Terry was sure she had never seen the shop before. In fact, she was almost positive the space between the butcher shop and the hairdresser had been empty just this morning as she passed it on her way to work. It had just shown up as if by magic sometime between then and her walk home. She shook her head. There was no way anybody could move into an abandoned storefront and set up shop that quickly. She must have just not noticed it before. Well, it had certainly piqued her interest at any rate. And she did need to buy a present for her wife...
Cassandra would be graduating from medical school in a week, and was planning a get-together with some of their friends to celebrate. She had been adamant that no gifts were necessary, but Terry always enjoyed finding thoughtful presents to surprise her wife with, and the party would be the perfect occasion.
Cassie had always been the more studious of the two of them, so it was no surprise that she had wound up going to med school while Terry found work straight out of college to support them. Terry smiled as she wistfully thought back to their college days when they had first met. They had been lab partners in their sophomore organic chemistry course, and by the end of the semester had formed a close friendship. Cassie had been shy and reserved back then, even more so than now, and the more outgoing Terry had helped her break out of her shell and enjoy more of the social aspect of campus life. And while Terry was by no means unintelligent, Cassie's diligence and work ethic had more than once saved Terry's grades. Beyond making a good team both in and out of the classroom, though, they also found they had many interests in common and would often stay up late in Cassie's dorm playing video games or watching movies when Cassie didn't feel like going out.
As time went by, Terry began to realize she was falling for her friend. A few times she came close to letting her feelings out in the open, but she always held back. Terry had been very open about her sexuality since high school, and many times had gone to Cassie for consolation after failed dates and disappointing hookups, but she couldn't imagine her friend swinging that way. Cassie fit the shy virgin archetype to a T, and had never shown any indications of being into girls, so Terry decided to just be content with what she had and not risk messing up their friendship by proclaiming her feelings for the other girl. So when Cassie had proposed that they split an apartment for their junior year, Terry, despite her better judgement, agreed.
The stress of living with her crush but not admitting her feelings eventually proved too great for Terry. She started drinking more than before and became reclusive. Cassie became worried for her friend, but Terry never gave a satisfactory explanation for her behavior. One night, however, after several beers, Terry just barged into Cassie's room and laid everything out on the table. To her surprise, Cassie's face turned a deep red before slowly breaking out into a smile. She nervously told Terry that she was bisexual, and that she reciprocated her friend's affection. Terry quickly sobered up as Cassie explained that she had been raised in a socially conservative home. Her parents had never been outright anti-gay, per se, but she had always felt some intangible pressure to grow up and have a good heteronormative family. Combine that with an abstinence-only sex ed in her high school, and Cassie had eventually come to suppress all her sexual desires, especially those for women. Terry listened open-mouthed as Cassie took a deep breath and informed her friend that she was ready to begin a relationship and start embracing a side of her that she had always kept down before, if her best friend would be there along the way. As Cassie looked up nervously for a response, Terry just smiled, reached one hand behind her friend's head, and pulled her in for a kiss. At that moment, everything felt right for Cassie, and as she melted into Terry's arms, she was certain that her life was about to change for the better.
Although they already lived together, the new couple designated date nights where they could just be girlfriends and not have to worry about the minutiae of being roommates. These invariably led to both girls returning to Terry's room at the end of the night. Their sexual relationship progressed slowly, almost tortuously slow to in Terry's opinion, but she knew that week by week Cassie was expanding her comfort zone, and it was important not to push her too hard. Terry would always remember Cassie's first time giving head, looking up with eyes that seemed to ask, 'Am I doing this right?' It was adorable, and so sexy. Eventually Cassie had become fully comfortable with her sexuality and willing to try anything Terry suggested. They spent most nights together in Terry's bed and decided to move into a one-bedroom apartment for senior year.
They had gotten married right out of college. Cassie had wanted to wait until they had more money and stability, but Terry pointed out that having joint finances would make putting Cassie through med school much easier. Cassie eventually agreed, and made sure every detail of the ceremony was absolutely perfect. Even her parents, though clearly a bit uncomfortable at first with the idea of their daughter marrying a woman, came around eventually once they saw how happy Cassie was around Terry.
Back in the present, Terry opened the door of the strange shop and walked inside. It soon became clear that her earlier assessment of the business as an antique store was not quite accurate. While much of the merchandise did seem to be very old, there were also some newer-looking items mixed in. The common theme did seem to be some purported association with magic. The place was lit solely by candlelight and Terry thought she even caught a glimpse of cobwebs in the flickering glow. The whole effect made it seem like something from a high fantasy novel. As she wandered into a randomly-chosen aisle, Terry pondered if the store was supposed to be catered toward magicians and similar performers, or just a novelty shop for fantasy aficionados looking for cosplaying props.
Terry's eyes eventually settled on an ancient-looking tome. Cassie loved rare and old books, and if this one was as old as it looked, it would surely be a good collector's item. She picked it up, and, failing to find a price tag, began leafing through it. The book seemed to be instructions for casting spells, most of which featured some kind of transformation. She suddenly stopped flipping when she reached a spell simply titled, 'Phallic Growth Spell: For Women'. Terry knew she should probably laugh and put the book down at this point, but she couldn't help but feel a bit intrigued. Her and Cassie's sex life had been pretty routine lately, with Cassie being busy finishing up her schooling and looking for residencies. Maybe a bit of roleplay would be fun. She even had a strap-on that she hadn't used in a while...
"Excuse me... miss."
Terry spun around to face the owner of the voice, a little annoyed at his hesitation before identifying her gender. She had a boyish figure- as a child she was always skinny, and puberty hadn't done a thing for her. She wore an A-cup bra, but even that label was a bit generous. Her hips and butt weren't particularly noticeable either. She often wondered whether this was her body simply trying to live up to her ambiguously-gendered name. Terry had decided, however, that just because she was a lesbian named Terry didn't mean she had to look like a man, and went all in on her hair. Terry had been blessed with thick, wavy, blonde hair, and spared no expense to keep it looking good. She wore it down, slightly past her shoulders, and it was usually enough so that people could reliably identify her as a woman even from far away. She was now a bit miffed that the speaker had apparently not noticed it.
He was an old man, or at least appeared to be. Terry found that she had a bit of difficulty focusing on him, and when she looked at him out of the corner of her eye, his form seemed to waver, flickering through a wide range of human bodies.
"Have you found something that interests you?"
"Oh, yeah... I saw this, uh, book, and I noticed it didn't have a price tag," Terry stammered, a bit embarrassed at having been caught reading the smutty spell book.
"Ah, the Grimoire of Proteus. A fine choice. Very powerful magic. Normally I would charge a great deal for this, but for you, shall we say... twenty dollars?"
Terry eyed the man suspiciously, or at least eyed his general area. He sounded sincere, though she had no idea what would make one particular novelty "spell book" any better or worse than another. It was a stupid thing to spend twenty dollars on, but as she looked down at it she couldn't bear to put it back on the shelf. Maybe she and Cassie could get twenty dollars' worth of fun out of the thing.
"Oh, what the hell. I'll take it."
