Eugene stepped off the bus down onto the cold sidewalk, the final step almost causing him to trip as he, in his new form misjudged the now larger drop. He let out a womanly grunt as he landed harder than he should have on his two feet and was suddenly glad that this female version of himself wasn't wearing heels. The last thing he needed right now was to accidentally break his ankles. But still, the harder landing sent a flare of pain shooting through his body and he grimaced in the dark as the bus doors closed behind him as Reggie the bus driver continued his journey through the chilly autumn night.
Even though it was October instead of May, even though he was a woman instead of a man, at least his apartment building was exactly the same as he had left it. It loomed above him in the dark, an older brick building that was older than Eugene, and was constantly shifting owners despite a steady stream of occupants like himself. The building was four stories tall and fairly narrow, but still dominated the skyline of the old main street of Shermer. It dated back to around 1940-ish and had been renovated several times over it's life span by multiple owners but somehow managing to keep the 'old timey' charm of the 40s. But the fact that 'old main street' Shermer was largely nothing more than a handful of old businesses that were too stubborn to let go meant that rent was cheap, which also meant the building continuously changed hands every five or so years.
But so long as the revolving door of new owners didn't evict him, Eugene really couldn't have cared less about the fact that the last time the building had seen any extensive renovation had been 1989, and then in the early 2000s to bring it up to fire and asbestos code. It didn't leak, everything more or less worked and it kept him out of the bitter northern Midwest winters, one of which was getting ready to once again arrive.
The once-again janitor inhaled the crisp, cold night air and walked up the short flight of steps into the four-story apartment building's lobby, which was furnished with yellowing tile, bank of small wall-mounted mailboxes and the main office where Ralph, the current superintendent, sat under a pair of florescent lights watching something on the small TV while, despite a 'no smoking ordinance' he smoked a large cigar with his legs popped up on a filing cabinet. The harsh light shined painfully off the overweight man's bald head as he noticed Eugene, spinning around in his squeaky chair.
"Good, heh, Eve-nin' Ms. Kazinski! How are you tonight?" Ralph said cheerfully as he leaned heavily on his side of the counter, pressing his face close to the glass pane that divided him from the tenants. The man was just a couple of years older than Eugene and had run the building since sometime before Eugene had found himself in Shermer. While he didn't own the property and was technically only the building super, he also collected the rent money from Eugene and the other tenants. Eugene watched as Ralph sucked in his gut as he swiveled around to face him.
"Oh, uh, I guess I can't complain?" Actually Eugene could, given his situation, but he was pretty sure his landlord wouldn't like having a tenant that thought she was supposed to be a man or in possession of a magical, reality altering gemstone and had spent the last few hours being A: Transported back in time from April of 2019, B: Having been regressed to being eighteen years old again, and C: Was the star of the school play before being unceremoniously tossed into the role of head cheerleader for the high school's cheer team.
"That's good! Hey, listen, I hate to do this but the new owner is really coming down on me about rent, and he's not too happy about you being a payment behind. I was thinking though, maybe if you and I went out to dinner tomorrow night, maybe I could...smooth things over?" Ralph's voice was full of false sincerity and Eugene caught the man's eyes flickering down at his flabby breasts before wandering back up to his face.
Eugene tried not to puke as it dawned on him why his super, who usually only communicated in grunts or short, gruff, profanity laced sentences was being so nice and communicative. He wanted a freaking date! Eugene felt himself gripping the Ahn'Ger Stone tightly as the urge to escape another uncomfortable situation. Was there just no END to the terrible situations that he was going to find himself in today!?
"I wis-" Eugene started under his breath, but caught himself before he made the situation worse. The last thing he needed was to end up married to the fat man in front of him or something! At least right now he was as close to breaking even as he'd gotten all day, and Eugene just wanted to get upstairs and be alone, even if it meant being in this flabby female body.
"What?" Ralph said, leaning closer to the gap in the office window, his flabby face scrunched in confusion.
"Oh I, uh, I said I would, uh, love to but I thought I would, uh, use the kids being at a game tomorrow to, um, clean the gym floor!" The janitor fumbled up the best excuse he could find, which was, ironically, something he actually did do when the gym would otherwise not be in use. Whether or not he actually had done it the first time he'd lived through October 2018 was another story all together.
"Oh." Ralph's face fell as he looked downward at the counter, relaxing in disappointment as his stomach ballooned out to it's original size. Silence and the muted sound of some old TV show filled the otherwise quiet lobby, and just for a moment Eugene didn't see the abrasive and crude landlord. Instead he saw a sad, tired and lonely old man that had just gotten his heartbroken.
'Shit' Eugene thought to himself as a wave of guilt washed over him. As weird as being a woman was, Eugene WAS behind on his rent, and if he couldn't figure out how to make the stupid gemstone in his hand work the way he wanted it to, at least going out to dinner wasn't the worst way he could solve the problem. Plus there didn't seem to be any way out of this particular situation without just walking away and potentially risking his apartment.
"Um, maybe some other time?" Eugene croaked meekly, suddenly leaning forward on his side of the glass, giving Ralph an up close look at his flabby cleavage, "I don't think I'm doing anything this weekend? Maybe then?"
Ralph's eyes lit up in delight and Eugene hated the fact that he had been a woman for all of about four hours and was already forced to use 'feminine wiles' to get his way.
"That sounds like a plan my dear!" Ralph beamed as he leaned back in his chair, which creaked dangerously under the man's weight. "I think I can tell the powers that be they don't have to worry about any late payments" The super gave Eugene a wink and the tortured janitor tried not to shudder (he was pretty sure that even the slightest shiver would make his fat new body start jiggling). Instead Eugene just gave Ralph the best smile he could, wished him goodnight, and retreated up the stairs as fast as he could.
Which proved to be a mistake. Eugene's apartment was on the top floor, as far away from everyone else as he could manage. In his old body he was still regretting the decision as he got older and his body got weaker, but as this new, almost obese woman he found himself as, the climb was torture. He was out of breath by the time he got halfway up the second flight of stairs and had to pause to catch his breath, gasping as quietly as he could unless Ralph suddenly appear and take it as an excuse to 'flirt'. So Eugene had carried his Eve bulk upwards each flight of steps, trying his best to ignore his throbbing feet and the layer of sweat that was unpleasantly catching in the folds of his skin (and beneath his breasts). By the time he had reached his floor he was so exhausted and frustrated that the gemstone had begun to glow once more and the risk seemed dangerously worth it to the suffering man-turned-woman.
So Eugene had shoved the cursed little gem into his purse and waddled down the hall, the floor creaking under him until he finally, finally reached Apartment 4E. Home.
Praying that everything inside was more or less how he left it, now that it seemed the only thing different about his life was that he was fat and female, Eugene fished a keyring out of his purse, slid the appropriate key into the lock, and held his breath as he opened the door to find...
...Exactly what he wanted, what he NEEDED to see. His furniture, faded and old, right where he left it. His TV, the same. The wallpaper still in need of replacement, and his kitchen, while still in need of a deep clean, was still acceptably clean. It was, in fact, even more full than Eugene usually kept it, which he had to attribute to 'Eve's' currently, well, size. As Eugene completed his inspection of his apartment, the only things that seemed 'off' was largely just his curtains, bedsheets, the feminine products in his bathroom, and of course, his wardrobe. The handful of pictures he on display had not changed outside of him appearing as a her, and the one, perhaps the most important one that Eugene had owned that was kept next to his bed, showed much younger, thinner and happier looking Eve (One that looked like a 26 year old version of the body he previously had) held tightly against the body of a strange dark skinned man he didn't recognize.
Eugene picked the picture up off of the nightstand with two flabby hands and stared at it. He remembered this, only he had been the guy and the girl...The girl's name had been Karen, but she definitely hadn't looked as good as Young Eve did. It was the only keepsake he had from the only positive relationship he'd ever had, but it had been impossible, now that he was a she.
More than any of the other crazy things that had happened to him today, strangely hurt. Eugene put the picture back on the nightstand and collapsed, exhausted into bed.
"What a fucking day" He muttered.
1. Eugene tries to figure out the Ahn'Ger Stone that night. *
2. Eugene is cautious and doesn't use the Stone for a few days.