In the morning, Katya rose before I did.  I woke to the sizzle of bacon frying, and went to investigate.  Katya was wearing an apron, though I could see she was still wearing one of the veils underneath it.  She turned and smiled when I made an appreciative noise at the sight.  “Breakfast will be ready soon, my Sultan.”

“Do we need to keep up the charade?” I asked.

Katya giggled.  “It pleases me to do so.  You?”

I smiled.  “I do not find it an onerous task.  Shall I add Angela to your collection of veils?”

“If it pleases the Sultan, it would most certainly please me.”

I chuckled softly, and located my dress from the previous day.  As I scooped it up I talked to it.  “Hey dress.  You get the great honor of becoming one of the harem silks.  What’s that?  No, I’m sorry, you don’t get the option of saying no.”  A twist and a tap later I had a lovely silk to tie around Katya’s waist as she set the apron aside.

We spent a lazy day together, enjoying each other’s company with only a token nod now and then to harem-play.  Most of that entailed Katya dressed in nothing but silks, and teasing me however she liked.  I didn’t mind, the view was always lovely.

There was a movie marathon of old Sinbad movies on, so we spent the afternoon watching that.  Katya tried re-enacting a few scenes, and I cheered her on.  Later, as we were lounging on the couch together, she asked what I wanted to transform her into.

I traced a finger up her side, drawing giggles.  “You’re quite lovely as you are, but I know that’s not the answer you want.  We have plenty of silks, it would be awfully redundant to turn you into one of those.  Hm.  I do need to start dinner soon, and it’d be nice to have an apron...”  I laughed at her pout.  “Oh, you want something sexy, do you?  How about I turn your top and your legs into that boob ball thing, leaving just the fun bits?”

Katya eyed me.  “You’re not taking this seriously.  You are my Sultan, and must decide how to dispose of your harem girl now that it is another’s turn.”

“Dispose?  I would never dispose of you.  I would much rather turn you into that dress we bought to fit me, and use you to seduce Angela.”

Katya clapped gleefully.  “Perfect!”  She hopped off the couch and knelt before me.  “Now, please?”

“Tired of hareming?”

“Tired of peopling.  You’ve been lovely company, but it’s time for me to tap out so your real girlfriend can have you.”

“Pfah.  You’re just as real as she is.  More so, right now, as she’s a silk and I don’t even know which one she is.  Maybe I should leave her like that, and add you to the silks box.  That way, I won’t know which one I’m restoring...”

“No!  You might pick me again by acci...”  Katya blushed.  “I mean, it is the Sultan’s will.”

“Hey, talk to me.  No Sultan, no harem girl.  What do you want.”

Katya did not get off her knees.  “I want this.  I want you to treat me as a possession.”

“A cherished possession?  Why doesn’t that feel right?”

“Because you get it, you just don’t want to admit it.  I.  Want.  To.  Be.  Yours.  A thing you get to do whatever you like with.  Not special.  While I am a thing, I cannot be a girlfriend, a lover, a sweetie.  Just a simple dress, same as any other in the wardrobe.”

“Ah!  So I should hang other pretty dresses in the wardrobe to keep you company, and never admit which ones might be people, and which ones are real dresses.”

Katya shivered and bowed her head.  “Please.  Make me a real dress.”

I snagged the box, and locked it on to her.  I sighed softly when I realized I hadn’t scanned the David-dress yet.  So instead I picked out my favourite red dress, and put my finger over the button.  I leaned down to kiss her atop her head.  “You are my girlfriend now.  In a moment, you shall be transmuted, and you will be just a dress.  Farewell, Katya.”

Katya glanced up at me, a flicker of concern in her expression until she saw the tenderness in mine.  Just as she started to smile, I pressed the button.  I watched avidly as she slithered to the floor in a puddle of red.  I dusted the dress off, hung it up in the wardrobe, then went to scan my new dress.

I knew it could see me while I was in the living room, so I debated how to manage the next step.  Ultimately, I decided to restore both Janis and Angela.  My dress could wait, as dresses must.

Once the three of us had eaten dinner, I drew the two of them to the bedroom to discuss my dress and what it had asked for.  Janis smiled at me brightly.  “Oh, that’s perfect.  But you’re right, it’ll be hard to sneak up on her and change her.”

“Exactly.  That’s why I’m turning you into the dress instead.”

I pressed the button, grinning at the surprised but pleased expression on Janis’ face.

“You enjoyed that way too much.  Going to turn me into something?” asked Angela.

I shook my head.  “Timeshare girlfriends, remember?  You’re the girlfriend, and I have a lovely gift for you,” I said as I started to strip out of my shirt and slacks.  She watched in puzzlement as I scooped up the dress.  Then I slithered into it, and settled it around my frame.  I spun around in front of her to show how the skirt flared.  “Well?”

Angela growled gutturally as she prowled toward me.  She pulled me into a ferocious kiss that let me know she approved of this very much indeed.  It was fortunate we were in the bedroom, because there was no denying her anything.  We made love while I was wearing the dress, with the skirts flung up and Angela topping me like a woman possessed.

Her frenzy burned itself out quickly, and she slumped against me.  “Damn.  Just... damn.”

I chuckled softly.  “Tempted to roll you over and give you the same treatment.  You got off before I could.”

Angela’s smile was liquid invitation, so that’s exactly what I did.  Managing a skirt when you’re on top is a bit more finicky than on the bottom, it keeps wanting to get in the way.  I gave up on trying to fight it, and figured Janis would enjoy getting wrapped up in our lovemaking in any case.

There was a certain amount of chafing involved, but afterward we both agreed it was worth it.

I made sure to give my dress a nice hand-wash before I called it a night.

I hung Janis in the wardrobe in the morning, and there she stayed.  Angela was happy to be human, and it was nice to see her smiling face when I got home.  She even spent a few days at Black Velvet, hanging out with her friends there and helping to cover breaks.  

Thursday morning Angela mentioned that Janis had a therapy appointment that afternoon.  I asked if “the Keeper of the Sultan’s magic” could restore her in time.

Angela grinned and agreed.  When I got home I was surprised to see two dresses in the wardrobe.  Angela explained that Janis had insisted on going back inside the moment she got home.  Something about the therapy session had upset her, and she’d wanted time to process it without distractions.

We figured it was a reasonable enough request and carried on with our lives.  Shelly and her anonymous friend came over on Friday to prepare to go to Apparitions.  Shelly had located the wing-seller during the week.  To her amusement, her faerie friend from the first night worked there, but didn’t recognize Shelly.  She’d bought an iridescent set of wings that looked like dragonfly wings, and hoped the woman would recognize her handiwork.

Shelly’s bra asked to stay longer this time.  When pressed on how long she said she had the whole week off.  I sighed and shook my head.  “You’ll end up living in Shelly’s wardrobe if you keep this up.”

Her only reaction to the idea was a loopy grin that I completely understood.   I changed her without further warning and Shelly scooped her up eagerly.

“Any change for you, Shelly?  You’ve been rocking the male tailored pants look all week, tired of it yet?”

“I love it.  Can I stay like this?”  Shelly asked eagerly.

I nodded, and told her about the gender customization clinics that Janis had heard about from her therapist.  I figured she might not want to be subject to the reset-all ability of the retrieval unit.  Shelly took the name of the therapist, agreeing she had a lot to think about.

We did not run into the fairies that night.  Shelly vowed to keep trying.  The next few weeks were much the same.  Janis was human briefly for therapy, and dove back into the wardrobe.  I wore her to work one day a week, and my other special dress went out dancing with us.

Shelly’s bra was very glad to be human again after a week... but still wanted to go dancing as a bra every week.

A month after Shelly’s first visit, we ran into the fairies again.  She was delighted when her favourite noticed her wings, and vanished off with the fairies.  I didn’t see her again until Monday where she was wearing a very familiar dazed grin.

“Good weekend?”  I asked.

“The absolute best.”

“And does your bra agree?”

Shelly looked guilty for a moment then giggled.  “Got a hell of a show.”

I laughed, and made her promise to bring it over soon to be restored.  I had to remind her again the next few days.

Her bra sat quietly for a time after becoming human once more.  “Are you in love?” she asked at last.

Shelly looked stunned.  “I... it’s all a heady rush.  In lust, yes.  Love... lord, I don’t even know her last name.  Or what she likes to read.  Or... anything.”  She sat next to her friend and took one hand in hers.  “Is that bad?”

“I... want you.  If being your bra is the only way... then I am your bra.  If this faerie breaks your heart...”

“I’ll definitely need my bestie to cry on if that happens.”

“Okay.”   She turned to face me.  “Bra me.”

“Until?”

Her eyes burned with intensity as she gazed upon Shelly.  “Until she needs that shoulder to cry on.”

A twist and a press set her dwindling.  I picked up the resulting bra and handed it to Shelly.  “Has she wrapped up everything that’d be a problem in her absence?”

Shelly nodded.  “She told me.  I thought she was teasing me.  Was this her plan?  Why?”

“If I had to guess, it is because she loves you very much.  Enough to prefer life on your chest to watching you break her heart from afar.”

Shelly looked like she was ready to cry.  I offered a hug and she buried herself in it.  “It’s not fair!  She’s straight.  I figured we couldn’t...”

“I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but there are a lot of women hitting on you at Apparitions.  Pretty sure at least some of them are straight, too.  You are smoking hot in this half and half body.”

Shelly snorted.  “I still turn myself on.  I thought I was straight, until a faerie captured my heart.  What do I do?”

“Follow your heart,” said Angela.  “See where it leads you.  And if it leads back here in a month or two... we’ll help.  Won't we?”

I patted Shelly on the back.  “It’ll work out, one way or another.  She really does make a lovely bra, and she was very keen on the idea.  This is no hardship for her.”

“Are you sure?”

I nodded, brushing a hand over my dress fondly.  “I have a couple of wardrobe dwellers that love being worn.  They love being owned, and the freedom from responsibility that entails.  She’s free to be with you now.  It’s very clarifying, being owned.”

Shelly nodded.  “I can imagine.”

“You don’t have to imagine.  I could turn you into my bra for an hour.  I’m sure Angela and I can keep you entertained.”

Shelly shook her head.  “Only one person I want to be that close to.  Can I tell her about your offer?”

“Sure.  And it extends to wings, if you're so inclined.”

Shelly giggled brightly.  “I don’t suppose you know how to give me real wings.”

I shook my head.  “Sorry.   But the new therapeutic zappers might be able to in time.”

“I’m sure the fae court will be first in line when they are.”  Shelly hugged me again.  “Thanks.  I’lll see you around.”

After she’d left Angela picked up the box and fiddled with it.  “I got the impression you were feeling a little left out.  You haven’t been anything but human in weeks.”

“Well, yes...”

“Bra or camisole?”

I might have squealed a bit at that second offer.  Angela pressed the button and I fell into fabric, body and mind.  I recognized Katya and Janis' voices.  I worried about Janis, but once I felt her body wriggling into me I figured she was happy enough.

When I felt her make love to a very masculine Katya I realized Angela was right.  I had missed this wonderland of sensations very badly indeed.  Getting a gentle hand wash afterward was the perfect cap on the night.

They kept me as a camisole all of Saturday as well, hanging in the wardrobe where I could watch their comings and goings.  A pretty red dress joined me in the wardrobe after lunch, and I felt a lovely sort of kinship.  I was retrieved that night by Janis and saw more vigorous use again that night.  I think the crumpled heap afterward was deliberate.

In the morning, Janis was back in the wardrobe before Angela restored me.  She hugged me tight.  “Did we get it right?”

I grinned as I returned the gesture.  “Absolutely.  Thanks.  I feel refreshed.  How long before I need to be at work?”

“Tomorrow is Monday.  But it’s also a holiday, so we’ve got lots of time.”

We had a lazy morning, but Angela got a call from the manager at Black Velvet.  One of the clerks hadn’t shown up, so if she could come in for even a couple hours to cover breaks it’d be a huge help.  She looked at me and I nodded, so she agreed.

Once she’d hung up she started to apologize.  I told her there was no need.  Especially if she was willing to wear me to work.  Angela laughed warmly and agreed.  “But no perving on the cute customers.  I know you can see when you’re a dress.”

I crossed my heart.  “I will be the soul of discretion.  Not least because dresses can’t wolf whistle.”

It proved to be far duller than expected.  The cutest people there were the staff.  Angela did go into the changeroom once to take me off and tease me for a time.  Then she put on one of the display dresses and “accidentally” left me behind.  When one of the other clerks found me I started to worry.  When she put me on a hanger and put me out with the merchandise I realized that Angela had likely set up the whole thing.  She scooped me off the rack when her shift was over and carried me to the till.  The clerk rung me up, wrapped me in paper and tucked me carefully into a bag.

I couldn’t see from inside the bag, so I had to trust that Angela was taking me home.  Except... I didn’t recognize the voice of the person carrying me.  I fretted that they might have given my bag to the wrong person.  Once I considered my options, I realized they boiled down to hoping Angela used the restoration device, or hoping she’d gotten a friend to help with a prank.

I was relieved when I was unwrapped in a familiar living room, by familiar hands.  When Angela restored me I asked how she’d done the voice.

She smiled mysteriously.  “Did I get you?”

I nodded.  “Very much so.  I was worried you’d need to use the restore all option.  More worried for Shelly and Janis’ sake than my own.”

“Boo.  I hadn’t thought of that.”

“To be fair, neither did I at first.”

Angela giggled then.  “Was it fun?  Thinking some random person had bought you?”

“Nah.”  I pulled her into a hug.  “I don’t want to be worn by a stranger, I want to be worn by you.  Or one of the other timeshare girlfriends.”

“Awww.”

“Speaking of which, how is Janis?  She hasn’t talked to me in weeks.”

Angela frowned.  “She didn’t talk much, even with Katya.  Should we do something?”

I considered changing her back, but ultimately figured we should give her time to work it through.  “Just make it clear we’re happy to talk to her when you change her for her next appointment.”

Of course, that led to me finding all three of them together on the couch when I got home the next Thursday.  “Hey.  How are you doing?”

“Confused,” replied Janis.  “We’ve done all these crazy things and half the time we don’t even ask... just zap and fuck.  Isn’t that as bad as what happened when I was twelve?”

I shook my head.  “We’ve talked and talked about consent ahead of time, after things have gotten weird, and much of the rest of the time as well.  It’s hard to be both spontaneous and continuously clear on consent.  Especially when one party is fabric.  Have we done anything to make you uncomfortable?  Do we need new or clearer rules?”

“No and... I would very much like to be sure we’re doing the right things.”

For the first time in ages we ordered in for dinner.  We talked for hours, a lot of it circular.  When I started writing down some rules, Angela rolled her eyes.  “Are we going to sign a contract?”

“Between you and me?  Nah.  I’m happy with our ‘as long as I get to work on time’ understanding.  Goes for the rest of you, too.”

“I don’t have work to miss,” fretted Janis.  “And I need more human time than just therapy.”

“Okay.  How much time?”

Janis slumped.  “I don’t know.”

“Experimenting is fine.  So is a rule like ‘no surprising Janis with transformations’.”

“But...”  Janis wrung her hands together.  “That’s some of the best stuff.”

“Okay.  How about no surprise changes until you’ve been human for at least a day in any given week?”

“And no male stuff.”

I nodded.  “Including no phallic sex toys?”

Janis blushed brightly.  “Those are fine,” she squeaked.

“Anything else?”

“Just... only the four of us, right?  No loaning me out without asking first.”

I nodded and moved to the section on general rules.  “I think we should probably apply that to everyone.  Unless you have a pre-approved list, Angela?”

“Some work friends, maybe?  I’m okay with negotiating that case by case.”

“Okay.  Katya, any personal rules?  Minimum human days per week?”

“Can I have a maximum instead?” asked Katya.  “No more than two days a week unless otherwise negotiated.”

I noted it down.   “How about when you’re an object?”

Katya shook her head.  “Then I’m an object.  Turn me into anything, use me howev...”  She saw the skeptical look I was giving her.  “Okay, no using me as a cleaning rag or stuff like that.  I don’t know the rule I want.”

“Best dress rule?  Treat you like I would my best dress.  Try not to ruin it, wash it right.  Don’t loan it out to someone I wouldn’t trust with the real one?”

Katya nodded along, grinning at the wash rule.  “Sounds lovely.”

“Angela?”

“No damn rules.  Anything goes.  I’m okay with ‘keep it in the group’, but no to anything else.”

“So I can keep you as a boob pillow indefinitely?”

Angela grinned.  “You won’t.  Once those two are in the wardrobe, you’ll want me back.”

I laughed and nodded.  “So you’re saying do my worst?”

“Anything you’ll have fun with.  Don’t be a dick to prove a point.”

“Okay.  Anything fun goes for Angela.”

I showed them the rules.  Angela and Katya agreed on the spot.  “Janis?  Will you feel safe with these?”

Janis mulled it for a while.  “Surprise panties isn’t what most people would call safe.  But... yeah.  You’re seriously all okay with this?  I could turn Daffy and Angie into lingerie and have a romp with Katya?”

“Yup.  As long as I’m ready in time for work.”

Angela cheered.  “Do it!”

That was a good night.  Janis and Katya had been lovers for much longer than the rest of us, and they were wonderfully tender with each other.

In the morning I thanked Janis for restoring me, and asked after her plans for the day.

“Spend it human, remembering why that’s good too.  I might keep Angie as my panties for a couple days, is that okay?”

“Do the rules say it’s okay?”

“Yes, but...”

I put a finger to her lips.  “No but.  You are allowed to want this, and Angela is undoubtedly enjoying herself.”

“She might not...”  Janis stopped and smiled wryly.  “Yeah, of course she is.  She’d probably love it if you tore a hole in her and fucked me through it.  Despite how rapey the whole thing sounds.”

“Is that what you’d want?  Today’s a holiday, so I have the day off and we can go do whatever you’d like.  Whether that’s stay here and make love – with or without Angela in the way – or go on a lovely ramble about the countryside with a picnic lunch as its highlight.  Or we can sit here and talk about your apparent revelations about what happened to you.”

Janis sat on the bed beside me.  “It’s a lot to talk about.  Can you... not judge me?”

“I’ll do what I can.  It sounds like you got in way over your head, way too young to be judged for anything.”

“Yeah.  Fuck, every time I think about it I just...”  She balled up her hands into fists.  “I hate it.  Hate how much it warped me.”

“Do you hate who you’ve become?  Because everything I’ve seen of you makes it seem like you’re a wonderful person.”

Janis shook her head violently.  “I just wish all this history wasn’t gnawing at me.  It made me hate being male, hate the very idea of sex as a guy.”

“It doesn’t sound like digging into it makes you very happy.  Maybe it’d be best to just leave it be, and go on with living your life.  You are a woman now, despite what the restore button might do.  You seem pretty happy as a woman, or a dress.”

“Well, yeah.  Being a woman is awesome.”

I grinned at her.  “I agree with you completely.  Less agreement on how being a guy is awful, but to each their own.  The reason you have your preference doesn’t invalidate that you have one.”

Janis nodded thoughtfully.  “I guess, yeah.  I just... I just want to be happy.  Is that so wrong?”

“Not at all.  Well, as long as your happiness isn’t harming others.”  I patted her hip, brushing my fingertips against Angela’s silky fabric.  “And I’m very sure that Angela does not think this is harming her.  That’s the beauty of having talked this out.  We can do silly things like this and know we’re on solid ground.  And if someone does get hurt... we’ll do our best to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

Janis burst into tears and clutched herself against my side.  I patted her awkwardly and let her cry it out.  “Hey, now.  You’re safe here.  I won’t hurt you, or ask you to do anything you’re uncomfortable with, okay?”

Janis nodded, snuffling against my shoulder.  “Okay.  Can we... not fuck?”

“Sure.  What would you like to do instead?”

Janis sat up again, shrugged.  “Getting outside sounds pretty good, actually.  You still up for that picnic?”

“Sure.  Think Katya would like to be your dress, or the picnic blanket?”

Janis giggled.  “The dress, definitely.”

“So you’re going to wear two people who are happy being your clothes...”

Janis put her finger to my lips to stop me.  “Nope.  Not people.  Clothes that are happy being mine.”

I nodded, her finger following the gesture until I licked it.

“Damn it.  How are you so... meek, and so sexy at the same time?”

“Canadian.”

Janis laughed.  “If you say so.  C’mon.  Let’s go have that picnic, and see if we can find a private bit of wilderness to fu... to make love in.”

So that is what we did.  Unfortunately, while we were having our fun an elderly couple strolled past, and we had to get hastily dressed and explain why we were hiding in the bushes.  I don’t think they bought our explanation, not least because I was stammering and blushing furiously the entire time.

Once they’d walked on, Janis started to laugh.  “You’re a terrible liar.”

“Yes.  Especially when surprised.”

“So I guess you were serious when you said I could turn you into whatever I liked, as long as you get to go to work?”

“Very much so.”

Janis licked her lips.  “Even if I just want to turn you into a half-girl?”

“Been there, done that.  Kinda like it.  Wait, which kind of half girl?”

“The kind that’s half pillow.  I could really use some snuggly company that can’t say no.”

“As the lady wishes.”