"I'm not putting that on. I have no idea what it does." Jon told Zoe. She was holding the ring towards him indicating she wanted him to take it.
"It's a gender swap ring. It will make you a woman." She said. Karyn could barely contain her laughter.
"I don't know if it's safe. I've no idea how you worded the wish. I don't want to be a woman permanently."
"And what's wrong with being a woman?" Karyn asked him.
"Nothing. I just don't want to be one." He told her. A plan entered Karyn's mind. She sighed and turned to Zoe.
"It's okay Zoe, he wouldn't be able to handle being a woman anyway. We'll have to think of something else." Karyn told her somewhat dejectedly. Jon eyed Karyn suspiciously.
"Your rather poor attempt at reverse psychology isn't going to work on me Karyn." Jon informed her. "I'm still not putting it on."
"It would have worked on the old Jon. You are far to smart for your own good now."
"Okay fine, you want proof?" Zoe said as she slipped the ring on one of her own fingers.
The transformation was quick and took only a few seconds. Zoe had transformed into a guy nearly the same height as Jon. Jon looked her over. Her face was still recognisable although larger and more angular. Jon thought her facial features now resembled his own. Her Adam's apple was more prominent. Her body was more muscled. The t-shirt and shorts she had been wearing were now stretched to their limit. As she had extra height the t-shirt had ridden up revealing some of her stomach. Her chest was now broad and flat. The tight shorts made it quite clear she was now male. Over her bare arms and legs there was a covering of fine hair. She put her hand on her narrower hip in a feminine manner.
"See it's safe." The male Zoe told him in a much deeper voice.
"Why do you still have long hair?" Jon asked looking at her shoulder length hairstyle which was unchanged.
"Hair length isn't... inherently male or female." She told him. Both Jon and Karyn noticed she was struggling to speak. "Can I... take it... off... now?" Jon nodded. Zoe quickly pulled the ring off her finger. Again she changed rapidly back into her original form.
"Are you okay?" Jon asked her. Zoe nodded while taking several deep breaths.
"My bra nearly suffocated me." She admitted. She paused for a few seconds while she got her breath back. "So are you satisfied now?" She asked him.
"I guess so." Jon said sounding a little uncertain. "I'm still not sure..." Karyn grabbed the ring out of Zoe's hand and forced it into Jon's.
"Come on Jon. Time to grow a pair and man up." Karyn told him. Jon gave her a confused look. "I should say, lose a pair and woman up." She said with a giggle.
He closed his eyes tight. He slipped the ring on his finger. In the darkness all he could feel was a sensation not unlike pins and needles. It didn't last long. "You can open your eyes now." Karyn told him. Very slowly Jon opened his eyes. Karyn was standing in front of him. He really didn't feel much different. His enhanced intelligence kicked in and he suddenly realised he was looking slightly upwards to make eye contact with Karyn. Normally he looked slightly downwards.
"I'm short." He said hearing his new female voice for the first time. "Oh, wow! That's weird. La-la-la-la." He tried testing his vocal range. Karyn smiled. "What?"
"I'm just amazed you've been a woman for at least thirty seconds and you haven't looked down." She told him as Zoe smiled too. Jon looked downwards towards the inevitable. There were two large mounds pressing into his shirt. Automatically he grabbed them. "There we go. Typical guy." Karyn said.
"They're huge." Jon remarked still holding on to them. Karyn shook her head.
"They just seem that way because their yours and near your eyes." She pointed at her own enhanced chest. "These are huge."
Zoe grabbed Jon's arm and pulled him towards her large mirror. He looked at his new chest in the mirror. Karyn had been correct. They weren't small but they certainly weren't huge. As far as Jon was concerned they were about the right size. He looked upwards to examine his face. He could still see his own face but it was now softer. His eyes were bigger and his eyebrows thinner. His lips looked fuller too. "You look a bit like me." Zoe told him. She examined his head. "I can pass you off as a cousin." She lifted up different parts of his hair. "I think your hair is just about long enough to style. Good thing you don't have a buzz cut. That would be weird."
"What?" Jon asked, he was still so fascinated by his reflection he barely took in what Zoe was saying.
"Now, we have to find you something to wear."
