In the kitchen, Katie started getting out everything they needed to make spaghetti with meat sauce. Joan headed for the liquor cabinet and pulled out a bottle of pinot noir. "Is this okay?" he asked. "...or does it belong to one of your roommates?"
"That's mine. Jen doesn't drink. Tracey mostly sticks to vodka cran."
Joan got a corkscrew from the utensil drawer and deftly twisted the corkscrew in and removed the cork like a pro. "Huh. Jen didn't strike me as a teetotaler." He poured a couple glasses and handed one to Katie as she started to boil water.
"I guess she went a little too far with alcohol at her sorority so ever since a bad night she's sworn it off. Gotta respect that. Also, more for us!" They clinked their glasses together and took a sip. "Oh, that's good."
After about an hour of preparing, cooking the meat sauce, and boiling the spaghetti, dinner was finally ready. They had already polished off one bottle and Joan opened another bottle of the same brand, but her corkscrew skills were clearly more impaired after the wine.
Katie noticed and chuckled. "I think you might need to slow down on the wine. Apparently this new body doesn't have the tolerance you're used to."
Joan smiled. "Yeah, just a couple glasses and I've got a serious buzz going. I love it! I promise not to get wasted, but I'd like to keep the buzz if you don't mind."
"Oh, by all means!" Katie served herself a plate of spaghetti and scooped a few large spoonfuls of her homemade meat sauce on top. She looked up at Joan as he refilled their wine glasses. "Come to think of it, your appetite is probably smaller too. I know you can usually eat a lot, but I'd recommend not taking any more than I have on my plate. If you're still hungry, you can go for seconds."
"We skipped lunch, so I'm super hungry, but that's helpful advice. Thanks!" Joan tried to put about as much food on his plate as Katie had served herself. When he decided his plate had enough food, he looked at Katie. "I should probably change out of this dress so I don't get food stains all over it."
"No, we need to let the magic do its work so that you can wear other clothes later." Katie walked over to a drawer and pulled out a large apron. She placed it over Joan and tied it in the back. "There! That will keep you covered up in case of any splatters."
Joan looked down at the apron and ran his hands along the front. "Thanks!"
They sat at the kitchen table and Katie raised her wine glass. "Here's to my new best friend, Joan!"
Joan raised his glass and clinked it against Katie's and they both took a sip and put their glasses down. "So Joan's your best friend? John's not?"
"Oh, I didn't mean it like that," Katie responded defensively. "I mean, you're literally the same person, but right now, technically speaking, 'John' doesn't exist. I'm not saying I like you as Joan more than John."
"Oh, okay," replied Joan, seeming to understand. "Sorry if I seemed defensive."
"No, don't worry about it. This situation is new for both of us and I think if both of us are open and honest with each other, it will ultimately bring us closer together." She reached out and put her hand on top of Joan's and smiled at him.
Joan smiled back. "That would be nice." He placed a napkin in his lap and took a bite. "Oh, this is delicious! I usually stick to the sauce from a jar, but now I see why you insist on making your own."
Katie wiped her mouth. "I know, right? Old family recipe."
Joan was confused. "Isn't your family Irish? Is this Irish spaghetti? Is there such a thing?"
Katie laughed. "No, I don't think there is, but my grandfather was a chef. Most of his recipes have been lost to time, but his meat sauce lives on."
"So what are you thinking of for plans tonight?" asked Joan. "You mentioned going out for drinks, but I don't think we've ever been out together to any bars in your neighborhood."
"For good reason. They're all terrible. One of them even had a sign up during the pandemic saying 'The only real cases of Corona are the ones we serve!'"
Joan nearly choked, "Oh, that's clever, but also absurd. Pandemic deniers?"
"Yep. Big time. Place was packed when they should have been closed. Police didn't care since they were drinking there too. Ultimately they did close down though because the owner died...of COVID. Now that's karma."
"Wow, yeah. So where did you want to go?" Joan eyed Katie suspiciously. "A lesbian bar?"
"I mean, if you want to, but I was thinking we'd drive over to our usual haunt. It's karaoke night there. You can experiment with that new voice of yours."
Joan nodded. "That might be fun. Even if I sing badly, nobody would know me. Got nothing to lose."
"I should probably drive though," Katie suggested. "Between your low tolerance and your lack of a passable driver's license, we might get in big trouble if you got pulled over."
"No argument here." Joan adjusted his feet. "Not sure how I'm supposed to drive in these things anyway."
"I usually don't. If I'm going to be driving for a while, I'll bring a change of shoes. If it's just around the corner, I'll either wear them or drive barefoot...depending on what heels I've got on."
Joan nodded. "When we're going someplace, I'm usually the one driving, so I really had no idea. Any other life tips for someone's first day as a woman?"
Katie thought for a moment. "First thing that comes to mind is something you probably don't want to talk about over dinner, but let me just say that if you start to get your period, let me know and I'll help."
Joan slowly put his fork down. "Oh no." His mouth hung open and he stared off into the distance. "I don't want to have a period. I should change back now." He started to get up.
Katie reached out and grabbed his arm. "No, no. Sit down, it's okay." She continued to hold his arm gently while he returned to his seat. "You're essentially a 'new woman' and starting from scratch, so my guess would be that you're at the start of your cycle...assuming you even have one. You shouldn't have anything to worry about for weeks!"
Although it was just conjecture, it seemed to make sense to Joan and he felt relieved. "Okay, I guess that makes sense." He took a few breaths. "If I change back to myself and then change to 'Joan' again someday, I wonder if that resets the cycle."
Katie shrugged. "No idea. Magic body transformations were omitted from my biology textbooks for some reason." They laughed.
After some light conversation, delicious pasta, and an empty bottle of wine, they brought their plates to the sink. "Let's watch something for a bit before we head out," suggested Katie. "That wine's got me a bit buzzed and I shouldn't be driving yet. Go turn on the TV and find something streaming we can watch while I sober up."
"'Netflix and chill'?" Joan asked.
Katie nodded. "...or 'Disney+ and thrust'? 'Max and climax'? 'Hulu and do you'? 'Paramount and mount'? I can keep going!"
Joan laughed as he took off the apron and walked to the living room. "Please stop."
"'Peacock and your cock'?" Katie shouted toward the living room.
"Now you're just being cruel! ...because nobody watches Peacock." Joan found the remote and loaded up Black Mirror. He figured in their current situation, a modern Twilight Zone seemed appropriate.
Finished in the kitchen, Katie joined Joan on the couch and they cuddled up together as the episode started.
An hour later, Joan turned to Katie. "How you feeling? Okay to drive?"
Katie was a little surprised. "Oh, you're actually excited to go out like this, aren't you?"
"Maybe a little. This is like the ultimate costume. Nobody would ever know who I was. Why doesn't the CIA do this?"
"Maybe they do," Katie wondered. "No way for us to know." Katie looked at her phone. "Okay, we got dressed a little over three hours ago. That means we should have a little over three hours before we start to change back."
"It's 8:00 now." Joan did some math in his head. "At 11:00, we'd better at least be headed back here or I'd have my 'Cinderella moment' in public."
"The choker was the last thing you put on, so theoretically your voice would be the first thing to change back. That's our 'canary-in-a-coal-mine'. If we notice your voice getting deeper early, we get out of there fast."
Joan nodded. "That sounds like a plan."
"Okay, let's find you something to wear." They got up from the couch and headed up to Katie's room.
As Joan climbed the stairs, he looked at his feet in heels. "You know, I just realized... These heels aren't from the shop. I didn't need to be wearing heels for the last three hours."
"No," admitted Katie, "but it was good practice."
"Okay, true," admitted Joan as he walked into Katie's bedroom.
Katie turned to face Joan and took the headband off her head and placed it down on the end of her bed. "Let me get these annoying gloves off and I'll find you some clothes." She took her green elbow-length silk gloves and laid them down next to the headband.
Joan looked at Katie's hands. "Weren't you wearing blue nail polish before?"
Katie held up her hands and looked at her fingernails. "Well I'll be damned. I was!" Katie was now looking at fingernails that had been painted green to match her gloves and dress. "I think my nails are longer too."
"You didn't notice when you took your gloves off before?" asked Joan.
Katie shrugged. "No. I guess the change wasn't too drastic. I hadn't taken them off for long either." She reached up and took the headband off Joan's head.
Joan slid the gloves off his arms and looked at his hands. They were much different than he was used. They were now hairless with thin fingers each with about one-inch nails with French manicures. "Wow, look at this!"
Katie looked at Joan's fingernails. "Oh, a French manicure! Very fancy! You just saved a ton of money from a nail salon." She looked down at their lower halves. "I guess we can keep wearing the same pantyhose and panties. No need to change out of those. Turn around and I'll unzip you."
Joan did as instructed and Katie unzipped the back of his dress. She then turned her back to Joan and he reciprocated. They pulled the dresses up over their heads. As Katie placed hers on the bed, she got her first look at Joan's new body. She stood there for a moment looking at the person who is her boyfriend who also now has perfect breasts.
Joan finished pulling the dress over his head and noticed Katie staring at him. "Hey!" he shouted as he moved his arm holding the dress to cover the front of his body. "My eyes are up here!"
Katie blinked and came back to reality. "Sorry, I was just in disbelief that that body belongs to my boyfriend! You're so friggin' hot!"
"Hey, you're looking pretty amazing yourself," replied Joan. "If I still had my dick, it would be at full attention."
Katie winked. "Nothing you haven't seen before."
"It kind of is," said Joan. He tried to word what he was about to say tactfully. "That dress did change your body proportions...although not quite as much as mine."
"Okay, that's true, I suppose." Katie went to her dresser and pulled out a couple bras and tossed them on the bed. "Okay, those should work for you. Pick whichever you want and put it on."
Joan picked up the beige bra and left the pink for Katie. He put it on his chest and attempted to fasten the hooks in the back.
Katie put on the pink bra and then helped Joan fasten his. "There you go. Sorry, I forgot for a moment that you might not know how to do that."
"Thanks."
At her closet, Katie looked over the options. "Would you prefer a dress or a skirt and blouse?"
Joan thought for a moment. He really didn't know what difference it might make. "Surprise me."
Katie picked out a red blouse with ruffles around the shoulders and handed it to Joan. She also picked a simple black A-line skirt for him. "These should look nice. What do you think? Would you prefer something a little more sexy?"
"No, these are fine. I think I remember you wearing these a few months back. You looked great, as always," Joan recalled as he pulled the skirt up. The bottom was just above his knees.
"Thanks! As for me, I'm just going to put on what I wore earlier." She retrieved her clothing which was still on her bed and put on a knee-length skirt with a flower pattern and a rose colored ribbed T-shirt that showed off her curves. "I'm going to stay in the heels. How about you? Would you prefer flats?"
"No, that's okay. I think I'm getting used to these," Joan admitted while looking down at his feet.
Leading Joan into the bathroom, Katie took a brush to his hair and made it look less like a 20's flapper. She then did the same to her own. Once the hair was a little more modern, she applied makeup to both herself and Joan without any objection from Joan.
Returning to the bedroom, Katie retrieved one more item from her closet and handed a small black bag to Joan. "Here, you can borrow this."
Joan took the purse and held it up by the strap. "What do I need this for?"
"You probably didn't notice yet, but you don't have pockets. If you want to take your phone, keys, or money, you'll need a purse."
"Oh," replied a defeated Joan. "Thanks." He retrieved his phone and turned it back on before putting it in the purse followed by his wallet and keys. "Are we ready to go?"
Katie grabbed her own purse. "I think so." As they walked out, she shut the door. "Gonna shut this in case my roomies come home. I don't want them tempted to put on any of the flapper costume."
"Good idea."
Ready for the evening, Katie and Joan headed downstairs and out to Katie's car...