A... guy?!

You expected to see Stella open the door, so seeing a handsome, chiseled man with an open shirt and jeans standing in front of you was jarring, to say the least. He gave you the once-over, seeing your business suit, and he quickly made a few assumptions about who you might be. "Sorry, pal, we're not really the religious type, so if you're here to convert us--"

"Where's Stella?" you asked suddenly, squinting at the man before you. You didn't even feel the red smoke flow out from behind you, as Safiya took solid form off to the side.

The man squinted, and took a step forward, raising a hand to push you back. At least now his assumptions were more on the money. "What exactly is your intentions with my girl Stella?"

His girl? You were ready to shove him right back and ask him the same question, but Safiya swiftly brought a hand up to his temple, surging red energy into his head. The man stumbled for a moment, and then slowly started walking toward the stairs. "Groceries... gotta get... carrots... eggs... I have a coupon... buy one get one..."

Safiya smiled at you, and you just shrugged at her. "What the hell was that?"

"What? I wouldn't recommend you fight him, I could make your body fight-ready but I suspect he knows his stuff. I put him in a memory of yesterday, so now he's going to go shopping, go home, and have way too many eggs at the end of it all."

Before you could ask anything further, Stella strolled into the main area, her slim and perky body clad in black lingerie to match her jet black hair. "Babe, who was it? You're taking too long, I've been--oh no." Her icy blue eyes widened as she spotted you, and she hurried back into the bedroom, as if she thought if you didn't see her too long like that, maybe you won't be able to put together the pieces that your girlfriend had been cheating on you.

You instantly forgot about Safiya's presence next to you as you stormed inside, heading right for the bedroom, already lost to the anger you'd felt as you stopped in her doorway. "What the hell, Stella! Who was that!"

Stella rolled her eyes, fumbling with a shirt as she tried to get the sleeve to right-side out. "Why are you even here, Taylor? I thought you said this was finally the day you were going to turn your dreams into reality or something? You said you were going to be busy all day. And what's with you not calling! I told you to always call!"

"What, so you could give the other guys a heads-up? I can't believe this. I just can't believe it! I thought we had something good, I just needed to take care of business!"

"Yeah, me too," Stella said simply, finally getting the sleeve aligned as she stuck her arms in it. Stella was made for modeling, and while she didn't have Safiya's generous curves, most guys would go crazy over a woman like her, with these eyes and hair that you liked to refer to as the 'Medusa look', since anybody that stared right at her face while she stared back was petrified by her beauty. It wasn't a surprise at all that there would be guys like the one reciting his grocery list trying their hardest to win her away from you--the surprise was that you thought she was better than that, particularly because of her own long rants on infidelity and cheating. It seemed she was one of those people who was so guarded about others doing the things she herself did.

As the argument persisted, neither of you noticed the golden snake slithering along the ground, despite its impressive size. Safiya had been listening in, and then decided she wanted to defuse the situation in her own way! Jinn often took non-human forms, which is a thing you wouldn't have known since you hadn't yet talked with Safiya about it, and she'd so far only turned you into one. Her new serpentine body slid past your feet, and under the bed near Stella at first, crawling up and inside the sheets. Safiya had actually been rather annoyed that nobody noticed, given that she had created this metallic, jewel-encrusted snake artifact as her body, something dazzling and shiny and meant to attract attention, and neither head turned when Safiya's body dazzled in the light! Being made of gold, she looked like the perfect addition to an emperor's treasure room, if only someone would notice...

Safiya coiled up under the covers, waiting for Stella to fix her shirt and reach for her pants next. Safiya's golden head poked out from under the sheet, just enough to be visible, right next to the pants lying on the bed. Eventually, in the middle of Stella trying to talk about her own needs when you were floundering at pitch meetings, she turned to look at the bed finally. The scream she emitted was quickly silenced, as Safiya's coiled body sprang right into her mouth!

You stood there, your own mouth agape, as everything played out so quickly, you didn't really know what to do. Stella's muffled cries were the only sounds as she stumbled backward to the far wall, thumping against it as this slippery metal serpent pushed and slid down her throat! Its tail wriggled and thrashed all about, slapping against her stomach enough that you could hear the contact of the clap. Her arms tried to grab at the snake to pull, but apparently she was unable to get a good grip on the scaly metallic surface; despite the sheer size of Safiya's form, the long, scaled form hurried down her throat, despite the cries and protests from your utterly shocked girlfriend.

You could've helped. You possibly should have helped. Safiya's body is under your command at any moment if you will it! And yet... somehow, whatever was in the Jinn's mind in that moment, you saw no cause for objection. Your frustration with a cheating girlfriend fed enough anger into your system that this felt like justice, in some weird way. Had Grocery-Guy not been here, you absolutely would have kept Safiya from sliding into her body. The last of the tail disappeared into her, and for a moment, Stella looked normal again, like nothing had happened.

"Taylor! What the actual f--uhhh..."

Stella's eyes went wide, as she felt something new happening. She clasped her hands over her mouth, shutting it tight, but as she started to scream again, she was again muffled by the sheer size of something present behind her lips. Slowly, it began to poke through, as Safiya's snake-head revealed itself once more! Stella's arms fell to her side, as her body from the neck down relaxed, while the snake's head pushed out a few inches, enough for the full head to push past. Stella still tried to talk and scream, but her mouth was stretched to its limit, jaw opened fully, just to manage the girth of this golden serpent poking out from her lips. Only her eyes, open and alert, told the tale of Stella's fear about her current predicament.

Slowly, Stella started to stroll towards you, sliding the shirt off her shoulders again, and putting her hands on her hips--entirely contrary to what her eyes and head seemed to want to do. "I thought this would be more fun," the snake said, with Safiya's voice! "I haven't done this one in a while. I modeled this one after a curse I was told about in my travels long ago, the Snaketongue. Those who were cursed with it had tongues of snakes that would bite at people they grew too close to, usually as punishment for lying about their infidelity. As you can see, I've tweaked it a little..."

The snake-head almost looked like it was smiling as it stared at you, while posing Stella's body alluringly before you, against Stella's will like the snake was wearing her body as if it were a suit. You got a good look this time, noticing the eyes made out of emeralds, and the rubies embedded in its forehead, diamonds for fangs. "It seems to me you could use some relationship help. So, allow me to offer my services! Whether your girlfriend cooperates, that's up to her. I'm sure we can find ways for her to make things up to you for what you witnessed today? Take your pick of activities, my friend, and I'll see to it that you have a pleasant evening. And then afterwards, if things aren't mended, we can wipe her mind and you can go your separate ways."

This was insane! Safiya really threw a wrench in the works... but so did Stella. You didn't know what to do! You couldn't even begin to parse the many ways this was undoubtedly morally wrong, to keep Stella captive like this! And yet, that anger inside you wasn't letting up, coupled with the sight of a beautiful woman posing her nearly naked body in front of you... it was severely clouding your judgment.