The incessant sound of knocking woke me up. Groaning I sat up and looked around with sleepy eyes. The unfamiliar setting and the feeling of shifting weight on my chest reminded me of what had happened. It wasn't a dream and my breasts were still stretching out the borrowed gray shirt.
Rubbing my head, I slid out of bed, stumbled a bit, and tapped the control turning on the lights. I was probably rocking an epic case of bed head but that knocking wasn't stopping. With a hand on a wall for balance, I shuffled to the door and pulled it open.
Standing at the door were two women who were a head taller than me, one a dirty blonde and the other a brunette. The blonde was wearing a frilly blue skirt that hung to the middle of her tan thighs. She had on a loose white shirt; it had short sleeves and a wide v-collar that showed off a respectable cleavage. On her feet were sandals with straps wrapping up her calves. The blonde's hair was done in two fishtail braids that draped over each shoulder. Her blue eyes crinkled as she gave me a welcoming smile.
The brunette also wore a white shirt, it was long sleeved and buttoned up to her pale throat with wide pressed collars. Her black skirt hugged her hips and reached to her knees. She was wearing small heeled, open toed shoes, the same shade as her skirt. Her hair was in a ponytail, tightly tied back giving her features a severe cast. Her brown eyes looked warm and she had a slight squint. Her arm was partly raised, her hand held in a loose fist inches from the door frame.
Both lacked horns, wings, and a tail and I found their pretty but normal features reassuring. They weren't succubi then. I smiled uncertainly at them and watched as both their gazes shifted from my face down to my chest.
"Whoa," exclaimed blondie.
The brunette just nodded and stared.
I pushed my hand through my messy hair and sighed. I had a feeling that I should get used to that open gaze at my tits. The brunette's eyes darted away from my chest and she murmured apologies while blushing. She jerked her raised hand down and hugged her arms across her torso.
Blondie stared at my tits a moment longer before shaking herself. Holding out a hand in greeting, she gave me a friendly smile. "Good morning, brah," she said, her voice had a pleasing scratchy burr to it.
I shook her hand and stared pointedly at the hazy purple sky, it was the same brightness as before I went to sleep.
"Morning? How can you tell?"
The brunette unfolded an arm and pointed in the doorway at a small quarter sized circle in the middle of the lintel. It was blue, illuminated from behind and said, "The day indicator. They split their day into sixteen hours of light and nine hours of night. The only way to tell is to look at the dot. Once you know what to look for you'll spot them everywhere."
She spoke in a clipped tone, her voice accented slightly, as if she was used to speaking about topics with precision. Her other hand moved up towards her face in what looked like a habitual action before falling down to her side. It reminded me of a mannerism people who wore glasses would develop over time from fussing with their lenses.
Blondie spoke up with a grin saying, "I'm Emmet and this is Bale. We saw the new name on the roster. The warden said you were in our block so here we are."
"Warden?" I asked. "Like in a prison or zoo?"
"Not precisely," answered Bale. "They keep an eye on us to make sure a lilim doesn't abduct us. Again."
I groaned and rubbed a hand through my disheveled hair. "You two huh?"
They both nodded in affirmation.
"So why did you girls decide to attack my door?"
Emmet said, "To check on you." Bale nodded in agreement.
"Check on me?"
"Yeah brah, sometimes girls don't take to the changes well. Some refuse to believe it's real and will hurt themselves pretty badly. A few even try to kill themselves, it gets pretty gnarly," Emmet said with a grimace.
"So we make sure they're up and talk to them, show them the roster in the warden's office and show them around our little section," added Bale.
"Oh," I replied blinking.
Sure, it was a shocking change, life-changing even, but suicide hadn't occurred to me. As I looked from Emmet to Bale, it dawned on me that I was shifting my weight from one leg to the other. There was an uncomfortable pressure in my lower abdomen, it was like I needed to pee. My eyes got bigger as I realized that I really did need to pee. It felt far more urgent compared to when I was a man.
"Uh, girls, do you wanna come in? I need to take care of some personal business, like now."
Emmet smiled and nodded in understanding while she watched me awkwardly dance from leg to leg. Bale giggled, it sounded surprisingly girly coming from her. Not really waiting for their full response, I dashed into the shower room. I was relieved to see a sink and toilet in the room that looked normal, just made of black stone.
The toilet was cold and I made a girly squealing noise as I sat on it and clutched at the borrowed skirt to keep it dry. My new plumbing was loud and messy though relief did come much quicker than I was used to. I had always complained about how much toilet paper girls used just to pee, looking down I now knew why. A quick inspection of my surroundings showed an ample supply of toiletries, as well as a flexible metal hose attached to the toilet that served as a bidet.
Finishing up my business, I paused at the sink and looked into the oval mirror just above it. It was the first time I had gotten a look at my new self. The woman Briselen had me imagine was staring right back at me. I had to admit, I was very pretty despite the messy bed head. I tugged my fingers through my red hair, trying to tidy it or at least pull it into a presentable state.
I stopped and stared at myself, taking a longer look as I thought about the new me. Why wasn't I panicking? I should be freaking out in anger, fear, or confusion or even all of them at once. Instead, I felt mostly calm and still a little sleepy. Any irritation I felt was due to the state of my hair. Was this part of the magic that changed me?
I frowned into the mirror and tried to comb my hands through my hair again. My previous emotional turmoil hadn't reared its head since I had the hiccup fit. Too little was known about what was normal here, I'd have to file away this emotional oddity and see how things developed.
Voices in the apartment jerked my attention back and interrupted my ineffectual grooming. Opening the door and walking in with a smile, I apologized for the delay. Bale and Emmet seemed amused and reassured me that they understood. I stared at Emmet's braids in envy for a few moments.
Braided hair would be out of the eyes. It would stay in place and not require fussing to keep presentable. More importantly, braided hair would stay out of the mouth when speaking or eating. At the moment, having my hair trussed up and out of the way was extremely important to me.
"So you girls are going to take me to the roster and show me around?" I asked, trying not to stare too hard at those twin braids.
Bale nodded while Emmet fidgeted under my not so subtle gaze.
"Before that. Emmet. Please show me how to braid my hair? Please?" I pleaded. "Cause mine is a mess," I added pulling at my tangled red tresses.
Emmet laughed in her hand and nodded. "Sure, take a seat there," she said pointing at the small desk and chair in the corner of the room. There was a large square mirror attached to the desk, nearly flush with the wall.
Smiling and sitting on my bed, Bale watched me walk over to the chair. Emmet opened the single drawer in the desk to reveal a plain brush and some hair accessories. There were ribbons and some hair ties in the drawer along with some barrettes and hair pins. As Emmet started to brush out my hair, I looked in the mirror towards Bale.
"So Bale, where are you from?"
"Erenem."
"Is that a city?" I asked frowning.
"It's my world," she replied curtly.
I glanced at Emmet who said, "I'm from Alense."
"Wait, if we're all from different worlds why are we speaking English?"
Bale's reflection smiled at me and said, "We're not."
Seeing my confusion she elaborated, "Part of the magic that changed us into
factotum
instills the knowledge of the lilim language. We're speaking lilim but our minds believe we are speaking our birth tongue."
"That's convoluted," I said glancing at Emmet who simply shrugged and resumed brushing out my tangled locks.
Bale nodded and explained, "It's easier for them if all new arrivals speak their tongue. It was probably taxing to teach new
factotum
how to speak lilim and the major trade language of all the worlds they visit. Having the use of magic simplifies some of their problems."
That was an involved answer to what I thought was a simple question. Most people probably would've just shrugged and said that they didn't know. I studied Bale's reflection in the mirror. She seemed the studious type and she seemed to have insight into how the succubus lived.
Curious I asked her, "So what did you do before getting Stolen and turned into a girl?"
Smiling, Bale answered, "I was an archivist at the Royal Library in Crown City."
"I was crewman on a fishing ship," Emmet volunteered.
"What profession were you," Bale asked, watching Emmet struggle with a particularly nasty tangle of my hair.
"I was a contractor."
They both frowned at me in confusion; I guess their worlds didn't have a need for expendable help.
"I did tedious stuff for my government, er, nation," I explained.
Bale nodded in understanding as Emmet shrugged indifferently. I knew an archivist was a just a fancy name for a librarian. I was right; she was definitely the studious type. Bale also seemed to be working the sexy librarian look. She also appeared to know more about what going on in this world and might have answers for me.
Looking back at her reflection in the mirror I asked, "So Bale, we're supposed to be
factotum