“Ok, last two business cards, and my last resume. I really should’ve printed more.”
The crowded convention center was filled with the hopeful and desperate, and packed with rows of cloth-sided cubicles and folding tables. It was just beginning to reach the peak of discomfort as the combined body heat gradually overwhelmed the climate control, making me almost glad to be out of printouts. I looked around the second to last row of cubes, looking for a company that was willing to talk to one more desperate job seeker.
At this point I was looking for basically anything that paid more than fast food wages, but my recent career shift made this much harder. Being a college dropout, with a mid-ranked massage therapy certificate and only a few months of experience before quitting that gig really doesn’t look very good on a resume.
I approached another table, some kind of meat market type of tech outsourcer, greeted the clearly exhausted lackey they sent to manage the booth, and dropped off my last resume and second to last business card. I walked toward the coffee service to drink my fill in cheap coffee before I headed back home.
As I approached, I saw a slim woman in a black pantsuit and neon-blue hair, standing by the coffee pot. She rocked the handle back and forth on the front of the giant pot a few times, trying her best to get the last dregs of coffee out of the nearly empty machine. “Really? Oh well.” She said, nearly under her breath as I walked up.
“Need an assist? Usually there’s some more that gets stuck in the bottom of the machine. Just need to tip it forward.”
“Oh, really?”
“You hold your cup and work the handle, I’ll tip it forward for you.” I stepped around her to the side of the table, and grabbed the handles of the giant pot. I glanced at her for a moment and cracked a small smile, noting her attractive face and piercing blue eyes, the same color as her hair. I carefully tipped the pot forward, and she flipped the handle down as the last of the lukewarm coffee poured out into her cup.
“Oh, awesome! Thanks!” She took a half step back and stirred the contents of her cup, mixing in a considerable amount of creamer and sugar at the bottom. “Looks like there’s none for you though, sorry. I didn’t mean to totally wring it out.”
“Oh, it’s no problem, I’ll just pick some up on my way back home. There’s a really good coffee place on my way back to the train station.”
She took a sip of the free coffee, then grimaced. “Ugh, this is so bad! You’re actually lucky there’s none left, I think I did you a favor. Even with creamer! Blegh!”
I smiled a little, and replied, “I appreciate your sacrifice. I’m a bit of a coffee snob, although until I find a new job it’s no more hand-pulled macchiatos for me.”
“Oh, I’m a broke-ass foodie myself. No expensive dinners for me, until I get something better lined up. Luckily I have a part-time gig for now, but it’s barely enough to keep the lights on.”
“Oh, where do you work?”
“I’m part-time at a tattoo and piercing shop, mostly doing inventory and scheduling. I have no skill at all in any of that stuff, but the hours are pretty flexible and it’s close to my house. How about you?”
“Until recently I was working at a massage place. I did massage therapy and the various other spa stuff, but I can’t really do it anymore. That’s why I’m here - I had to quit my job but couldn’t really get anything lined up right away.”
“That really sucks, I’m sorry. I heard that that job has a really high burnout rate - people's hands and fingers get absolutely wrecked by it.”
“That’s definitely a risk. Not for me though - I only was doing it for a few months, but I kinda got into it knowing that I’d be looking for something else eventually. Just didn’t expect it so soon.”
She dropped her nasty coffee into the trash can, and I asked, “So, I’m all out of resumes and it looks like you are too. I don't have anything else happening today, want to walk with me to my usual coffee place? I’m going there anyway and the company would be nice. I’ll even buy yours to make up for that horrible one. After all this excitement you probably need a replacement coffee like I do.”
“That sounds great, it’s at the train station, right?”
“Yep, it’s not far to walk and it’s definitely worth it. Oh, also I’m Luke, by the way.” I held my hand out.
She reached out and shook my hand. “Mila. Nice to meet you.”
We headed out of the convention center together, and walked the couple blocks to the coffee stand and train station. We made some small talk, mostly about the topic at hand - our job situation and the last few days. She talked about her new place - only a few more blocks from here, and her new roommate who just moved in to help cover the rent.
The coffee place, my usual go-to when I’m over here, was empty at mid afternoon. We approached, and I did the “after you” hand gesture. “Ladies first, everything here’s really good.”
She ordered a flat white, and I traded places with her to order my americano and to pay. When I reached for my wallet, Mila jumped in front of me, holding her card out and nearly pushing me out of the way. “Oh no, you’re not paying for this one. I may be underemployed, but you’re fully funemployed - and I’m not taking no for an answer.”
I took a quick step back to give her a bit more space. “Ok, but I get to pay you back eventually.”
She held a finger to the corner of her mouth and did a little eyebrow tilt, a ‘scheming’ sort of look. “Eventually? I like your ambition.” She finished paying, and handed me my coffee. “Let’s walk over to the big board and see how long till your train.”
As we wandered over and the screens came into view, something seemed off. “That’s strange, my line doesn’t have any times on it. Weird.” The screen then flipped to one I've never seen before, text on a red background saying “Out of service”.
“Oh, what the hell? That’s bizarre.”
“I didn’t do it, I swear.” She smiled. “Sorry, but that really sucks.”
“If you managed to stop the train, I’d be impressed. Secretly the world’s greatest hacker or something.”
“I’d definitely not be working where I do if that was the case. Anyway, looks like you’re not getting away from me here, how about we head to my place and I give you a ride home? My car mostly works, so it’ll probably get you where you need to go. Way cheaper than an Uber too.”
“Are you sure? I don’t want to be a pain.”
“Heck yeah dude! You’re coming with me!”
We left the train station, sipping our coffee and walking the few more blocks to her place. After a couple blocks she takes her last sip, and asks me, “So, you mentioned that you had to leave your job. I’m curious why. mind if I pry a bit?”
“So, it’s really complicated. Oversimplified, suddenly I can’t do it anymore, so I have to find a new gig now. You wouldn’t believe me if I told you why.”
We took a turn down a residential street, and walked up to an old Victorian house that was converted into apartments. “Ok, so here’s my place. I have to grab my keys and I need to change my shoes - my feet are dying in these horrible discount dress shoes.”
She opened up the door, and we stepped inside. It’s the typical shared apartment, an old-ish couch handed down from a parent or friend, a sparse kitchen and living room, and bedrooms upstairs.
She ripped her shoes off, and walked upstairs, saying to me as she climbed, “Have a seat on the couch, I’ll be down in a minute.”
I did so, and she returned quickly sporting a pair of comfy sneakers and minus the suit jacket. Without the armor-like business clothing, her blouse did a good job of showing off her formerly hidden figure, and I really liked what I saw. She seemed fit but not too skinny, and clearly took good care of herself.
She plopped down on the other side of the couch, and said, “You said earlier that I wouldn’t believe why you’re looking for a different job. I’m willing to suspend my disbelief for a minute - I can have a very open mind. Also I hate not knowing stuff.”
I look around the room quickly, and confident that we’re alone in the house, decide to spill the beans and see where it goes. “Ok, so remember that huge meteor shower a few weeks ago?”
“Yeah, did you find an alien or something?”
“Not exactly - I did the whole corny ‘wish upon a star’ thing. I was about to graduate from my massage therapy class, so I figured I’d need all the help I can get.”
“Ok… so you made a wish. Then what?”
“You know how in like almost every movie, when someone makes a wish it massively backfires? Me, being a dumbass, wished that I’d have ‘magic hands’ when I do massages.”
“Ok….”
“When I did that, one of those shooting stars basically blew up. Might have been some kind of sign I guess? It turns out though, that when you make a wish you have to be really specific.”
“So like a bad horror movie then?”
“Pretty much.”
She leaned in a bit closer to me. “And it actually did something? I know I just met you, and so far you seemed cool, but this is really weird. If you’re secretly a magician or whatever that’s cool, but it’s a terrible flirting technique. Magicians are super corny. Mostly.”
“Oh no, it’s real - it would be a pretty intricate plan to quit my job for a cheesy pickup line. Or to lie about my job, actually be a magician, then lie to you about that. If you can promise me you won’t scream and run away, I can demonstrate. On myself, of course.”
“Alright, show me - I guess. If you say you need to take your pants off first or something, you're out of here.”
“Oh no, nothing like that. One second.” I place my hand on the armrest, and using my other one, begin to massage my wrist with my fingertips.
“So…. when’s the magic?”
“It takes a second. I have to work on it for a bit.” I felt the strange spark-like tingle start to spread from the tips of my fingers to my wrist, and the pleasant but alarmingly intense relaxation started to spread through the joint. I pressed a little harder, felt my wrist start to loosen up, and my fingers started to press impossibly deep into the bony flesh.
“Woah, what the hell?”
“Just wait, I’m almost done.”
I squeezed my fingers and thumb into a ring around my wrist, and gradually closed my grip, feeling the magic allowing the flesh to squish and stretch like warm dough. Pinching my fingers and thumb together, I slid my arm back slightly and felt my wrist reorganize itself into two rounded-off and smooth ends.
I moved my massaging hand away, and there was clearly a separation between my formerly-attached hand and wrist, with an inch of the couch cushion showing in between. I picked my limp hand up from the couch, and held it out with my still attached one.
When I did so, Mila jumped back from the couch and nearly fell, catching herself at the last minute. “What the fuck! Woah!”
“Sorry, I know it’s really bizarre. Like I said, magic. Just not very useful.”
“This has got to be some crazy trick. Do you have a fake hand or something?”
I held it out a little farther, toward her new location halfway across the room. “Check it out. It’s one hundred percent me, not some fake limb. It’s warm too.”
She took a step forward, observing my separated hand from a safe distance like a less fuzzy and less bitey tarantula. She touched it with her finger, jumping back a tiny bit, then touching it again. “This is so weird. It’s definitely real too.”
She carefully picked up my hand, holding it out in front of her. “So, you made a wish, and apparently the gods or something gave you more than you bargained with.”
“Yep, that’s basically where I’m at. I have the world’s least useful superpower.”
She started idly playing with my hand - bending the fingers, stroking the top, and curiously looking it over. I spoke up. “Oh, and by the way, I can’t move it at all but I can still feel it.”
She instantly and massively blushed, stopping the attention she was unknowingly giving me.
I replied, “Sorry. I should have told you first but that all happened pretty fast.”
She took a step over to me, and carefully set my hand back down on the cushion. I pressed it back onto my wrist, the flesh sticking back together and undoing my work as everything moved back into place. I rotated my wrist around a little, making sure everything found its place again.
“So just like that, you’re back to normal?”
“Yep, totally reversible. Like I said, magic.”
She sat back down next to me on the other side of the couch again, flopping into the overstuffed and worn out cushion. “So my entire reality just kind of broke a little, and I’m still about 60 percent certain that I’m hallucinating, but I have questions. First, what the hell? Second, how does that feel?”
“Turns out it’s amazingly, like life-changingly relaxing. Whatever divine power or cosmic horror definitely did the job when it gave me this ability. It feels weird not being able to move whatever gets popped off, but it feels so nice that you don’t care.”
“Wow, that’s crazy. It must have been pretty insane the first time you did it.”
“I first noticed something was weird when I was giving a client a massage. My fingers seemed to go way too deep into her shoulder as I pressed in, but I figured she just had really flexible joints. I stopped short of dismantling her, of course - I was freaked out and stopped the massage early, but she felt so good she tipped me double. The first time I actually went all the way, I accidentally popped off one of my fingers.”
“Yikes, I bet that really freaked you out.”
“I had a bit of a panic attack. My hands were sore after a busy shift, and I was working on my knuckles. I wasn’t paying attention, and I popped my middle finger off. It fell on the coffee table, I screamed, and noticed that I could feel it sitting on the cold tabletop. Either way, I couldn’t risk that happening to a client, so I had to quit.”
“Makes sense. I mean, this whole thing makes no sense, but since I’ve already seen the impossible, why not just vibe with it? If I wake up this will have been one pretty cool dream.”
She looked around, then looked back at me, a slightly bashful expression on her face. “So, have you done it to anyone else? I mean, all the way?”
“Not yet. Mila, You’re the first person I’ve shown this to.”
“Do you want to?”
Now I was the one blushing. “Um, yeah. I mean, if you want to. It’s really freaky, but it feels so good. I don’t think there are really any side effects either, again - magic. I’ve had my feet off for a day before, and popped off a hand or arm for a while so I know it works.”
“I’m feeling kind of adventurous. You take the end of my pinky, do your thing, and prove to me that your real and I’m not imagining all this.” She turned and held out her hand.
I took her hand in mine, feeling her soft and thin hands contrasting with my much larger and tougher. I looked into her eyes, and she swallowed and gave a slight nod. I gently started making small circles with my finger on her pinky, and immediately felt the spark of the reality-defying magic spread into her finger and hand.
“Oh wow, you’re really warm. Is that what it feels like?”
“The bigger the part, the better it feels.” I started to feel the end of her finger loosen up, like a caramel melting in the middle of the joint. “Alright, it’s starting to happen. This might feel a little weird for a sec.”
I pressed into the spot, and immediately her joint gave way and separated completely, the skin closing around the new area as if it was meant to be that way. I withdrew my hand from hers, holding the detached fingertip.
“Oh shit, it’s off! You’re holding it, right? I think I’m gonna pass out!”
“Take a breath - I have it, and you’re gonna be fine. You can still feel it, see?” I very gently squished the tiny piece of Mila sitting on my palm, and she seemed to calm down a little.
“So… Magic is real and you just did it. On me.”
“Yep.”
“Can I have it back?” I held my palm out to her, and she took her fingertip back, nearly fumbling it as she immediately got a little freaked out by the bizarre sensation.
“So I just stick it back on?” She poked it back onto the stump, and nothing happened. Her face immediately turned back to the freaked-out expression from a moment ago, and I realized the problem. I quickly touched her disconnected part as she held it in place, and it instantly joined back up, good as new.
“Oh, so it’s gotta be you to make the magic happen, both on and off.”
I replied, a little surprised but trying to act like I am fully in control, “Yeah, sorry about that - it looks like it works like that both ways. Still, how do you feel?”
“Other than my whole reality collapsing and trying not to panic, my whole body feels a lot better. I feel like I just got out of a hot tub. I just might have to keep you around after all.”
“I’m glad you’re so open minded about all this, I was worried you’d massively freak out.”
“I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s also part of the magic bit. It wouldn’t be much use if everyone started screaming and running if you did your thing. Would kind of defeat the purpose.”
She sits back in the couch a little, clearly more relaxed. “If you don’t have anything else going on today, I’d love to try out an extended massage session with you. Give you a chance to actually give your powers a full test. Also my feet are screaming at me from my shoes, so if I could lose them for a while I’d be more than happy.”
By the time I’m starting to reply she already figured out my answer, and nearly dragged me upstairs in her enthusiasm. Rounding the corner to her room, she kicked her shoes off in the general direction of her shoe rack, and flopped down on her bed.
“So, how do you want me to do this? Give me the usual. Obviously modified for your new technique.”
“Well, usually we’d start with the neck and shoulders, but I’m not so sure about that… Your feet are unhappy, so we’ll start there and work our way up.”
Before she settled in, she seemed to suddenly think of something. She jumped back out of bed, stood up and ran out. “One sec! Be right back!” She ran into the bathroom, slammed the door, and after a few moments of shuffling sounds, she opened the door again. She walked out wearing a towel around her midsection - and not much else. I spotted the straps of her bra still on her shoulders, so she’s still wearing something, but I definitely appreciated the change.
“Probably wouldn’t work with my clothes in the way. Anyway, here goes nothing.” She rolled into bed. “Actually here goes parts of me, but if it feels anything like that last round, I’ll be more than cooperative.”
She laid on her stomach, on the near side of the bed. I stooped down over her, using the side of the mattress as a brace against my knees.
Mila bent her knees up, bringing her feet into easy reach. I started with a little light reflexology on the heels and arches, her quiet sighs an indication that it was making her feel marginally better. I moved up to her ankles, and the warm staticy feeling of the magic kicking in began to flow.
“Oh, I can feel it! It’s even better now. That feels so nice.”
As I worked a little more, her ankles began to loosen up, getting distressingly floppy to an outside observer. Feeling like the magic had done its job, I squeezed in and neatly separated each foot at the ankle.
She noticed the sudden change in weight on the end of her legs, and said “Are they off? That’s so crazy! Can I see them?”
I took a step over, placing her feet on the mattress in front of her. She spun around on the bed into a seated position, and picked up her feet, setting them on her thighs. “This is awesome! I can still feel them, but they kinda feel like when they fall asleep. Only if that felt good too. Crazy, right?” She grabbed a toe and wiggled it a bit, and stroked the arch a little. “Oh crap! I can tickle myself! That’s supposed to be impossible, but I guess with it separated it’s different.”
Looking past her feet, she noticed her rounded-off ankles. She pointed one of her legs, and waved it around. “Wow, that looks so different without my feet. My ankles are tiny!”
I let her take in the changes for a little longer, but in a moment she looked at me, held out her feet, and said, “can you set these off to the side? I’d like to continue if we can.”
“Oh, yeah. Sorry.” I snapped out of my stunned state, and set her feet carefully on the far side of the mattress. By the time I turned back around, she was already lying down, ready for the next round.
“I guess we work up to the knees now? Again if you want to stop at any time just let me know.”
“Luke, I think you just unlocked something in my mind with that last one. I want to see just how far you can go. I’ll be helpless pretty soon, but I feel like I can trust you to be a gentleman - might be the magic talking, but I’ll take it. You keep going, I’ll be your magician’s assistant.”
“Quick question. Do you have any massage oil or something like that around? I can work some product into your skin too while I go, it feels good and helps reduce friction.”
“There’s some lotion in my side table, one sec.” She scooted over and grabbed it out. “It’s lavender lemon, it’s so nice.”
“Perfect.” I squeezed some out, and rubbed it into her shapely and smooth calves, the pale skin shiny and a little more slick. She started to quietly make little pleased noises, closing her eyes and smiling.
Once the muscles were nice and relaxed, I decided to move on to act two. I worked my magic into her knees, and as my fingers began to separate the large joint, slipping deep inside and forming the skin into a rounded stump on each side, she let out a quiet moan.
“Ok, that’s the knees. I’ll set them off to the side, that way I don’t mix anything up.”
“Oh, do you think it’s possible to mix someone up? Like put stuff back on differently?”
“Haven’t tried it, but for now let’s just keep things simple.”
“Makes sense. Here, I’ll get this out of the way.” She reached over and opened up her towel while rolling onto her back - unwrapping herself, and revealing herself to me for the first time. Her body was absolutely wonderful, a mixture of slightly fit with a hint of squish, a bottom-heavy hourglass in a black bra and panties.
My stunned and pleased expression was plainly evident, and she smiled at me in response. “Hey mister, quit staring and get to work on these.” She wiggled her remaining legs in the air. “I figured you’d need to really get into my hip to pop these off, and the towel was going to be a hassle. Man, my pirate costume this year’s gonna be awesome, ha!”
“Well then, come here captain, your first mate has a job to do.” I grabbed hold of her thigh, and continued to work the lotion into her skin and the tension out of her muscles as I worked my way up from her knee stumps toward her hips. She was clearly really enjoying the feeling, and started breathing a bit deeper and slightly faster as my hands moved up her thighs toward the more sensitive parts.
Once I made it to her hips, the magic started to flow from me, and my fingers dug deeper into the hip joint, beginning to create a depression in her skin at the panty line. I reached under her, and although she tried to lift herself up to help me, her lack of lower legs made the effort fruitless.
“One sec, let’s turn you a little - I feel like I need to work it from the back too.” I tipped her hip up, and she turned onto her side. My fingers soon found purchase in her generous but fit glutes, and before I was fully ready, her leg came off, leaving a rounded-off but smooth transition around her hips, from her backside to her crotch.
I picked up her separated thigh, and she held up her hand to stop me. “ I’m getting a crick in my neck, and I think that might make the perfect pillow.”
I helped her sneak her thigh under her head, and she squished it a little as she settled in. “Thick thighs save lives, you know. Mine is saving my neck right now, so I’m doing my part.”
“Well you’ll have another in a few minutes if you roll over, I’ll do the other side.”
She immediately rolled onto the other side, and I continued. The right came off the same as the left, the slightly disturbing feeling of my fingers rearranging her hip offset by the blissed-out relaxation Mila felt as I worked.
As I set her other thigh by her lower legs, she worked herself up to a seated position, holding herself up by her hands. She attempted to hand-walk across the bed to my spot, though only succeeding for one step. She fell into me suddenly, and I easily caught her, though In the process my hand managed to get a solid handful of boob as I steadied her.
She wrapped her arms around me to keep herself upright, and pulled herself into a tight hug. “Woah, sorry! I guess I need to work on technique a bit. Also my arm strength before I try that again. Could you help me back down?
I laid her back down, and re-stacked her jumble of disconnected parts on the far side of the bed. “After this, you won’t be walking at all until we get you back together. Are you ready?”
“Absolutely, can you try to get them as high as possible? My shoulders are really tight.”
“As you wish.” I wasted no time, mostly skipping over the hand and arm massage, and going straight into the problematic shoulders. I seemed to learn a bit of control as I worked, feeling like the magic was starting to follow my will as I dug impossibly deep into where her collarbones met her neck.
As I began to work my way in, the entire shoulder joint, blade, and collarbone seemed to soften and become like putty, and I carefully formed and shaped her shoulders into a smooth, rounded taper from her slim neck, to the top of her rib cage, to the top and sides of her breasts. An unusual look, and a lot removed, but her half-closed eyes and smile told me I did a good job.
I set her arms into the growing heap of the rest of her, and she asked, “can you grab my hand mirror from the restroom? I want to see myself, but I don’t think I can move much anymore.”
I ran and quickly found it, in a basket of stuff next to the sink. When I returned, she shifted slightly, in an attempt to see if she could figure out how to move with absolutely no limbs.
I held the mirror out. “Wow, that’s all that’s left? That’s amazing. I should probably be panicking, but I feel better than I ever have. You’re been so wonderful, and on top of that we’re literally doing something I thought was impossible until today. Thank you.”
“I’m flattered. Confused, overwhelmed, but flattered. Maybe I can make something of this still. I feel like I gained a little bit of control over this whole magic situation, and with a little more practice I bet I could figure it out. Now, let’s get you back together.”
“Wait. You’re not fully done yet.” She looked to me, slightly shimmying herself to get a better look at me. “My neck has a heck of a knot in it from doomscrolling my phone all day looking for jobs. Think you can work that out too?”
“Are you absolutely sure? I’ve never done that before.”
“The spot’s right at the base of my neck. The knot’s pretty deep, so you’ll really have to work at it.” She gave me a knowing wink.
I reached out to her, my hands shaking slightly. With a little assistance from her, we rotated her body sideways, her head slightly hanging off the side of the bed. I began anew, letting the magic flow unfettered from my fingertips into where her neck met her greatly reduced torso. The intensity of the sensation seemed to overwhelm her body for a moment, and her gasps and moans matched her body moving involuntarily. When my hands managed to start to dig into and under the vertebrae, she let out an “oh god!”, and her body arched up and collapsed back down in what seemed to be an orgasmic release.
At the slight pop I felt as her neck began to disconnect fully, her body went limp, and her eyes rolled back, her expression one of stunned bliss. Moments later, the flesh curved over on both sides, and I felt myself holding all the weight of her head in my hands.
I carefully shifted my hands to a more stable position as I lifted her up and away from her torso, working my fingers into her long, neon blue hair. I got a glimpse at her body’s remaining bit of neck, a rounded but relatively flat plateau across her heavily tapered shoulders. As I turned her head, now her everything, toward me, she also got a quick look at what was left of her body.
“That was amazing. Oh, I can still talk. Sweet!”
I nearly dropped her at first, but she didn’t seem to notice my slight faltering. “Wow, I didn’t expect today to go like this. Thank you. Would you like to do this again sometime soon?”
The eye roll she gave me almost made me wonder if her eyes were going to come out next. “Yeah, I guess. What I want you to do right now is kiss me, then rip the bit of clothes off my helpless torso and fuck me until you can’t physically do it anymore. Then maybe put me back together and I’ll think about giving you a ride home.”
“Deal.”