past dinnertime.  Oh crap, my parents...”

“Food first.  Recriminations later.”

Finn agreed that was a good plan, and the two of them dressed hastily.  They hit a fast food place on the way home, and devoured two burgers each.

“Now what?” sighed Finn, patting his stomach contentedly.  “I’m in so much trouble.”

Miriam laughed.  “You’re an adult.  Heck, your Mom practically threw us together.  She’s not going to be mad.  More likely the opposite.”

Finn took her hand and smiled.  “You’re right.  And Dad might be quietly disappointed at me, at worst.  That’s worse than mad, but with you by my side, I feel like I could fight dragons.”

“Sounds like fun.  I’m in.”

Finn blinked at her in confusion.  “What?  You want monsters after...”

“I don’t want to be the monster.  Pop some random animal into the ring and transform it, then we fight it side by side.”

“I’d hate to traumatize a pet iguana like that,” mused Finn.

“Then use an ant or a spider.  That’d be cool too.”

“Cool?  I thought you hated bugs.”

Miriam sat back abruptly.  “Oh.  Oh wow.  Being one...  Sort of one, anyway...  I kind of want to try watching Alien again.  To root for the monster.”

Finn chuckled softly.  “It’s a date.  Tomorrow night?”

“Why not tonight?  It’s not like we have to get up early for school...”

“Oh.  Wow.  I mean, I’ll have to in the fall when I start at university, I guess.  Depends on my schedule, though.  Maybe I can set up my classes so there’s nothing before 10?  And there’s my summer job starting in a couple weeks, can’t sleep in for that...”

“Screw the future,” said Miriam emphatically.  “Let’s have fun now.”

“And by fun you mean...”

“You, me, that movie and the ring.”

Finn raised an eyebrow.  “There’s a pretty good chance that if we watch the movie inside the ring, I’ll turn you into my big, exoskeletal protector of a boyfriend.”

“As long as I don’t end up wanting to dismember you, I’ll manage.  Oooh, I see something in your eyes.  What is it?”

Finn blushed.  “The Alien is rather... phallic in its way.  I... might end up enhancing that design aspect.  Um, possibly a lot.”

“Oooh!”

They went home, and found Finn’s parents reactions close to what they’d expected.  Agnetha was disappointed that they hadn’t called ahead to say they’d missed dinner, but when she saw the way they were holding hands she smiled.  “Had fun, did you?”

Both of them blushed and nodded.  “And planning to have more,” added Miriam.

“Not under my roof,” grumbled Mr. Engstrom.

So they grabbed Finn’s copy of Alien, and headed over to Miriam’s house.  Finn expressed concern about Miriam’s memories of the place, and got a big grin in return.  “Your ‘better memories’ theory worked on the bug-thing.  Maybe it’ll work here.  Besides, we’ll be in the ring.  Less baggage.”

Finn popped Miriam’s TV and video player in to the ring, and they settled in on the lounger.  At Miriam’s request, he enlarged her TV to make it feel more like a real movie.  Then Miriam poked Finn playfully.  “If I’m going to be the big strong protector, you have to be the girl.”

Finn laughed, and disappeared for a few seconds.  She returned and blew Miriam a kiss.  “Want me to guy you now, or see how the movie goes?”

Miriam requested the movie, and watched in rapt fascination as the crew of the Nostromo started exploring an alien world.  “Whoever was designing this stuff was awfully kinky,” she commented at one point.  Finn chuckled and agreed.

As the tension levels increased, Miriam pulled Finn tighter against her.  She wasn’t sure if the protective instinct was her or Finn, but she decided she liked it.  As they got glimpses of the monster, Miriam felt glad to see her own armor coming in, though it stayed the purple of Finn’s earlier toying with her, and she was relieved to notice that her body plan stayed mostly human.

When the alien finally died in the fiery jets of Ripley’s escape pod, Miriam sighed softly.

“Rooting for it, were you?” asked Finn with a giggle.

“A little, I guess.  Do I have to go back to normal?”  Miriam jumped to her taloned feet, and examined her new form.  Other than her feet, her long segmented tail, and the way her hair had turned into a smooth extended skull, she looked fairly human.  Her exoskeleton was shiny and purple, and she could see Finn’s eyes follow her every move.  “You like this look.”

Finn grinned, and hopped up to give Miriam a hug.  “Want to give it a workout?”

Miriam was startled to realize Finn’s head only came up to her abdomen.  “How big did you make me?”

“Dunno.  Eight feet tall?  Big enough to have your wicked way with me, and there’s nothing I can do to stop you.”

Miriam scooped Finn up in her arms, and brought her tail around menacingly.  Then started giggling.  “My tail doesn’t look very dangerous.  This bulbous tip is awfully suggestive, dear.”  She waggled the appendage at Finn.

Finn grinned.  “It was supposed to be.”  She grabbed Miriam’s tail, and gave it a stroke.

Miriam groaned happily.  “Do that again!”

Instead, Finn leaned in to give Miriam’s tailtip a little kiss and a lick, making Miriam squirm with pleasure.  Miriam slung Finn over her shoulder and carried her to the silk-sheeted bed they’d used earlier.  “You... are trouble.”

Finn grinned up at her sweetly.  “Whatever could you mean?”

Miriam answered with her tail, and ended any hope of coherent conversation.

Miriam’s semi-monstrous form had corresponding amounts of energy and endurance, and Finn was worn out long before she was.  The edge had worn off her frenzy, so she was coherent enough to slow things down and pull Finn into a cuddle while she recovered.

Finn’s eyes flickered open and she saw Miriam’s worried face looking down at her.  “Mmh.  Hey love.  What’s wrong?”

Miriam pointed to Finn’s belly, which had expanded like she’d swallowed a beach ball.  Finn giggled softly.  “Ooh, right.  I gave you an ovipositor.  You filled me with eggs.”

“Oh, so that’s what that was...”  Miriam nuzzled in and kissed Finn’s cheek.  “Felt amazing.  I wonder what it was like for the eggs...”  

Miriam vanished.

Finn looked down at her squirming belly, and sighed.  “Fooey.  And I’d done so well up to now, too.  Hey Miriam, can you hear me?”

Finn giggled at the faint reply.  “Don’t fret, I’ll get you out.”

What appeared where Miriam had been standing was a large egg, in profile much like the ones from the movie.  However, this one was bright pink, with swirls of purple making it look like a decorative Easter egg.  When its petals opened, Miriam’s face was revealed.  “What have you done to me now?”

“I figured you wouldn’t want to be a face-hugger.”

“Yeah, I’d rather be a body-hugger.”

Finn grinned as Miriam flowed out of the egg, a shiny purple wave of latex.  She poured over Finn’s body, fitting to every curve and crevice.  Miriam’s face reappeared over Finn’s stomach.  “What on earth?” she whispered.

“First image that came to mind.”  Finn ran her hands over the slick material.  “Like it?”

Miriam purred happily, and found that she could wriggle in ways that made Finn incoherent with pleasure.  Finn fell prone on the bed, hands roaming over Miriam’s slickness and making Miriam nearly as incoherent.

Finn lasted another half hour before exhaustion claimed her once more.  This time, Finn fell sound asleep, and disappeared from the ring.  Miriam pouted at feeling so empty, and it took her several minutes to remember that she could leave the ring for the asking.

Miriam found Finn curled up on the couch, and went to fetch a blanket for him.  Once she was sure he was comfortable, she kissed his brow gently, then went to sleep in her own bedroom.

*** *** ***

In the morning, after Finn’s brief bout of panic at waking up in an unfamiliar place, Miriam and Finn had breakfast together.  Once they were done, Miriam asked to borrow the ring.

Finn held it out.  “It’s only fair.  I did change you into a bunch of stuff yesterday.  What was your favourite?”

“Being your big strong protector during the movie.  Though... I think I’ll put off trying to project myself as a guy.”  Miriam slipped the ring on, and Finn vanished.  His clothes did not, and instead fluttered to the floor, making Miriam giggle.

“Again with the stripping?” asked Finn when Miriam appeared in front of him.

“What I’m planning, you won’t need clothes.”

Finn grinned.  “Hit me.”  A moment later, he was fluttering to the floor.

Miriam scooped up her lacy creation.  “The second favourite thing you turned me into yesterday was that body-hugging outfit.  I figured I should return the favour...”

To her disappointment, Miriam’s new dress seemed incapable of motion.  She danced around in it anyway, and posed in front of the mirror.  “What do you think, Finn?  Finn?”  She pinched the skirt, and got no answer.  “Now what have I done...”

Miriam willed Finn into motion, and got more than she’d asked for.  The dress started squirming in a way that reminded her of Finn’s tentacle earlier.  That thought brought friends, and soon the dress was growing tentacles by the dozen, until it was nothing but a writhing mass of tentacles covering her torso.  

Trying to get that under control added a bunch of leather straps to the mix, and while they did slow the tentacles down some, Miriam also found herself tangled up in them and immobilized.  The relentless assault of the still-growing tentacle swarm drove Miriam insensate with pleasure, ending her attempts to free herself.

A shattering orgasm later, Miriam found herself slumped in a kitchen chair.  She yanked the ring off her finger, staring down at it as the memories of the tentacles emerged from her lust-clouded haze.  It had felt amazing, but she shuddered as she recalled her body starting to melt into the mass, dissolving into tentacles along with them.

Miriam imagined she could still see them, down there in the ring.  She gasped.  “Finn!”  Despite her reluctance, she slipped the ring back on and focussed her thoughts on returning him to normal.  It took a few tries to end up with a version of Finn that didn’t have a few bonus tentacles.  “Are you okay?” she called into the ring.

Finn shrugged.  “Fine, I guess.  Aren’t you going to come back inside?”

Miriam walked from the kitchen to the living room, then made herself comfortable on the couch.  She projected herself into the ring reluctantly, keeping half her focus on her real body so that she would not get overwhelmed again.  “Are you really not mad?”

“That was pretty weird, but awfully fun.  I wouldn’t say no to another go-round...”  Finn’s body melted into a pile of tentacles.

Miriam skittered back from the growing pile.  “Sorry.  I really liked how this felt, until you started burrowing through me.”  She forced her mental image of Finn onto the tentacles, and got at least his upper half back to normal.  Mostly normal, anyway – his arms were still wiggly.

Finn sighed.  “I’d apologize for that, but I wasn’t in the driver’s seat.  You gave them minds of their own.  Maybe if you focussed on letting me be me, mentally?”

Miriam flopped back onto the satin bed, though she did give herself some clearance from Finn.  “I wish.  It’s just, once I get aroused, it’s impossible to not change you.”

“Sounds like you just need more practice,” said Finn, an impish look on his face.  One of his dozens of leg-tentacles wriggled its way over to brush lightly at Miriam’s hip.

That set her off again, and soon her body was lost in a squirmy pile.  This time she had the presence of mind to withdraw from the ring before being overwhelmed by sensation.  She stared down at the pile, forced it back into a vaguely Finn-like shape, and reappeared.  “That didn’t work.”

“This time.”  Finn tickled her with a tentacle.  Miriam giggled, but managed to keep the changes at bay.  Encouraged, Finn started a tickle-fight with her.  It lasted most of a minute before Miriam stuffed one of the tentacles down her panties, and the explosion of tentacles started all over again.

This time, Miriam decided to ride it out.  For all it felt weird, the Finn-tentacles made her body tingle and sing in ways she’d never imagined possible.

Miriam found herself panting on the couch.  She kissed the ring softly, gently pulling Finn back together once more.  “If I gave you the ring,” she called down to Finn, “do you think you could remember this form?”

“Easily.”

Finn reappeared in the room, and had a ring shoved on his finger before he could remember what being human really meant.

“Put me inside,” husked Miriam.  “And don’t let me out until you’re done.”

She vanished.  Finn stumbled to the couch, and dropped back into the ring, appearing on the bed as a mass of tentacles.

Miriam stared at them, waiting for them to act.  “Are you in there, Finn?”

“Yes,” echoed Finn’s voice from around her.  “Seem to have forgotten a few useful things.  Like ... well, anything except tentacles.  What is it with you and tentacles, anyway?”

Miriam cautiously reached out to stroke one of Finn’s tentacles.  It wriggled happily under her touch, but there was no explosion.  “They just feel really... nice.  So many touches in so many places.”

“Mmm,” agreed Finn.  “They do at that.”  A tentacle reached out to brush her cheek.

Miriam moaned happily, and kissed the tentacle.  “How are you not swarming me, or giving me tentacles too?  Just your touch was enough to set me off.”

“Look at your arms.”

Miriam glanced down, and giggled.  She had long, slithery tentacles instead of arms.  They were pale pink, a striking contrast to Finn’s dark purple ones.  She let one tangle into the mass of his tentacles, grinning at how she could see bits of it emerge here and there.  “That feels so weird.  I’m all twisted up with you.  Ooooh...  Don’t stop!”

Finn slurped Miriam's tentacle deeper,then tugged on her other arm-tentacle.  He slowly caressed his way down her side, then tugged at her legs.  Miriam moaned assent, and soon two more tentacles were teasingly tangled up in Finn.

Finn kept her like that, teasing at the rest of her body with delicate tendrils, but not changing her further.  Soon she was shuddering and convulsing so hard it took many of his tentacles to keep them anchored to the bed.

Finn pulled away when he sensed Miriam was spent, and returned her to normal.  He curled up into a ball to “watch” her doze.  When she woke, she smiled at the tentacle-ball sweetly.

“That was amazing, love.  But how did you keep from changing me into chaos?”

The tentacles gave a wriggly sort of shrug.  “Focus on keeping you as I wanted you, mostly.  That, and sort of... distancing myself from the ring.”

“But you're inside the ring.  How can you distance yourself?” protested Miriam.

The tentacles stilled, then flickered out of existence.  A little later Finn returned, human once more.  “It's like changing how focussed you are on your projection, except sort of the opposite direction.”  He frowned, focussing on that thought.

Miriam watched him curiously for a time.  “Finn?”

Finn held up a finger to forestall her asking more questions, then started staring at his finger.  He mimed flipping a switch and his eyes widened.  “There is no way it's that easy.”

“That what is easy?”

“Try to trick me into changing you.”

Miriam tried for an innocent look.  “Would I trick you like that?”

“Without hesitation.”

Miriam loomed over Finn as best she could.  In her lowest sexy growl she husked, “Make me a hunk.”

Finn swallowed, then grinned.  “Success!  I tried to change you, and failed.”

“So I'm stuck as boring old me?  What's the point in the ring, then?”

“The point is that I can turn it back on,” Finn made a switching motion, “and...  Oops.”

Miriam couldn't hear Finn's expression of dismay.  Or see.  She put her hands to her head and discovered something hard and square in its place.  It felt like solid wood.  She turned her blank plane of a face toward Finn, tilting it at the angle she hoped conveyed annoyance.  All Finn got out of it was cute confusion, but it still had the desired effect – Finn changed her head back to normal.

“Why?”

“Hunk to hunk of wood to blockhead, which is what I had in my mind when I turned it on.  There's no middle, it's like any random idea comes to life.”

Miriam nodded understandingly.  “That's exactly it.  I’m stuck all-on, have been since the park, I'd guess.  Your training worked too well.”

Finn nodded back.  “Then we'll just have to train you how to switch it off.”

Miriam agreed that it sounded like a good idea, though it proved much harder in practice.  Finn talked her through trying to find the switch while she held the ring, but once he was inside with her, it was clear her thoughts were still transforming him.  Another tentacle explosion swept her away, and by the time she’d exhausted herself again, the morning was largely done.

They took breaks for lunch and dinner, but spent the rest of the day ‘inside’.  Tentacles, feathers, rippling fabric... even chocolate pudding once.  No matter what Miriam tried, simply being touched by Finn led to erotic chaos, and another lost hour or two.

Late that evening, Finn called a halt to the testing. “I’m exhausted, and I’m sure you are too.”

Miriam nodded slowly.  “It was... it was good, though.  Right?”

Finn kissed her warmly, pulling her lithe body against his.  “Very, very good.  And yet...”

“Mmmh?” purred Miriam softly.

“Feeling you against me like this... outside the ring.  There’s something real about it.  Solid.”  He kissed her again, and they ended up tangled on the couch.  Sleep claimed both of them before they got far enough to regret the absence of condoms.

The next day was much the same, with Miriam determined to get a handle on the chaos inside the ring.  Toward mid-afternoon, they met with limited success.  Miriam kept Finn as a wing-armed woman for long enough to make love to her properly, but the next test failed terribly.  And the next.

When Sunday rolled around, Finn argued that they should return to his house, to have dinner with his parents.  Miriam agreed eagerly, as they’d run out of the prepared meals Mrs. Lund had left in the freezer the previous day.  They called ahead to make sure they were expected, and Finn got quite the earful from his mother in the process.

In the afternoon they left Miriam’s house for a brief time to get a late lunch, some groceries, and a large box of condoms.  Instead of testing the ring further, Finn and Miriam put the condoms to good use.

As a result, when they returned to Finn’s home for dinner both looked quite pleased with themselves.  Agnetha chuckled softly.  “Now I know you’ve been up to no good.  Still happy with the ring?”

Finn nodded eagerly.  “We’ve been working on getting it to not change things by accident.  Miriam’s had a bit of trouble with that.”

“Have you dear?” asked Agnetha, eyeing Miriam’s blush.

“Well...  I kind of got the hang of it yesterday, but not having control is so much more fun...”

Finn laughed.  “I had wondered.  Scamp.”

Miriam looked over at him guiltily.  “Does this mean no more swarming?”

“It means no more apologies for doing it accidentally, that’s all.  Own up to what you want, I honestly don’t mind it.”

“What do you want, dear?” asked Agnetha.  “School’s over, it’s time to decide.”

Miriam clutched Finn’s hand tightly.  “I want Finn.  Beyond that...  I haven’t had the energy to think about the future yet.  Now that I don’t have to spend all my spare time helping care for Mom I just...  I don’t know.”

“Don’t harass her,” asserted Mr. Engstrom.  “They’re young yet.  Lots of time to figure out what they want to be.”

Miriam smiled her thanks to him, and then went to help Agnetha finish preparing dinner.

Finn and his father faced off.  “Your mother was very worried when you didn’t call.”

Finn sighed.  “I told her I’m sorry a dozen times on the phone already.  We lost track of time.  Several days.  I’m glad Mom didn’t snap the ring back on Saturday.  Did she find anything good at the sales?”

“A few odds and ends, nothing bulky.  She’ll want to store them later, but... honestly I’m glad the ring was out of the house.”

“Ah?”  Finn blushed.  “We’ve been...  Um, rather enjoying having it.  Was it really so bad?”

Mr. Engstrom winced, and looked away.  “I did things I’m ashamed of, in there.”

“But... it affects your mind.  You can’t blame yourself for thoughts that Mom gave you.”

“Some things you can’t easily forget,” grated Mr. Engstrom, and said no more.

Dinner was a fairly quiet affair, with everyone deep in their own thoughts.  As they were clearing up, Miriam’s phone rang.  She looked at it, then sighed morosely.  “I have to take this.  It’s the hospital, undoubtedly something about Mom.”