Tara stared down at the dull ball where it lay on the leggings that were once her roommate.  “Oh my God.  I just...”

She tried to feel worried about what she’d done, dooming Sasha to the life of an object.  But there was something inside her that was singing with joy.  She knew what it had been like to be a bra, and could admit now that it had been glorious.

Tara brushed her fingertips over the impossibly smooth fabric of her ex-roommate.  Ex.  Hah, she’d need to find someone else to pay half the rent.  For that, she’d need to go outside, and for that, she’d need...

Tara scooped up her best pair of leggings, and slid them on.  They hugged her like a second skin, moving with her so smoothly she could barely feel them at all.  Several times in the past week she’d panicked, thinking she was walking around the gym half naked, but a glance down at her purple-clad legs had reminded her of Sasha’s presence.

Tara patted her leggings, cooed encouragement to them, and headed out the door.  A short jog brought her to the gym.  Looking around, she spotted a familiar head of fiery red hair, with an orange and yellow streak dyed into one side.  “Hey Rachel!”

Rachel bounded over to hug her.  “Hey T.  What are you doing back here so soon?”

“I did something crazy.”

Rachel’s eyes widened, then darted to Tara’s leggings.  They were a bright green, instead of the earlier purple.  “You did it!  Holy crap.  Now what?”

“I, um... need a new roommate?”

Rachel started to laugh.  “That’s your first concern?”

“Second.  First is that... oh, Rach, the power I felt when I did it.  Even better than the first time I changed her.  Am I crazy?”

“Yes.  But I love you anyway.”

Tara pushed Rachel away.  “Be serious.”

“I am!  Sure, I could use a new place.  This job is great, but it’d be way easier to handle split shifts if I lived two blocks away instead of thirty.  When do I move?”

“Now?  My leggings don’t need to move out.”

“You need to deal with her stuff.  C’mon, let’s go get some boxes so you can pack it all up.”

Tara was dismayed to realize just how few boxes it took to pack up Sasha’s life.  She stacked them in the corner of the common room, and tossed a sheet over them.  “There.  Done.  You can move in whenever you like.”

Rachel stared at her.  “That’s it?  Just... hide it away and it’s not an issue?”

“I can’t just throw it all out.  Besides, some of her dresses were pretty.”

“You can’t wear them, you’re all the wrong shape...  Oooh, you could use the ball to make me her shape, and I could wear some.”

“Rachel...”

Rachel grinned at Tara.  “You know you want to use it again.”

Tara nodded, eyes bright.  “Can’t for a week.  But then...”

Rachel smirked.  “You’ll have a new roomie to test it on.”

“You wouldn’t mind?” Tara asked, eyes alight with glee.

“Stick to turning me into people, and it’ll be fine.”

“Aw.”

Rachel laughed at Tara’s mournful expression. “Okay, maybe the odd evening as something fun.”

They chatted for a little longer, then Rachel left to go pack up her belongings.  Tara offered to help with the move, but Rachel pointed out that she had an important chore to undertake.

So, once Rachel had left, Tara reluctantly walked to the local grocery store where Sasha had worked, and where she’d spent several unpleasant shifts taking Sasha’s place.  She found the manager behind one of the tills, and he smiled at her warily.

“You know, don’t you?” asked Tara.

“I don’t keep workers like you for long,” he replied.  “Can’t afford them.  You’re done, and Sasha?”

“Won’t be back.  I’m keeping her.”  Tara lifted up a knee and patted her leggings.  “Best leggings ever.”

“Thought it would come to that.  I don’t doubt Sasha’s happier there than here.  Give me a minute to close up, and we can settle the paperwork.”

Once the till had been locked, the manager led Tara to his office.  “I don’t normally get to do proper termination papers, and it goes smoother when they’re done right.  Let’s see now...  Cause of termination?”

“Uh, permanent transformation?”

“Tick that box there, then sign beside it.”

Tara marvelled that there was indeed a box for just that purpose, and that she was signing as the person responsible for it.  The manager checked the form over, then had her sign once more, in Sasha’s place.  “There, that should do it.  Thanks for taking care of that.”

Tara smiled.  “Thanks for making this... not weird.”

He shrugged.  “Not the first time this has happened.  First time someone came in to tell me, though.  Thanks for that.”

Tara looked down at the form.  “I guess if it’s part of the paperwork... is it really that common?”

“Young kids working entry level jobs?  Yeah.  You already know why.”

Tara looked further down, and flexed a leg.  She smiled at Sasha fondly.  “Not keen on the work, and take the lazy way out?”

“Something like that.”

Tara nodded to the manager then left him to the paperwork.  She picked up some groceries for later, and headed home.

Rachel’s move was a whirlwind of activity, but once it was over it seemed as if little had changed.  They both had shifts at the gym, generally not at the same time, so they saw little of each other except in passing.

By the end of the week, the mess in the kitchen had built up to intolerable levels.  Tara was working on it when Rachel slumped her way into the apartment.  “How can a two block walk feel so tiring?” she whined.

“Spin class?” chuckled Tara.

“Yup.  I’d dump it back on you, but I need the money.  And it’s my favourite.”

Tara laughed.  “You don’t have to go all out throughout the class, just show the technique and walk around some.”

“But where’s the sport in that?”

Tara’s phone pinged in an unfamiliar way.  She peered at it then her eyes widened.  “Official summons?  What on earth?”

“Ooo, are you in trouble?  Or is it just something dumb like jury duty.”

Tara poked at the message to expand it.  “Department of Magical Enforcement?  I’m to report to them at my earliest convenience regarding my debt?  What debt?”

“Oooh, you don’t want to cross those guys.  Probably something to do with your ex-roomie.”

“Eh?”  Tara looked confused.

Rachel giggled and pointed at her legs.  “Your ex-roomie who is now your favourite pair of leggings.  You can’t just transform people without consequences.”

Tara’s eyes went wide.  “Oh crap.  I changed her permanently.  What do I do?”

“Report to the DME at your earliest convenience, like it says,” replied Rachel, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.  “Are they open tomorrow?”

Tara checked, and shook her head.  “Not until Monday.  I’ve got the day off.  I guess I can deal with the bureaucracy then.”

“I wouldn’t keep them waiting.”

Tara sighed piteously.  “I hope they don’t take my leggings away.”

“Sure, because that’s the important thing here,” snickered Rachel.

Tara stuck her tongue out at Rachel.  “Keep that up, and I’ll turn you into a crop-top.”

Rachel smirked.  “After a day like today, I’d let you.  But you’d better sort out the DME thing first.”

“Fine, fine, I’ll go.”

*** *** ***

“Number 37!”

Tara startled out of her reverie.  That was her number, at last.  She hurried up to the window, so that she wouldn’t lose her spot and have to wait another hour.  She handed over the ticket, and got directed to a nearby cubicle.

Tara sat nervously in the provided chair while a bored-looking woman in a professional suit finished up some paperwork.  She eventually turned to Tara.  “There.  Sorry, last case was... complicated.  What can the DME do for you today?”

“I got an official summons, I’m still not sure what it’s about.”

“Name and ID?”

“Tara Stark.”  She handed over her identification card, which the woman scanned then returned.

“Let’s see here.  Oh yes.  Permanent transformation of one Sasha Cambrure.  Net owing, thirty-eight thousand, four hundred and seventy-two dollars.  How would you like to pay?”

“Thirty-eight thousand?  What for?”

“Statistical future value to the state.  Sasha’s young, she wasn’t on an obviously self-destructive path, so despite being a net negative now, statistically she’s likely to be a net positive.  So to remove her from the labour pool, you need to cover the net.”

Tara’s fists clenched as she digested that.  “I can just... pay, and she’s gone, and that’d be okay?  What the hell?”

“If she had any relatives that wanted to see her, it’d be another matter.  Doesn’t look like it from the records here.  So yes, pay and you’re good to go.”

“I don’t have that kind of money to hand.”

“Installment payments are fine.  Think you can manage four hundred a month for the next ten years?”

“Ouch.  That’s a lot to pay for leggings, even if they are awesome.  Is there any way to... undo all this?”

“Even if you changed her back, you’d need to cover her unemployment benefits until she finds another job.  Depending on how proactive she is about that, you could be worse off.”

“Fine, I can help her get a job.  Guilt her into it, if I have to.  It’s not like it’d be hard to upgrade from where she was.  How do I change her back?”

“We do have a spell-breaking department, but they’re always backed up.  Might be months.”

Tara slumped in her chair.  “There aren’t any better options?”

“We do maintain a list of reputable local practitioners.  One of the new ones specializes in permanence and reversals.”  The agent wrote a number down, and handed the slip of paper to Tara.  “Call them.”

Tara glanced down at the slip and nodded.  “Okay.  Can I get some time to sort this out before I have to make payments?”

“Of course.  Hypothetical future values don’t change quickly.  However, if you don’t have a plan in place within six months, there will be penalties applied.”

Tara managed a smile at that.  “Oh!  Well, that’s the first good news I’ve had today.”

“Second,” said the agent with a mysterious smile, pointing at the slip.  “Seriously, call them.”

Tara thanked her and left.  As soon as she was outside the building, she made the call.

“Candy and Curly’s Catgirl Emporium,” came the cheerful voice from the other end.  “What can we make you today?”

Tara giggled.  “Really?”

“Yep, we specialize in custom changes, and cat-based workouts.”

“Cat-based workouts?” asked Tara, curiosity piqued.

“We turn you into a mouse, and let Lenny chase you around for a while.  Great cardio.”

Tara laughed out loud.  “I bet!  I might take you up on that, but the reason I called is I turned my ex-roomie into a pair of leggings, and now the DME is on my case.”

“Ooh, yeah.  We can help change her back, sure.  Bring her along, and whatever you used to change her, we’ll help you sort things out.”

Tara noted down the address, and resigned herself to several lengthy bus-rides.  One to reverse the trek to the DME and pick up the stress ball, the other to a stop that looked to be a half-hour walk from her target.  Well, it would be a good workout.

Tara arrived at a ramshackle mansion that had a couple of catgirls working in the yard.  Half of the yard looked pristine, but it appeared they had a lot of work left to do with the remainder, especially given the jungle Tara could spy out back.  She waved to them, and they waved back cheerfully

“Is this the Catgirl Emporium?” asked Tara.

“Yeppers!” meowed one of the catgirls.  “Candy’s in the lab, just head in through the garage door.”

Tara followed the path around to the indicated door, and knocked.  An imposing tigress-woman opened the door and grinned at her, showing many sharp teeth.  Tara grinned back, unfazed by the display.  “Hey.  Are you Candy?”

Candy’s grin turned friendly.  “You’re the one who called this morning.  Leggings, you said?”

Tara patted her thigh.  “These ones, yeah.  They’re sooo comfortable, and one thing led to another...”

“And you screwed up and now she’s stuck.  Gotcha.  C’mon in, let’s see what Curly can figure out.”

Tara stood in front of a contraption that looked like an oversized speaker, turning this way and that as a shorter catgirl studied various readings.  “You say this is a permanent change?” asked Curly.

“That’s what she told me.  I used the ball on her while she was transformed.”

Curly eyed her and held out her hand.  Tara handed over the ball, then had to go back in front of the device for more readings.

“Ah!  That makes more sense.  The ball is, of course, permanent magic.  The leggings will change back in four days.”

“What?”

Curly gestured Tara to an arrangement of mismatched chairs next to a battered old table.  “Talk me through it.”

Tara explained the function of the ball as best she could, and how Sasha had said she could leave her stuck as leggings.  “Did she lie to me?”

Curly shrugged.  “She may not have tried overlapped changes.  Or she simply may have meant that you could keep changing her each week.”  She rolled the ball around in her hands, then peered at what looked like little more than a mottled black spot on its surface.  “Aha!  It is marked.  Let me check...”

She bounded over to a shelf full of binders, and pulled the first one down.  After flipping through its pages for a few minutes, she nodded.  “Happy Fun Toy Foundry, should have figured it was their work.  Let’s see, I have their catalog...”  Another binder got pulled, and Curly carried it back to the table.  She spread it out so Tara could see it as well, then flipped through.  “Here!  The Happy Fun Stress Toy.  Fun for the whole family, yadda yadda... two week limit, that matches.  Multiple changes... right, all the changes run in parallel, so the first change expired while overwritten by the second.  Reversion by... oh, hey, that’s handy.”

“What?” asked Tara, leaning closer to Curly to read the page.  “Seriously?”

Tara grabbed the ball, and smacked it against her leg.  Her leggings squirmed and wriggled, then slithered to the floor.  Sasha lay crumpled at Tara’s feet, blinking in the unaccustomed brightness.

After a minute, Sasha sat up.  She was still wearing the clothes she’d had on when Tara ambushed her.   “Um... hi?”

“You lied!  You said using it twice would get you stuck.  I quit your job thinking you’d never need it again.”

“Cool, saves me the trouble.  Hated it there.”

“You’re... not mad?”

Sasha shook her head.  “Couldn’t you tell?  I was trying to goad you into changing me.  Got it good and hard.”  Sasha’s eyes dropped to Tara’s bare legs.  “Um... you’re going to need some clothes for going home.”

“Sasha!  I can’t keep turning you into leggings.  The DME wants to charge me forty grand for transforming you.”

“Yeah, that’s about the going rate for a young person without a career,” agreed Curly.  “Better to stick to the druggies or homeless, they’re net negatives.  DME won’t come after you for them.  Of course, that also makes them in short supply, if you catch my drift.”

Tara stared at Curly.  “What?”

“Forget it.  Not our problem.  Your problem is the DME charge.”

“Now that Sasha’s human, all she needs is a job and I’m off the hook, right?”

Curly shrugged.  “It’s not quite that simple.  If she falls short of potential, you’re still on the hook.  Heck, all she has to do is get knocked up and go on the dole to raise the kid, and you’re hosed.”

Tara winced.  “Just because I ticked the damn box on the termination paperwork?”

“Nah, you’d have been on the hook anyway.  Plus penalties ‘cause the DME had to find you.”

Sasha rose to her knees to cuddle up against Tara.  “Is there anything I can do to fix this?”

“As a matter of fact... yes.  You’d need to sign a re-evaluation form, declaring your intent not to burden the state.”

Sasha nodded.  “Sure, no big deal.”

“Well... it kind of is.  It means no unemployment insurance, no government support of any sort.  And if you get a job, the declaration is automatically revoked.”

Sasha frowned.  “How does that help?”

“While it’s in effect, your value to the state is deemed to be zero.  Tara can then sign off on the transformation fee for a nominal charge.  I think it was about twenty bucks, right Candy?  You did the paperwork for George.”

Candy nodded, and patted her bright purple top.  “Yep.”

“Wait... George is your top?” asked Sasha.

Candy nodded.  “Curly’s selling you down the river.  If you do this, anyone can transform you, and keep you as long as they like.  Can’t revoke it if you’re not human.”

Sasha’s eyes went very wide, and she sank back down to the floor, sitting there on her rump.  “I see.  I... remember how Tara sounded when she thought she was changing me for good.”

Tara winced.  “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t give me an insincere apology you wouldn’t have accepted from me.  You loved it, admit it.”  Sasha’s eyes burned with intensity.

Tara couldn’t tear her gaze away.  “Yes.  I panicked afterward, but in the moment...  God, it felt good to have that kind of power over you.”

“Oooh, she’s a fun one,” cheered Candy.  “Tell you what, since we didn’t have to actually fix anything, we’ll throw in one permanent change as part of the consult fee.”

“What?” gasped Tara.  “Like... seriously permanent?”

Curly nodded, watching both their reactions.  “Yeah.  We have a gadget that makes any changes nearby permanent instead of temporary.  You could use the ball on her, and she’d be stuck forever... or until you use it on her again, to change her into something else.”  She winked at Sasha.  “Sound good?”

“I... I...  I have to think about this.”

“And do some paperwork.”

“Right!”  Sasha bounced to her feet.  “I’m sure we can figure something out that keeps Tara from being in debt for the rest of her life.”

Tara stood up as well.  “If you’re sure...”

“It’s a risk.  But I’m willing to take it.”

Curly and Candy traded smirks.  “When you get to the DME, skip the line,” instructed Curly.  “The main floor doesn’t handle re-evaluations.  You need to go to the second floor, office 207.  Ask for form 442.”

“Two-oh-seven, four-four-two.  Got it,” said Sasha.

“And wear some pants,” said Candy with a giggle.

Tara looked down, and blushed.  “Whoops.”

Sasha giggled.  “Used to wearing me, are we?  I suppose once more for the trip home wouldn’t hurt...”

Tara grinned with glee, and she squeezed the stress ball eagerly, churning up a good glow.  No harm in setting it for longer, now that she knew how to revert it.  And that reverting the changes recharged the ball.  “If you’re sure?”

Sasha stepped close to Tara, and went up on her tiptoes to give her a kiss.  “Very.”

Tara bopped her with the ball, and they grinned at each other as Sasha dwindled.  Soon Tara was slipping her ex-roomie on her legs once more.  “Mmmm.  I think she actually feels even nicer.”

“Helps to know she’s willing,” rumbled Candy, patting her top once more.  “Have fun you two.”

“We will!”

After Tara had left, Curly sighed.  “We forgot to charge them the consulting fee.”

“We didn’t have to do much work.  And they’ll be back.”

“You think so?”

“You saw how her eyes lit up when we told her about the permanizer.  Maybe she won’t go for it, but I bet we can sell her a spell recharger.  How’s the stock?”

“A new batch of electromagic transducers arrived last week, as a thank you from Becky for that last case we handled.  I can have one ready in half an hour.”

Candy smirked.  “Better hop to it.  I bet we’ll need it soon.”

“You’re on,” grinned Curly.  “Usual stakes?”

“I’m so kneading you into panties when you lose...”

Curly’s grin got broader, and she got to work.

*** *** ***

Tara and Sasha looked around the lobby of the DME, and spotted the stairs way off to the right.  They walked that way, giggling at the guilty feeling they got by skipping the line and going where they “shouldn’t”.  The stairs weren’t marked as employees only, and nobody moved to stop them as they headed to the upstairs offices.

The offices seemed to be intended for public access, all were marked clearly.  Room 207 was the Valuations Office, and had a few chairs in a small waiting area partitioned off from the rest of the office.  After they’d been waiting for a few minutes, an agent waved them forward.  “You’re together?”

Tara and Sasha nodded, and followed her to a large desk, one of three in the back of the room.  “Alright then.  Here for a reappraisal on yourselves, or do you have someone in mind?  We’re required to do reappraisals for a nominal fee, but appraising others is more expensive.”

“I was told to ask for a form 442,” said Sasha.

“Oh!  I should have guessed.”  She smiled at Tara.  “Lucky girl.”

After a bit of rooting around in a file cabinet, the agent returned with a one-page form.  “Read this over, and when you’re ready to sign, do it in front of me.  I have to notarize it.”

Sasha scanned the form quickly, then pointed to a box below the signature line.  “What’s this bit about a designated owner?”

“Once you’ve signed, you’re no longer a person from the DME’s perspective.  Anyone can transform you without penalty.  If you fill out that box, then your designated owner has first claim.”

Sasha nodded, wrote briefly, then handed the form to Tara.  “You have to sign here.”

Tara looked the form over.  It was awfully terse for a form that turned a person into a thing.  “Are you really sure?  Once you’ve done this... nobody else has claim on you, not even your family.  I could turn you back into my leggings and keep you.”

“You turned me back.”

Tara nodded slowly.  “Yeah, but... if it wasn’t for the DME, I might not have.”

“You will.”

Tara sighed, smiled at Sasha indulgently, then signed the form.  “There.”  She handed it to the agent, who reviewed it, asked for each of their IDs in turn, then handed them both back to Tara.

“Okay, everything looks in order.  Give me a minute to scan this in, and it’ll be official.”  A moment later she nodded at the screen.  “There we are.  Sasha Cambrure’s official valuation is now zero.  If you stop by the cashier on the way out, you can settle up the filing fee and clear the debt.”

Sasha gave the clerk a watery smile.  “Woah.  So... that’s it?”

“Yup.  You are now the registered property of Tara Stark.”

Sasha turned to Tara, and saw the glowing ball in her hand.  “Now?”

“Ohhh, yes.”

The ball hit Sasha in the chest, she didn’t move at all to dodge it.  She slowly crumpled to the floor, returning to a now-familiar heap of stretchy fabric.

Tara glanced to the clerk, who was grinning.  “Best part of the job.”

“You too?”

She nodded and leaned forward to whisper conspiratorially.  “I’m wearing my husband right now.  There’s a washroom down the hall to the right, nice private stalls.”

Tara snatched Sasha up.  “I’ll be right back.”

“Just see the cashier on the way out, dear.  Have a nice day!”

Tara whistled cheerfully to herself as she strolled to the washroom, and when she slithered Sasha up her legs her grin got even bigger.  “Best leggings ever.”