Divya and I were relaxing on the couch watching YouTube when my phone chirped. When I checked, I saw a notification from the front door of the building that someone wanted me to buzz them in. I checked the entry camera, and sure enough, Sue and Bernie were right on time for their appointment.

I tapped Divya's shoulder and showed her my phone. "Looks like they're here. You want to go get our tools?"

"Yeah, sure," she said, getting up from the couch and heading for the workroom. I tapped my phone to open the door for Sue and Bernie, and then I went to help Divya get set up.

About a minute later, the door knocked, and I invited our guests/clients in. "Bernie! Sue! Good to see you!"

"Hey, Pete!" said Sue. "Good to see you too!" She and Bernie came in for a hug, and then Divya came in and joined us.

"Hey, you two!" she said. "Heard you wanted some work done. What you got in mind?"

"Well," said Bernie, "you remember two weeks ago at the coven's Halloween party?"

"Yeah, I remember that," said Divya. "You came dressed as Harley Quinn, and Sue was Poison Ivy. It was super cute."

"And you remember when we volunteered for your magic act, right?" said Sue. "You morphed us so both of our heads were on the same body?"

"Sure. You were a pretty big hit, if I recall." That was a fun night, all right. I'd been the masked magician, doing body magic tricks on anyone at the party who wanted a change, and Divya was my beautiful six-armed assistant. She just had two arms at the moment, though.

"Yeah, they said they wanted to try it again," I said.

Bernie twirled her fingers together nervously. "And we were thinking, maybe this time we could get something that didn't wear off at the end of the party?"

"Whoa," said Divya. "That's a pretty big commitment, especially if you're going to go out at all. You sure you're ready for that?"

"We already talked about all that," I said. "They don't want to come back over and over again for regular appointments, and they don't want the effect to come from a piece of clothing or anything. They're looking for a genuine modification. I told them we'd take care of it. We didn't discuss details yet, though."

"Cool, cool. Well, I suppose you got some practice at the party, right?"

"Sure did," said Sue. "The best party we ever went to. Hopefully, all of them can be like that." She put an arm around Bernie's shoulders.

"Well, if you're that ready for a relationship upgrade," said Divya, "I'm game for some fun. Did you want to do the same thing as the party?"

"No, no, we tried that already," said Bernie. "Sharing legs was fun, but we thought it would be better if both of us still had our arms."

"And not just four arms on a two-headed body, either," said Sue. "We were thinking something more like what Erica and Rachel do at the parties."

Erica and Rachel were two other regulars at the coven's events. They usually helped manage the activities room, where Divya and I had done our magic tricks at the Halloween party. Their usual party look was for both of them to share a single pair of legs, attach a platform on top, and balance both of their detached upper halves on top of that, usually with some kind of handle depending on the theme.

"So you want to be permanently detached?" said Divya.

"No, probably not," said Sue. "Needing to manage handholds all the time would get in the way a lot. We still want to be fully attached, but we want our torsos to stay separate from each other."

"Maybe twisted sideways, facing each other?" said Bernie. "Is that doable?"

I looked to Divya for her opinion, and she just rolled her eyes and smiled. Bernie and Sue were exactly this kind of couple. "Yeah, that should be doable," I said. "Come on in. Let's try out a few things."

We all went into the workroom, where Divya had our special wraps set out on the long project table. I drew a quick sketch of what they had in mind, just to make sure we had it right, and then Divya and I got to work.

Fortunately, Sue and Bernie had dressed right for what they had in mind. They both wore identical skirts, so we could merge them below the waist without anything going wrong with their clothes. Their tops weren't the same, but they were short enough to stay out of the way of the procedure. Sue had a poofy blouse with plenty of slack around the bottom, and Bernie wore a crop-top that left lots of leeway around the midriff. That ought to do fine.

Divya asked both of them to slip their shoes off and hop up on the table, and I stepped behind them. They sat down side by side, their legs dangling down over the edge. They didn't want their torsos to be altered, so I had them both put their hands on their waists. One at a time, Divya held on to their knees to keep them still, and I took hold of their elbows and applied a little gentle torque, twisting their torsos toward each other until they were almost facing each other, though their legs still faced forward. Before we continued, Divya helped them up from the table so they could try walking around. They stumbled a little at first, but after a few minutes, they had the hang of it. It was a little hard for either of them to walk a straight line when they were turning their heads to the side to line up with their legs, but if they held onto each other and guided each other, they managed walking just fine. Poetic, I guess, since that was what they were practicing for.

Once they were ready, I had them stand facing each other, so their legs were side by side, and Divya starting wrapping the special wrap around them, starting from the ankles. She covered their legs, hips, and most of their midriffs, and then she held the loose end while I attached a large metal cuff around their middle and fed the end through a slot in the side. I attached the end of the wrap to a little spindle on the side of the cuff, and I got my socket wrench.

"Okay, last step," I said. "You ready?"

Sue and Bernie nodded, their arms already around each other as they stood face to face. "You bet, Pete."

"All right. Here we go." Divya steadied them while I cranked away with my wrench. The wrap got tighter and tighter, compressing them below the cuff. Two of their feet disappeared up into the inside of the wrap, while the other two got closer and closer together. I expected one of them to mention how tight it was getting, but instead, they just started breathing deeper, like they were getting a massage or a back adjustment. I guess they really were ready for this.

I went on cranking for about fifteen minutes before my wrench wouldn't turn any further. "And we should be all done. Divya, let's take a look?"

I unhooked the cuff, and Divya unwrapped them so they could get a gander. They spun around to get the last bit free, revealing a single skirt beneath their two tops, with a single navel just about visible. Bernie lifted their skirt a little, revealing just two feet, almost matching both of them. They walked over to their shoes and stepped into one pair, snugging into them like they'd been sharing a lower body all their lives. Then Sue looked a little uncomfortable, and they started shifting and squirming around, shaking their legs until a second skirt fell out from under the one they were wearing and landed limp on the floor.

"Oh, good," said Bernie. "We get to keep the extra skirt."

"I guess so," said Divya. "There's always some stuff that's hard to predict when you're trying stuff out like this. How's it feel? You two good?"

"Oh, yeah," said Sue, running her hands up and down Bernie's back. "We're great. This is perfect." She kissed Bernie lovingly on the neck, and she and Bernie put their rear hands on the table to lift themselves back up to a sitting position. They crossed one knee effortlessly over the other, perfectly naturally, as Bernie ran her fingers through Sue's hair.

I wrapped an arm around Divya's shoulders and kissed the top of her head. It seemed like the thing to do at the moment.

"Shall we give you two the room for a while?"

Sue giggled. "Sorry," she said. "Got distracted there."

"Well, you might as well get used to it," said Divya. "That's going to be your view for a while."

"Looking forward to it," said Bernie. She kissed Sue on the lips, and then the two of them hopped back down off the table. They bent over to pick up their extra skirt and pair of shoes, and again, I expected them to get top-heavy and lose their balance, but they were adapting quickly. Divya and I went in for one last hug before they left, one of us behind and one of us in front, and they both gave each of us a kiss on the cheek.

"Thanks for everything, guys," said Sue.

"Don't mention it," I said. "Anything for our cousins in the coven. You need any help getting home? You might find it a little hard to drive."

"Yeah, shoulder seat belts might be a bit tricky now," said Divya.

"Yeah, but having a car in the city is even trickier," said Bernie. "We usually take the bus. It'll be fine. Thanks again. And we'll be sure to recommend you to the others."

"You got it!" I said.

After Sue and Bernie left the apartment, even more cheerfully than when they arrived, Divya took my hand and squeezed. She put her other hand on my elbow. Then I felt another hand on the small of my back.

I turned, and I saw her looking up at me with a steamy look in her eyes. I also saw her looking at me with a playful look in her other eyes.

"Did you want to go back to watching YouTube?" said Divya.

"Or do you want to try..." said Divya.

"Heh," I said. "You got some ideas, huh?"

She laughed twice. I lifted her torso away from her legs so both of her mouths were level with mine.

"Well, there's got to be something we haven't tried," she said.

"Yeah," she said. "Let's get creative."