Tom/Selena watched from the stage as Maggie was dragged away by the fat pervert. He watched as Heather giggled and smiled smugly to herself. He saw the fear in Maggie's eyes as she approached the man's private booth, unable to scream for the commands given to her. For his part, Tom/Selena felt a tiny pang of regret - he remembered when he was just Selena, and the unease she had felt being in a place like this. Jack had taken her to a few strip clubs, mostly to show her off to his buddies, but he occasionally forced her on stage during amateur nights and the like.
Of course, that had been different - she had an exhibitionist side that got off on the thought of being stared at by men. And had anybody gotten handsy or started touching her, Jack (and his buddies) would have protected her. Of course, now, Jack was ancient history, and she was no longer simply Selena, the submissive exhibitionist fetish-gear-and-cosplay-enthusiast. Now, HE was Tom/Selena, and becoming more Tom than Selena with each passing moment. HE liked having control and dominating those around him. HE liked being big and strong. HE liked having a Faerie Companion who could indulge every wild fantasy and perverted notion.
And like that, the tiny pang of regret was gone. 'After all,' Tom/Selena thought, 'he made himself Maggie. Or he had Cain make him Maggie. Or he convinced Tom to make Cain make him Maggie - it really doesn't matter. He wanted to see how the other half lives? He's got it, and in spades. And now that being a girl isn't all fun and games, dressing sexy and feeling yourself up, he wants to back out? I don't think so. She's going to stay Maggie for a very long time.'
Tom/Selena turned her attention to the girl dancing on stage. She looked worn out and more than a bit haggard, but attractive nonetheless. He felt his dick get hard as he realized the male hormones were really going to work, rewriting his sexual identity. He chuckled a bit, thinking about it - 'We really are just machines, hard-wired a certain way. Nobody has a choice in how they wind up.' Little by little, he was losing any connection to his Selena self. This thought didn't really bother him.
"Hey Cain?" Tom/Selena asked, taking his Faerie's attention away from the stage momentarily. "Quick question - I'm having a small Karmic crisis, and you may be able to help."
Karma didn't actually enter into this line of questioning.
"My brother, Jack, is in love with his girlfriend, Selena - I mean, TRUE love, you know?" Cain nodded solemnly, not taking his eyes off of Tom. For his part, Tom/Selena was glad she had taken those acting classes before dropping out of college to become Jack's full-time slut. "I'm pretty certain she loves him back, but you know how things go - sometimes, people who are meant to be together still wind up failing." Again, Cain nodded solemnly.
"I know you can't create love, but is there anything you can do to ensure they wind up together, happy and free of worry? I feel that, if I do right by my brother and his beloved, it might balance out some of the more... ethically questionable choices I've made this evening. Karmicly speaking." Of course, this wasn't Tom/Selena's intention at all. He simply wanted the REAL Tom out of the way for good as he assumed and improved his life.
But there was no way for Cain to know that. So, with a quick concentration of his power and a puff of pink smoke, he simply said, "It's done." He returned to his drink and watched the girl on stage.
Tom/Selena was a bit confused. "How?"
Cain sighed, turning in his chair to face Tom. "First, I froze time. Then, I teleported to your brother's apartment to find him and Selena...well, let's just say they're into some weird shit, but I'm not one to judge people on stuff like that - especially after the last few days. I used my magic to alter her body chemistry so that she can't help but get horny around him, and I altered her brain chemistry so that she'll be hopelessly obsessed with keeping him to herself - she won't be able to even conceive of doing something that can result in their relationship ending or them leaving each other. And, because turnabout is fair play, I did the same thing to him. Physically and mentally, they're completely and hopelessly devoted to each other. The true love stuff will just naturally follow."
Tom/Selena was happy, but a bit worried. "I'm surprised you didn't just rewrite their memories so they only had thoughts of each other. Seems like it might have been easier."
Cain just shrugged. "Didn't seem necessary - the stuff they appear to be into? Doesn't seem like they're going to find many people into that same sorta stuff. Seems like they were destined to be together - all I did was push their bodies and minds into making sure that happened."
Feigning ignorance, Tom/Selena asked, "How weird are we talking?" Knowing full well the depth of their sexual experimentation. 'Hell,' he thought, 'I used to be the kinkier one in the relationship.'
Cain chuckled to himself. "Let's put it this way - when she pops out her first kid, a 'Baby's First Leather Mask & Riding Crop' set wouldn't be out of the question." Cain laughed at his own joke, as Tom/Selena plastered a fake smile on his face and laughed along with him. 'It's not a guarantee, but that's the best I'm going to get without giving away who I used to be.'
Tom/Selena raised a glass to Cain, saluting. "To true Love - and thank you, Cain.
At that moment Josh wandered back to them, acting drunker than he was so he could get away with being an obnoxious ass. "Cheers to that, brother." He slurred as he threw back a foul-smelling liquor. "I really lucked out, winding up with Maggie."
Cain threw Josh a dirty look. "It wasn't luck, it was magic. Literally, my magic. I didn't bother to set the parameters of her existence before making her Maggie, and because you spent time together, reality set the rules for you. Had it been her and Tom, they might have been boyfriend and girlfriend. If it had been another girl, she might have wound up a lesbian, or best friends with this girl - when you blindly fire magic, things tend to be unpredictable. It's also not love - she doesn't really want anything to do with you, but you keep forcing yourself on her. It's more akin to stalking."
Josh smiled to himself contentedly. "Yep, I lucked out." He then wandered back into the strip club, lost among the sea of flesh.
Cain looked at Tom, asking "Why do you hang out with that jackass?"
"I really don't know." It was the first honest answer out of Tom/Selena all night.
