"Is there a reason here's not good?"

"Nope, here's fine. One quick warning: if my bracelet lights up, that means there's something magic going on that doesn't match what my medallion is doing, so if that happens you should probably take it off in case it turns out to be something bad. With that said, go ahead and put it on." She's twisting one of her rings around and around, but her face is calm.

"...Okay." She puts it on.

Margaret smiles when her bracelet doesn't light up. "Okay, now try to think yourself human-shaped. Sort of visualize what you want to look like and try to--mentally squash your shape into a human shape? It took me a bit to figure out, it might take you longer since you don't have a point of reference."

"It goes off what I want?"

"I think so? I haven't actually researched what this is like for people born in critter shape, maybe we should get on your computer and look for tips if it isn't obvious." Margaret is fidgeting with her teleport ring even more now, worrying that maybe her first test should have been on a species that already had medallions.

"That's a good idea, I think there's a site about that somewhere." Brenda slithers to her computer.

Margaret finds somewhere to perch and reads over Brenda's shoulder.

There are eight slightly redundant numbered items, when Brenda finds the page. She reads through them all, then lies down on the floor - there's an item about making sure you won't lose your balance the first time - and closes her eyes and concentrates.

And gradually she acquires legs, but this completely fails to materialize pants.

Margaret realizes what's happening as the transformation starts and hastily switches from fascinated staring to averting her eyes.

"Did you get it? . . . Do you want like a towel or something?" 

"- oh, that didn't occur to me. Yeah, that'd be good probably," says Brenda, craning her neck. "I'm going to have to learn to put on clothes! I'm too old to have to do that!" she laughs.

"It had never occurred to me that you were wearing less clothes than most people!" Margaret giggles, grabbing a blanket off the couch and holding it up between them.

"I sometimes put on a skirt? I guess I can do that if pants are hard?" Brenda manages to drape herself with the blanket. "Only I think maybe people normally also wear underwear with those."

"Normally, but I guess it's up to you. Underwear is more important with pants than a skirt, I think, but I hardly ever wear skirts."

"More important with pants? But there's no way to see up the pants." Brenda is now working on standing; it is hard to do this while maintaining blanket drapery since she needs to grab her sofa to try to pull herself up.

Margaret leans down and offers a hand, careful not to step on the blanket. "I guess it depends on skirt length." Then her brain stops waiting for the other shoe to drop and it finally hits her: "But whatever, it worked you have legs! I feel like nothing can possibly be too difficult right now."

Brenda hauls herself up and balances tentatively, not trying yet to take a step. "They feel so weird!"

It didn't feel particularly weird when Margaret got her medallion; hopefully that's just about their particular shapes and which direction she was going and the fact that she was too busy going "OMG magic" and not a sign that she fucked up the spell and Brenda is never going to be able to walk or something. She is going to stuff her worries in a hole and not talk about them unless something goes more obviously wrong.

"Yeah, I bet. Are you feeling okay apart from that? Are you still the same height? You look about the same height."

"I feel okay apart from that, but, like, toes. I didn't really have a height, just an altitude? This is one of my taller heights, actually, it was usually comfortable to hold myself lower than this but I guess that'd mean having really short legs. It's fine." She stretches out to her full human-height.

"Yeah, toes are kind of objectively stupid. And better weirdly tall than weirdly short, I guess? At least you'll be able to reach more shelves."

"Oh, I could get taller than this, I just wouldn't, like, hang out taller than this, it'd get tiring to hold up that much of myself."

"Oh, that makes sense. Do you want to try walking? You can hold onto my arm if you want."

"The part where you swing your arms around isn't important?"

"Not really? It helps you go faster, I think, but I've never noticed it helping with balance much."

"Huh. I guess you can carry things and still walk." Brenda attempts a few steps, touching the wall.