"That's not funny Karyn!" I said in exasperation, my tail swishing. "And it's NOT a date! It's just studying!" I frowned.
"Of course, of course " Karyn said with a giggle. "Whatever you say Still, you can't say Mark isn't cute .."
I just gave Karyn a stare, hoping my slight blush didn't show through my fur. MAN, this is embarrassing!
"Okay, okay " Karyn said, still grinning a bit, but getting a bit more serious. "I guess we'd better focus on figuring out how to FIX this mess " She said thoughtfully.
I nodded. Now THERE was something I could agree with. I quickly took the box with the stone out, and set it on the bed in between us.
"Okay then We really have to think this through before we wish anything else " I said. Karyn nodded in agreement.
"Yeah. Your last wish had a LOT of unintended changes " She added.
"Yeah, but none of our other wishes did Why not? Your earlier wish about no one noticing anything odd didn't change the whole world!" I said nervously.
"True " Karyn replied thoughtfully. "But maybe because it was only supposed to last a few hours? Yours was a lot longer Or maybe the stone is getting more powerful or something?"
"I don't know about that " I said, a bit uncomfortable with the possibilities. "How on earth could it get MORE powerful? Hmmmmmm " My tail lashed back and forth anxiously as I thought. My eyes roamed around my room a bit as I considered the possibilities. I grimaced as they passed over my new wardrobe, and I focused back on Karyn.
"Maayybee Maybe the wishes are kind of interesting?" I said tentatively.
"Interacting? How so?" She Karyn asked, interested.
"I don't know We know one wish can't undo another But it seems you can kind of undercut wishes, to reduce their effects. Right?" Karyn nodded and gestured for me to continue. "But.. Maybe if you don't word the wish specifically to limit a previous wish, it just assumed the old wishes are valid, and tried to.. work within their bounds, without messing them up?"
Karyn nodded in agreement. "I. . guess that's possible " she rubbed her chin. "And with all the accidental wishes we've been making "
I sighed and looked at the box. "I'm just guessing here though Remember, Mark made that wish about wanting to see more of me And then I wished people would find me being a were-leopardess normal. So Maybe the wish decided that I'd be a were leopardess more often if I weren't the only one, so fulfilled my wish that people would find it normal by making lots of OTHER people like me But maybe if Mark hadn't made that wish, or I'd been more specific "
"Yeah I think maybe you're on to something there " Karyn said. "We'll DEFINITELY have to be careful with the stone from now on. Maybe only wish for specific things or changes. Try to limit the effects a bit. If we keep laying one wish on top of another on top of another in order to fix things and keep making them worse ." Karyn shrugged.
I nodded somberly. "Yeah. Definitely. But this still doesn't help us figure out what to do about THIS " I said, gesturing at myself. "Thanks to Mark's wish, I can't seem to WANT to shift back to a male, since this is comfortable.. It seemed to have interacted with YOUR wish before, about me not turning into anything I or you don't want " I shook my head. "We'll have to sit down and spend a few hours just figuring out the logic behind this thing, and figuring out EXACTLY how to work a wish or a few wishes to try to fix it " I said with a sigh.
Karyn nodded, then giggled a bit. "But in the MEANTIME We've got a dat Erm.. Study Session to prepare for " She said with a big, mischievous grin.
"Karyn!" I said, tail swishing anxiously. "that's not funny! We've got serious things to worry about here!"
"Oh, and boys AREN'T serious?" Karyn replied with a smirk. I just rolled my eyes and she laughed. "Just kidding, just kidding " She said with another giggle. "But really.. you said yourself we'll need a few hours to figure out what we're doing. And you promised we'd help Zach and Mark " she wheedled. "Besides, it'll get your mind off of your troubles for a bit. Then we can get back to this."
"Hmph! You just want to go look at Mark and Zach's cute butts!" I accused with a giggle myself. Then I blinked. Did I REALLY just say that?
"Maaayybee.. But with a bit of luck I won't be the only one looking. . If you've got it after all, flaunt it!" she said. Emphasizing her new figure a bit. "And besides, it will take a little while to get ready. Maybe we should ."
