Jumper Cable by Piers Anthony

shrank into an oblong torso. And worst of all, his eight eyes clustered together to form only two. He could no longer see in all directions simultaneously. He could no longer maintain his balance by having a leg at every point. He tilted, and started to fall. Wenda and Maeve caught his arms on either side, supporting him. Still he wobbled, and they had to jam close to his sides to support him more firmly, keeping him upright. Olive and Phanta came up in front and behind, helping. He was surrounded on four sides by human damsels. He kept his feet, thanks to their help. But there were other oddities.
    All four maidens
    were remarkably soft, and the way they pressed against him felt odd but good. Remarkably good.
    “Put some clothes on him,” Haughty called. “At least some shorts.”
    “Clothes?” Jumper asked. “Spiders don’t wear clothes.”
    “You’re not a spider anymore,” Haughty reminded him. Wira hurried up with a pair of boxer shorts. They looked ready to punch someone out, but she reproved them and they settled down. “Lift one foot,” she said to Jumper.
    He tried, but with his legs bound together in pairs he couldn’t. Instead he tried to fall over again, and would have succeeded if the four girls had not held him firmly in place. Very softly and firmly. Wira knelt down and put a hand on one of his thick-legged feet.
    “This one.”
    Aided by her touch, he lifted two of his hind legs. They came up together, and she put one loop of the shorts over the foot. Then she had him put that foot down and lift the other so she could fit the other loop over it. Finally she hauled the shorts up until they reached the top of his legs and fit around his middle, covering the accessories there.
    “That’s better,” Haughty said. “Naked men aren’t necessarily very aesthetic.”
    “Actually he is handsome enough,” MareAnn said. “Not as well endowed as a horse, but then, what else is? He could make some girl a fine companion.”
    “Very fine,” Phanta agreed, patting Jumper’s rear side. “Too bad he had to cover it up.”
    For some reason the others laughed. But Jumper couldn’t focus on that now. He was too busy trying to get his balance. Not only had he been reduced from eight legs to four, two of them were up in the air, not touching the ground. This made it just about impossible to remain vertical. He would have fallen, were it not for the continuing support of the four girls.
    “I don’t think this can work,” he said. “I must get all four limbs on the ground, to maintain my balance.”
    “Not so, Jumper,” Wira said. “You will get the hang of it soon. It’s a perpetual balancing act, but it can be done.”
    “Meanwhile, we wood knot let yew fall,” Wenda said, clinging closely to his left side. She seemed unusually soft her entire length. Perhaps because she was no longer made of wood.
    “Definitely not,” Olive agreed, remaining plastered to his front side. She was not only soft, she was obscurely exciting in a way he had not noticed before.
    “Get away from him, you flirts,” Haughty said. “Let him find his own balance.”
    Flirts? They were merely holding him up. Still, there was something remarkably interesting about them. He might have figured out what, if he wasn’t having so much trouble staying upright.
    “Here is a walker,” Wira said. Sure enough, a metallic framework was walking behind her. “Put your hands on its rails; it will support you while you learn.”
    The walker came to stand before him. Jumper got his arms loose from the grips of Wenda and Maeve and put his new hands on the bars.
    “You too, Olive,” the harpy cried. “And you, Phanta.”
    “Oh,” Olive said, as if just now realizing that she was standing mostly between Jumper and the walker. She squeezed around it and got out of his way.
    “Ditto,” Phanta said, stepping back from his hindside. Now he was ner vous ly alone, but the walker did help to keep him upright. He hauled one foot forward,