The next few days passed fairly uneventfully. Janis stayed human the whole time, and we spent a few hours looking around at possible therapists for her. We found several that specialized in identity disorders, and made an appointment with the one that Janis thought sounded most promising.
Angela only spent her working hours human. She was getting increasingly annoyed with being stuck on late shifts every night, and would come home and insist on a hand-wash and a night in the panty drawer before doing it all again.
Friday night Angela returned home just as Janis was finishing up dinner. She was supposed to be working yet another late shift, and had planned to meet us at Apparitions when she got off. One of the other clerks at Black Velvet was desperate to raise some extra cash, and looking for more hours. Angela had offered up the rest of her shift, which Beth had eagerly accepted. She was considering giving Beth all her shifts for a few weeks, but it would mean she wouldn’t have enough money for the next month’s rent.
“Do you even use your apartment any more?” I asked, as gently as I could manage.
“Not really. I don’t think I have more than a suitcase’s worth of stuff left there. Not that I care about, anyway. You’d be okay with me moving in?”
“Of course,” I replied with my winningest smile. “To the bedroom or the wardrobe?”
Angela sagged against me in relief, then chuckled. “Nice offer. Definitely the wardrobe. Let me hang with Katya for a while, see how I like it. Dancing first?”
I wrapped her up in a hug. “Definitely dancing first. We’ll move your stuff tomorrow, then get you settled in when Katya returns to the wardrobe. But before all that... Janis has been working on a traditional dinner. Hope you brought an appetite.”
Angela sniffed the air and made appreciative noises. “Do I smell venison stew? I haven’t had that in aaages.”
We all ate heartily, then started getting dolled up for clubbing. Janis decided she didn’t want the club scene, so she got me to turn her into a dress for Katya to wear. While Katya was cooing over her and preparing to put her on, there was a knock at the door.
“Hi Frank!” I said as I opened the door, then chuckled. “Oops. Sorry, Shelly. Frank’s something of a regular Friday nights. What’s up?”
“That offer you made, about going clubbing as a guy? Is it still open?”
I nodded. “Sure. Katya’s setting up to do makeup, will you want a glow-up as a guy?”
“I... is that a thing?”
“Oh yeah. She’s really good at it. You’ll see. Ready to be a man for a while?”
Shelly gestured to the loose track-suit she was wearing. “That’s why I’m here. I have to know. I’ve wondered about it all my life.”
I picked up the box, and explained what it could do. I locked it on to Shelly and showed her the settings. “Ready?”
“Just a minute. I could be a dress?” she asked in wonder.
I clicked the dial over to the slot for my favourite red dress. “Yes. Would you prefer that?”
Shelly looked torn. “I... wow. Sorry, new thoughts percolating. Let’s go with the guy thing for tonight.”
After setting the box back to ‘male’, I gave her a thumbs up. “Sure thing. The more the merrier, right?”
Angela and Katya made approving noises, then Katya spoke up extolling how she loved to spend her days as a dress, and that she spent far more time that way than human. Shelly looked a little surprised at the admission, but Katya’s enthusiasm was infectious. “You live in that wardrobe?” she asked. “It’s pretty.”
“David was such a sweetie to get it for us. And his hand washes are fantastic.”
I blushed and looked at the floor. “Just a matter of leaning in on it. And understanding what it’s like to be on the receiving end.”
“You’ve been clothing, too?” asked Shelly, amazed.
I chuckled. “Pretty much everything and anything. I love being something different. What would you turn me into if you had the chance?”
“Clothing seems too intimate,” mused Shelly. “A cute little purse, maybe? Oh, but I’ll be a guy. Um... a wallet?”
“I’d rather be a purse. We don’t have one scanned... and I’d be a bit worried about getting lost.”
“We’ll go purse shopping tomorrow,” promised Angela. “I like the idea of you being so useful.”
Shelly watched the exchange with a grin on her face. “You’re actually serious. You can turn people into things.”
“I believe a demonstration is in order. Perhaps a few minutes as an apron will convince you.”
Shelly held her hands up defensively. “Just the guy thing for now. That will convince me pretty well. Up until now it could just be fantastic makeup...”
I conspicuously turned the dial back to male and showed it to Shelly. “Ready? You might want to sit down, the process is disorienting.”
Shelly shrugged. “I’ll manage.”
I pressed the button, then immediately moved to help Shelly balance as she tottered. I held her for the few endless moments it took for her body to reshape. The result was remarkably muscular. She’d been toned before, but her male self looked like he hit the gym pretty regularly, and he filled out the tracksuit very nicely indeed. Shelly winced and tugged at her underwear. “Holy crap. I’m a guy? My voice!” She now had a lovely baritone. “You didn’t change this much going from David to Daffodil, did you?”
I shrugged. “Everyone reacts differently. You’re still you, just... you work out, right?”
Shelly nodded. “So this is the body I’d have if I worked out the same amount as a guy? Damn. Where’s the mirror?”
“Bathroom. There’s a full mirror in the bedroom, but that’d be a bit forward.”
Shelly smirked at me but headed for the bathroom without further comment. She posed in front of the mirror for long enough that the rest of us went back to getting ready to go out. When Shelly returned Katya waved her over to the makeup table. “Your turn.”
“You think you can improve on this?” Shelly asked.
Katya nodded. “Lots of directions we could go. Ambiguously pretty, full out femme, or I could punch up the cheekbones a bit and make you look like a Greek god.
Shelly’s giggle was still all female. “I think ambiguously pretty. I’m not sure what I’d do if I got hit on too much. I might take some winsome female up on an offer of a fun time.”
“We can show you a good time,” Angela said with a ferocious grin. “This harem needs an eager Sultan.”
Shelly shot me a curious look. “Isn’t that your role?”
“Much of the time, yes. But there are days when I feel severely feminine, and want to just be a good little harem girl.”
“Or a sparkly gem tucked into a harem girl’s navel?” asked Angela with a grin.
I shook my head. “Silks, though... that would be fun.”
Shelly shook her head. “I don’t get that bit, but that’s not really the point. Let’s just go dance and see how things develop, okay?”
That agreement was sorely tested when Katya was done with Shelly’s makeup. Angela cheered loudly. “Damn, girl, you look hot. Are you sure you just want to dance?”
Shelly studied her reflection. “I see what you mean, and... this is weird. Is it normal to get turned on at your reflection?”
I laughed. “Been there, done that. You look hot, why should it come as a surprise?”
Shelly snorted and turned back to the mirror. “This is me. I could get used to this.”
“Get used to dancing, then,” quipped Angela. “I need to forget that I’m moving in to Daffy’s wardrobe tomorrow.”
Shelly looked like she wanted to ask more, but saw Angela’s determined expression. “Dancing it is. Where are we going?”
“Apparitions. It’s a... weirdness-friendly nightclub that we all like. There’s a sort of unwritten rule there that we don’t share names. Everyone’s anonymous.”
“No asking for names, check. Anything else I should know?”
I chuckled. “You’ll figure out the rest, I suspect. Just have fun.”
Since Janis wasn’t taking up a seat, we were able to crowd into my car for the drive to the club. I had a grand time watching Shelly’s reaction to the place. It was a busy night, and I spotted several catgirl glamers. There were at least four sets of fairy wings as well, though I wasn’t sure if they were glamers or costumes. Shelly’s eyes were wide as she took it all in. She tried to school her expression, but when one of the fairies came up to us and bopped her on the nose with a wand she couldn’t help but squeal with wonder.
The fairy made brief eye contact with me, and I shrugged. She turned back to Shelly. “I claim you as my thrall for this next dance,” she pronounced. Shelly giggled and went along with the fairy. The rest of us tagged along, more to see what would happen than over any worries about what might happen.
They danced, Shelly curtsied to the fairy when the dance was over, and offered to buy her a drink. The fairy considered Shelly for a time, putting on a very good display of inscrutability until she flashed a bright grin and accepted.
We got back to our own dancing after that. Katya was extra bouncy to make sure that Janis got lots of swishing. She even talked me into breaking out my somewhat rusty ballroom dancing skills for extra spins and swishiness.
As the evening was winding down, we hunted around for Shelly to offer her a lift home. We found her in a booth, cuddled up with several of the fairies. She slipped away from them reluctantly, and promised “I shall return to your court ‘ere long”. The fairy that had accosted her first left the table with her, and accompanied us to the door.
Shelly asked her where to get such lovely wings, so she could join the court “properly”. That got her an impish grin and a sparkly business card.
“Ready to be a woman again?” I asked once we’d piled back into my car.
Shelly hummed to herself happily as she considered it. “I think so, yes. We had fun, and I was tempted of the offer of a private room, but... Am I that kind of guy? I don’t know. Yet. I’m not that kind of woman... at least, I didn’t think I was.”
“Aww, is someone learning what it’s like to be horny and frustrated as a guy?” joked Angela.
“Little bit. Kind of wish I had some way to work it out, but the best way I know is to go back to female and use my favourite toy.”
Angela nudged me. “We still have the toys scanned, right? We could turn a random object into one for Shelly, so he doesn’t go home disappointed.”
“Uh... maybe next time. This thing is really getting kind of uncomfortable, and putting ideas like that in my head isn’t helping.”
I snickered. “Sorry. Occupational hazard of being a guy. You get used to it, and it ends up being more funny than distressing.”
“I don’t think Janis would agree with you on that,” Katya snapped.
“Eh, yeah. Sorry. I’m still a guy up here some days,” I said, tapping my noggin. “Despite whatever other hardware I’m running.”
Shelly snickered. “You are an engineer through and through, aren’t you? I suppose if I look at it as running on an upgraded chassis...”
“Upgraded?”
“Slip of the tongue,” protested Shelly, but it was too late. The others razzed her about it for the remainder of the trip.
When we got out, I offered Shelly a hug. “Sorry about the others. You’ve got a lot to think about. Time to get you back to normal.”
Shelly sighed softly against me. “Do you even know what normal is any more?”
“Normal is boring,” I replied, reflexively. “Don’t worry about normal, just figure out what works for you.”
Shelly followed us into the apartment, and was soon female once more. She patted herself down as if to make sure all her equipment was back in the right places. I considered offering to send her home partially male, but figured she’d had enough new experiences for one day.
“There goes our best shot at getting you a Sultan,” sighed Angela after the door had closed.
“I think our life is complicated enough,” I said, though privately I did somewhat agree with Angela’s point. “Shelly needs to figure out her own issues. She did cut a hell of a figure as a guy, though. Woof.”
Katya snickered. “If you really want a Sultan, I’m feeling... well rested.”
“I wouldn’t want to make you uncomfortable...”
That got a smirk. “Right. Like you’d never do anything that made you uncomfortable so that we could have fun. As long as we set stuff up right ahead of time, it’ll be fine.”
“How so?” I asked eagerly.
“I don’t know exactly. There was something about being a harem girl? Show me your best harem girl face.”
I knelt before her, hands pressed together prayerfully. “How can this harem girl serve you, oh Sultan?”
Katya giggled. “That’s a nice start, but I’m not really feeling it.”
“Yeah, I need a bit to get into the mindset. The right clothes would help sell it, too. Does Black Velvet sell harem silks, Angela?”
Angela shook her head. “Are you going to try to get me to join this harem girl play? I’m not sure if I can pull it off.”
“I’m sure we could incorporate a helpless pillow-girl,” I said with a giggle. To my surprise, Angela seemed to be taking the idea seriously.
“It would help with the mindset,” she mused. “To be a helpless decoration. Okay, I’m in.”
“Do you think Janis would play along?” I asked.
Katya nodded. “I expect so. If not, she can be your silks and we’ll have a harem with one girl and one decoration. Tomorrow, after we’ve gone shopping for your harem girl outfit.”
“It is getting late,” I agreed. “And we should probably negotiate the scope of what we’re doing, too. How long are you willing to be Sultan, and so on.”
“How long do you want to be my submissive, sexy harem girl?” Katya replied, grinning. “I can go all weekend if you’re keen to kneel at my feet that long.”
“Really?” I asked, perhaps a bit too eagerly.
Katya grinned down at me. “I can feel how this would appeal to him. To have everyone know their place, and that place is at his feet. Yes, that would work. I might start to like it a lot, would that be bad?”
I licked my lips. “I... would need to go to work. Money still matters. And I don’t think I’d want to spend all my downtime as a harem girl. But if it means you’ll spend more time human, I’ll be your harem girl whenever you want outside that.”
Katya grinned down at me victoriously. “Oh, I might just take you up on that. Angela, think you can find something haremy in the closet?”
Angela smirked. “I have something I’d like to try on her. More slave girl than harem chic, but... well, that’s the same spirit, right?”
Katya nodded eagerly, then tugged me to my feet and gave me a shove toward the bedroom. “Run along, harem girl. Show me your submissive side and I’ll show you just how Sultan I can be.”
Angela followed me to the bedroom, and told me to strip. As I did so she dug into the closet. By the time I’d wriggled out of my dress and panties she’d unearthed a black leather case I hadn’t seen before. It was a little smaller than a typical carry-on bag. When she opened it, a panoply of steel and black leather were revealed. “Wow. Employee discount?”
Angela grinned and nodded. “Most of it. A couple bits were gifts from appreciative customers.”
“I didn’t know tipping was a thing at adult stores.”
“Not from that job,” replied Angela with a throaty chuckle. “I tried my hand at being a professional dominatrix for a while. Not quite my thing, but...” She pulled a crop out of the case and smacked it against my bare rump. “I still have some of the toys.”
I quivered there, as if the crop had struck a bell that was still chiming inside me. “What the hell was that?”
“Ooh. You’ve never been spanked as a girl?”
“Or at all. Never got the connection between pain and...” I huffed and blushed, and said no more.
“Oh... Sultan is going to have such fun with you. Will you even be able to use a safeword if you do the whole harem girl mind trick thing?”
I licked my lips. “Probably not, unless K... I mean my Sultan goes waaay too far. Even then, I don’t know... If I go deep enough, I don’t know what harem girl me’s limits are. If she has any.”
“Ah. So you need a spotter.”
I ducked my head and blushed. “Some kind of keeper.”
“Hm. Keeper of the Harem. I could work with that.”
I darted a look up at her, and grinned at the smile I saw teasing at her lips. “Really? How would that work?”
Angela shrugged. “We’ll figure it out. Mostly I get to hang out and watch you be a submissive pet, and give suggestions to make things more entertaining. But if I see you pushed too far, I can call a halt to things. So the Sultan’s rule is not absolute. Does that help with your need for security?”
I nodded eagerly. “Yeah. I mean, I was going to do it anyway, and hope Katya would be a good Sultan. But... you know how she gets when she’s a guy.”
“What’s taking so long in there?” called Katya from the living room, as if I’d summoned her attention.
“Negotiating a few details,” Angela called back. “It’ll be worth it.” More quietly she continued, “Let’s hurry it up even so. Go with the basics - put this collar on, and I’ll see what I can find for matching cuffs.” She handed me a steel and leather collar, steel on the outside and black leather to go against my neck.
I stared at it in my hands, feeling the weight of it and letting the emotional impact of it wash over me. I knelt and offered it up to Angela. “Please, Keeper?”
Angela grinned at my pose. “Oh yes, you’ll do. Let your mind sink to that of ... no, not a harem girl in this setup. A new slave, fresh from the auction. You are to be presented to the Sultan, for him to command as he pleases. Can you do that?”
I murmured my mantra out loud. “I am a new slave, owned by the Sultan. I am his slave girl.” Even after a few repetitions I didn’t really feel it taking hold. Then Angela closed the collar around my neck. Suddenly the world snapped into new focus, and all thought of resistance fled. I shuddered and then prostrated myself before her.
“Oh, you’ll more than do. Let us get these cuffs on you, and see what the Sultan thinks.” Once she’d secured cuffs at my wrists and ankles, she bid me to wait, so wait I did. I heard her talk with Katya outside the room, and heard Katya’s voice shift and become my Sultan’s.
Angela returned and clipped a lead to my collar, then bade me follow her. “Here is your newest slave girl, Sultan Kay. I hope she meets your approval.”
The Sultan stood up and gestured to the floor. I went to my knees without hesitation, and bowed my head.
“What is your name, girl?”
I shook my head. “Slaves have no names, save what their master gives them.”
There was surprised silence for a moment, then my master chuckled. “I see. Then you shall be known as Daisy. Rise, Daisy, and show me this body I have bought.”
I stood up and posed as fetchingly as I could, while the weight of the cuffs dragged at my arms. His inspection was thorough, his eyes roved over my body in a way that made me shudder. I lowered my arms to protect my modesty, and because they suddenly felt too weak to hold my pose.
Sultan clucked his disapproval. “You have no privacy here. Keeper, bind her arms behind her.”
Angela darted off to fetch her bag of toys. I clasped my hands behind my back. “I apologize, oh Sultan. I am unused to being ogled.”
“A pretty thing like you? You must have led a very sheltered life. Stand straighter and lift your chest.”
I did as I was bid, flushing slightly as I felt my breasts rise up on display. Angela returned, and locked my wrists together with something cold and heavy. I felt as if my arms had been taken from me. It was a familiar feeling, and I smiled when I recognized why.
“Much better, Daisy. I think you will fit in my harem after all.”
I couldn’t help but smile at that. “Your harem? I am not to be a menial servant?”
“You are far too pretty to be wasted on menial labour,” my master purred. “I have much better uses for you in mind.”
I blushed at the compliment. “Thank you.”
Angela coughed softly.
“Oh! Thank you, Sultan,” I corrected.
“Much better,” murmured Angela. More loudly, she added, “I think this one will need a little training to her new duties. What would you have me do with her?”
Sultan studied me for a time, smiling as he did so. “Her duties involve looking pretty and sex. She looks ready for both, to me.”
“Yes, Sultan!”
I was ordered to kneel before my Sultan, and did the best I could to please him without my hands. I found the “work” so engrossing that I had to be pulled away from it once the Sultan was more than satisfied...
I curled up at the foot of the bed, contented. Keeper found a blanket for me to sleep on, and the Sultan pronounced it fitting. I was soon asleep, and only half heard their discussion about where Angela would sleep.
When dawn lightened the windows, I woke. My arms, which I’d forgotten about the night before, were sore from the continued tension of my locked wrists. My bladder was the more pressing matter. Getting to my feet quietly wasn't a problem, and I managed the door after a few tries. It took more than one attempt to lift the toilet lid with my toes, and I was glad I didn’t have any clothing in the way.
Wiping stymied me. I could not reach the roll, and even if I could the next step would have been impossible. Straining for it worsened the aches in my arms. I tried to be quiet about it but the whole situation was too overwhelming and I broke down in tears.
I tried my best to be quiet, but my earlier efforts with the toilet lid involved dropping it quite loudly. Angela came to see me shortly after the waterworks started.
She looked shocked at my condition and apologized profusely for forgetting about the lock. She had it off me swiftly, but the release of my arms made the pain flare up even worse as circulation returned. Angela’s look of shock shook me out of my mental haze. “How bad is it?” I croaked.
“Bad. Why didn’t you tell me your circulation was cut off? I think you need to go to the hospital. Shit, what a mess. I fail as Keeper.”
I shook my head. “Box. Restore me. Should fix it.”
The box refused to change me, even though the light was green. It took a few agonizing minutes to realize the collar and ankle cuffs might be blocking the change. Once those were gone, I was soon back to being David, in both body and mind.
I swung my arms back and forth a few times. There were a few slight twinges, but nothing like the screaming pain from before. “Much better.”
Angela sighed with relief. “I am so, so sorry. No more bondage.”
“Agreed. Except maybe the collar? It really helped with the mindset. Next time, use the box to remove my arms. Call it Keeper magic.”
“Keeper? I failed so badly and you...” Angela hung her head.
“I very much liked the scene up until this morning. You did a great job of managing it. Please?” I cupped her chin and raised her head so she could meet my gaze, but she looked aside instead. “I am not angry. You rescued me moments after I realized just how bad it was, myself.”
“Then the box didn’t work. What was that about? You said it would always restore you.”
“Cuffs were in the way.”
Angela looked at them and shook her head. “They weren’t that tight.” She closed one around my ankle. “See? It still fits.”
I suggested she change me back into Daisy and try again. A few cycles of going back and forth showed that it was the collar blocking the change. Angela chuckled softly when we realized. “The guy who gave it to me said it was magic. Something about binding the body... I thought he was joking.”
“It seems to have a mental effect, too. I feel more docile while wearing it.”
Angela grinned. “Then maybe if I wear it I can be a good harem girl too.”
“Is that what you want?” I asked, earnestly.
She shook her head. “More a top than a bottom. And an indifferent top at that. Honestly, I really like the Keeper role. I get to watch and help, without all the pressure of being a good Sultan.”
Kat chuckled at us from the doorway of the bedroom. “Being a good Sultan is easy. I get to boss her around however I want to.”
I went to my knees by reflex then winced. “That works better on linoleum than here on the tile floor. Ow.”
“Still eager to be Daisy, hmm? Perhaps my newest harem member can show off her skills in the kitchen.”
“Yes, Sultan!”
Angela watched me sashay to the kitchen, ogling my butt with a grin. “You don’t seem to need the collar to be an obedient harem girl.”
I flashed her a grin and got out some eggs and the frying pan. “I like cooking.”
“And being a harem girl. No more bondage, though. I hope the Sultan is okay with that.”
Kat sighed. “Really? I liked that armless blowjob.”
“Armless is fine. Just have the Keeper use her black box magic on me.”
“Oooh!” Kat’s expression of joy was all Katya. “Tonight?”
I nodded. “As my Sultan wishes.”
“But first we need to shop for harem girl outfits. Eee, shopping!”
To simplify the clothing situation, we turned Katya back into a woman after breakfast. Her look of dismay as she remembered the past day made both of us laugh. I promised that I had loved it, and that my offer to be harem girl to her Sultan any time was still open.
“After all that? Sultan doesn’t think of you as a person. He’d happily take his pleasure with you then turn you into a towel to clean up.” Katya laughed at my eager expression. “And you’d love that too.”
“Does it really bother you that he sees me that way?”
“Shouldn’t it?” asked Katya softly. “It’s supposed to be bad to treat people like things.”
I smiled back at her encouragingly. “Is that not how you wish to be treated while you’re a dress?”
“Well, yes, but that’s when I’m a dress. The Sultan would treat you like chattel while still human.”
“And if that is what I want?” I asked, opening my arms to offer her a hug.
Katya stepped closer to accept it. “Why?”
I almost replied glibly, asking her why she liked being a dress. I realized it probably wasn’t the same at all. “I’m not fully sure. An atavistic urge to belong to a powerful male figure is part of it. There’s a part of me that really likes being helpless. When the Sultan commanded me, it felt good to obey.”
“That might have been the collar,” noted Angela.
I shook my head. “Right here, right now, if Sultan were to appear I would be on my knees in a flash. Even without harem girl mind. With it... oh, Katya, it’s everything. I could lose myself in it as easily as you do as a dress.”
Katya considered that. “And yet you wanted a Keeper, someone to draw you back from the fantasy when it is time.”
“Do you need a keeper as a dress?” I asked into the ensuing silence.
Katya flashed me a bright grin. “Isn’t that your role? And Janis’? Though I think she’s given up on being my keeper in favour of you.”
“Do you want a keeper at all?” I asked. “You seem happy as a dress.”
“When I’m being worn it makes me so happy. Like you describe with the harem girl. You understand that part, right?”
I nodded as I reminisced about skirling around dancing legs. “I’ve been worn lots, it’s lovely. It’s the hanging in the closet I don’t get.”
Katya’s look was as distant as mine had been. “It’s not the same kind of happiness. It’s... contentment at being a good dress. Looking forward to the next time it will get worn without caring about how long it has been or how long it may yet be. Dresses hang outside of time. Less so in the new wardrobe. Getting to be part of the family while on display is lovely.”
“Does that make you want more or less time as a dress?” I asked, curiously.
Katya shugged. “It makes the time more interesting. I like it... but it also makes me feel more engaged with you. Especially at dinnertime.”
“Can you smell the food? I could set a tasting dish in the wardrobe.”
Katya shook her head. “No, but... I think I would like to join you for dinner more often.”
“Every night?”
“Let’s start with a few days a week. And maybe a little more wearing? I could be your work dress...”
“As the lady-dress wishes.”
Katya grinned at me winningly. “And that is why you make a lovely keeper.”
“I’ve messed up before,” I protested. “Like when I got so caught up in the puzzle of the charger and forgot about all of you.”
Katya grinned. “Nobody’s perfect. Just keep trying and be honest with yourself. I have no objection to being treated like a real object. Neither did the others. Right, Angela?”
“I almost lost my job. And yet...” Angela sighed. “I kind of miss it. Mindlessness means nothing matters. Nothing to worry about because I had nothing to worry with. I spend far too much time and energy worrying. And yet... I can’t stop.”
“What do you worry about?” I asked.
“Money, schedules, how I look, being late on rent and getting tossed out on the street.”
“You don’t have to worry about any of those now. You’re safe here. Or in the wardrobe.”
Angela smiled at me wanly. “And I thank you for that. But now I’ll worry about giving up my independence.”
“As a dress hanging in the wardrobe that’s no longer an issue,” said Katya. “Let go and let the power of fabric heal you.”
Angela giggled. “Fine. They’re all irrational worries. Which is why I’m glad of the downtime.”
“So do you want to go shopping as my dress?” I asked.
“Definitely human.”
We returned Janis to humanity so she could join the shopping expedition as well. It was a lovely day for a ramble, but a terrible one for finding silks. We did find a few promising stores, but they were all closed because it was Sunday. We eventually found a fabric store that was open, and bought lengths of several promising fabrics.
On the way home Katya reminded me that we needed to move Angela out of her apartment, so we stopped there on the way by. True to her word, she packed up a small suitcase with the last of her stuff, wrote a note to the landlord, and left the keys on the counter. She looked around wistfully for a moment, then laughed. “Goodbye you scrawny little dump. I won’t miss you one bit.”
I hugged her tight, and we made our way back to my apartment. Our apartment.
Once we got home Katya insisted we scan the gauziest of the fabric and turn her into it. It was far too long to dance with - I’d figured on cutting it into several lengths once we had some idea what would work. I gathered the Katya-silks up as best I could and twined them around me. Janis giggled at the sight and soon joined her sweetie wrapped around and around my body. Angela laughed as I started to dance under the layers of fabric.
“What do you think you’re doing?” she asked me.
“The dance of the seven veils. Except it’s more like seventy. Or two, depending how you look at it.”
Angela giggled. “You look ridiculous.”
I pouted at her. “I was hoping for sexy enough to lure you into my bed. Our bed, now that you’ve moved in.”
“Smile at me invitingly.”
I did so. Angela scooped me up into a fireman’s carry, bundled up helplessly in my cocoon. I giggled all the way to the bedroom.