Now on to phase three: would people really act as if wishes granted by the stone were the only reality they knew?
This was a bit more involved to try, as Jon would have to think of a wish with enough of an impact that he would expect people to react to the change.
What could he wish for now?
He thought about it for a few seconds, then settled on longer hair. Worst case scenario, he'd just get a new haircut.
"I wish that for the next hour only, I'd have the same haircut as Zoey and that my hair would return to their current state afterward"
Yet again, the stone felt warm to the touch. When things settled down, he felt his field of view was a bit more narrow than it use to. He quickly looked at his mirror, and there he was. The same as ever, except for silky dark hair flowing from his head down to his shoulders. There was no way to miss it. He made a mental note of the time, then tentatively walked down the stairs, back to the living room.
He sat next to his sister, still on the couch and watching TV.
"- Hey sis, what are you watching?
- Why do you care?"
"Right, off to a great start", Jon thought.
"- Do you have a spare scrunchy I could use? I've lost mine and my hair keeps getting in my eyes.
- If it bothers you so much, why don't you just get a haircut, as everyone keeps telling you, answered Zoey, not moving her gaze away from the TV.
- Thank you for nothing, sis", said Jon as he was standing up from the couch.
As he was climbing upstairs to his bedroom, he had a hard time containing his smile: everything was working as expected.
Zoey didn't find him asking a scrunchy was odd enough to even be worth deviating her attention from what she was doing, meaning that, while people weren't necessarilly accepting of his modified state, they would still consider it being their reality.
He was eager to tell Karin, maybe even see what she thinks of his new hair.
Or maybe he could try to experiment a bit further on his own?
