The next week was quieter.  Angela and Katya spent it hanging together in the wardrobe.  Angela asked for a triple change, to stop her from worrying about giving up her independence, and I obliged.

Janis thus spent the whole week human, despite my offer to wear her to work.  She kept the apartment tidy, and started working on cutting down and hemming the silks.  I practiced dancing with her first two results and pronounced them perfect.  The rest of the fabric we’d bought was too heavy for veils, though the shimmering purple satin did make a fetching sarong.  Several of the other lengths ended up draped around the bedroom in an effort at harem chic.

I figured what we really needed was a big four-poster bed that we could drape on fabric, but the bedroom would be overwhelmed by such a thing.

Work went well, I showed up as Daffodil more often than not.  Tom kept glowering at me, and twice when he came to me about bugs I sweetly pointed out that I no longer worked for him.  Rani was more than happy to see me show up wearing a dress.  So much so that she wore one herself on Thursday, which made me wish I’d come as Daffodil that day, too.

Thursday night was Janis’ first meeting with the therapist, and the apartment felt empty without her.  I distracted myself by digging into the enormous email I’d received from her uncle the day before.

The bulk of it was speculation about the mental effects we’d encountered.  Apparently he’d had some difficulty replicating the effect with his newer devices – they worked a little too well at retaining one’s original mind.  He liked the idea of a half and half state and hoped that I could visit and demonstrate it for him.

He’d asked a contact about animal transformations, who claimed they required more expertise than a simple device could manage.  The main issue was keeping the mind from being overwhelmed by the animal’s.  He also had concerns about the limits of the crystal’s ability to hold such complex patterns.  He did not recommend experimentation without a professional in attendance, but didn’t say anything about what that would entail.  I figured we were having enough fun as it was and dropped the matter.

The last section was the most interesting.  He’d noticed the odd tendril of mana-flow I’d found in my efforts to map the local field.  It turned out that there was a company in Wurzburg that was one of the world’s top sources of mana crystals.  They were cagy about the process they use, but the diverted flow was likely part of it.  Better yet, they had worked out how to produce small crystals in large lots, which had enabled his company to start mass producing limited transformation items.  They weren’t as flexible as the remote (he’d “learned his lesson” there, whatever that meant).  They’d already started shipping beta units to certain clinics, because Siemens’ arcanoteknic branch had recently started doing the same in Europe.

So it was no great surprise when Janis bounced in to tell me that her therapist had access to a way to “try out” being another gender, and that it could even customize the result to a limited extent.

“Do you want to try it to see if you get a body you like better?  Maybe you’d like bigger boobs...”

Janis giggled at the idea.  “I think you’d like that more than I would.  This is my body now.  I’m used to it, I don’t need to change it.  Besides, their version wears off after a few days, you need a month of repeated treatments to get it to stick.”

“Interesting.  Does that reset your permanent shape, so the restore button here would give you the right body?”

Janis hadn’t thought to ask.  We checked about that later and the answer wasn’t very useful – we’d need to test it for ourselves.  The few devices they had were booked up well in advance for permanizing treatment sequences.  They figured they’d have a better handle on the backlog in a year or so.

On the plus side a soft-key campaign to increase awareness of the ability to magically change genders was starting.  I could thus be more open about how I was swapping between David and Daffodil.  Janis was glad of the opportunity to be open with her therapist about her own changes as well.

The following Friday, I asked Frank how he and Giselle were doing, and if they were going to join us at Apparitions again.  He shrugged.  “Giselle is worried that transforming while pregnant might harm the baby.”

I winced.  “It might.  If it makes you infertile for a week, it could probably cause issues with the rest.  Wait, is she?”

Frank shrugged again.  “Too early to tell yet, but she doesn’t want to spoil her chances.”

“Doesn’t mean we can’t change you into a lovely dancing dress for your wife,” I teased.

“She needs me to be fertile, too.  Until we know she’s pregnant, anyway.  After that... yeah, sure.”

“Really?  I’ll remind you of that promise later.”

“Oh believe me, Giselle won’t let me forget.  I promised that once she’s pregnant, she can turn me into whatever she wants.”

“For how long?” I asked, grinning.

Frank looked puzzled, then worried.  “Um, we didn’t establish that.  But I’m... pretty sure she’ll want me to put in my usual hours at work.”

“How much vacation time do you have banked?  If you don’t show up one day, I’ll tell Alex to put you in for retroactive vacation.”

Frank rolled his eyes.  “Giselle will handle that if it comes to it.  Do I want to spend a week as her bra?”

I smirked.  “You already know the answer.”

Frank sighed.  “Yeah.  It was amazing.  Going back to being human will be the hard part.”

I spent a little time telling him about the mantra method we’d learned for settling into a new shape.  Since it was lunchtime, I was overheard and Shelly wanted to know if it would work for her the next time she went male.

That caused even more discussion to spring up, and several people seemed tempted to show up at my place to “get ready for a fun night at Apparitions”.  Shelly teased Eric about letting him be her bra if he dared to show up.

“That would mean you’d have to go out as a woman.  Or at least partially female,” I noted.

Shelly grinned.  “Half and half sounds like it’d fit in perfectly at Apparitions.  Let’s do it, even if nobody is daring enough to be my bra.”

My only co-worker to show up that evening was Shelly, but she’d brought along a friend.  She refused to tell us her name.  “We’re going to Apparitions, right?  Then her name is ‘my bra’ for tonight.”

The woman blushed and grinned.  “And maybe not just tonight.”

I eyed her.  “How long are you wanting to stay?  Bras can’t communicate, so if you don’t like it we have no way to know.”

“Have you been a bra before?” she asked.

I nodded and couldn’t keep the grin off my face.  “Yeah.  It’s great.  You’ll love it so much it’ll take some time to persuade you it’s worth being human again.”

“There you go.  Do I have to change back?”

I looked over to Shelly.  “You’re not seriously planning to keep her, are you?”

She touched a finger to her lips before answering.  “Of course I am.”

I raised an eyebrow, and both started giggling.  “Okay, fine,” admitted the soon-to-be bra.  “Just until tomorrow.”

“This time,” added Shelly.  “If she likes it enough, this might be a regular thing.”

“The more the merrier,” I replied.  “Maybe they’ll have bra clinics on the corner one day.”

Shelly and her friend giggled again.  “Wouldn’t that be something.”

Soon we had everyone ready to go.  Katya was wearing Janis as a dress.  I’d opted for the same half-male build as Shelly, though she rocked the tight pants far better than I did.  Angela was wearing a glittery top with long sleeves that looked a little like wings.  Shelly belatedly remembered the card she’d been given the previous week, and promised herself she’d go get proper wings for next time.

Then it was time for a bra to meet her destiny.  I scanned the sleek black bra Shelly had brought for the purpose, then locked on to her friend.  “Ready to be worn?”

Her grin was lopsided but she cheered “yes” even so.  I pressed the button and couldn’t help but grin at the surprised expression on her dwindling face.  “Didn’t she believe...”

“I’m not sure I did,” replied Shelly as she crouched down to touch the new bra.  “This is really her?”

“You saw it with your own eyes.  Next time you can be her bra, if it’d help.”

Shelly shook her head.  “It wouldn’t feel right.  She wants to be worn by me, the other way around is just... not right.  Maybe you could wear me for a little bit?  I do want to know... now that I actually believe you can do it.”

I snickered.  “I find your lack of faith disturbing.”

That got a good laugh and broke the tension in Shelly’s shoulders.  She scooped the bra up and soon was wearing it.  We drove off to Apparitions and had a lovely night dancing together.  Shelly was a little disappointed the fairies hadn’t shown up, but she more than made up for it by dancing vigorously with us instead.

Once we’d had enough we made our way back to the apartment.  I asked Shelly if she wanted to be changed back or dropped off at her place.  It took her long enough to decide that I’d driven all the way back to my apartment.  “The box is still set on your friend.  I could drop you off then change her back,” I offered.

“Oh?  That sounds like fun.”

Shelly only lived a few blocks away, so we had her home in no time.  She asked me to text her and wait for her reply before changing her bra back.

I found the wait difficult, as Katya had found the harem silks and was busy decking me out in them.  When Shelly finally replied I hit the button and handed the box to Katya immediately.  She considered it, then passed it on to Angela.  “The Keeper is the holder of the harem’s magics, yes?”

Angela nodded.  “Yes.  Shall I summon the other candidate as well?”

Katya brushed a hand over the fabric of the dress Janis had become for the evening.  “No.  I would prefer to keep my attention on our newest trainee tonight.”  She slithered out of the dress, and when she stood half naked without it she already had the commanding mein of the Sultan.  “Turn this dress into another silk for her to dance in.”

“As you wish,” replied Angela, and in moments Janis was nothing but a wisp of silk, unable to recall she had ever been human.

I stared at her transfiguration avidly for so long that I missed Katya becoming male and dressing up in purple robes.

“You are overdressed,” he said mildly, but with steel behind the tone.

I slithered out of my dress in moments, and my undergaments followed soon after.  As I knelt before him I felt Angela drape a dancing veil about my shoulders.  

“Better,” Kat mused.  “But she has about three too many limbs.”

My arms shimmered away a moment after he’d spoken.  I then heard Angela fuss about not knowing how to remove only one leg.

“Her third leg is the issue.  Harem girls should not have dangly bits.”

Angela giggled.  “Oops.  I shall have that fixed in a... oh bother.”

I slumped to the ground as the lower half of my body melted away.

“No, this is... interesting to me.  She is lovely like this, beyond helpless.  Leave her as she is.”

“As the Sultan commands.”

My Sultan scooped me up in his arms, cradling my reduced form as he might carry a child.  I felt myslef go all gooey inside, and I hadn’t even begun to try the harem-girl mantra.  His attention affected me far more powerfully than any phrase my scattered thoughts might have summoned.

His actions in the bedroom drove even those scattered thoughts to the winds.

This time when I woke it was with my Sultan curled around me on one side, and my Keeper on the other.  Thanks to my transformed lower half, I had no urgent drive to leave the bed, so I dozed there happy and content.

Keeper stirred some time later and kissed me on the forehead.  “How are you doing?”  She asked.  “Better than last time?”

I sighed happily.  “Perfect.  That was amazing.”

She studied my expression for a time.  “Daisy or Daffodil?”

“More the latter, but I see you as Keeper, so...”

“Perhaps more training is in order,” rumbled my Sultan’s voice.

I rolled to face him.  “As my Sultan desires.”

Kat smiled.  “Your Sultan desires breakfast before making any major decisions.  If the Keeper would be so kind?”

It took Angela a bit to realize what Kat meant, but soon I had arms and legs once more.  I headed to the kitchen and hummed happily to myself as I made pancakes.

Once we were arranged at the table, Kat in of my robes and Angela in one of hers, we dug in without regard for our role.  Once she’d eaten her fill Kat sighed happily.  “This is nice.  Can we just stay like this and skip the charade?”

“The Scheherazade charade?”  I asked with an impish grin.

Kat glowered at me so I apologized.  “Sorry.  I mean sorry, Sultan.”

Kat sighed and looked away.  “Being Sultan... it’s a lot.  Can we not do that today?”

I tried to keep from whining but didn’t succeed.  “So no more harem girl?  Back to the wardrobe?”

“You don’t have to change if you don’t want to,” replied Kat.  “I’d be happy to wear you or to watch you parade around in silks and try to tease me back into bed.”

I glanced over at Angela.  “What would you like?  You facilitated last night but didn’t get to...”

Angela grinned at me.  “I would love to turn you into the camisole and tease Kat here into bed.”

“As a guy or a girl?”  I asked.

Angela looked Kat over.  “You seem pretty comfortable like this.  Is it just the Sultan that’s too much?”

Kat leaned back in his chair and stretched his arms over his head.  When he noticed my avid look, he flexed his muscles showily.  “You really like this body, don’t you?”

Angela and I nodded in unison.

Kat stood up and brushed his robe out of its rumples.  “I like being ogled by my sweeties.  I could stay like this a while.  Until you feel like being the man of the house again, D.”

I licked my lips.  “Might be a while.  The way you’re looking at me is... rrh.”  I squirmed.

“Say what you want, sweetie.  Communicate,” exhorted Angela.

“I want Kat to drag me back into the bed and fuck me silly.  Then get worn by you on a breezy picnic before you get to have your fun with Kat.”

Angela smiled at me brilliantly.  “Sounds lovely to me.  Kat?”

“Other than the dragging... sure.  Fucking a helpless toy is very much Sultan mode for me.  Katya wants an eager and willing lover.”

“Kat isn’t good as a name?”  I asked.  “I thought it fit you.”

“It fits Sultan mode.  I want to be Katya today, just with this body you’re drooling over.”

I tilted my head curiously.  “That’s a big change of tune since the first few times you went male.”

Katya shrugged.  “Got a lot of that out of my system when I saw what we’d done to your arms last weekend.  And playing Sultan clarified the distinction.  I can be him, but he isn’t me.”

“Ah,” I sighed.  “No more harem play?”

“No pouting.  We can play, but it’s play.  A scene.  We all had fun, but...”

“Scenes are scenes, with a beginning and an end,” continued Angela.  “And proper aftercare for those that need it.  We got all of that wrong last weekend.”

“What sort of aftercare do you need?”

Kat frowned.  “Why would I need any?”

“Because you pushed yourself.  For me.  So if that means dresses or ... help me out here, Angela.”

But Katya had already brightened at the mention of dresses.  “Ooh, could we get a dress for this body?  I’d feel so much more me in a dress.”

“Of course!”  I agreed without hesitation.  Angela’s silence made me turn to her, and I giggled at her slack-jawed look.  “I think the idea broke Angela.  Maybe we can find a dress for David, too.”

Angela shook her head, then followed up with a full body shake like a dog shedding water.  “Why?”

“Because you love the idea so much your brains are leaking out your ears.”

Angela put a hand up to her ear and then blushed.  “I...  Yeah.  That would be so damn hot I might actually melt.”

“I could scan an ice sculpture.  Then you could actually melt.”

Angela laughed and shook her head.  “No.  Slithery silk is much more what I want.  Wear me out shopping?  I don’t want spoilers.”

“Ohhh.  You want to be the dress, hugging tight against masculine muscles...”  I wiped my chin of imaginary drool.  “Damn.  Now you’ve got me steamed up too.”

Angela whimpered helplessly, so I fetched the box and turned her into one of my daytime dresses.  Katya watches me get dressed with avaricious eyes, so I did a little spin for her.  “See something you like?”

“Keep that up and I might just drag you off to bed after all.”

“But then we’d never find the perfect dress for you.”

Katya giggled.  “Okay.  But once we’ve done shopping you are all mine.”

I purred at her happily.  “Then let’s not waste time.”

We spent much of the day shopping, and I did not consider any of it wasted.  I had no idea what had gotten into Katya, but she was attentive and sweet and absolutely rocked the dress we found for her.  She egged me on into buying at least three more dresses than I would have, cheering each time I emerged from a changing room in yet another.

Then after lunch, at Katya’s urging, we swapped genders so that she could watch as I tried on dresses in my male guise.  There was less cheering, it had proved challenging to find Katya’s male self a dress, and in the end we returned to the same odd little shop to procure mine.  On the way home, we had dinner at one of the lovely little restaurants in the area.

When we returned to the apartment, I suggested we swap our genders back but Katya shook her head.  She scooped up a dancing veil and twirled it around herself.  “My turn to be the harem dancer, hmm?”

I laughed.  “I suppose I’ve had enough time as a harem girl, if you’ve had enough as Sultan.”

“Oh, more than enough.  Come, my Sultan, and command me.”

“More silks!”

Katya and I gathered up every dancing veil we could find and laughed as we buried her in them.  “I swear we did not craft so many.  Where did these all come from?”

“Janis got busy.”

I looked at the veils.  They were all nearly identical.  “Which one is Janis?”

“Does it matter?  You changed her from dress to veil.  It doesn’t know it once was human.  Or care.  Why should we?”

“I care.  Not least because I want you to dance with it.  Help me set these out so I can test them in order.”

Katya bowed to me deeply.  “As the Sultan wishes.”  She spread all the veils out on the bed, one by one.

I locked on to each in turn and tried to turn it into a woman, to no effect.  “It must be here somewhere.  Help me search once more.”

Katya did as she was bid, grinning wider as I grew more frustrated.  One more veil turned up tangled in the sheets, and another under a pillow.  Neither reverted into Janis.

“Oh dear, it appears Janis will be a veil for some time yet.”

I glowered at her.  “This isn’t funny any more.”

“Oh, but it’s hilarious.”

I pointed the box at her and locked it on.  “Are you still sure?”

“Oh no, the Sultan will use his terrible magic to turn me into a veil as well,” sang Katya in a playful voice.  “Whatever will become of me?”

I pressed the button, and as she fluttered to the floor I noticed something I’d forgotten.  We’d made one veil different from the others, with red thread hemming it rather than white.  That had been the one we scanned, to more easily find the transformed person should we wish to.  I had seen flashes of red when Katya had initially danced with the veils, so how had...  The minx.

I changed Katya back, and held my hand out.  “You hid them.”

“Aww, I’d really hoped you’d take longer to figure that out.”

I sighed softly, and lowered my hand.  “Why?”

Katya pulled a pair of veils from their hiding spot inside her bra.  “Because I want to keep Janis this way for longer.  To wear her, to dance with her, to make love atop her...”

I narrowed my eyes at her, but I could feel the smile teasing at my lips.  “Then show me this veiled dance of yours, and if I approve I might just allow the rest.”

Katya grinned eagerly and stripped out of her clothing.  Then she tied the two marked veils around her chest, and scooped up more.  Her dancing was enthusiastic, veils fluttering every which way.  Each in turn was discarded until she was down to the two about her chest.  She slid the first off easily, and fluttered about with it for some time before turning to lay it on the bed.  The last she kept about her chest as she artfully draped herself on the bed.  “Does my Sultan approve?”  She glanced a little lower.  “I see the little Sultan does.”

I growled at her as I advanced on the bed.  “You are an intractable little minx.”

Katya’s grin didn’t waver.  “Guilty as charged.  What are you going to do about it?”

I silenced her with a kiss, and went on to show my appreciation very well indeed.