Phian waved his hand at the light switch as he entered the green room. It wasn’t a dimmer switch, but the lights dimmed nonetheless. He liked it that way. He’d always found low light more comfortable. For a moment he considered removing the sweaty white tank top he’d been rehearsing in, but the fabric of the sofa looked rough, so it probably wouldn’t be more comfortable that way. Instead, leaving the door open to make himself easier to find if someone wanted him, he simply slumped onto the sofa, waved another chair over which obediently slid across the floor to him, and put his feet up on it.

There was a corner by the front of his warehouse where he kept a few items for quick retrieval or as reminders, and head laid back, eyes closed, habit had him mentally checking it. He tapped a finger in the air, and far away his phone tilted, waking it up. Full charge, no notifications. Next to the phone was a little ball wrapped in orange foil. A grin split his face. One of the best treats to show up around Christmas: A chocolate orange.

He held out his arm and rolled his hand forward, feeling the foil roll into it. He clapped his hands around it, and mushed it around between them, snapping the slices apart from one another. Peeling it open, he plucked out a slice and popped it into his mouth. Careful not to bite down, he simply relaxed and enjoyed it as the orange-flavored chocolate luxuriously melted around his tongue.

Once it was gone, as he reached for the orange to pick up the next slice, he heard an excited gasp from the door, and a few quick steps. Glancing to his right, he found Jean, sparkling kitten-eyes peeking over the arm of the sofa, honed in on the ball in his hand.

Jean had a special way of being incredibly cute much of the time he’d spent with her, and now he was tickled inside. With a light chuckle, he held up the orange. “Want some?”

Her head tilted, hair swishing to partway cover her face, sweet and demure, and her eyelashes fluttered. “Pretty please?”

This was all too much for Phian to resist. A puff of laughter slipping between his lips, he plucked out the next slice, holding it out to her. “Of course.”

With a squeal of delight, Jean lunged predatorily over the arm of the couch to snatch her prize, landing on her elbows to take it with her teeth.

Bursting out laughing, he went for the next slice for himself, then paused, considering the chocolate in his hand. Jean was still in her own rehearsal clothes, a blue sports bra and black jogging pants.

“I’ve got an idea.”

Jean lifted herself up to meet his eyes, with an intrigued “Mm?”

Setting the orange down on the sofa, he swung an arm over its back, snatching from behind it a large, black sheet, to the sound of an excited “Ooh!”

The pair stood, and Phian held the sheet low, by its middle, letting it form a tiny tent on the floor. Waving his fingers coaxingly, each corner lifted one by one until it had formed around something round, a bit over two feet in diameter. All the while, Jean watched eagerly, nibbling lightly at her lip and eyes flicking between the magician and the magic developing at her feet.

He cast the sheet aside to reveal a dark metal ball with a squared-off base, a dozen evenly spaced shiny slashes running from the top to the bottom, with a loop where they met at the top.

The assistant bounced excitedly on her toes. “What’s the trick? No, wait, don’t tell me, I wanna guess!”

With a broad grin, the magician took ahold of the loop, and lifted. The shiny portion lifted out of the box, revealing that they penetrated from the outer wall to converge on a line down the center, silvery sheets flapping in the air as it was moved. Though they were far from the sturdy blades one usually used, it was clear that anyone sitting within would have to be divided into a dozen slices. As he did, he watched with rising glee as redness crept over the woman’s face. The other person’s enjoyment always made slicing them up much more fun.

Now unsupported, the slices of the box facing Phian fell open, fanning outward, to a slight gasp from Jean. “It’s so pretty,” she muttered.

Phian stepped aside, gesturing invitingly to the box’s interior, and Jean eagerly slipped inside, ducking her head and tucking her knees up close to fit.

As if he were pulling up a drawstring, Phian pinched the air and lifted, closing the box around her.

Tension rose as Phian placed the fabric blades against the top. Though neither of them made a sound, he could feel Jean’s anticipation.

Then, he dropped it, the blades slipping down as smoothly as a guillotine, landing with a conclusive clang.

A second later, all twelve wedges rolled outward, each with their own shining, silvery walls.

Squatting down, Phian lifted one of the foremost ones, waving a hand at the joint to signal it to release itself. With a twelfth of a woman in it, it was warm and heavy in his hands. “I used dark steel for an image of brutality, but you’ll have to remind me to at least install windows.”

The only reply was a muffled “Mmm-mm!” The only thing he could really expect. Turning it so the wedge-end was down in his hand, he peeled the duller arc away to peek within. There he was met by Jean’s left eye, bright red skin, and a knee still tucked close by her chin. Adhering to the blades as she was, she couldn’t open her mouth, or properly move her tongue.

The magician closed the box segment again, and set the wedge of Jean back in place. Then, he stepped into the ring and turned around. This box had a second function no one would have guessed at. He stretched out his arms and splayed out his hands, and after a moment, the fabric snapped down, flush with the arcs of metal.

For the moment, Jean was gone.

Stepping on two of the wedges, the magician carefully squatted down. As he did, the box curled back in around him.

His heart pounded. His body tingled. No matter how many times he did something like this, it never ceased to be exciting.

He snapped his fingers, and the fabric snapped back in around him.

Her face was on fire. Her body quivered with the energy of adrenaline. A pressure was gone from her pants, and her top now tightly hugged her upper torso. She turned her mind inward, feeling the need to listen. The other mind within hers was reeling. Phian couldn’t help but grin, evoking a more specific thought from Jean: “Why am I smiling?”

Phian stretched out two fingers, then flicked them upwards. She couldn’t help but squirm as the fabric “blades” slipped upward, out from within her. Real blades didn’t tickle like that.

What was happening dawned on Jean. “Ohhhh,” she thought. ”Ohhhh!” She was filled with flustered delight, sending a shiver and a tingle from the top of her neck down to the base of her spine. "Ph.. Phian? Did you just possess me...? ...Oh goodness, that's too cool!"

The start of Phian’s laugh felt like swallowing too big a lump of water at once, then she was fully free. “Yes,” she replied aloud as she pushed the front of the box open with her feet.

Jean’s thoughts skipped, almost like a hiccup. “Please don’t stop,” she purred.

It was Phian’s turn to be given pause, caught off-guard by Jean’s intensity.

Unfolding herself, Phian clasped her hands together, raising them over her head as she rose to full height, stretching. Then, she spread her feet, placing her hands on her thighs, and lunged one way, then the other. It wasn’t strictly necessary. Jean hadn’t been in the cramped box for long. Still, it was always nice to get a feel for a new body: Jean was a few inches taller, and few bodies ever felt as light as Phian’s.

More importantly, Jean was relishing it. Every movement reinforced in her mind that Phian was in control of her body. She felt ready to burst from excitement!

Finally, Phian turned, and plopped back onto the couch. A flick of her hand snapped a fanned-out deck of cards into it, and she fanned herself with it. “Hoo! Jean! Maybe we should do this more often!” A new wave of heat washed over her, which she couldn’t help but cackle at.

Transferring her fan to her left hand, she reached down, and snapped off the next wedge of the chocolate orange.

She laid her head back, and teasingly, agonizingly slowly lowered the chocolate into her mouth, letting it melt there as her heart fluttered.

Ten minutes later, half the orange was gone, and the pair were satisfied that it had been a perfect idea.

Footsteps approached. Phian opened one eye to find Penny framed in the doorway as she entered, and promptly sat over the arm of the chair, sprawling back to rest her head in Phian’s lap. Phian’s heart skipped a beat, then maintained a flutter. She could practically feel hundreds of tiny hearts bubbling off of Jean’s mind.

The magician set her card-fan down draped an arm around Penny’s waist, and stroked her hair. She met her assistant’s eyes with a practiced devilish smirk.

“Hey, Phian,” Penny murmured with a tired smile.

Phian held the remaining half of the chocolate orange aloft. “Want some?”

The assistant glanced at the orange, then turned her head to examine the prop on the floor, taking in its implications, then back at the magician. Her eyes twinkled eagerly as an affectionate smile curled into an excited grin.

“I’ve got an idea.”