Hard Life Decisions

You are woken up in a foreign bed, with sunshine streaming through the windows, by a woman kissing you on the forehead. As you open your eyes, you recognize the face of your chemistry teacher. "Ms. Daniels? ... Where am I?"

"Oh Simon", she smiles. "Can't you remember what we did last night?"

Last night... you were at Maisie's. And you... Oh. Ooooohhh. Both of you break out in laughter and join each other in an embrace, leading to a kiss. This has to be the best way you've ever been woken up in your life.

"Can you change me back to myself before we go to breakfast? And before you do... maybe make it so transformations don't get me extremely horny every time? It's really nice, but I don't want to start the day like that, you know."

You find that request very reasonable, given how yesterday evening went for you two. "Maisie, from now on, whenever you transform, you will still feel a pleasant sensation, but no longer get aroused by it." Then, you lean in to her ear to whisper, "Maisie Peterson".

You watch in admiration as the gorgeous nude body of your science teacher changes before your eyes in the also-gorgeous-but-different nude body of your girlfriend. Curiously, she again has the long blue hair you've given her yesterday. It seems like this is Maisie's hair now, unless you decide to change it again. "Do you want to do something about the hair, or is it fine for you like this?"

"I love it, but I don't want people to ask questions. Can we go back to my normal style, maybe?"

You think you can hear a tinge of disappointment in her voice. "Don't worry. Maisie, as far as people who don't know about your curse are concerned, this has been your regular hairstyle for the past three years." It occurs to you that you haven't actually tested the curse's influence on people's perception yet, but everything you've tried so far has worked out pretty well.

Maisie, for her part, seems to be brightened up by your command. "Thank you, I didn't even think of using the perception thing again!"

As you arrive at the breakfast table, Mary and Holly are already present."Did you have fun last night?" Mary doesn't seem to have any shame in asking about her daughter's sex life.

Maisie blushes. "Yeah, we did", she answers quietly.

"Any problems with the curse?"

You exchange awkward looks with Maisie. "We, err... Maisie got hurt by a..." You might have absolute power over the woman you love, but you still can't bring yourself to openly talk about such topics with her mother.

Mary gives you a benevolent smile. "A condom? Yes, that happened to John and me too in the beginning. After that, we were very cautious about it in the early days. Then after some time we stopped caring as much, and that's how Holly happened. And then after Maisie... well, there's a reason he wanted a divorce." She sighs wistfully. "How did you handle it?"

Maisie's blush deepens. "He didn't put it in... down there, but um... my hand might have slipped at one point."

Mary puts a hand on Maisie's shoulder. "If you get pregnant, don't worry. We'll be there for you. My mother was just nineteen when she got me as well - I grew up with my parents and grandparents all in the same house, and my grandparents did a lot of the parenting."

Maisie gives a sheepish smile. "Thanks, mom. I'll still try to not get pregnant."

"So, looking forward to school today, sis? Got any classes together with a man who could order you to do anything at any time?"

Maisie squirms in her seat at Holly's teasing, but you quickly intercede. "There will not be any unannounced orders given. Maisie, you can be sure of that."

Holly giggles. "You just gave her one!"

"I did?" You think back at the last words you said. "Oh shit, I did!"

"No, he did not! Simon would never do something like that!" Maisie quickly comes to defend you.

"No, Holly's right, I did. I said-- you know what, never mind. I'll try the best I can though, Holly, I promise."

Maisie seems to be confused for a moment, but lets it drop. "It's gonna feel like a long time without you in some classes today though. Can you maybe give me something to make it less bad?"

After some thinking, you announce: "Maisie, you're going to find the contents of today's classes interesting and easy to focus on. There, that should help you I think."

"Thanks, I wish I could do that for you too."

"Maybe we'll find a way. That curse can do a lot of things, we just have to be smart about it. We have the whole day after school to experiment, unless you already have plans."

"I don't, and if I did I'd cancel them for you. You've been amazing through all of this." Maisie starts to kiss you, but a small cough from her mother interrupts that.

"You have to go in five minutes if you want to be on time. Help me clean the table and let's go."

You reluctantly do as she says, and you're off to school afterward.

When Maisie and you finally arrive at her home again after a school day that stretched far too long (and Holly's newly-ex boyfriend Mark accosting you at the lunch table - fortunately Maisie found the right words to appease him with your help), you find Holly on the living room couch in a depressed mood.

"Hey sis - oh no, what happened? Why aren't you still at work?" Maisie asks.

Holly gives a big sigh. "I fucked up today. I... I told my boss about the curse."

Maisie gasps. "Oh no! Is everything okay? He wasn't too cruel to you, was he? You always said nice things about him!"

"No, it's not that, it's..."

Holly sighs, then takes a deep breath.

"...the curse didn't work."

"It WHAT?" Maisie exclaims in shock.

"I told him to change my hair colour, as Mom told us to if we decided to explain it to people, and... it didn't." Holly is close to tears.

You feel like you're missing something. "So, if the curse didn't work, does that mean you're free? Isn't that a good thing?"

"I don't know! This has never happened before, to any of our family members! Also, he thought I was pulling a prank on him and he fired me! I don't know what I'm supposed to do!"

Maisie walks over to the couch and sits down next to Holly to put an arm around her shoulders. "Everything is going to be okay, sis. You will find a new job, because you're a hard worker. And you'll find a man who is right for you eventually."

"But what if someone found out about my curse and... claimed me? Without me even knowing? What can I do?"

You try to think about the situation rationally. "As far as I see it, there are two possibilities. Either it actually didn't work, or your boss did something to you and made you forget about it. In the first case, you're free and everything is good. In the second case, I don't see why he would fire you and send you home - wouldn't it be smarter to at least keep you around? In any case, I don't think you could do much but accept your fate, Holly - don't worry too much about the curse."

Holly looks at you, blinking away her tears. "I guess that's true? Still doesn't feel right to just accept this... but you're right, if I'm truly free from the curse, I’ll probably go look at some job postings."

Holly starts to get up from the couch, but Maisie is holding her back. "Not now sis, now you get to sit on the couch and be comforted. Come on Simon, join us! Holly needs this right now."

You join them on the couch so that Holly is sitting in the middle, then put your arm around her shoulders from the other side. She leans into you, resting her head on your shoulder. "Thank you for being here for me, both of you."

Is this really happening? Your girlfriend's sister is cuddling up to you, and said girlfriend is just sitting next to her and... happy about it? Emboldened, you begin to stroke through Holly's hair, eliciting a happy sigh.

After some further repositioning by Holly to get closer to you, Maisie gets up and joins you on the other side. Now you're the one being cuddled by two people, although this feels less like a group hug and more like the beginnings of a make-out session. It especially begins to feel this way when Maisie starts pecking you on the cheek.

"Really? Directly in front of your sister?"

"Shhh, just relax. We can share you. If you really want me to stop, you can order me."

'Share' you? Now that's a thought. When did she--

"Really sis? You would be willing to share him with me?" Holly asks hopefully from the other side.

"Uh... I meant just for comfort", Maisie says, embarrassed.

"Oh." Holly looks genuinely dejected. "I was having thoughts... what could have been if I had been the one to tell Simon... only you were still too young at the time, and now you two have each other..." The tears in her eyes are returning. "And I don't want to make you unhappy by taking him from you."

Maisie suddenly sits up straight. "Wait! Maybe I don't have to be unhappy! Simon, you could make me happy for sharing you with my sister!"

"Wait, are you serious? You're suggesting that I should just... tell you to be happy with it?"

"Of course! You've done this before, when you made me realise how much I wasted my time on my previous boyfriends! And now I'm happier for having you! This would be the same thing, it would make me happier, and Holly too!"

"But-- you'd be giving up a lot!"

"If you don't use the curse, then yes I would, but if you do, I don't think it would feel like giving anything up at all! It's a win-win-win situation!"

You look at Maisie beaming at you, then at Holly, who has a hopeful look in her eyes.