Wish Band (Magic Ink)

Luke couldn't have been happier with his body. He couldn't stop looking at himself in the mirror, seeing the way muscles curved under his skin, his shirt tight against his strong build. Hair had even filled in across his chest, a beard he'd always wanted wrapped around his chin. He kept getting distracted from work, finding himself a little more vacant than usual, but nothing could compare to how lucky he felt.

It had all started when he'd gotten his first tattoo. The idea of getting one had been on his mind for a while, finally coming to fruition when he found a shop in a familiar strip he had never noticed before. He didn't know how he could have missed it prior, the location seeming to have appeared where there was nothing before.

Luke stepped in, wondering what he was going to find in the seemingly materialized shop, before running into a small man at the counter. Black spirals spread across their body, ink covering every inch of visible skin. The image of an imp instantly popped into Luke's mind. Luke needed to keep from laughing when he heard their voice.

"Welcome to Magic Ink, what can I do for you today?"

"Just looking…" Luke mentioned, hoping for the conversation to end so he could get back out.

"Just looking? Just looking! You've got to be kidding. You walk into one of the best tattoo shops in the worlds, and you're just looking? People don't just walk in here. C'mon kid, you've got to get something."

Luke felt caught off guard, not expecting to have been confronted. "Well I don't have any tattoo's yet. If I did, I was thinking of getting something simple."

"Hmm" The imp seemed to take Luke's words, giving a moment of thought. "How about a wish band? Easy, goes right around your arm, and you'll be changed in no time! It still comes at a cost though…"

Luke took a second to think before buying into it. "Alright, how much?" He asked.

"For a wish band? Oh we'll discuss, don't worry about it. Why don't you come on back."

The imp disappeared toward the rear of the shop, and Luke couldn't help but follow along, curious. Was he really going to let this guy give him a tattoo?

He walked behind a curtain to find a chair, the surrounding room a workshop. He hadn't been in an ink shop before, not sure what to expect, everything foreign to him.

The imp directed him to sit on the chair. Luke remained cautious, but feeling like a stranger out of his comfort zone, decided to go along with it. He sat and raised his arm onto the rest, allowing the imp to grab their tools and start.

Luke had heard about how getting a tattoo usually included pain, so he was not expecting the sensation of the needles to be comforting instead. They worked on his skin with a dull drumming, giving rise to a little warmth in the area. He watched as a black line began forming around his resting limb, thick against its small form.

"So, what's the wish?"

"Wish?" Luke questioned, focusing on the growing tattoo.

"Yeah, what would you change about yourself if you could."

Luke suddenly felt small sitting on the bench, having been put on the spot. He wouldn't have ever thought about talking about his insecurities outloud, but in the room with a stranger, something made him speak.

"I've always wanted to be bigger."

"Yeah?" The imp asked, listening.

Luke suddenly couldn't stop himself. "I've never played sports. Well I did when I was younger, but nothing physical. I was too small, always jealous of the bigger guys. I wish I had big muscles like them, tall. Maybe a beard too."

"Ah, I've never liked big brutes." The imp replied. "Always dumb, hairy, drooling everywhere. They think they know everything."

Luke couldn't help but feel the man was talking about something specific.

"Guess since you were never that, you were smart instead, eh?" The imp continued. "So, what do you do?"

The question took Luke by surprise, their assumption accurate. "Yeah, I guess I was a nerd." Luke responded. "I'm a software engineer, developing an application at my job. I've never really had time for anything else."

The imp smiled. "That's something I don't know, could definitely use that. Sounds like we have a deal then!"

Luke frowned, returning to his thoughts. The man spoke strangely, something Luke didn't want to spend a lot of time mulling over. It just made him want to leave. Strangely enough, the tattoo looked almost done, the imp having turned the arm over and begun working on the inside. He had heard from forums that tattoos usually took well over an hour, but he had been in the shop for maybe ten minutes.

The tattoo was completed with the two having spent the rest of the time in silence, Luke happy to finally be out of the chair.

"Alright, that's it." The imp said, pushing Luke toward the front. "I got other customers to get to."

"Wait, but don't I need to pay?" Luke asked, oblivious to the empty shop.

The question froze the imp for a moment before they suddenly burst out laughing, continuing to usher the customer out.

Luke never got an answer as he was pushed into the street, the door shut and locked behind him. The artist hadn't even wrapped or covered the fresh skin. Yet, upon looking at the ink, Luke didn't see any leakage or bruising. He shrugged, inexperienced, guessing it didn't need any extra care before beginning his trek home.

Luke's thoughts wandered as he walked back to his place, wondering about the whole ordeal. There had been something off about the man that he couldn't put his finger on, but he assumed it didn't matter. Still, the conversation they had stayed in his thoughts. He had always wanted to be bigger, more muscular, having been lean all his life. He never had the time to go to the gym, or the genes to grow out a beard, something everyone around him seemed able to do.

Luke remained in his head, thinking about it, oblivious to the blue glow that began to come from the tattoo. He didn't feel much as the clothes wrapping his body grew tighter, constricting his figure as it expanded. He didn't notice the heavier weight in his step as sleek muscles took shape across his body, not too big, but enough to be seen. The stubble he'd always wanted formed across his face, a good shadow drawn across his chin that took shape.

He spent the rest of his day at home, not aware of the changes, at least until the next day when he looked in the mirror after waking up.

His mouth dropped at the view. The change was subtle, but couldn't have been more clear to him. His body still was lean, but now accompanied by toned muscles snaking up and down his body that gave him a sleek appearance. The lightest amount of chest hair had begun to curl across his torso, stubble forming a solid shadow across his jawline. It took him a moment to regain his composure, before beginning to wonder what could have caused it.

His mind instantly thought back to the tattoo parlor. Suddenly everything seemed to make sense: the name of the tattoo, their conversation, the strangeness of the shop. As he looked over his body, however, he felt as if he was missing something. Was this really it? Couldn't he have grown bigger?

At that question the tattoo began to glow blue again, Luke's eyes growing wide at its light. His gaze was immediately brought back to the mirror once he noticed his body changing before him, visibly getting bigger. In a matter of seconds his biceps had grown even larger and rounder, bulging out from his arms, his pecs growing more solid as his shoulders widened above them. Hair continued filling in on his torso, dark swirls that spread to his shoulders, and his stubble quickly took the shape of a dense beard hiding the skin of his cheeks.

Luke couldn't help but crack a smile, ecstatic, shocked and in awe at his reflection in the mirror as the glow of the armband faded. He was big, muscled, furry, exactly what he wanted. It was a dream come true. He couldn't help but wonder if what he was seeing was real, quickly moving his hands up to feel the changes. They moved across his new form, feeling the ripple of his new muscles running up and down his arms, grazing his thick neck, and dragging his fingers through the fuzz that covered his chin and body. It was all real.

Luke didn't have much time to think about the changes as he had to quickly continue dressing for work, this time noticing how his clothes were much tighter than usual. He couldn't even button the top of his shirt. Still, the dress emphasized his new musculature, his form visibly rippling under the fabric as he moved. He caught a glimpse of his ID card, seeing his picture matching the face he saw in the mirror. "Good" He thought. It seemed like more had changed in the world around him, leaving him hoping his coworkers could recognize him.

His mind buzzed with electricity as he made it to work, feeling more powerful in his body, more commanding. He daydreamed about it on his commute, thinking he'd be treated differently, earn respect automatically. No one would mess with him, not that they did before, but he was certain his new imposing stature cut out any future possibility. As he made it to the office and sat down at his computer, however, he immediately felt lost.

Despite pulling up the part of the software he had been working on, he didn't recognize any of it. He shook his head trying to focus, but no matter how he looked at the code it just appeared to him like a jumbled mess, a bunch of words on the screen. The longer he looked at it the more he felt his mind go numb. It wasn't long until he was sitting there vacantly, suddenly brought back as his phone buzzed.

A calendar reminder for the gym popped up on his phone, scheduled over his lunch. He felt strange looking at it. He had never been to the gym before, had he? As he thought about it, he could suddenly recall all the times he went to workout, building his body, growing huge. He smiled thinking back about his progress, excited to continue growing his body, unconcerned how he could suddenly recall new memories. He quickly stood and headed back out toward his car, driving towards the nearest gym, knowing he had a change of clothes in the backseat.

Luke spent an hour sweating it out in the gym in a tank, loving every minute he got to spend using his muscles. He knew how to do each exercise, lifting as much as he could on each one, spending as much time as he could on the bench working his upper body. It was much easier moving weight than writing code, Luke's thought, finding his strengths suited the the physical world rather than the abstract. He was upset when it was time to head back to work, but he made sure to stop in the lockerroom to get a glimpse of his pump in the mirrors.

He pulled his tank over his head, flexing his arms while displaying his chiseled hirsute body to the room. His tongue stuck out naturally, his simplified brain overridden by animal instinct. The tattoo stretched with his flexed arms, wrapping around the top of his bicep. He felt he couldn't have made a better decision getting it, loving the way it looked on his body while having completely forgotten the changes it had caused him.

As he looked at his progress in the mirror, his mind began to wander, his emotions now stronger than logic in his head. He hated being an office worker, stuck behind a desk looking at a machine he didn't understand. He was much better suited to do a physical job that required his body, he thought, imagining how much better it would be to spend his time working outdoors, using his muscle.

There was just enough magic left in the tattoo for one final change. It turned a faint blue just for a second, Luke unable to see it having turned away from the mirror. The clothes in his workout bag were altered, turning into greased and tattered scraps that he could care less about how dirty they were. He didn't even bother to change out of his sweaty workout gear, now a ribbed wifebeater that hung loosely over his form, stretched out and faded. He walked out of the gym toward a beat up pick-up truck, throwing his bag in the bed with the rest of his tools. He didn't have a second thought as he drove to the construction site he was currently at, back with the rest of the built men he worked with. Just a bunch of dumb muscled men with no other work meant for them.