From charm to table

Dani floated in the air in her quarters. She didn’t feel like being earthbound at the moment… so she wasn’t. The perks of being an entity of infernal origin and all that. With a hand propped beneath her chin and another tapping on the empty space in front of her like it was a table, she mused.

Her thoughts twirled around and settled on: this dimension was pretty nice, but it was also pretty vanilla. On the one hand, people that had no spell resistance at all. On the other hand, no elves, no boots of blinding speed, nothing special. Just a bunch of humans and golems and the complete lack of magic.

It could be worse, but it could also be better.

Hmm.

Hmmmmm.

Hmmmmmmmm.

She flipped upside down and let her tail curl lazily around her arm which was now holding her spellbook that had popped into existence with but a thought on her part in the space between her second to last ‘hmm’ and the last ‘hmm’. The book opened and the pages flipped rapidly of her own accord until they reached a familiar looking spell. Not the charm ones, but rather, yes, that one.

She cast it. She impressed her will onto the world, telling it what was right, and the world obeyed.

At first it was only a pinprick. A barely visible point of light. She waited patiently. Time passed. The point expanded outwards, a ring of new lights encircling it, and then again and again until a fist sized portal hovered before her.

It glowed with a sort of hazy violet light intertwined with spirals of red and sickly greens and blues all circling in on themselves unto the infinity that was the center’s singular axis condensed into that origin point. The edges frayed but kept more or less stable, which was all she wanted. Just enough to reach through for a moment and… there! She closed her fingers around a familiar form.

She ripped her hand back and a second later the portal closed, saving her arm from being chopped off which would have been a rather annoying inconvenience. Especially so given that said arm was attached to unsaid hand that unfurled to reveal to her what she expected: her bag of holding, previously stored in her tower’s safe room, but now happily reunited with its mistress.

She had been worried about being stuck here, but it turns out whatever misfire she had cast had etched upon her essence (not a soul mind you since that wasn’t present) whatever requisite sympathetic connection was required to count her home plane and this amongst her known locations for transportation magics.

Neat.

She supposed she could go back, but the thought didn’t hold the necessary appeal to translate into action. And why was that? Well, the answer was sitting in her palm. She had her duty (like she cared about that) as a fiend of the highest order to plow fertile ground. To sway, to whisper in mortal’s ears, to wrap their souls around her fingers. Perhaps it was more accurate to say it was her nature, just as inescapable for her as it was for her victims.

She bared a pointy tooth. And then she laughed for a good bit at the chain of cruelty that bound them together. It was a hilarious, gut-wrenching, cosmic comedy. A joke that never got old for her or her kind.

With an application of her will, the bag that she was holding was opened and out flew a few trinkets she had collected and deemed worthy of holding onto. First came a spiked collar. Next a belt. Then a glove. And finally a sword. Each and every one cursed unto the nine hells and back.

She floated the items onto her table and gave each a thoughtful lookover.

Hmm.

Hmmmm.

Hmmmmmm.

She picked up the collar.

Yes, this would do.

—

Zarya was lifting weights in the Overwatch gym, focused in a state of sweaty zen, so she didn’t quite notice when the door opened behind her. Instead she just repeated another set of the mind-numbing exercise.

“Oh Zarya!” A high pitched, sickly sweet voice announced itself. Zarya finished her rep and heaved the weight off to the side, making sure not to drop it like some neanderthal. Taking proper care of your tools was a point of pride for her, from these simple weights to her particle cannon, care for the lesser things made it an easy habit to care for the important stuff.

She sat up on the bench and turned around to see the newcomer, this Dani. “Hey, bitch.” Pharah had been by earlier, helpfully instructing her on the new rules that comprised proper decorum. “Come to put on some muscle?”

“No, I’m quite happy with the way I am.” Dani slinked over to Zarya, holding her hands behind her back. “Though now that you bring it up, it seems like you aren’t quite satisfied with your own body.”

“Not until I can lift another five kilo’s. Perseverance is key.” She was well below her 512kg record, but this was just stamina training today. Record-breaking could wait.

“I see. I see. But you do know you’ll never be happy like that.” Dani’s fingers alighted on the muscular woman’s shoulders possessively. “It’s just the facts.”

Zarya looked at her friend with as stony a face as she had ever worn. On one hand, she trusted her friend, but wasn’t she being a bit pushy? She had half a mind to just ignore her and get back to lifting. She needed to get her mind off the fact that she still had a whole day to wait until Mercy could do whatever she needed to do to get Zarya some bigger tits. Something about her staff and some new tech; though it didn’t really matter to her, since she just needed to comply with the new rules pronto. She wasn't some rogue or villain for god’s sake.

“The facts,” Dani continued undeterred, “are that humans, of which you are one, have an upper limit on their physical prowess. There’s just no getting around it.” Dani eyed the pink haired heroine. “And you, my dear, are approaching that limit fast.”

“I… I know there’s only so much muscle I can pack in proportion to body fat before I begin to have health problems, but I’m hardly at that point yet.”

“Delusion.” Dani cut in sharply. “I’ve seen a lot of humans in my time. Particularly the sword-bearing muscly hero types. Trust me. Hear me. You won’t be happy when you reach your limit and you’re so close. There’s no overcoming that. No perseverance or determination will get you past the impossible.”

Zarya felt a bit of wetness in the corner of her eye. She reached up to wipe away and was surprised to find a tear. When was the last time she had cried? She couldn’t remember. Dani’s words wormed their way inside her, and they were a vicious barbed cord, tearing as they entered.

“Do you trust me? I only want what is best for you. For you to be happy. And you won’t be happy lying to yourself.”

Zarya tried to respond, but failed. Instead she simply nodded.

“Oh, fantastic! The first step to happiness is the acknowledgement of its lack.” Dani clapped her hands together in an endearingly girlish manner. “And the second step is letting old Danriella Movreur, happiness expert, tell you what to do.”

Dani moved her other hand out from behind her back. Zarya saw it was holding a sort of devilish looking collar. It had spikes all around it, and it was painted a kind of gothic color scheme. It didn’t really scream happiness to her.

“This is a collar of physical might. It gives you strength beyond strength. With this little beauty around your neck you’ll be stronger than even the strongest human. And before you ask, the answer is magic.”

“Magic, huh?”

“Yeah, I’m a mage if you forgot, silly. We’re like magpies. Can’t help ourselves when we find a magical artifact, we’ve just gotta have it. I have quite the collection I’ll have you know.”

“And you don’t mind giving this to me?”

“Lending. Lending it to you. As long as we’re friends that is. I’d do anything for a friend.”

“Got you.” Zarya nodded. She still hesitated, not actually reaching out to take the proffered relic yet. “You’re sure?”

“One hundred percent sure!”

“If you say so.” Zarya took the choker and clicked it open. With an eager Dani nodding at her to continue, she placed the opened clasps around her neck and then with a final sounding click, pressed them together to close around her neck. As soon as it did, spikes of black tendrils shot out from the band and pierced her neck.

There was a brief moment of pain, and then, then, oh. Her brain felt like it was on fire. Her vision went white and she felt her pussy squirting from the sheer orgasmic pleasure of it.

“That’s the acclimation phase. The tendrils are binding themselves to your spine and brain. I find magic isn’t purely a metaphysical thing. There tends to be somatic components to even the most aetherial workings, though don’t ask me why.”

Zarya heard the words, but she couldn’t quite parse them. They felt jumbled and so too did her own thoughts. All that she could focus on was the writhing sort of feeling and that overwhelming bliss.

“Shouldn’t take too much longer now.”

Zarya’s knees buckled and she fell down to the floor amidst the puddle of her own juices.

“Yep. Right… about… now.” Dani looked at the heroine expectantly.

Zarya’s eyes fluttered open. “What the hell was that?”

“Good question! That was the collar binding itself to you. It’s already begun the process of making you stronger with absolutely no strings attached!”

“What? I’m not talking about that. I’m talking about… this.” She pointed to herself and the ground which she was currently sitting on.

“Oh don’t worry about that. Some side effects are to be expected.”

Oh, so it was normal. Zarya resolved to not worry about it.

“And you said I should be stronger?”

“Yep. It doesn’t take effect immediately in full, but over the next day or so, I’d imagine it’ll reach full strength. Why, I think I can already see you getting stronger!”

Zarya looked over herself. She didn’t see anything different, but she trusted Dani that it was helping.

“Okay, well.” She wasn’t quite sure how to proceed. “I’ll be getting back to my training. Not like magic and hard work are mutually exclusive right?”

“Correct!”

Zarya gathered herself and re-acclimated to her previous position on the bench. She picked up the weight and picked up from where she had left off. She still had another ten reps left in her, collar or not. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Dani standing there, still as a statue, with a gleam in her eye.

“You sure you don’t want to join in?” She asked Dani.

“No no, I’m sure. Don’t mind me, I’m just watching.”

Zarya didn’t dignify that with a response. Okay. Lift. Down. Up. Repeat. She continued for some odd ten minutes when she felt the collar act up again. This time it wasn’t so blindingly mind-numbing. Just a sort of pleasant buzz and a sucking sensation. Don’t ask her to explain that out loud; it just felt like it was, like something was sucking inside her skull. She did her best to ignore it, but then after a bit, the warmth started to spread throughout her whole body, burning like a fever. She started to sweat – more so than this type of workout normally called for.

“Unnh.” She couldn’t help but moan a tiny, little moan as the heat reached her core.

“How are you feeling, Zarya-dear?”

“Unnnh. Fine.” She didn’t want to make this more of a deal than it already was. She was a strong, independent woman, and she felt bad enough taking charity like this from another person.

“Oh good. Have you taken a look at your forearm lately?”

She hadn’t. Mostly her eyes were concentrated on the ceiling tiles. She looked over the arm holding the weight above her head and almost dropped the weight out of shock. Her biceps were at least, ten, no, fifteen percent bigger? Those types of gains in such a short period of time were impossible. No, not impossible. At least not when magic was factored into the equation.

“Wow. That’s… that’s quite something.”

“Oh I’m so glad you’re happy with them!” Dani practically squealed in joy.

“I… thank you.”

“And the good news is that we’ve just started. Do me a favor and take off your shirt. I want to see your abdominals changing in real time.”

Zarya blinked. There was something wrong with that line of reasoning, but she hadn’t the faintest what that was. Her hand moved before she could figure out it was and peeled off her white tanktop, revealing a pink sports bra that held her generous bosom in place. She wasn’t shy about it or anything, but normally she was more covered than this, whether in her armor or jackets or the like, or only did this in a private gym like the base’s. Having an audience, well, she felt a bit exposed.

“Oh it matches your hair! How cute.”

“Thanks… I guess?”

“You’re welcome. Now get back to lifting. Doctor’s orders.”

Zarya tossed the tank top aside and, very conscious of her new state, started lifting the weight above her exposed chest and stomach. This went on in a similar fashion for another ten or so minutes before she herself noticed this time that her abs were bigger than they were before. Where before she had an eight pack, now she had a twelve pack. And underlying that was a sort of warm strength that belied the outward change. She felt, she felt, unstoppable.

“Amazing! Keep it up!” Dani cheered her on, and she obliged, continuing her workout.

After a bit, Dani piped in with a question, “Say Zarya, you look like the kind of woman who takes good care of her weapons.”

“Yeah, know them inside and out.”

“So how does it work? This particle cannon of yours.”

“Oh that’s simple. I didn’t build the original of course. That’s RDF tech. I did however learn how to tear it apart and put it back together. Done it a thousand times at the minimum. I’m not an egghead or anything, but I’m not dumb either. Figured, I’d better have some idea, enough to not blow myself up at least. It’s called a particle cannon because it… uh… has particles and it…”

“Uh hu, go on.”

“It’s like a gun, but with particles. Quasum? Quadric? Qua-something.” Zarya was struggling. She knew this, but the words escaped her. “Anyways, it heats them up and then like… shoots them out?” Her definite statement turned into a question halfway through.

“Oh I see. That makes sense!” Dani paved over the holes. Zarya felt like she was being humored. Damn. Why was she feeling so thick-headed all of the sudden? “Don’t mind me. Just get back to lifting.”

Zarya nodded, grateful to have an excuse to focus back on what she was good at. There was a certain joy to be had in the absence of thought the endless repetition of training entailed.

After another period of time had come and gone, including that odd sucking sensation, Zarya was startled awake from her reverie by Dani again. How long was her friend willing to wait watching her anyways?

“You feeling okay, Zarya-dear? It’s been an hour.”

An hour! Zarya thought.

“Yes, an hour,” Dani echoed. Oh she had thought that out loud. How silly of her. “You’ve just kind of been smiling up at the ceiling while lifting that same weight.”

“Oh.”

“You’re looking a bit swollen.” Zarya looked at herself and confirmed Dani’s words. “Congratulations? Oh by the way, I was wondering if you could tell me about your history? You know, just the basic points.”

“My history?”

“Yeah, your tragic backstory and all that. Hero’s always have one.”

“That’s personal.”

“Oh but I’m your friend, aren’t I? And friends tell each other about themselves.”

“True.” Zarya nodded. Dani tended to make sense like that. Which was nice on one hand and annoying on the other. It felt like any time she had an objection to something Dani was doing, Dani just had an obviously true answer ready to fire off in response. “The basics huh. I was born in… in…” Wait, where was she born? “Russia.”

“Yeah? What city?”

“Uh…” The fuck? It was on the tip of her tongue. It started with an ‘A’? Maybe? “Russia?” She repeated, and then she hurried to cover up that failing by continuing on. “Anyways, my home was attacked by the… the… robot thingies.” No, that wasn’t right. They had a name. What was it? “Uh…” And how much had she been uh’ing? “Uh… yeah, that. And then I joined the soldier guys to fight them.”

“Oh, cool! I definitely haven’t heard that one before. Tell me more.”

“And then…” Why was everything so hazy? “The hacker girl got Katya. Yeah I remember that.”

“Oh, gripping! But before you continue on any further, perhaps getting in some more exercise would do your head good.”

That made sense. Dani was so kind like that, guiding her back onto the right track. Training was the most important thing right now. Getting ready for the next attack. She resumed her session.

An hour later, though Zarya herself had long last track of the passing of time.

“How are you holding up Zarya?” Dani asked. Zarya grunted. “Oh, that good? Well, if you don’t mind me asking. What’s the name of this organization whose base we are currently residing within?”

Zarya looked at Dani blankly.

“Oh, were those words too complex? Let me try again. Name? Place?” Dani pointed at the walls.

“Gym.” Zarya remembered, though it was a bit of a struggle. She wanted to help her friend, but it was a bit of a headache doing so. She’d much rather be lifting.

“Good job!” Dani cheered. “Though that wasn’t quite what I was asking.” She cradled the heroine’s head in her hands. “I suppose that’s too much to ask of a muscle bimbo like you. No, all you can do is think about getting stronger like a big dumb oaf. Minus intelligence, plus strength ad infinitum as the scholars back home would say.”

Dani petted Zarya’s pink mane. She observed her charge and was relatively pleased. The woman was now a full two feet taller, and broader as well. A real beast of burden. Pleasing to the eye in its extremeness. Not unlike some of Dani’s demonic cousins, though she was missing a few arms and was distinctly less red.

“Who’s a good little muscle bimbo? You are. You are.” She cooed while Zarya continued to lift. Dani sat on Zaray’s face. “Lick.” She commanded simply. Zarya obeyed. No room in her head for normal thoughts, least of all the extraordinary effort it would take to form any resistance to commands from her best friend.

“Hmm, not bad. You’ve got some real **** behind your tongue.” Dani complimented, more for her sake than the placid meat beneath her. “I think you’ll serve as a good combination cunt-licker and bodyguard. After all, even a mage of such surpassing quality as myself could still use a bit of big dumb muscle every now and again. Better take this off before you become so dumb you can’t even obey commands.” With a flick of her finger, the collar detached and long thick cords of tenebrous ichor withdrew from Zarya’s form with only the slightest grunt of discomfort from the changed woman.

“There we go. All in all, a good day’s work if I do say so myself.” Dani sensibly chuckled while Zarya, having not received a command otherwise, continued to lick the dark, wet whatsit above her head. There was a name for that, but like many other things, she couldn’t remember what it was. And besides, she had weights to lift. Muscles and strength and weight were very important and she remembered those, and she remembered her friend Dani, so all was good with the world.