“Liz Liz Liz!”
“Oh my God, Ashley, it’s too early for that kind of bouncing. What?”
“Magic is real.”
Liz groaned. “Did you do drugs last night? Elliot promised you’d be safe.”
“No, I’m serious! You’ve got to come over right now!”
Liz moaned something about coffee then ended the call. Still, she ended up at Ashley’s house at a truly vile hour of the morning for a weekend. “This better be worth it,” she grumbled as Ashley let her in.
“It totally is. C’mon, let’s go down to the rec room.”
“Why?”
“Because I don’t want my parents to see this.” Ashley held up a drumstick.
“So you’re into drumming now? Cool.” Liz shambled along behind Ashley as the latter bounced eagerly down the stairs. Liz’s hackles started to rise when Ashley closed the door behind them, then set a chair against it. “What are you doing?”
“Making sure we aren’t seen or interrupted.”
“Now you’re starting to worry me. What the hell, Ash?”
“I told you, magic is real. But I’m not s’posed to tell anyone but you.”
“Duh, of course magic is real. All kinds of crazy shit has happened in town. And you’re dating Cheerleadra.”
“No I’m not...” protested Ashley reflexively. Then she remembered what Elliot had said. “Okay, fine, I totally am and it is AWESOME.”
Liz grinned. “So you’re happy now? That’s great. What the hell was eating you?”
“The magic thing. I was told to keep it secret, and oh my god Liz I have a magic wand that can transform people and I’m just dying to show it off.”
Lis smirked. “It still sounds like you’re high. Show me.”
Ashley tapped herself on the head with the drumstick, and her hair went short and green, turning it to a near match to Liz’ hair. “Tada!”
“Instant hairstyling, nice,” said Liz, adding a sarcastic golf clap.
“That’s nothing,” chirped Ashley. She tapped herself again, and was suddenly a foot shorter, had a bird’s head, and had wings instead of arms. The wand fell to the floor as her hands were replaced by feathers.
Liz stared open-mouthed at Ashley. “Holy shit. You... You... Um, Ash?”
“Chirp?”
“Can you change back? You don’t have hands.”
Ashley looked down at her wings then smacked her forehead with one. “Chirp.”
“And you can’t talk. Great. Um, maybe with your feet?” Liz glanced downward. “Talons. Oh, that should work better.”
Ashley sat down, squawked, then bounced to her talons again. She walked uncertainly to a low hassock, and arranged herself on it so that she wouldn’t crumple her tailfeathers. Then she held up one talon.
Liz picked the wand up carefully by the handle, and offered it to Ashley. The talon closed around it awkwardly, then she tapped it against her other leg. The wand fell to the floor as talons were replaced with feet.
Ashley let out a huge sigh of relief. “Thanks, Liz. Slight oopsie there. Tedd warned me to have a spotter, that’s why I called you.”
“No fucking kidding! This is dangerous stuff, Ash.” Liz picked up the wand from the floor again, gripping it tightly in one hand and gesturing to go along with her lecture. “You could have been stuck. What if you turned into a cat, and your paws couldn’t grip it at all?”
“Oh, then you could have used it on me.”
Liz stared down at the wand in her hand. “I... what? You can use this on others?” She took a step back from Ashley. “I’ve read your stories. I don’t want to be a lizard!”
Ashley giggled. “That would fit, wouldn’t it? I could totally turn you into a lizard-girl.”
“Wait. Lizard... girl?”
Ashley nodded. “You can try it on me. Imagine what you were just thinking there, and touch the tip of the wand to me. Think ‘Transform’ while holding that image in mind. Oh, and to change me back, think ‘Restore’. Probably should have told you that before I went all bird-brained.”
Liz licked her lips. “And you’re okay with me transforming you?”
Ashley giggled giddily. “You’ve read every single one of my stories. What do you think?”
“That you’d love it if I transformed you and left you stuck for a while. Little fuzzy on how long, though.”
“That’s okay. The changes from this wand only last a couple hours by default, partly because of the ‘oops’ potential. So if I hate it, I won’t be stuck all day.”
“And if you love it?”
Ashley’s voice dropped to a whisper. “I can keep it as long as I like. If I keep it for a month, it becomes permanent!”
Liz dropped the wand. “Ashley! You could become a monster... permanently?”
“Well, the wand could change me again. And really, the odds of me *not* wanting something different for a whole month is pretty slim.” She gestured to the wand. “C’mon, show me that lizardgirl.”
Liz picked up the wand uncertainly. “Okay. I can see you’re keen on this. So I visualize Godzilla as a girl and think Transform... ack!” Liz started turning green and growing. “Shit, how do I stop this?” Her head pressed against the ceiling.
“Crouch down!” cried Ashley. “Oh crap...”
Liz crouched, then ended up lying flat on the floor and pushing the furniture away to make space. Finally the growth stopped. “Whew,” rumbled Liz. “You didn’t say it could make me so big.”
“I didn’t know it could make you so big! The biggest anyone got last night was about nine feet tall.” Ashley looked her friend over. “I don’t think you’re much taller than that, really.”
Liz cautiously sat up. Her head was well clear of the ceiling. “Still taller than you even sitting down. I guess I panicked when my head hit the ceiling. Didn’t want to wreck your house.”
“The house?” cried Ashley. “How big were you trying for?”
“I was imagining this cool lizard girl I once saw a picture of, big enough to use cars as rollerskates. She was so strong, and so carefree...”
“Well I’m glad you didn’t end up that big. You do look pretty strong. Pick me up?”
Liz scooped up Ashley and giggled. “Wow, you feel like a toy. This is so cool. And I can stay like this if I like?”
“In theory, sure,” temporized Ashley. “But it might be hard to hide at school. Or you know, get on the bus. Fit in the desks. That kind of stuff.”
“T’hell with school. I could get a job on a construction site.” Liz set Ashley down, and flexed her arms, muscles bulging under shiny green scales. “I feel so powerful.”
“I totally get where Tedd is coming from. She wants to remake the world so that you could do that. But for now...”
Liz sighed, and pouted. “I get it. Back to plain old Liz.”
Ashley snickered. “You thought my stories were silly. Now here you are, wishing to be a giant lizard girl.”
“I never thought they were silly. Perhaps a little too on the nose with the ironic changes, but never silly. Just... impossible. But they aren’t. You could get trapped as a mouse-girl and put in a cage.”
Ashley’s breath sucked in abruptly. “Y... you wouldn’t really do that to me.” She peered up at Liz with a forlorn expression. “Would you?”
“Let’s see how small that wand can make you.”
Ashley looked around for the wand, and discovered it had rolled under one of the chairs. Liz lifted the entire chair up while Ashley retrieved the wand.
“Should I restore you first?” asked Ashley.
Liz nodded reluctantly. “One day I’ll go back,” she sighed as she dwindled. Then she looked at her arms curiously. “Why am I still green and muscly?”
“Okay, maybe not alll the way restored.”
Liz ran her fingers over her arm, then shook her head. “Can you get rid of the scales, but keep the muscle for now?” Another tap left her looking almost normal, except for when she flexed her arms. “Oh yeah, that’s the stuff. Now gimmie.”
Ashley handed over the wand, then twisted her hands together fretfully as she waited for the tap. Liz watched over her curiously, hesitating. “Do you really want this? You look terrified.”
“I am. Roller-coaster kind. Wand won’t work if I don’t accept it.”
“Oh!” Liz tapped Ashley and grinned as she watched her friend squirm and dwindle. And dwindle. And dwindle. “Ohhh, wow.” Liz crouched down beside her friend, peering down at her mousy ears and twitching whiskers. “You’re way too big for a rat cage, but a rabbit hutch? You’d fit.”
Ashley’s eyes went very wide. “You wouldn’t! I would have to stay tiny so that I didn’t get crushed by the cage while growing back. I’d have to force myself to like it for so long I could be stuck as your pet forever.”
“Those words sound like a bad thing, but the way you’re saying it says ‘yes please’. Isn’t there an old rabbit hutch in your garage?”
Ashley nodded rapidly. Liz smirked at her. “Fine, then.” She set the wand on the top shelf of a bookshelf. “I’ll be back in a few minutes. If you’re still mousy...”
Ashley stared up at the wand, shivering in place. As soon as the door closed behind Liz, she darted for the shelves. Climbing them proved easy enough, and soon she had the wand. It was still in her paws when Liz returned, carrying a large wire cage.
“Man, these muscles rock. Made it so easy to carry this.” Liz set the cage down against an open patch of wall. “I see you’re still a mousegirl. Going to change back, or get in?”
Ashley started, and stared at the wand in her paws. One tap later, and she had rabbit ears instead, and fluff all over her body. The wand dropped from her paw as she lost the ability to grip things.
Liz giggled. “Oh, that’s much better. C’mon Flopsy, in you go.” She scooped Ashley up, and tucked her into the cage. Then she closed the door and slid the pin into place. “Welcome to your new home. God, you’re so cute like this. I think I really could keep you as a pet. Don’t go anywhere, I need to go get the family station wagon so I can take you home.”
Liz trotted out the door, grinning wickedly.
Ashley stared at the door. Liz was kidding. Surely she was kidding. She’d be back through the door any minute now, and let her out. The door stayed closed. Ashley tried the bars, but she couldn’t get much of a grip and they seemed sturdy indeed. She tried working the pin, but her inability to grip it made it impossible to unlock. She was very, very stuck.
And, she finally admitted to herself, very very very turned on.
Half an hour later, the door opened on Liz once more. She sniffed the air. “Oooh, someone’s been a naughty rabbit. I suppose that’s what bunnies do, though. Randy little thing. Time for your car ride.”
Ashley squeaked in horror as Liz carried the cage out the door, with her still trapped within. She wasn’t going to actually go out in public like this, was she? Liz carried her up the stairs, out the garage door, and set the cage in the back of the station wagon as promised. Ashley curled up into a little ball of fluster and embarrassment.
Liz opened the cage, and reached in to give Ashley an encouraging skritch. “Nothing to be embarrassed about. Nobody’s going to see anything but a prize-winning rabbit if you keep your head down.”
Ashley’s response was to tuck her head in between her paws. Liz clicked the cage shut with a chuckle, then climbed into the driver’s seat, and they were off. Ashley cowered in the cage. Liz was really doing it! But the panic wasn’t there any more. The sound of the car and the jostling of the ride soon soothed her, and she wriggled around to get a little more comfortable and drifted off into a half-waking torpor.
When Liz picked up the cage, the bunny inside opened one eye partway, then it drifted shut again. Liz grinned. “You really are getting into this.” She tossed a blanket over the cage, then carried it away.
The removal of the blanket some unknowable time later roused Ashley from her nap. She stretched and hopped around the hutch, making Liz giggle. Liz opened the door, and Ashley nervously made her way out. The ‘grass’ she stepped onto felt weird, and she sniffed at it. Astroturf. Something about the room looked oddly familiar, but due to the perspective she couldn’t place it.
Liz watched her for a time, checked her watch, and started to grin. “Two hours are up. I guess you want to stay a rabbit.”
Ashley’s head snapped toward Liz, and suddenly she started to grow. She looked around and realized she was back in the rec room, just with a small astroturf carpet in the middle, and sheets tossed over the furniture. “Oh. My. God. What the hell, Liz?”
“Did you like it?”
Ashley’s blush answered for her.