Distracted by Brooke's sudden disappearance, you decide to look for her.
Meanwhile, you're looking through more of the aisles, unimpressed by some items at first sight, but taking a closer look at their details and uses, you're more and more intrigued about what this Magic Shop has to offer.
Stepping out of one more narrow aisle, its shelves filled with items like clocks and watches, each their own shape and size, you find Brooke running up towards you, a small box in her hands. "Babe," she calls out excitedly, "you need to check these out!"
Brooke presents the box to you, and you find that its contents are a pair of collars. They aren't all too impressive, but in this shop you had already found out not to judge any book among these wares by its cover. The collars are stretched out, laying flat on the soft surface of the black box. Over their width, the either collar seemed to switch colors, turning from red to purple to blue, each opposite from each other. You take the box from Brooke into your own, and become transfixed as you lean it back and forth, the collars' colors realigning as you lean the box away from you again, like gravity affected their hues.
"That's fascinating," you comment, "what do they do?"
A small tag with a description and the item's price hangs from underneath the box, and you lift it up between your fingers. You read the text out loud.
"Magical Portal Collars, as designed by the portal specialists from Aper- something, something. I can't read the last part." The text was too faded. "The box with its contents is affordable though," you say as you point out the price.
You turn the tag around and find more, clearer text on its backside, a clear description of the items' uses and safety measures. Your girlfriend decides to summarize it for you, having already read the part.
"You have to wear them around your neck. It doesn't matter who wears which one, as long they wear the colors in opposite direction from each other. I think these collars do that automatically already. You can then remove them, and to switch back, you only have to reverse the colors."
"Switch back? Reverse colors?" You ask.
Brooke threw her hands up. "Don't ask me. I just like how the colors seem to change even as you're looking at them. And they came in pairs. It's something we can both wear to show we belong to each other."
You snort. "That's sounds sooo cliché, even for you."
She gasped in exasperation, then grinned back. "I was kidding, of course. I want to try the 'Magic' in the 'Magic Item'. The tag tells basically nothing about what the collars are supposed to do."
"And you like surprises?"
Brooke nodded affirmingly. "And I like surprises," she repeated. "If you really are that shy about what they do, we can always ask for one of those small rooms in the back."
You look over to where she's pointing at, and see a few half opened doors next to each other in an array that makes them no wider than a normal fitting booth. You raise an eyebrow at Brooke, and she grins mischievously. With a shrug you agree with her, and the two of you turn to walk over to the woman standing behind the shop counter. She offers a smile as you approach, and turns to the black box Brooke is holding in her hands.
"I suppose you have made your choice?"
You nod. "And we would also like to test the items in one of the booths."
"The test rooms? Sure! All of them are empty right now. You've got half an hour. If you're not out by that time, I'm going to have to check-up on you." The middle-aged tugged open a drawer and materialized a small key attached to a wooden tag. It read number '1' on it. "This key belongs to the door closest to you," she says, bringing it over the counter into Brooke's free hand. Your girlfriend smiles as she accepts it from the woman, and then grabs you by the wrist to lead you on.
"Thank you!" You call back, right before you and Brooke disappear into the fitting booth.
You whistle, impressed. "It looks a lot bigger from inside than it did from outside."
"Well, duh." Brooke answered, looking at you smugly. "Have you forgotten that we're in a Magic Shop? The space is crooked some way or another."
You raised your hands apologetically. "I'm just sceptical, is all. I'm sorry."
"Don't be." Brooke said, slapping your shoulder amicably, and opening the small box to show its contents again. "Are we going to try these on or not?" She asks, picking up both collars.
With a sigh, you hold a hand out, and accept one of them. With a click, you connect both ends, surprisingly, the collar tightens up around your skin almost elastically. You move to stretch and bend your neck a little bit, but experience no problems with the fabric rubbing against it. A mirror on the wall shows that the colors on your collar show blue on top, turning purple and later red below it.
Brooke compares the colors of her own collar with yours, and you discover they seem polar opposites once again. In her case, red was on top, and blue on the bottom. Your girlfriend shrugs, then gives you a kiss and stands right before you, bringing her collar around her own neck. Before clasping both ends together herself, she asks, "you ready?"
You shrug, not really feeling concerned. Sure, the shop was strange, but for all it could be, magical also bore meaning in beauty and attraction. Maybe your eyes are simply playing tricks on you. After all, you haven't been upstairs to the next floor to see it for yourself, and the other doors could just as well be real fake doors.
Your perception of the phrase 'Magic Shop' changes drastically however, as Brooke clasps both ends of her collar together.
A tingle runs down your spine as your entire body below your neck shifts. You see Brooke shoot up in height, while you severely shrink down yourself.
The changes were over just as soon as they started, and you gasp at the new sensations coming from your body.
The first things you see, is your girlfriend's head on top of a tall, masculine figure, wearing your clothes. The first things you feel, are a tightness around your body, and a wetness between your trembling legs. You look down at your body, seeing the purple shirt Brooke had been wearing, cleavage jutting out, a bra underneath the fabric. The jeans rub against your legs and thighs mercilessly at the slightest movement. Your feet feel slightly raised from the ground, and bending over slightly, you see Brooke's heeled brown boots attached to your feet.
Brooke let out a low gasp, and with a strange, ambiguous voice, she began talking.
"Holy shit babe. Our bodies have switched!"