“Temporarily.  I only own you temporarily,” said Flint emphatically, as if that difference made it better.

Heather smiled up at him from her perch on his shoulder.  “That contract can’t be modified retroactively, can it?”

Flint checked, and shook his head.  “No.  It’s locked down hard.  Why?”

“I figured as much,” she sighed.  “I know it’s just the magic, but being owned feels...”

“Yes?”

“I can’t explain.  Don’t have words.  The idea of not-owned is... slippery.  I know it’s imposed, I can feel that... but being your familiar is everything I want to be.”

“Is there an obedience aspect?” asked Flint.

Heather tilted her head to the side to consider it.  “It doesn’t feel like it?  But it feels like there’s a ‘yet’ in there.  What can you do to me with all this power?”

Flint held up his hand and Heather stepped onto it.  He cupped his hands around her, and she settled into them, wiggling her bum to get comfortable and grinning at the blush that caused.  Flint smirked at her.  “Having fun?”

“Honestly, yes.  No misgivings at all.  I am literally in your hands, and it feels like I’ve made the best choice in my life.”  Heather snorted.  “Not that that’s a high bar.”

“Aww.  Meeting you has been the best thing to happen to me, too.  Let’s see what we’ve got ... oh my.  So many glyphs, and your augments...  Oh, you’ll like this one.”

“What?” asked Heather.  “Ooh, I felt that.  What did you do to my belly button?”

“Take a look.”

Heather pulled her shirt up partway, and saw a familiar glyph glowing where her bellybutton had been.  She touched it, and suddenly shrunk to half her size.  “Oh!  I can control my size now?”

Flint nodded.  “Rank two augments have a little more flex to them.  And more power.  See how small you can get.”

Heather stroked the glyph until she stopped dwindling, then looked up.  Fingers towered over her like trees.  “Wow.  Can you hear me?”

“Yes and no,” murmured Flint.  “Your voice was a squeak, but the bond let me hear you.”

Heather fluttered into the air, and landed on the tip of Flint’s nose.  He tilted his head upward to give her a level spot to stand.  “This is so amazing.  I’m smaller than your eyes.  I could get lost in them.”

Flint’s eyes crossed as he tried to focus on the fantastic creature perched on his nose.  “I can barely see you.”

“Oh, sorry.”  Heather flittered back and started to grow once more.  She stopped at about a foot tall.  “Better?”

“I’d like a more huggable size,” said Flint.  Heather grew once more, dropping to the ground once she outgrew her wings, then rising up again to match his height.

She hummed softly in the hug.  “You’re right.  This is perfect.”

Flint smirked.  “I bet you’d think anything I ask is perfect.  Like testing how tall you can get.”

Heather looked around.  “Off in the trees?  I’d rather not cause a fuss.”

Flint nodded, and followed her off the bluff.  In among the trees was a jogging path, and Heather led him to a spot where it widened out.  She touched her belly and started to grow once more, easily doubling his height, then again.  When her head was level with the trees around her, she stopped.

“This seems to be the limit,” Heather said as she very carefully sat down.  She held her hands out to Flint, and he cautiously stepped into them.  When she pulled him against her chest, his grin returned, and he snuggled happily against breasts nearly as big as he was.

“Mmm.  Kitty cat likes that?”

Flint’s body stretched, fur replacing skin.  His face became a feline muzzle, and he started to purr loudly.  Heather’s grin grew impish.  “I wonder if you can fit in between them.”

Flint purriped happily and wriggled his way further inward.  Heather helped tuck him in, then giggled.  She couldn’t see anything except a little bit of squirming under her shirt.  A gentle rub pressed him deeper, and she couldn’t see anything at all.  “Squishy kitty is squishy,” giggled Heather.  “Happy?”

A furry paw popped up out of her cleavage and gave her a thumbs up before withdrawing once more.

Heather sighed happily as she felt Flint settle down between her breasts... then she heard the rhythmic thump of a jogger coming up the trail.  She squeaked, and quickly dialed herself back to normal height.  She stood up just as the jogger came into view, and waved.  She got a distracted wave in return, and the jogger passed on by.

Heather looked down at herself, and her eyes widened.  No sign of Flint.  “Uh... are you still there?”

A moment later, Flint’s head poked out from between her breasts, full size.  “Yep.  I figured out how to augment your robin blessing to increase your storage space.  It’s cozy in here, I might stay.”

Heather giggled.  “It can’t be as big as your bedroom... can it?”

“Well no.  It’s distinctly cozy inside.  But the view can’t be beat.”  Flint eeled his way out of Heather’s breasts, nimbly leaping to the ground then reverting from cat to mostly human.  He hugged her again, purrring happily.  “I’d be happy there.  Better than my parents’ basement.”

“That’d give a new meaning to live-in girlfriend, that’s for sure,” laughed Heather.  “All it needs is wi-fi.”

Flint’s eyes tracked elsewhere as he looked over magical interfaces Heather could no longer see.  “I could do that.  Lots of cybernetic recipes have opened up.  Ooh, there’s one that’d turn you into a motorcycle.”

“Would you like that?” asked Heather.

“I don’t know how to ride one.  It might be fun...”  Flint shrugged.  “But I get the feeling cybernetic is the wrong direction for you.”

Heather smiled brightly.  “I wouldn’t have objected.  Can’t, you get to empower me however you like while I’m your familiar.”

Flint nodded.  “But if I pick stuff you’ll like afterward, you’ll be happier.  Hmmm.  I wonder if we could find a dolphin.”

“Ocean’s not that far off,” said Heather.  “I can fly, you can ride...”

“I suppose giving you jet assist packs is a step too far?”

“Wouldn’t it be faster to boost the speed of the blessing of ducks?”

Flint chuckled.  “Yeah.  And the parts list for the jets is crazy.  It’d take days to find it all.”  He gestured toward Heather.  “There.  Holy...  Yeah, that’ll do.  You’ll need to go full bird for top speed.”

Heather crouched down and tugged open her shirt.  “Will you be safe if I do that?”

Flint smiled at the invitation, flowing into feline form once more.  “Yeah.  The space inside is independent of your size.  I’d still fit if you were an inch tall.”

Heather gestured to her chest and Flint stepped inside, slithering away and vanishing.  She gave her breast a little pat, then dwindled much further than duck size.  A hummingbird-sized duck flicked into the air, then raced out toward the water.  Heather quacked with glee at the speed she had access to, and was soon arcing out over the ocean.

Finding dolphins was another matter.  Heather grew large enough that Flint could stick his head out, so both of them could search.  Eventually they spotted a spout in the distance, and arrowed toward it.  Soon the creature responsible breached once more, showing the black and white patterns of a killer whale.

“Woah.  Can you handle a beast like this?” asked Heather.  “Imagine using it in a duel.”

“One way to find out,” said Flint with a grin.  “Battle time.”

A glowing red whale turned to face them.  Flint’s laser squirrels barely had any impact on it, and it snapped up and ate his dog without effort.

“Summon my deer!” suggested Heather.  Flint tried that, and even with both of their best potions, the deer only managed to gore the whale twice before falling.

“Summon me,” whispered Heather.  “As big as the sky.”

“Are you sure?  Getting bitten will probably hurt.”

“Do it.”

A glowing red giantess faced off against the killer whale, standing twice as tall as it was long.  The whale gamely snapped at her, but she shrugged off the bite to her leg, and scooped it up in both arms.  A moment later, it vanished into her chest, and the victory sigil popped up.

Heather splashed into the water heavily.  She looked around frantically for Flint, and found him treading water within arm’s reach... and about a tenth her size.  “Where’s the whale?”

Flint pointed at a fin that was departing at high speed.  “We’re safe.  Ish.  Get us out of here?”

Heather scooped him into her chest, and then drove herself into the sky.  She was midair before she realized she was still whale-sized, then reduced her size to a less conspicuous one.  As a normal-sized duck she darted for shore, and found a secluded rocky beach to land on.  Heather grew back to her winged human form once she was sure nobody was watching, and nudged Flint back out again.  “Well, that was an adventure.”

Flint looked down to Heather’s leg.  “Oh, good.  You’re not hurt?”

Heather shook her head.  “In the heat of battle, I barely even felt it.  Do you really have a killer whale ally now?”

Flint nodded, then frowned.  Then he started to laugh.  “Actually, no.  You captured it, it’s yours.  I just get to use it while you’re my familiar.  Eef, that’s only another three minutes.  Quickly, then.  I want to exchange gifts while I still have control of it.”

“But I don’t have any gifts to give...”

Flint shook his head.  “It’s OK, you’re up one due to gift of the cat.  I give you... gift of the orca.”

Heather’s eyes went comically wide, expanding as her body did.  Soon she was twenty feet long, and from chest to flukes she was covered in shiny black and white skin.  “Oh.  Oh wow.”

“Wow is right.  I was hoping for mermaid, this is so much more.  You look fantastic,” gushed Flint, prowling around her to see her from all angles.

Suddenly Heather’s expression went from pleased to furious.  “What the hell, Flint?”

“What?”

“I’m naked!  And you’re ogling me like some fantasy girl you just crafted.”

Flint looked away.  “Sorry.  You were so happy a minute ago, I didn’t think you minded.  What happened?”

Heather glanced around.  “Oh!  My powers are back.  I’m not your familiar any more.  Wow.”

Flint cautiously peeked toward her, then sighed ruefully to see she was normal sized and dressed once more.  “Better?”

“Not really.  Very mixed feelings toward you, violated leading the pack.  Wait, wasn’t the deal that you’d lose a duel to me after?”

The duel icon popped up.  Flint hesitated.  “This seems like a bad idea, but a deal’s a deal.”  He accepted the duel, and was immediately suspended in light.

Heather prowled toward him.  “Capture might be fun, but... I’ve been wondering what Curse does, and I really feel like using it on you right now.”

Flint closed his eyes and lowered his head what little the golden cocoon allowed.  Heather took that for acceptance and touched Curse.  More icons spread out.  As her gaze flitted over them, sub-icons emerged.  The eye let her blind or deafen Flint, or remove other attributes.  Another would let her partially or fully change his gender.  There were categories for shrinking, turning him into an animal (which hardly seemed a curse at all), one for various kinds of petrification, and then her eyes lit up.  “Oooh, I can mess with your clothes.  Let’s see how you’d look in a dress.”

A moment later, a green velvet dress fell heavily to the ground where Flint had been standing.  “Uh... whoops?”

Heather carefully walked over to the dress, then picked it up.  The material was rich and heavy, more luxurious than any of the dresses she’d tried on before prom last year.  She gave it a little shake, hoping that Flint would fall out, but no.  A glance at the dress told her the story.  This was Flint, and he was stuck like this until his schedule...  “Two months?  Flint what did you do?”

The dress did not answer, except to wriggle slightly in her hands.  She found a mouth glyph, and tried it.  “Hey.  So... yeah.  I kind of cleared my schedule for the summer, earlier.  Just in case.”

“And now you’re a dress.  There’s no cancel, Flint!  I can’t change you back.  I could try closing WitchyWays...”  Heather pulled out her phone.

“We both know that won’t work.  I am a dress now.  Your dress.”

Heather winced at the time.  “And I’m going to be late for dinner.  Where even are we?”

“I don’t know.  Fly up and figure it out.”

Heather growled.  “Fine.  Just... don’t enjoy this, okay?”  She bundled up the dress and shoved it down between her breasts where it vanished away into the pocket Flint had given her.

“No promises,” came a muffled voice from within.  Heather poked the mute icon with more force than was truly necessary, and felt Flint go still.  She sighed, hoped she hadn’t made things even worse, and shifted into full bird for speed.

Half a mile up, she finally sorted out the roads below her, and winged her way to the highway to follow it home.  Her speed augment was still working, winging her quickly on her way.  She spotted an eagle circling above, and it looked like it was trying to dive on her, but she poured on more speed and easily escaped it.

She alighted on her doorstep and returned to her usual stature.  A quick check of her pockets found her keys right where they belonged, so she headed inside.  “Hey Ma.  How’s the day been?”

“Good.  Did you have fun today?”

Heather’s grin was wide as could be.  “The best.  That new RealityPlus thingy made life very interesting.”

Her mother glanced up from the stove and the pan full of veggies she was stirring.  “Does it explain why you have wings?”

Heather glanced over her shoulder, and winced.  “Whoops.  Got used to those.”  The wings flickered out of existence as she suppressed the blessing of ducks.  “Sorry, I’ll try not to make a mess.”

“You have wings, and you’re worried about making a mess?  Wait, where’d they go?”

Heather shrugged.  “Magic.  The reality thingy makes the game’s magic real.”

Her mother raised an eyebrow.  “Really?  And they just gave it to you?  Lucky.”

Heather giggled and nodded.  “The wings aren’t even the half of it.  Thanks to Flint’s help, I can shrink small enough to fly with them, and even turn into a bird!”

“And who is this Flint that makes you giggle and grin?”

Heather blushed.  “A boy about my age.  He also had the game and one of the reality packs.  We helped each other get power-ups... but I kind of accidentally turned him into a dress.”

“A dress.”

Heather pulled the dress out from her breast pocket, which got her mother’s other eyebrow to rise as well.  “Here.  Say hi, Flint.”

No answer.  Her mother snickered.  “Hello Flint.  You look... that looks like a really expensive dress.  Does it fit?”

“Motherrrr.  It’s a boy.  It’d be wrong to wear a person.”

Her mother clucked softly.  “Maybe you should ask him what he wants.”

Heather gestured at the dress, unmuting it.  “Come on Flint.  Speak.”

“Arf!” said the dress.

Heather’s mother set down her utensils and pulled the pan off the heat.  She walked slowly around the kitchen island to approach the dress.  “Did it... just...”

“Hello Heather’s mother.  Sorry I couldn’t say hi earlier, but someone muted me.”

Heather’s mother glanced at her.  “It talks.  This is really... a boy?”

“No,” argued the dress.  “This is a dress.  I was a boy earlier, and hopefully I will be again.  But right now... very much a dress, very much not a boy.”

“I’ve never met a talking dress before.”

Flint lifted up a sleeve, and Heather’s mother shook it gravely.  “Pleased to meet you,” said Flint.

“Would you like to stay over for dinner?”

“Mom!”

“What else am I supposed to say?  You’ve brought a guest, it’s dinner time.  Percy!” she called loudly.  “Set the table for five.”

“Yes ma!” came a voice from down the hallway.

“Heather.  You sort out your mess, so Flint can have dinner with us.”

“Yes’m.”

Heather carried Flint downstairs to her room.  “What am I going to do with you?  There’s no cancel glyph, just a contract.”

“That’ll work.  I offer to make you look pretty for an evening, in exchange for my freedom.”  The contract glyph glowed.

“What?  No!” protested Heather, making the glyph go dark again.  “Something else.”

“I’m a dress.  I think wearing me has to be part of the package.  I could have offered to be your dress forever, or until you get off while wearing me, whichever comes first.”

“Flint!” growled Heather.  “What on earth would make you think that was okay to even joke...  Oh.  Ohhhh fuck.”

“What?”

“Contract is showing as accepted.  When I said okay.  Language parsing is not this game’s strong suit.”

“Does it... does it say what the conditions are?” asked Flint, worriedly.

Heather spread the icon, and nodded.  “Dress will be restored only if owner reaches sexual release while wearing the party of the first part.”  She looked around at the other glyphs frantically.  “Flint!  The timer is gone.  You’re really, really stuck like this now.  Forever.”

“Or until you...”

“No!  Maybe I can sell you to someone who will?  It does say owner...”

“No!” protested Flint.  “I’m yours, you can’t just sell me.”

Heather winced as some text shimmered on the contract.  “Yeah.  Standard terms of the contract only allow sale of the object if both parties consent.  If you won’t consent, I’m stuck.”

“You’re stuck?” fussed Flint.  “I’m the one who’s stuck!”

“Dinnertime, Heather!”

Heather sighed, and shucked out of her shirt and pants.  “There’s only one way you’re going to dinner.  Mom’s not going to be happy, nor am I, but she’d be even more cross if I left you in here.”

“You’re going to wear me?” asked Flint.

“For dinner.  Then you’re coming right off again.”

“I’ll be good.”

“Yes.  Because if you embarrass me, I’ll mute you so hard you’ll forget you were ever a person.”

“Please don’t do that again,” said Flint meekly.

“Again?”

“That’s how it worked last time you muted me hard.  Couldn’t think.”

Heather whined wordlessly as she slipped the dress on, trying very hard not to enjoy the feel of the sinfully soft fabric against her skin.  It settled into place around her as if it was crafted especially for her.  The walk to the dining room with Flint’s rippling skirts around her legs tried her patience and her nerves.  “Stop moving so much!” she hissed.

“I’ll try,” offered Flint doubtfully.  “Can’t help some of it.”

Heather was the last to the table, and stood beside her chair.  She winced at the spot set beside her.  “Sorry, Ma.  I made things worse.  Flint, this is my father Daniel, my mother Patricia, and my brother Percy.  Family, this dress is my friend and accomplice in WitchyWays, Flint.  I apologize for his appearance, it turns out that untangling curses requires care about one’s words, and... we were careless.”

“Sit,” said Patricia firmly.  “Sort it out later, at least he’s here with us.”

“Thank you Mrs... um.  I’m sorry, I don’t know Heather’s last name.”

“Marten,” squeaked Heather.

“Mrs. Marten.  Thank you.  Amusing coincidence, my last name is Pine.”

Percy started to chortle.  “So if you two get married, you’ll be Pine-Marten?”

“We only met today,” protested Heather.  “I mean, it’s been... quite the day.”

“I can see that,” said Mr. Marten.  “Wearing a boy to dinner seems like at least a second date.  How did your first go?”

Heather blushed.  “Very... complicated.  And... yeah, this probably counts as our fourth date or thereabouts.”

“Do tell.”

Heather haltingly told the story of her adventures with Flint, but skipped the bits where she’d tucked him into her chest.  Percy spoiled that game when he asked how she’d carried Flint out to sea.

Heather glanced at her mother, who’d already seen the trick.  “It’s private.”

“Oooooo.”

“Enough, Percy.  Let it go.”

Percy nodded to his mother, and let Heather carry on with her tale.  His eyes were bright and rapt, nothing remotely so interesting had ever happened in any of their lives.  “Did you really fight a whale?”

“Sort of.  The game version of a whale, not the real thing.  The real one swam away when I grew to my full height.”

Of course, then she had to describe how tall she could get, to even more wide eyes.

“That seems remarkably powerful for a gift,” mused Mr. Marten.  “Were there conditions?”

Heather shook her head.  “I... think it’s not really the power source.  More like a conduit?  It makes the magic accessible, but when I turn it off, my wings don’t go away.”

“Planning to make a career of witchery, then?”

Heather tilted her head and considered it.  “I would love it if I could.  For now, I’ll make a video about all my adventures and see if that helps my follower count any.”

“Sweetie, not many people can make a living as a video influencer, or whatever it’s called.”

“I know, daddy.  But this is so amazing I just have to share it all.”

He chuckled softly.  “Okay, then.  Once you’ve finished your chores.”

Heather nodded solemnly.  “Is it okay if I take Flint off for that?  I’d rather not get him dirty.”

Heather’s mother approved, and Heather darted off to her room the moment she was excused from the table.  She tried to wriggle out of the dress, but it wouldn’t budge.  “Flint!  Let go of me.”

“Do I have to?” whined her dress.

“Yes.  Unless you’re prepared to get your sleeves soaked in dirty dishwater.”

Flint sighed softly.  “I guess not.  I’m probably dry-clean only.”

Heather slipped out of her dress, and found a nice padded hanger for it.  She hooked the hangar over the top of her closet door.  “There.  Abandoning you in the closet feels wrong.  I may yet put you there, going to bed with you watching is not going to happen.”

“If you can mute me, you can probably take my vision too.”

Heather studied the glyphs, and tapped one.  “There.  Can you see?”

“Nope.  Dark as a tomb.”

Heather got an impish look on her face, and pulled her bra up.  No reaction.  “Hah.  I guess you can’t see after all.”

“What’d you do?”

“Flashed you,” taunted Heather.

“Awww!  It’s not nice to tease your possessions like that.”

Heather crossed her arms defiantly.  “I wish I’d accepted your first offer, you’d be free already.”

“I don’t mind, as long as I get worn from time to time.  You remember what being owned is like, right?”

Heather sighed happily.  “Yeah.  Okay.  We’ll figure this out, but for now I’ll try to wear you every day.”

“Yay!”

“But not right now.  I have chores to deal with.  Hang in there, buddy.”

“You too.  Well, not literally, but... yeah.   Later.”  Flint waved a sleeve at her