Tara woke to the sound of Dawn’s voice, but by the time she made it to the kitchen there was no sign of their overnight guest.  She checked the guest bedroom, and saw a rumpled but unoccupied bed.  On her return to the kitchen she noticed a cell phone propped up on the counter. A blinking red icon showed that it was recording video, so Tara stopped it.

Curious, she played the recording from the start.

“Hi guys,” said Dawn’s recorded image.  “Thanks for all your work trying to show why being human is best.  I love you all, and it was one of the best days of my human life.  But... being a bra just feels right, I expect you all understand how it feels.  I was safe and warm and happy.  I had a purpose I finally understood.  Best of all, the demons left me alone.  I wish I could have stayed long enough to thank you in person, but I can feel their claws tearing at my mind.”

Dawn’s recorded image started to twitch, and it looked like something was squirming under her skin.  “Shit.  Out of time.  Please don’t change me back.”  She grabbed  the ball, squeezed it vigorously, then slapped it into her forehead.  “Begone!”

A burst of rainbow-hued light enveloped her image, then she was gone.  Tara continued to stare at the recording until her own image shambled into view, then she stopped it.

“Did she say demons?” asked Sasha from behind Tara.

Tara nodded.  “Hopefully not literal ones.  I think we need an expert.”

“In demons?”

“I was thinking more like mental health.  Was she taking any medications for depression, and does spending time transformed affect them.”

Sasha looked around, then noticed a colourful puddle on the ground.  When she picked it up, she saw that it was a rainbow-hued bra in her size.  The lines were simple and elegant.  Sasha wasted no time in putting it on.

“Oh wow,” breathed Tara.  “It’s beautiful.”

“And it fits like a dream.  Beautiful bra, thank you for your gift.”

The red swirls on the bra grew larger and brighter.

“You can change colours?” exclaimed Tara.

Beautiful bra was still for a time, then the yellows pulsed.  After some trial and error they settled on yellow for yes, indigo for no.  Red seemed reflexive, akin to blushing.

Trying to get answers out of Beautiful bra took longer, and a pot of coffee.  None of the bra’s answers made the nature of Dawn’s demons particularly clear.  If the issues were mental, they hadn’t been treated by a professional, and at least some of the delusions had been seen by others.  Dawn’s art had been her coping mechanism, a way to bring the images out of her head and into the world.

Sasha giggled at that revelation.  “And now you’re wearable art.”  That brought the brightest red glow yet, and an eager swirling of the colours on her bra.  “Wait, you can move the colours around?  When did that start?”

The colours paused, as if confused on the topic themselves.  Slowly, carefully, one bit at a time, individual strokes of colour appeared.  “Can you see what you’re doing?”

The indigo flared, and Sasha promptly trotted over to her mirror.  “There.  Now you can see, right?”  That got a gold and orange sunrise splashed across her chest.  “Oh wow.  You’re beautiful.”

The sun on her bra set, changing the colours to deep reds and purples, then eventually black, with shimmering stars trailing up the straps.  “God.  You’re incredible.  I feel unworthy to wear you.”

Indigo, pulsing through blue and back to violet.

“I don’t understand.  You want to be worn?”

The entire bra turned bright yellow.  And a moment later two smiley faces appeared, one over each breast.  Sasha giggled happily, and hugged her beautiful bra.  “Then I shall wear you as often as I’m human.”

That turned the smiley face eyes into red hearts.

Tara sighed and shook her head.  “There’s just one problem with all of this.  We’re not allowed to keep you.”

Beautiful bra turned a dark, sulky black with streaks of indigo.

Tara studied the bra and considered her options.  “If you stay here the whole weekend, you’ll be well charged by the time the DME opens on Monday.  So we could change you to human for the shortest change with the ball, you’d only be human for twenty minutes or so, then you’d change back to being a bra.”

Beautiful bra’s colours tentatively returned.  Tara hugged Sasha and the bra.  “I hope this works well for you.  Sasha, are you okay being human all weekend?  I’ve got to work today and tomorrow to make up for taking Friday off.”

“Sure,” giggled Sasha.  “This place could use a good cleaning.  But I better get some all body snuggles afterward.”

Tara enfolded her in a big bear hug.  “Better?”

“Loads.”

*** *** ***

Tara’s brother Carl dropped by the gym around lunchtime, so Tara took him out to lunch at one of the little cafes nearby.  “What’s up?  And where is your sweetie?”

Carl set his satchel down on the table.  Tara noticed that it was the same bag his girlfriend had used the week before as a purse.  She decided not to comment on that fact, and was distracted from that thought when Carl pulled a swatch of blue fabric out of the bag.

“That’s...  But the change was only for a day, and you’re back to normal,” protested Tara.

“Kat went to visit her rich friend, Cindy.”

“The one with the magic item that turned you into a bathing suit for a month?”

“Exactly, so she’s stuck until she gets torn.  She got delivered this morning, with a note that made it clear she expected me to use her.  A lot.”

“Use it,” corrected Tara.

Carl shrugged.  “It thinks it has always been a swimsuit.  It won’t care what we call it.”

“Aww, you don’t want to confuse it.”

“I don’t want to spend the next week as Kat!  She expects me to take over her job.”

Tara smiled at her brother warmly.  “Because your job hunt is going so well?”

Carl sighed.  “No.  It would be good to have a job again, but her boss made it clear her temp agency needs more girls than guys.”

“So you need to be a girl?  I can arrange that.  You were cute as Carla.”

“Is it weird to be picky?  I want to be a girl version of me, not Kat.”

Tara shrugged.  “Everyone has their own preferences.  Mine are odd enough it’d be hypocritical to criticize yours.  Is it going to be a problem?”

Carl slumped in his chair.  “That, apparently, is up to me.  Boss has a new temp slot lined up ‘just for me’, so as long as I can impress the guy I’ll be working for, it doesn’t matter whose face I have.”

“So you can be Carla.  And your swimsuit isn’t going to care either way, as long as it gets worn by a cute girl.”

Carl chuckled softly.  “No, I suppose not at that.  Until I change her back, anyway.”

“If you change her back.  Was there any paperwork with the swimsuit?  A form 442, perhaps?”

Carl pulled a sheaf of paper out of his satchel.  “Um... I think so?  What does that mean?”

Tara accepted the papers and picked out the form.  “Yep.  She’s set it up so you can keep her indefinitely.  According to the receipt, the DME fees are paid up.  She’s yours for as long as you want her.”

“Why would she do such a thing?”

“Maybe you should read the letter to see,” commented Tara teasingly as she handed one of the pages back to her brother.

Carl glared at her without much heat, then unfolded the letter.  Before long, his cheeks had turned pink.

“That good?” asked Tara with a wicked grin.

“She has a very... um... vivid fantasy.  She... it.  It really wants this.”

Tara raised an eyebrow.  “Going to treat it like a proper swimsuit?”

Carl smirked at his sister.  “Oh no.  Very much improper.”

“Oooh?”

Carl tucked the letter away carefully.  “Oh no.  Not sharing this one.”

“I promise I won’t tease you about it.  Too much.”

Carl just shook his head.  “No.  Not this time.”

“I’ll get the story one way or another.  From Kat, if not from you.”

“Assuming she’s ever human again,” sighed Carl.

“She will be.  You’ll see to it.  Once she’s had her fantasy good and hard.”

That got another beet-red blush from Carl, which in turn triggered gales of laughter from Tara.  She told him to visit after work, and she’d make sure Carla had her day in the sun.

*** *** ***

After she’d finished her classes, Tara found Carl waiting for her outside the gym.  They walked back to her condo together.  When Tara opened the door, they were both greeted by the sight of Sasha in the kitchen, wearing nothing but a particularly beautiful bra.

“Hey sweetie,” called Tara.  “I brought company.”

Sasha turned with a grin, then squeaked to see Carl standing beside Tara.   She tried to hide behind the broom she was holding, mostly unsuccessfully.  “Hey!  Warn a girl.”

Tara giggled.  “Don’t fret.  It’ll be just us girls here in a moment.  Carl’s here to become Carla properly, himself as a woman, not just a copy of Kat.  He’s probably going to stay that way, so we have to make it good.”

“Hey, I didn’t say that...” protested Carl as he turned toward his sister to look away from Sasha.

Tara pointed to the bag he was carrying.  “I recognize that shop.  Same place Mom and Dad got their watches.”

“I didn’t want to bother you coming over here all the time to get changed.”

Tara chuckled warmly.  “Sure.  You didn’t like being a girl at all, and you hated wearing your ex-girlfriend as a sexy bathing suit.”

“She’s not my ex-girlfriend,” grumbled Carl.

“She’s not a girl, so she can’t be a girlfriend,” teased Tara.  “You have a sexy swimsuit that needs wearing.  There’s enough day left, we could hit the pool for a bit...  Wait, is the watch waterproof?”

Carl nodded.  “Down to 100 feet.”

“Good to go, then.  Sasha, if you’d do the honors?”

Carl felt a thump against the back of his head.  “Hey!” he protested in voice that was already rising in pitch.

Tara looked Carla over.  “Just us girls here indeed.  Damn, you’re sexy.”

Carla stuck her tongue out at her sister.  “Don’t.  I don’t want to be part of your transformed harem.”

Tara giggled.  “Why not?  You’d make a lovely bedside lamp.  Or... ooh, I could use a display case for my trophies.”

Carla giggled.  “You’re not serious.”

“I am now.  Next volunteer from the store is so becoming my display case.”

“You’re unreal.  You get off on doing this to others.”

Tara giggled and nodded.  “Oh yeah.  I love it, but I’ll make sure that they know what they’re in for.  No complaints so far.”

“Have you asked?”

“Yes,” replied Sasha, smiling as the other two turned toward her.  “We’ve changed several back, and they’ve been eager to stay on.  Plus Dawn here can make her opinion known quite clearly.”

“I thought it was Beautiful Bra.”

Sasha’s bra flickered to indigo, then Dawn’s face appeared over each breast, sticking their tongues out at Tara.  After a few moments, the bra became washed with sunrise colours once more.

“I’ve been talking with Dawn as I tidied up around the place.  It was easier when I was in front of the mirror, so I could see her answers.  She’s quite adamant that she still is Dawn, and happy with her current shape and job.”

The bra’s pattern changed so that it looked like two hands holding up Sasha’s breasts.  The rest blended so expertly with her skin that it seemed to vanish.

“Oooh, nice effect,” purred Tara.  “Can you make it look like she’s a mannequin?”

A moment later, Dawn seemed to vanish, exactly matching Sasha’s skin tone all over, and blending away her nipples in the process.  Tara reached out to cup Sasha’s breasts.  “Wow.  It almost feels like she isn’t there at all.”

Sasha poked one of her breasts, leaning forward a bit to see how they swayed.  “Yeah.  Dawn, are you still there?”

Kaleidoscope colours washed over Sasha’s chest, then settled into an abstract swirl of gold and amber.

“Wow,” breathed Carla.  “Do all your people clothes look that nice?”

“Dawn is special,” said Sasha, patting her beautiful bra.  “But the others are all very comfy too.”

“Are you going to wear her to the pool?” asked Tara.  “She’d make a cute bikini top.”

Dawn appeared to agree with the idea, she sent a pretty blue wave curling across Sasha’s chest.

“I’ll go get my swimsuit on then,” agreed Carla.  “Bathroom’s that way, right?”

“Yep.  I’ll change into a swimsuit out here.”

Sasha giggled at the turn of phrase.  “Sounds good to me.”

Tara turned to face her, and saw the glowing orb in her hand.  “Oh!  I...  I did say that, didn’t I?”

“And you promised I could change you now and then.  You’d pair well with Dawn.”

“Oh!  Of course you need matching bottoms.”  Tara smiled as the ball arced her way, and grinned up at her sweetie as she slowly dwindled.

Sasha picked up the bright yellow pair of bikini bottoms.  “Can you see?  Can you change colour?  I don’t know how Dawn did it, but I tried...”

Tara tried flexing what she could, and was soon rewarded by a squeal from Sasha.  Further attempts showed she could shift her colour through the spectrum, but any fine detail was beyond her.  With a little encouragement, Sasha got her to a colour that she felt matched Dawn well.

“Hey, where’d Tara go?” asked Carla when she emerged in her new swimsuit.

Sasha pirouetted.  “What do you think?”

“You’re wearing my sister?  Hah, I suppose we match, we’re both wearing our sweeties.”

“That’s the spirit!  C’mon, let’s go hit the pool.”

*** *** ***

When Rachel finally made it home, she closed the door behind her with a tired sigh.  “So many classes.  Tara owes me bigtime for taking a bunch of hers.”  She looked around, and saw only Sasha.  “Where is she?”

Sasha danced out of the kitchen and posed to show off her colourful bra and panties.  “She’s partnered with Dawn tonight.  What do you think?”

Rachel grinned.  “You sexy panties match your beautiful bra well.”  Then she blinked.  

“Did they just change colour?  Why are they blue?”

Sasha giggled.  “You missed a few things.  They both remember who they are.  Dawn figured out how to change colour and show off all kinds of pictures when she likes.  Tara can only do colour washes, though she’s figured out some basic gradients.”

“Oh.  Neat.  I wonder what that’s like... to be an object, but know you’re human.”

Sasha tossed and caught the magic ball.  “After dinner you get to find out.”

Rachel sniffed the air.  “Mmm, that does smell good.  Isn’t Tara getting any?”

Sasha pretended to think about that for a time.  “Nah.  She’s enjoying herself right where she is, aren’t you sweetie?”

Her panties shifted slowly from orange to yellow then back again.

“Is that a yes?”

Sasha grinned and nodded.  “It’s slow going, but we can communicate.  Cool, huh?”

“We already did that, with pinching and squirming.”

“I suppose,” said Sasha as she turned back to the kitchen.  She started serving pasta out into bowls.  “But this way is much less distracting.  And easier to ignore if you wear clothes over them.”

“Which you aren’t doing.”

Sasha giggled as she sashayed to the table with two bowls of pasta.  “Can you blame me?”

“Nope,” agreed Rachel as she followed behind, watching Sasha’s butt sway.  “Tempted to ditch the clothes myself.  After dinner and a shower, anyway.”

“Shower, or sudsy hand-washing?”

Rachel sat and turned her attention to her food.  After a minute’s worth of silence, Sasha asked, “Too far?”

“Hm?  Oh, not at all.  Just... long day, tired, good food.  And... yes.  Your hand washes are divine.”

Sasha smiled at her prettily.  “Thank you.”

“As is your food.  Thank you for a lovely meal.”

After dinner and a bit of washing up, Rachel said, “I’m ready for that hand washing.”

A moment later, Sasha had the condo to herself again.  She hummed happily as she finished tidying up, then carried her new robe to the laundry room.  She stripped so that she could give all of her clothes the attention they deserved, filled the sink with sudsy water, and went to work.

Once she was done washing, she rolled all three in towels to blot them dry, then spread them out flat on their towels.  Next she took a long and luxurious bath – she was still thrilled by the size of the tub in their new place.

Sasha dried herself off thoroughly, combed out and blow-dried her hair, then checked on her pretties.  They were almost dry enough to wear, so she gently wafted warm air over them until they were done.  Dawn and Tara turned a happy rosy colour as she did so, and Rachel was too translucent to really have a colour, as such.

Sasha put on her beautiful bra, then her pretty panties, wrapped herself up in her iridescent robe, and posed in front of the mirror.  “We are beautiful, aren’t we?”

That got bright yellows of approval.

Singing happily to herself, Sasha headed for the bedroom, and a very cozy night.

*** *** ***

Tara and Rachel both worked Sunday, as Tara had traded it against her time off on Friday to rescue Dawn.  Sasha had to make do with Dawn and a pair of regular panties.

When Tara returned, Sasha scooped up the ball and got it glowing.

“I think it’s my turn to wear you, mmm?” said Tara mildly, but her look cowed Sasha out of throwing the ball.

“You have tomorrow off,” wheedled Sasha.

“And we need to take Dawn to the DME.  We have to sort the paperwork out like we promised.”

“That still gives me tonight.  I missed my matching panties.  Please?”

Tara chuckled softly.  “Oh, fine.  But I want dinner first.”

Sasha nodded.  “Fair.  As yourself, or my cute pet catgirl?”

Tara glanced to the ball still glowing in Sasha’s hand.  “You’ve gotten feisty of late.  What’s up?”

“Dawn’s influence.  I like wearing her, and... well, she’s incomplete without you.”

Tara laughed until she buckled over, gasping.  “Are you seriously telling me... you’re going to transform me... because I’ll match your outfit?”

Sasha nodded, grinning broadly.  “Yep.”  She tossed the ball, and a moment later she was sliding her Tara-panties back into the place they belonged.

“You promised her dinner,” drawled Rachel from the doorway.

“I know.  But I couldn’t help it, the timing was too perfect.  And it’s not like she minds, do you Tara?”

The yellow panties blushed red, then back to yellow.

“See?  I’ll make it up to her, I promise.”

“Long as I get some of whatever I’m smelling from the kitchen, it’s all good.”

Sasha glanced over at the inert ball, contemplated the option of finding one of their transformed object to recharge it, then turned back to Rachel.  “Sure.  Sounds like a plan.”

Rachel sauntered closer.  “Then afterward, we should show those panties a good time.”

“Oooh.”

*** *** ***

“Hello again Tara,” called the clerk at the DME.  “Back for another 442?”

Tara smiled at her.  “Am I that predictable?”

“We don’t get as many repeat customers up here as you might think.”

“I’ve got a bit of a tricky one for you today.”

“Dawn, I expect?  You know we’ll have to see her in person.”

Tara sighed and nodded.  “I was hoping there’d be another way.  She’s... communicative as she is.”

“Do tell, I thought she was a bra.”

Sasha shrugged part-way out of her wrap to show off Dawn’s pretty colours.  “She is.  But she can change colours and patterns.  Wave to the nice clerk, Dawn.”

A hand waved back and forth across the front of Sasha’s bra.

“Oh.  Hm.  It’s a bit unusual, and I’d really prefer a signature to a pictorial...  Can she sign herself?”

A scrawled signature appeared over Sasha’s left breast.

“Hm.  Well, if you don’t mind a photograph or two being attached to the file, I think I might be able to swing something.  We’d need witnesses and such...  So, just here for the 442?”

“Well...”

The clerk’s eyes brightened.  “Oho, you’ve brought me something interesting.  What’s up?”

“Dawn is a wonderful artist,” started Sasha.  “And she has some lucrative commissions ready for her whenever she wants to take them up.  We have an... interesting idea for how to handle that while she’s still made of fabric.”

The clerk nodded.  “She can become the art.  What a fascinating approach.”

Dawn’s colours shifted to a warm sunset, showing a beach scene that used the edge of Sasha’s top as part of the shoreline.  Lying in a hammock between two trees was the clerk, recognizably herself and holding a purple drink in one hand.

“Oh!  May I...” the clerk gestured to her phone.  The sunset pulsed yellow briefly.

“That’s a yes,” added Tara.  “Yellow for yes, indigo for no.”

The clerk took a closeup picture of Dawn, then returned to her seat with a smile on her face.  “You have a unique talent.  I’ve never heard of this sort of thing before.”

“So you see the concern.  She’d be engaging in economic activity, which would, if I understand correctly, break the terms of a 442.”

The clerk glanced over at Sasha.  “Speaking of which, you seem remarkably animate for a possession.”

“Oh, I’m not going back to work.  Taking care of Tara and Rachel and our new condo is where I want to be.  That, plus the annuity...”

Tara shook her head.  “We should.  We’re engaged, Sasha.  I shouldn’t own you.”

“But I like being owned, and worn, and all that...”

“And you’ve worn me as often as I’ve worn you the past few weeks.”

Sasha shrugged.  “So?  You have a job and a family.  I can’t buy you out.”

“I’m not asking you to.  I just want something more... balanced.”

“And there is nothing balanced about a 442,” added the clerk.  “However, there is an alternative.”

Tara and Sasha turned toward her eagerly.  “Yes?”

“Go visit a social contract notary.  The DME will respect just about any contract you sign between yourselves.”

“Oooh,” said the two women in unison.  “Do you have any recommendations?” asked Tara.

The clerk shook her head.  “We don’t keep track of them like we do with magic practitioners.”

“Oh!  That reminds me.  Thanks for recommending the Catgirl Emporium.  They were very helpful.  I suppose we could ask them again...”

“Very likely.  Sorry I couldn’t do more for you today.”

Tara smiled at the clerk.  “No, you’ve been helpful.  Which is not what I’ve come to expect from government agencies.  Thanks.”

The clerk smiled back.  “The exceptions department gets the interesting cases.  Much more fun than stamping paperwork.  Sure, we get more than our share of angry or tearful people, but that makes cheerful ones like you even more welcome.  See you around.”

Tara waved cheerily as they headed off.  A quick call netted them a promise that Curly could “fit them in” so they hopped into Tara’s car and drove to the Emporium.

“I can’t believe how much quicker this is,” enthused Sasha as they arrived.  “ It would have taken us two hours by bus, minimum.”

“Yeah.  Remind me to do something extra nice for Trish.  Maybe a new dress?”  Tara winked at Sasha.

Sasha giggled.  “Nope.  I only want to be worn by you and Rachel.”

“And yet, since you’re a possession...” Tara teased with a grin.

“Hmf.  Fine.  But only for one night, and you have to take us out dancing.”

Tara raised an eyebrow.  “I was joking.”

“Owner may use me as she wishes,” said Sasha meekly, but with a twinkle in her eye.

Tara growled at Sasha possessively, and her hand went to the magic ball in her purse.  “If we weren’t here on business...”

Sasha giggled.  “I’d be your delicate, floaty dress, swirling about your sexy, muscular legs?”

“Rarr.”

“I love you.”

“Love you too, sexy thing.  Let’s get this dealt with so we can go home and have fun.  I could use a swim in a sexy swimsuit.”

A familiar seven foot tall tigress met them at the door.  What was less familiar was her lavender fur.  Sasha smiled at her.  “That’s a pretty colour.  But your eyes would stand out more against emerald, or forest green.”

Candy chuckled and nodded.  “This was Curly’s idea, I lost a bet.  I am tempted to try a new colour, but I still owe him three more days like this.”

“That’s okay,” said Curly from behind her.  “I’m liking the idea of green.”

“Hey Dawn,” asked Tara.  “Got any design suggestions for our tall friend here?”

“Who’s Dawn?” asked Candy.

Sasha pulled her top off to show off her beautiful bra.  The sunset changed, showing the image of a tall tigress on the beach.  Her fur-shade went from orange, to lavender, to a combination of leaf-green stripes with interspersed with dark emerald.

Candy stared at the image.  “Wow.  That would look great on me.  Thanks... Dawn?”

A smiling face appeared beside the emerald tigress.

“Dawn has decided she likes life as a bra better than as a human,” said Tara.  “She’s also a fantastic artist, and we’re trying to figure out how she can do that while still being a possession.  The DME suggested finding a social contract notary, and we thought you’d know one.”

“Oh yeah, we work with Mary all the time,” reassured Curly.  “She has a home office a couple blocks from here.  Good friend of Mom’s, and she’s here regularly for workouts.”

Tara giggled.  “That mouse workout thing you talked about?”

“Yeah.  She’s not the only fan, we have enough regulars that I’ve been working on a mousifying gadget.  Still testing, I don’t suppose you’d care to give it a whirl?”

“Can you revert the change quickly?” asked Tara.

Curly nodded.  “It’s only set for half an hour or so.  A spell discharger can get you back to normal in a few minutes.”

“Okay, I’ll give it a try after we’re done with Dawn.”

Curly cheered.  “Awesome!  You won’t regret it, it’s a great workout.”

Tara laughed and nodded.  “I’m sure it is, but...”

“Right.  So what exactly are you trying to achieve?”

“Dawn loves creating art, and like this, she still can.  But doing so for hire counts as working, so the 442 would be invalidated...  We need to agree to something more flexible.”

“That lets her stay as your possession, but still work.  Do you really want to stay like this, Dawn?” asked Curly.

A smiling face bloomed over Sasha’s breast.

“Okay, I’ll call Mary to come over, and we’ll settle this.”

Over the course of the next hour they worked on the contract, slowed somewhat by the need to play charades with Dawn to get some of her answers.  The final agreement spelled out some simple responsibilities Tara needed to uphold, and left her in control of Dawn’s estate.  There were some limitations on what Tara could do with the money Dawn earned going forward, half the money was to be invested responsibly, with the investment income going to Dawn’s family.

“I still think you’re giving up too much,” sighed Mary when they were done.  “But you want what you want.”

Dawn spelled out NEED on Sasha’s chest.

“How can you need to remain inanimate?”

Tara winced.  “We probably should have started with that.  Dawn has been troubled by what she calls demons.  From everything she told us, it sounds like it might be some kind of magical ailment.  As an object, whatever it is... doesn’t happen.”

Curly perked up at the description.  “Could we run a few tests of Dawn like this, and as a human?”

Dawn went inky black, shot through with violet lightning.

“That would be a rather emphatic no,” Tara translated.

“Oh dear.  She’ll need to be human so we can notarize the contract,” added Mary regretfully.

“Not for long, sweetie,” encouraged Sasha.  “Just a few minutes really.  I promise we’ll keep you safe as we can.”

Warmer colours slowly crept over Dawn’s surface as Sasha continued to encourage her.

“We can start with some baseline measurements as she is.  Would that help?” asked Curly.

Sasha nodded, and stripped Dawn off without further prompting.  She handed it over to Curly, and one of the straps tangled around her wrist for a few moments before reluctantly letting go.

Curly set the bra in front of her instruments, then studied the results.  She hemmed and hawed about it, and shook her head.  “Something is ... Candy, could you do me a favour, and step outside for a minute?”

“Am I throwing off the readings?”

“I suspect George might be.”

“Oooh!”  Candy grinned and headed out of the lab.

After a few more measurements, Curly absentmindedly asked if they could change Dawn back.

“Does she need to change all the way back?” asked Tara.  “I promised to just turn her human for a bit.”

Curly looked over at the bra, vacillating between muddy yellow and indecisive indigo.  “This way is faster, you can transform her again.  You remember what you did, right?”

“Dawn changed herself.”

“Even easier, then.  It won’t be for long, I promise.”

Dawn settled on a warmer yellow.  Tara glanced around.  “I should use up the charge before I absorb hers.  Sasha?”

“I haven’t been leggings in way too long, but...”  Sasha’s objection never got voiced, as the ball pegged her square in the chest and she collapsed into stretchy purple leggings.

Tara scooped them up and gave them a hug.  “Ah, I’ve missed you.”  Then a frown creased her face.  “Um, the permanizer wasn’t on, was it?  As much as I’m tempted to try it, I’d...”

“No, it’s fine,” Curly reassured her.  “We keep it in a separate room and store it in a magic-resistant container to make sure there are no more accidents.”

Tara nodded, then lobbed the magic ball at Dawn where she lay.  The bra stretched and grew, eventually becoming a quite naked woman.  Tara offered her Sasha’s top, but Dawn shook her head.

“How are you feeling, demon-wise?” asked Tara.

“Not bad at the moment,” replied Dawn, as she looked herself over.  “It sort of comes and goes.”

“Speaking of coming and going... no, measurements first.  Give me a few moments.”  Curly jotted down some notes.  “Tara, could you be a dear and go call Candy?  Just shout up the stairs, she’s probably in the kitchen.”

Tara did so, and the large tigress soon came tromping down the stairs, with a plate of cookies in hand.  Candy set them on a side table, then sidled up beside Curly to give her a hug.  “Anything?”

“Yep.  Definite spike.  How do you feel now, Dawn?”

“Kind of... wiggly.  Like if I don’t start my breathing exercises, the demons will be back soon.”  Dawn frowned at Candy.  “What did you do?”

“Nothing.”  Candy patted her chest.  “But Gordon here...”

“Agh!” cursed Dawn.  Something was squirming under her skin, visibly shifting it.  “Gettitioff!  You promised!”

Curly nodded.  “We did, at that.  But I think you might find it helpful to master this, rather than let it master you.”

Dawn’s answer was to flee the lab, running outside without a stitch of clothing on.  Tara darted after her, but not before shooting a dark glare at the catgirls.

Tara soon caught up with Dawn, and held her tight as she squirmed and trembled.  “Shh, shh.  I think they’ve figured out something important.”

Dawn was hyperventilating.  “I don’t care.  I have to change back.  You promised!”

“Bra, or something where you can really showcase your art?”

Dawn perked up at the suggestion.  “What?”

“Something with a large, flat fabric area.  How about a kimono?  Then it’d be easier to get pictures of your art.”

Dawn looked away from Tara for a time, her eyes too filled with imagination to see what was before her.  “Yes.”  Then her gaze snapped back to Tara’s.  “What was that you said earlier, about permanent changes?”

“Curly has a thing that can make a transformation permanent.  I’m not sure how it works.”

“That’s my price.  I’ll be yours, and make art, but... it has to be a permanent change.  No more of this.”  Dawn gestured to her body.

“Are you sure?  If you ever wanted to be human again, you’d be stuck with whatever Sasha can imagine.”

Dawn laughed delightedly.  “I’ve seen her work!  No downside.”

Tara chuffed a laugh of her own.  “She is amazing.  Okay.  One permanent kimono, coming up.  Make it good.”

They returned to the lab to find Candy had been sent away.  Dawn showed no more demonic symptoms as Tara explained the plan.  Curly tried to argue that Dawn’s demons weren’t something to be scared of, but Dawn wasn’t having it.

After the third go-round of the argument, Tara stepped in between them.  “No.  She knows what she wants.  Just set it up.  I’ll pay.”

Curly looked over to Mary for help.  She shook her head.  “All I need is her signature, and the contract is good.”

Dawn signed eagerly, and Tara followed suit a moment later.  “Ready to end your existence as a human, and become the world’s most artistic kimono?”

Dawn grinned broadly.  “Hell yes.”

Curly went into a small storeroom and returned with a device that looked much like an old calculator.  “It’s on.  Change yourself and...”

Dawn was already fluttering to the floor.  Curly turned the permanizer back off.  “Well.  I hope she enjoys this.”

Tara lifted up the fabric, spreading it out fully.  Dawn’s image was nearly life size, and smiling at them happily.  “Found your feet quickly, I see.”

Dawn’s image nodded.  Words formed over her head.  “This is wonderful.  Thank you all.”

Tara hugged the kimono.  “I’m glad you’re happy at last.  We should go visit Brightview, see what they think of the whole thing... but first I have a promise to keep.  Something about a mousification beam?”

“Well, it’s more of a platform.”  Curly led the way to a raised metal circle, inset with a white plexiglass panel to stand on.  “And... well, the transformation excludes clothes.  So you’ll end up buried in a pile of them if you stay dressed.”

“Say no more,” said Tara, quickly disrobing.  “Probably best to leave Sasha out of this anyway.”

Once she was naked, she stepped up onto the platform.  “Now what do I do?”

“Just wait while I trigger it.  Ready?”

Tara nodded, then her vision went white.  She tried to shake her head to clear the dazzle, and felt her ears flop in a vaguely familiar way.  She’d had larger ears before, when she spent time as a cat, but this felt different.

A few moments later she could see again.  She lifted a hand to her face, and saw instead a long-fingered paw with delicate clawtips.  She opened and closed it, confirming that it was indeed her paw.  Then she looked up to see that the lab had grown enormous.

Curly approached her with a hand out.  Tara sniffed at it, then scampered up onto the proffered hand, gripping it lightly as Curly lifted her into the air.  “Are you feeling okay?”

Tara bobbed her head in a nod.

“No disorientation or nausea?”

Tara thought for a moment, then shook her head.

“Good, good.”  Curly set Tara onto a tabletop.  There was a low wall enclosing an area filled with a mouse-scaled climbing course.  “Here, give this a try.”

Tara needed no further prompting, and started through the course.  Climbing with her new paws took a little bit of working out, but soon she was skittering up and down the course with ease.  She arrived at the end feeling good, puffing slightly from the exertion.

Curly wrote down the time from a stopwatch, then showed it to Tara, displaying 1:07.  “A good time for a beginner.  The best time so far is 48 seconds.”

Tara grinned toothily, and darted back to the start line.  She glanced up at Curly, who readied the stopwatch again, then she was off.  This time there was no learning curve on the climbing, and she pushed herself to move faster than before, finding spots where she could jump instead of crawling.  She arrived at the end with a mousy grin, only to find that she’d made it in 50 seconds.  She chirped her annoyance, and darted back to the start.

Tara ran the course six more times, each time going faster than last, until she was practically flying through it, spending most of her effort leaping instead of climbing.

“I don’t think anyone’s going to beat that score.  You’ve put up five new records, and your last run was under 30 seconds.  That’ll be tough for anyone else to beat.  Congratulations.”

Tara grinned up at Curly, then did some cool-down stretching.

“Ready to change back?”

Tara looked up at Curly in puzzlement.  She tapped the wrist of her left paw with her right one.

“Oh, no, you’ve got another fifteen minutes or so before it times out.  But I have been working on a way to change people back early, and that’s where I really could use help in testing.  It’s... a bit of a work in progress.  Safe, but...  Well, you’ll see.”

Tara hopped up on to the proffered hand without hesitation, and was soon standing on the platform where she’d started.  She nodded when Curly asked if she was sure, and another flash blinded her.  This time when it cleared... she still had paws.  Well, something between paws and hands.  She looked around, and realized she was somewhat shorter than Curly, perhaps four feet tall.  “What did you do?”

“Ah, well...  See, it’s a mousifying platform, so... there’s only so far I can tweak the result.  This is about as big as it can make you.”

Tara sighed, and went to all fours to scamper over to a mirror she’d seen earlier.  She stood in front of it on her hind legs and studied her body.  “Kind of cute, in a Mrs. Brisby way.  Do you have something I could use as a cape?”

“Um...   I suppose.  Keep in mind it won’t grow when you do, so don’t tie it tightly.”

Tara wrapped the square of cloth around her shoulders, holding it in place with one paw.  She turned this way and that in front of the mirror.  “I could work with this.  How long?”

“Half an hour, I’m afraid.  It means you’re stuck a little longer, but not stuck as a mouse.  Plus the discharger could have you to rights in a few minutes.  Shall I?”

“You want to time how long I’m like this.  I see the stopwatch running,” noted Tara.

“Please?”

“Okay.  I don’t suppose you have any exercise gear scaled for this size?”

“Not specifically, but Candy has some stuff in the solarium.  Up one flight of stairs and toward the back of the house.”

Tara nodded, and headed where she’d been told.  Curly tagged along, and they met Candy there.  She was working out on a rowing machine.  “Oh, hey Curly.  And... Tara?”

Tara squeaked affirmatively, then covered her muzzle with her paws.  “Oh dear.”

Candy laughed warmly.  “Easy to slip into mousy squeaks in that shape.”

“You’ve tried it before?”

“A couple times.  Not a fan of being so small and weak.”

Tara pointed to the hand-weights.  “Mind if I try some of yours to see just how weak?”

Candy got up, and helped set up the weights.  She spotted Tara while she tried various configurations.  Her paws could grip the weights well enough, even if the bars felt thicker than she was used to.  Tara could only manage about half her usual weight, and grumbled about it.  “You need to make this form a little stronger.  Is that possible?”

Curly and Candy conferred for a little while.  “Probably.  It’ll take a while to set up, though.”

Tara nodded.  “Good enough.  I’d say your little experiment is a success.  This body feels quite natural.”  She dropped two all fours and tested her ability to run back and forth across the room.  “Natural in both modes.  Hm.  Can you transform people directly to this without turning them into mice first?”

Curly nodded.  “That’s how this mode works, it’ll turn anyone into a petite mousegirl.”

“Mousegirl, or mouse-person?” asked Tara.

Candy shrugged.  “The template crystals only hold one form, so we’d have to add another for mouseboy.  I suppose it could be done, but it’s not like this shape has breasts so it shouldn’t matter, right?”

Tara shrugged.  “I suppose not.  I was just thinking that it might make a good way to prepare for being a mouse.  Spend a little time like this, see how they handle it, then go full mouse.”

“Oh!  Yeah, that’d probably work well for first-timers,” enthused Curly.  “We’ll definitely offer it, and tell them it’s an option to change back to this any time, if they don’t like being a mouse.  Thanks, you’ve been a big help.”

Tara’s body took that moment to return to normal.  “Hah.  Nice timing.”  She adjusted her cape, then headed back to the lab for her clothes.

*** *** ***

Tara arrived at the Brightview offices with a bundle of cloth under one arm.  She smiled at the receptionist.  “Hey Trinian.  How has Gordon been holding up?”

Trinian bit her lip, worrying at it for a moment before answering.  “It’s... weird.  I mean, he’s a person, right?  But it’s so easy to just see the toy.”

“In my experience, it’s also very easy to let go and accept you are just a thing.  Especially with an owner that’s encouraging.  Have you used him?”

Trinian blushed.  “I can’t really... properly.  But I... that is... yes.  Kind of.  Does that offer of yours still stand?”

“Sure.  Then you can give it a proper workout.  Maybe it’ll decide it’d rather be your toy than a person.  If you talk to it right, you can have a powerful effect.”

“Boss has made it pretty clear he wants Gordon back at the end of his suspension.  He has promised me a couple of nice perks to encourage me.”

“Ah?  So you’d prefer those to keeping Gordon as a toy?”

“Well... when you put it that way...”  Trinian thought about it.  “Honestly, I don’t think I’m the kind to keep people.”

“But you are the kind to play with them as toys?” asked Tara.

“Oh, yes.  One of the perks on offer is from the manufacturer of Gordon’s magic ball.  They’ve got a version that’s guaranteed safe.  It can even pop the person out as a ball instead of restoring them.  They traded it for Gordon’s defective one, and if I return him, I get it.”

“Nice perk,” said Tara with a grin.  “Have fun with it.  Do you have anyone in mind?”

“Maybe.  Don’t want to jinx it, but when she heard I might get your... offered change, she sounded really curious.”

Tara chuckled.  “Swing by after work.  We’ll set you up.  But speaking about setting people up...”

“Right.  I’ve pinged the boss, so he knows you’re here.  Shouldn’t be too long.  What’s it all about?”

Tara unrolled Dawn.  The artist’s image formed on the kimono, then waved at Trinian.

Trinian waved back.  “Oh, this is great.  I’d hoped to see more of Dawn.”

“And see more of her you shall,” said Mr. Lumin as he strode into the reception area.  “Good afternoon, Tara.  Oh, and is this Dawn?  Wonderful.”

Dawn’s image bowed to him, then was replaced by a splashy abstract whirl of colour that coalesced into a sport-drink bottle.

“And you’re already planning art for the next campaign.  How quickly can...”

The bottle on the kimono turned into a tiger that prowled around the kimono, then it rolled into a ball and became a bright red apple.

“Impressive.  New plan, how would you feel about being on display here in reception?   When not working on campaigns, you’d be living art.”

The kimono turned a bright yellow, and a sunrise slowly brushed itself into existence.

“That’s a yes,” added Tara.  “Yellow for yes, indigo for no.  Though Dawn can communicate more than yes or no if she wishes.”

The sun turned into Dawn’s smiling face.

“I see.  Well, she’ll have a place of pride here, and lots of people will see her.  Will that help make up for our part in this whole drama, Dawn?”

The yellow pulsed brighter, and Dawn’s face nodded.

“Very good.  I’ll get a display sorted out before we close today.”  He looked to Tara.  “Satisfactory?”

“I defer to Dawn’s judgment, but she seems happy enough here with Trinian.  I’ll be back regularly to check in on her.  Trinian, if she wants to contact me, you have my number and my address, right?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Tara chuckled.  “Tara is fine.  I think we’re going to be good friends...”