WHO: Presto and Luthien WHAT: Presto, currently a woman, encounters Luthien at a clothing store and finds new comfort and hope in her ideas. WHEN: Saturday, July 22nd WHERE: a clothing store WARNINGS: mentions of body parts, and discussion of a man stuck in a female body. STATUS: Closed and Complete
Presto had been holding off going shopping as long as he could, but with clothing now needing laundering, he had no choice. Here he was, dressed in a set of sweatpants and a sweatshirt that was hugging his voluptuous female body closely. Of course, he couldn’t have gotten a slim body, no.He had to somehow end up in a super-voluptuous body that made him feel like he was moving in ways he had never dreamed of.
He sighed as he headed for the dress, blouse, and skirt areas, by passing the underwear area for now. That was daunting, frankly.
He sighed as he looked around, unsure if he was going to need help or just try to flail through this along the way.
***
An impossibly tall woman walked by. Tall even by basketball standards Luthien towered over everyone around her, but seemed to not notice or care. Her hair hung down past the backs of her knees like a curtain of night.
Clearly, nothing in the store would fit her, but she had a skirt hanging over her arm as she was shopping for someone else. She did notice that Presto seemed lost. In an ambiguously European accent, she asked, "Are you quite all right?"
***
That was… tall. Holy crap. Presto openly stared for a moment, then blushed a brilliant red as he ducked his head. Wow. Now there was someone who didn’t lack confidence. Presto would have given a lot to have that confidence in his own life, much less how he was now.
When the woman turned to Presto, he swallowed and waved a hand. “Ah, yes. No, but yes. Mostly?” Caught offguard, he was a little less coherent than he wanted to be. “I, ah… am lost, mostly, but okay.” Sort of.
Gods, he sounded like an idiot.
“Erm, how are you?”
***
"I'm fine, thank you." There was amusement glinting in her eyes and kindness. "You seem a little less fine, miss. Is there something I can do to help?"
***
“I have no real idea.” Presto ducked his head, then sighed. “Magic, life, gender issues, and a serious boatload of my life is weird are all happening to me at the same time. Got any experience in those areas?”
Presto had been holding in a bunch of this for almost a week. He had not meant to blurt it out, but with his brain running a mile a minute, he had. “Sorry, this isn’t your problem.”
***
"Magic and weirdness, yes. Though I can't say I've had many issues with my gender. Are you questioning yourself?" It wouldn't be the first time she'd encountered such a question. At least one person on her staff had been questioning their gender as well. It did seem a little odd for this woman to blurt that to a stranger, but who was she to judge?
***
Presto sighed. “Not as such, no. More along the lines of… “ He sighed and sat on one of those odd shoe benches that were sometimes sitting around in stores.
“Normally, I’m a guy, and a mishap of magic has rendered me into a woman, probably temporarily, possibly not. Adjusting to being a woman is taking a heck of a lot more than I ever dreamed it might, not that I dreamed of it at all.”
He was one guy who had never dreamed of being a girl or been interested in the idea. Now, his life was consumed by the reality. He was really glad he was no longer working or going to school even major part time. That would have been awkward.
And now he was making someone else’s life awkward. Great move, Presto.
***
Luthien raised her eyebrow, then pushed some of her hair back to reveal a very pointed ear. "I've had experience with magics that disguise, or allow one to take the shape of another, but nothing quite like that."
She let her hand drop to her side, then gave him a little gesture. "If you say you are a man, you are a man. What your mind and heart tells you, that's who you are. There are ways to make your body match your mind, though I suspect if we can reverse this spell, it would be much easier for you than for some people I've known. Though whether you have breasts or not, or, shall we call it an innie or an outie, it matters not. You are still a man. Among my kind, the spirit or soul is one thing, and the body can be another. I suspect it is much the same for humans."
***
Presto listened to her and nodded, smiling a little brighter and sitting a little taller. “It slid into my genetics, temporarily, I hope, and into my magic. It has the feel of something cyclical, and I am hoping it is a weekish thing, and not a month-ish, or longer, thing. “ He nodded again.
He listened with something like awe and smiled. This woman was amazing, and an elf? Wow! That was amazing!
“And you’re right. I’m just not adjusting very well to this body, or the way it reacts to things, which is so different from how my own does and…” he waved around the store. “Buying things to fit it, as well.”
***
Luthien hardly seemed to be bothered by what Presto was saying. “Perhaps you can learn some measure of control. Switch back and forth. I work with someone who would kill for that privilege!”
There were probably other benefits, but Luthien wasn’t the person to ask about that. Instead, she offered Presto another smile. “I think you are not adjusting because it’s not who you are inside. Have you considered taking measures to make yourself look more like a man again? Compressed shirts, baggy clothing, that sort of thing.”
Luthien’s mind was turned towards solutions to make Presto feel more comfortable in the body he’d been given, rather than trying to turn into some kind of fashion icon. Which, she thought, was liable to be a disaster. Presto seemed to be a walking one, which was cute.
***
Presto listened with an open mouth for a moment. Finally, he managed to speak. “If I ever gain complete control of my magic, I will be able to. I know there are spells that would allow it. But right now that day seems a long ways away.”
He perked up, nodding, listening. “I’m not sure how to do that, but it seems like an interesting way to go. Where does one get compressed shirts and that sort of thing?” He had sweat pants and shirts, so he had the baggy part down if he could get well-fitted waist bands and the like. And maybe a hair cut?
He hmmmed as he scrubbed at his face, glad he hadn’t attempted makeup this morning. He hadn’t since his adventure at the nightclub a few days ago. As unobtrusively as possible, he gently rubbed his lower back and upper rear, remembering what had happened there.
“A hair cut might help, huh? All this hair swirling around frames this face very… femininely.” He thought so, himself, anyway.
***
“You will get there, eventually.” If Luthien seemed confident, it was because she believed in the power of the human spirit. Or Elven spirit, as the case might be. But then, Luthien had chosen mortality to be with a human. It was a great power indeed.
“Online, I suspect. Something to bind your chest, and it would be most discreet.” Luthien avoided making a One Ring Binder joke, but she was really really tempted. “And a hair cut could help. Something shorter. Is your hair normally this long? If not, something closer to your original length.”
***
“Thank you. I hope so.” He nodded as he listened, hopeful. He could try those things, and ponder what he could, and would do, if this wouldn’t go away. And he really hoped it would. He was not cut out to be a woman.
He nodded again. “Online makes sense. I could use discreet, for sure.” He shook his head.
“My hair is normally, well, a lot shorter. Here.” He reached into his purse, sighing, and pulled out a picture.
“Like that.”
***
“Then I think you’d look quite cute, and perhaps a little dashing, with your hair like that again,” Luthien assured her. “My world is rife with tales of women joining battle dressed as men. Once, I was told a story of a dashing pirate who fooled her crew for twenty years. I’m certain you could pull off such a look.”
It had always been bothering to her, that women weren’t allowed to fight. A ‘rule’ she’d oft broken. But it did make for interesting tales, and how many of them had simply been men with the wrong body?
“Do you have time? I know a salon nearby.”
***
Presto blushed, then nodded shyly. “You think so?” He listened to her story, eyes wider. Whoah. That sounded cool. “I… would definitely like to try it.” He smiled a little bit more fully. “Thank you for the inspiration.”
Presto blinked, then nodded. “I do, actually. Yeah. Right now, I have lots of time.” He smiled again.
“Please, lead on.”
***
“All right, let's take care of your hair.” Luthien gestured for him to follow her. It wasn’t the strangest story she could ever tell - wearing the literal skin of a vampire-like demon probably took that cake, but that wasn’t an appropriate conversation to have with a stranger.
***
Presto found himself walking with her, heading for a new attitude toward his transformation, a new haircut, and a new outlook, possibly about his entire life. What would he do if he changed back? And then changed again?
Before, even the idea had panicked him, freaked him out. Now he had a bit if a plan, a plan that would only continue to unfold. This was perfect.
With a smile, he walked with her with a little more confidence.