Catherine watched in amazement as Peter wolfed down his meal. She knew from experience that the magic of the potion which had changed their bodies led to an increased appetite afterwards, and she had also noticed that using her own inner reservoir of power demanded energy, but witnessing that hunger in someone else was a different matter.
The food was plain and simple - mostly bread, fruit and cheese - but thankfully Peter didn't seem to mind. He was apparently more focused on quantity than taste, shovelling his way through their meal as fast as he could. Catherine finished her own portion quickly enough, and surveying the rapidly depleting pile of food wondered how they were going to afford it if their appetites remained this high.
In the last two days they had already gone through what would normally be a week's worth of food. If they kept eating this much they would soon run out of money, especially since their landlord would be coming by to collect rent soon. Peter couldn't go back to his job working for Alexei - his appearance had changed too much, and the alchemist would get suspicious. They had some savings tucked away at the bottom of the clothes chest, but it would only be enough for a month at best. Catherine used to make some coin mending clothes and selling a few things at the weekly market, but she hadn't done so in months due to her sickness and even on good weeks the money had been a pittance compared to Peter's wages.
She leaned forward, intending on resting her elbow on the table, but encountered an unexpected problem - her enlarged breasts were getting squashed against the table. Both she and Peter were still naked, and Catherine noticed her husband watching intently as she arranged her boobs more comfortably, resting them on the table so that they wouldn't get in her way anymore. It was going to take some time until she was used to working around her new assets. Once she had gotten comfortable, she propped both elbows on the table and leaned forward, giving Peter an unrivalled view of her cleavage as she did so.
"Peter, I think we need to decide what to do now. That potion, well, it has changed both of us, and I don't think we can just go back to our normal lives."
Peter nodded, his gaze riveted to her bosom even as he grabbed another slice of bread and slathered it in butter. She felt a tingle of excitement seeing him so captivated by the valley of her cleavage. Unable to resist teasing him she drew in a breath, causing her chest to rise and making Peter miss the bread and smear butter over his hand as he drank in the view. Laughing a little inside at his obvious distraction, Catherine continued speaking.
"I'm serious here. That potion you brought home has changed us. I went to the market yesterday, and hardly anyone recognised me." She paused. "It was really surreal actually. The only people who recognised me without prompting were young children and old people. And even then, none of them actually commented on the fact that my appearance had changed. I mean, I was kind of expecting at least one person to comment on these." She hefted one impressive breast to emphasise her point, Peter's eyes following her every move as she did so.
Peter swallowed his most recent mouthful before replying. "I don't disagree, but what should we do? We don't have any family in the city. I don't want to become a farmer spending the rest of my days wondering about how many turnips I can plant. I guess I could get a job as a labourer down on the docks or something, but you know the money isn't great for work like that."
"Well, we have some money still, so we have a little time to think about our options", Catherine said. "By the way, did you manage to find out from Alexei what the potion was when you were at work yesterday?"
Peter slumped, and averted his gaze as he spoke. "No, I didn't see the old man at all yesterday. The place wasn't locked up or anything, but there was no sign of him. It was really weird. I rooted through his office and found some books that might have been useful, but I must have dropped them back in that alleyway when I was attacked." He sighed. "I'm sorry. I don't know how we can find out what the potion is now."
Seeing his dejected face, Catherine laughed. "Don't be so glum! When I came to your rescue you were still holding your bag, and I brought it back with me. You had a death-grip on that thing, and if it was that important to you while you were in so much pain I didn't want to leave it behind. I'll get it now, and we can look through what you found together."
She jumped up, not noticing the fact that her suddenly bouncing assets caused a sudden flush on her husband's face, and went into their bedroom to retrieve the bag. Peter's bag had been tossed into a corner, but she quickly found it and brought it back into the main room. She cleared away the remains of their meal, and then emptied its contents onto the table. There were only a dozen books, but it was an esoteric selection with each book unique in its own way. There was one small volume that was barely twenty pages long alongside a massive tome with several hundred thick parchment pages and held shut with a heavy iron latch. Catherine looked at the pile of books, and then picked up a smallish volume with a beautifully painted cover called 'J. Karstadt's Compendium of Herbal Poultices and Remedies'.
"So, where do we start with any of these?" Catherine said, carefully opening her book. The pages were filled with amazingly life-like drawings and diagrams of plants, but every inch of space around the illustrations was filled with tiny writing that she had to squint to make sense of. She shut the book again and looked up at Peter, who shrugged.
"Honestly, I'm not sure. If Alexei had any organisation to how he arranged his books, I didn't work it out. I just picked the ones that seemed to refer to curing diseases and things. I also found a couple of things that, well, mentioned boosting...ummm...virility...and...erm...fertility, " Peter seemed to stumble over the last few words, his cheeks red with embarrassment.
Catherine raised an eyebrow at him and sat back on her chair, crossing her arms under her chest, propping up and emphasising her breasts as she spoke. "Did you now? I can't imagine what might have made you think of that kind of thing," there was a twinkle in her eye as she spoke, enjoying how Peter's eyes were roving over her even as he struggled with his embarrassment. "Seriously though, that sounds like a promising topic to look into. I mean, I don't think you need any more help when it comes to virility or stamina, but it could be a good start to figuring out what other effects that potion might have."
She was trying to make light of the matter and tease Peter, but internally Catherine couldn't help latching on to the fact that Peter had mentioned helping fertility. She could feel her heart fluttering, and she had butterflies in her stomach as she thought about the implications. She and Peter hadn't had any luck with having children up until now. She had gone to dozens of herb witches and wise-women for help over the years, but none of their teas and tinctures had ever made any difference. One unexpectedly frank woman had told her that her recurring illnesses had probably rendered her barren. Eventually, she & Peter had resigned themselves to never having children of their own. She hadn't even thought about the possibility until now, but since the potion had changed so much else about her, why wouldn't it be able to allow her to bear a child? She placed a hand over her abdomen, wondering what it would be like to feel a new life growing within her...
