WHO: Presto and Ruby Lucas WHAT: Presto visits Ruby and asks for advice and help on being a woman. WHEN: Wednesday, July 19 WHERE: Ruby’s place WARNINGS: nudity, mentions of sexuality, gender, and confusion STATUS: Closed and Complete
Presto had faced two of his closest friends like this, and he had determined to face the third. Ruby was a friend, and someone he trusted, and he hoped she could, and would, believe him when he told her he was him. And showed her magic. Oh boy. He had two proofs of who he was. What he knew, and the tattoo he still had on his very much different chest. Ruby had seen the tattoo before. After all, he had not worn a heavy shirt always when staying at a beachside bed and breakfast.
Today, he was wearing sweats, overlarge in both bottom and tops, and feeling a little twitchy, but he also felt a little happy that he had survived this long. He frankly had freaked the fuck out the first day, and maybe been still doing so the second and third days.
But now, his fourth day in, he was definitely feeling like he could survive this, even if he was afraid and weirded out still. He did not, not at all, want to be like this for any longer than he had to. That said, he also wanted to make sure he wasn’t an idiot, and that he learned from this. He had a chance to actually learn shit no man ever did. Seemed stupid not to try.
Or so he felt when not freaking out.
Taking a deep breath, he knocked on Ruby’s door and hoped she was in a believing mood.
***
Well, daaaaaaaamn, Presto sure did make for a cute girl! That was something Ruby would note when she met this ‘stranger’ on the front porch of the B&B (even if she didn’t know who it was yet). Maybe it was the red hair - gingers were super cute, just ask Nick. Though Presto was, thankfully, a lot more talkative and social than the foxy police officer Ruby had met.
But anywaaaay. “Hey!” Her eyebrows shot up to the sky when she saw the random person on her doorstep. Of course she didn’t recognize the redhead, at least not right away. The connection ‘gee, this must be Presto after a backfired spell.’ was definitely not the first thing to cross her mind. Would it be for anyone?
“Can I help you?”
***
Presto smiled on seeing the gorgeous woman. “This is going to sound odd. It’s me, Presto. I, ah, had a bit of a magical mishap.” He held up a hand. “I know you have no reason to believe me, but it is the truth.”
He nibbled one lip as he often did and rubbed his face. “I was hoping I might ask you for a favor. You’re one of the people in this town I trust the most.”
He had no idea how she was going to react to this, and expected to have to prove himself, so he stopped, nodded, and waited.
***
Weeeeeeeeeeelp.
That was something, alright. Admittedly, ‘magic’ was still something that Ruby was having trouble wrapping her head around - she’d seen the demonstration from Regina, and that was cool, but the fact that someone could give themselves tits and ass after a mishap was a few steps up from using a mirror to look into other rooms of the house a la the Beast from the old fairytale.
Then again, she’d had the magic talk with Presto before - he said it was everywhere, all around them. She’d seen a little of what he could do, too. So it was possible this wasn’t just complete bullshit.
“Okay, uh. Come in, I guess? We’ll go to my room. What favor do you need?” she asked. She was still a little wary, but she would definitely help if she could.
***
Presto smiled softly, embarrassed and red-cheeked still, but glad she had not turned him away completely. “Thank you, Ruby. I appreciate this.” He sighed and rubbed his face as he stepped in at her invitation, feeling and looking shy and embarrassed.
“I’m stuck this way for now, hopefully for not too long, but… well, I was hoping you could help me figure out a basic make-up. Yours always looks natural and good, almost like it’s not there. I was hoping you would at least have advice. I don’t want to get too used to this, but at the same time, I want to not look like an idiot.”
***
“Thanks, you’re sweet,” Ruby laughed, shaking her head. Her makeup took deceptively longer than it appeared - but she supposed she could share some tips about how to not look like a clown experimenting with face paint. “Step into my office and have a seat.”
Her ‘office’ meaning her room, and she pointed to the cushy bench that was in front of her pale vintage vanity - something that had been refurbished, a bit, but it maintained a whimsical sort of fairytale feel. Like much of the furniture in her dwelling. “So, uh...what kind of spell were you even doing, exactly?”
Because turning into a chick seemed like a far cry from pulling rabbits from a hat or whatever Presto was going for. Unless he was going for this on purpose. She didn’t judge.
***
“Just saying it how I see it.” He didn’t lie or flatter. He just didn’t know how to not tell the truth. He nodded as he followed her, peering into her room, and sitting on the bench when she pointed.
“Thank you, very, very much.” He sighed as he sat and smiled at her things, then at her in the mirror. Her question made him grin.
“I was trying to practice transmutation of salt and water into salt water, which is a surprisingly more complex spell than one would think it is. It’s about putting things together in a new way.” He brought his hands together as if bringing those elements together.
“ At the same time, I was worrying about the friend of mine who has been gone for some time, and about another friend who has recently faced some life upset. I got distracted, started losing focus, and at that exact moment, another friend came by for lunch, and… zap.”
He sighed and shook his head, bringing his hands apart like an explosion. “My magic misfired, and the sheer amount of women on my mind, the spell reflecting off an enchanted mirror, and my distraction while using transformative magic meant that I was shifted, completely to my core, to a woman. Even my magic has been affected.”
He shook his head again. “I let myself get too distracted. I should have stopped trying when I couldn’t concentrate, but… “ he waved a hand.
***
The sheer amount of women on his mind. That made Ruby giggle-snort in amusement. “Yeah, sounds like thinking about multiple women at once can be dangerous,” she teased, rummaging in her collection of eyeshadow palettes, foundations, various blushes and lipsticks.
First she started by brushing out Presto’s hair, pinning it up with a clip so it wouldn’t get in the way. Then she studied his - er, her - complexion. “You’re definitely need a primer with sunscreen first so you don’t burn - being a redhead with fair skin and all,” she advised, beginning to use a sponge to apply the clear liquid from a black tube. “It kind of illuminates your skin and evens everything out. Helpful if you have freckles. Then a mineral powder.”
She’d get to eyeshadow and mascara in a minute - the latter was always a little daunting for newbies, especially when you brought out the eyelash curler. “I’m going to guess you need an actual bra too? Don’t want those puppies to sag.”
***
“Thinking about too much anything in that moment would have been dangerous, it just happened to be a number of women. Frankly, it could have been worse. What if I'd been a very student, or a woodworker?” He shuddered at the idea of being locked into an animal form, or something inorganic.
He had gone pale a the thought. He was also worried she would think less of him because he's fucked up so much.
Even so, her obvious knowledge and skills had him relaxing quickly. And completely lost.
A few minutes later, her comment on bras had him blushing bright red. “Uhm, well, no. I managed to buy bras. I'm just not great at putting them on yet.” So much blushing.
He was a virgin with little experience okay?
***
Eh, accidents happened. Of course Ruby didn’t think any less of Presto for messing up. It seemed like magic was sort of a tough thing to get a grip on anyway. If it were her, she knew she’d be screwing up right and left before finally getting the hang of her craft. “Don’t beat yourself up about it, seems like it could happen to anyone,” she assured, patting his shoulder. “And it doesn’t make you a terrible wizard or whatever.”
Though honestly, the thought of Presto needing help putting on a bra was hilarious. That probably said he didn’t have a lot of practice taking them off either, but whatever. Again, she didn’t judge. “I can help you, don’t worry - just gonna sweep on a bit of eyeshadow. We’re going for a neutral kind of look. Close your eyes,” she instructed as she applied mascara to really focus on the lashes, whereas a pretty champagne shade of shadow was swept across the lids. “Do you have a bra with you, or...?’
Wasn’t like Ruby hadn’t seen tits before. She’d been with men, she’d been with women. Boobs were boobs, they didn’t phase her much.
***
“Thanks.” Presto flushed, and ducked his head, the glimmer of tears shed for a second, and then blinking and nodding. "Thank you." Presto felt very embarrassed sometimes about this slipup. "I hope you're right." Presto just hoped it faded soon.
"I do have a bra, got sized at a store, which was... an experience." He blushed bright, a blushing that went down into his shirt top. "I just was having trouble putting it on," and he spoke as he closed his eyes as she worked.
"I have had an odd week."
***
“Odd is an understatement, I think,” Ruby smiled, though she was about done working her own magic with makeup and capped the mascara. Her eyes were hazel-green too, so she knew the best looks to bring them out and not detract from how pretty the natural shade was. “There we go! Then you just wash it off at the end of the day and start over tomorrow,” she winked. But hopefully Presto wouldn’t be a woman for too much longer.
The door to her room was shut - Granny didn’t pay much attention to what Ruby did in here, to the old woman’s credit - so she stepped back and prepared to give lessons on Bras 101. “The trick is to learn where the clasps are so you can just reach around and hook it easily - but go on, bring out the brassiere and let’s do this right.”
***
Presto chuckled. “Yeah. There’ve been odder. When the alien soldiers invaded Orange and started shooting everything in sight and I held a philosophical discussion with an alien general about the ethics of invading a pre-galactic world.” He chuckled again as he rested under her hands, relaxing.
When she was done, he nodded and blushed a little. “Okay.” And he did so, bringing out the bra, suitably sized for his current size, and handing it over, then hesitating, before stripping off the sweat shirt and sitting there, even redder, his upper half free to her gaze.
***
Soooooo not gonna touch the alien invasion thing, because Ruby just wanted to pretend like that didn’t happen. Besides, saying it may jinx them again. Nope. Go away, aliens. Instead, she’d be here assisting Presto with this bra contraption - they were tricky prisons, weren’t they?
“Just relax, it’s an education,” she snickered, and pulled the bra around so the clasp was at the front - just so he could see exactly how the hooks fit into the tiny prongs. “You can do it like this too, facing it, but most women get good enough to where they can just reach behind and do it. Now pull the straps up over your shoulders.”
And ta-da! An automatic perky bosom.
***
Presto chuckled at her wording. “Education, huh?” Presto was still a guy inside his body, still just as silly in some ways, and at the movements, and at the way she worked, and the pull of the silky fabric just so…
… that bosom was extra perky, let’s say, yes.
Presto was blushing more, right down into that bra, and he nodded as he adjusted it a little. “I don’t know how you make it look so easy. I tried to do it and nearly sprained my arms. And other things.” He chuckled again. Then smiled as he looked up at her, taking a long breath. “Thank you, Ruby. I appreciate this, a lot.”
He reached out to catch one of her hands and squeeze it.
***
She returned the hand squeeze, happy to help out. Damn, Ruby couldn’t imagine what it was like to be a dude - what would she do? Scratch her balls and grunt a lot? Drink beer? Well. Enough beer was consumed while she was a woman, so that wouldn’t be much of a difference.
“No problem,” she chirped. “Want to borrow some clothes? I have a couple dresses that would look cute on you.” Better than the baggy sweatshirt, anyway. It was way too hot outside for that! And while red was definitely her favorite color, she did have some frocks in other shades. Ones that would compliment a redhead.
***
His response to her offer was a smile, he smiled wide to her and rose and hugged her, then nodded. He couldn’t believe how nice she was being. He had always respected her, but this was just… amazing.
“If you wouldn’t mind? I don’t think I’ve very good at buying clothing. Even with sizes, I keep getting stuff that either shows everything off or doesn’t fit right.” Frustration showed in his tone and face.
“I don’t mind being a little showy. But I never wanted to show off everything as a guy, much less as a girl when there feels like there is more to show! But I also sucked at fashion even as a guy. I had to have tailors help because I tended to buy… clashing and poorly fitting clothing.”
He flailed a little.
***
“Oh, I see how excited you are about looking cute and fashionable - nothing wrong with that,” Ruby laughed, heading to her closet to take out a few things. First was a retro teal dress, adorned with white polka dots - the bustline was ruched and the dress had hidden pockets, which was honestly one of her favorite things about it. Rarely could you find a dress or a skirt with pockets.
But the teal color would look like with the coloring a redhead had. She gave that to Presto first. “Try this, and some shoes - “ Yes, some cute summer sandals would work. Ruby also selected a couple other things he could change into later - another dress, a short-sleeved top that could be easily paired with jeans. “Aw, you’re going to look amazing, dahling.”
***
Presto blushed. “I just want to try to look… okay, while I am like this.” He was as red as his hair, and shivering, unsure what he was doing, but hopeful he could look okay. Right now, he felt like an idiot and a freak.
“Okay?” He did his best to slip into the dress, pulling it down snugly, and peering at it then up at her as he slipped into the shoes, shaking a little. He was nervous, and yet he trusted her, so he did it, then stood and faced her. “What do you think?”
***
“Perfect!” Ruby gave him a thumbs up. “Just don’t fall over and crack an ankle, and you’ll be golden.” At least she’d selected shoes that didn’t have an outrageous, teetery heel - those were damn near impossible to walk in, unless you were a seasoned pro with lots of practice. But chunky summer sandals were infinitely easier.
All in a day’s work - helping formerly male friends ease into their womanly transitions. Yep. “Anything else you need?” she asked.
***
“I’ll try. No promises.” He knew he could be, sometimes, occasionally, clumsy. But he was hopeful. And these felt… mostly okay. He swallowed, and smiled at her.
“No, just… thank you. Ruby. I owe you.” And Ruby got a big and tight hug.
“I don’t know what I would do without you.”
***
“Hey, no worries, just happy to do what I can,” Ruby patted Presto’s back (she’d resist the urge to play with braid all that luxurious ginger hair - maybe later). Turning into the opposite sex was way up there on the weird scale, but not the worst that could happen. It was all just kind of...easing her into the weirdness the county had to offer.
Then she pulled away slightly, but only to offer a grin and a beckoning twitch of her finger. “Come on, I think there’s a pitcher of fresh-squeezed lemonade in the kitchen.” They could even spike it with vodka!