“So what was it like? Being a cat and all?”
“Um… it’s like… being a cat? I’m not sure how to explain it, but—”
“Wait, no, don’t spoil it for me! I meant to ask how it felt to change! Oh, and I want to know what you do during your shift, and how it’s like, being so small and soft and—”
“Kay, c-can’t this wait until I’m out of the shower?”
“Oh, posh, we’re girlfriends now, you’re not hiding anything I haven’t seen before.”
“That’s not the point!”
“Just tell me and I’ll be out of your hair!”
“Alright, alright, just let me wash off the suds first!”
Kendall mentally replayed the conversations she’d had with Callie earlier this morning, shivering (both from the cold, and the pent-up excitement swirling in her system) as she briskly strolled towards Morgana’s Lounge.
She’d asked Callie a heap of questions— grinning, Kendall giggled to herself, remembering how Callie had quipped about being interrogated. Admittedly, she’d gone a little overboard with them, asking question after question while Callie’s pretty silhouette danced behind the shower curtain. But she couldn’t help it, it was all so exciting! Honestly, it was the first time Kendall had been this excited about anything… well, that was a bit of a lie, she’d been excited for plenty of things, but regardless, this was something she’d been looking forward to doing— craving, in fact —from the moment she’d found out about Miriam’s practice of turning her employees into cats!
Kendall blew out an enthusiastic breath as she neared the café, eyes glittering with eager anticipation as she walked around to the side door and stepped into the warm, coffee-scented back of the house. Ahhhh… It was a relief, being here instead of outside in the frigid cold. It was still a bit dim inside, the lights hadn’t warmed up all the way… and Miriam was nowhere to be seen. Odd. Callie had told her that Miriam liked to show up early— thus, she’d shown up early as well. Was she just busy getting things ready?
Curious, Kendall wandered down the hall. She didn’t hear any footsteps, despite the heating being on. She glanced around, peering into the storage room (which was full of sacks of coffee beans and flour and sugar and the like), then into the utility room, which oddly enough didn’t have a single wire. Magic, Kendall assumed.
The only place left to check was Miriam’s office. Kendall kept her eyes peeled and her ears open for any sign of her witchy employer, carefully stalking down the hall. Again, nothing. After a moment of hesitation… Kendall put her hand on the door and slowly swung it open, revealing—
An empty office, with no Miriam in sight. Kendall sighed. Blast. Too early, it seemed. But while she was here, she might as well take a seat in the corner and wait for Miriam. In the meantime, she could text Callie (assuming she wasn’t already on her way to work, because sadly, she hadn’t managed to squeeze out of her teaching job just yet) and tease her a bit for giving her “misinformation”. A small smirk stretched across Kendall’s face as she pulled up a seat and loosened her jacket— but just when she’d pulled out her phone, a bright flash of light from Miriam’s desk stunned her!
Kendall covered her eyes, wincing at the bright white beam blanketing every surface in Miriam’s office with a pale glow. What on earth? She nervously stood up from her chair, panicking a little, wondering if she’d perhaps set off some kind of magical burglar alarm or the like, and rushed for the door— only to find that it had somehow locked itself since she’d come inside only a few seconds ago!
Oh dear, oh dear. Kendall jiggled the doorknob as the light grew brighter, squeezing her eyes shut as it exploded into a supernova of pure white!
She slowly opened her eyes a few seconds later, to a tinkling, amused laugh.
“Top of the morning to you, Kendall~.” Miriam’s silky voice drifted over to Kendall as her cheeks burned. “I’m rather impressed— excited, are you~?”
Miriam giggled again, sliding off of her desk as Kendall abashedly nodded and took her hand off the door. She teasingly smirked, and snapped her fingers, switching on the lights. “There. Wouldn’t want to have you blundering around in the dark, hmm?” With a knowing wink, Miriam settled into her office chair and gestured for Kendall to take a seat as well.
“No, we wouldn’t~.” After her brief moment of shock, Kendall recovered, matching Miriam’s smirk with one of her own. No wonder Callie had been so adamant about emphasizing the need to stay calm— Miriam’s teasing had almost caught her off guard. She took her seat, folding her hands over her thighs as her excitement surged back in full force. “And yes, I really am excited!”
She gushed, bouncing her leg excitedly. “You remember how I was last time—”
“Don’t I~.” Miriam grinned.
“—so I’m sure you have an idea of what’s running through my mind, ahaha.” Kendall laughed, moistening her lips before continuing on. “I’ve been so jealous of Callie— which sounds bad, I know, but I mean, can you blame me? She gets to be a bloody cat and she gets paid for it! It’s a dream, honestly!”
With a longing sigh, Kendall shook her head. “And all the little surprises she brings home are wonderful too. That little moving stone cat, the tail on Christmas… the paws a few days later…” Kendall clasped her hands together with another sigh.
Miriam’s smile had only widened while Kendall was gushing— and she had eagerly leaned forward to listen to Kendall’s quasi-rant. “I take it you’ll be wanting to change now, then?”
“Oh, yes, please.” Kendall nodded, standing up from her chair with a breathless huff— before holding out her hand. “Wait, actually… I had an idea…”
“Do tell~.” Miriam got up as well, cupping a hand to her ear.
Her eyes lit up as Kendall whispered her request to her, and she slowly nodded, amusement flooding her features as Kendall laid everything out for her. “Oh, yes, yes… splendid, mmm… Oh? I see… Of course, yes~. Mhm~. I’ll arrange for that, then?”
Kendall blushed and nodded, taking Miriam’s seat when she beckoned for her to have it— and got to work jotting a note down on a piece of paper, fingers trembling a little as she hurriedly jotted it down. The faster she had this done, the faster she’d be a cat!
Miriam slid the note over to the corner of her desk once Kendall was done, grinning when Kendall dropped to her hands and knees without being prompted. “Callie’s briefed you, I see~♪”
“That she did.” Kendall wryly grinned. “Oh— if it’s not too much of a bother, do you reckon you can keep me from falling into that daze Callie was in? I’d rather like to experience everything!”
Kendall’s bright enthusiasm was infectious. Miriam graciously nodded— she rather liked the idea of seeing Kendall gush over her changes as well. In fact… “Actually, Kendall? Why don’t you hop back up, I’ve got a better idea in mind, if you’re willing? Since you want to savor the experience, and since you are awfully bloody early, I’ll cast a much slower spell on you.”
“Oooh…” Kendall murmured, pursing her lips in thought. That did sound like a nice idea. She had been rather smitten with the part-cat embellishments that Callie had come home with… “Well, I reckon it sounds like a fun time? It’s not as if we’re wanting for time.”
“Quite!” Miriam cheerfully replied, the corners of her lips curling into a teasing smirk as she helped Kendall to her feet. “And you’ll be able to help me set everything up in the meantime, ahaha!”
“Oh, for…” Kendall groaned, though she couldn’t help but laugh. Figures. “You berk.” She playfully taunted Miriam, shaking her head.
“Well, you are being paid, so I may as well put you to work~.” Miriam winked— then cleared her throat and launched into an arcane spiel. “Aljism filin wayasir mithl altiyni, yunazif allawh…”
Kendall shivered, ears burning as her body softened like warm butter, hairs prickling against her skin as the magic settled deep within her bones. She felt so relaxed… every ounce of soreness or stress had just completely melted out of her. It was even better than Callie had described it— Kendall quietly sighed, her chest slowly falling as a sense of gentle bliss wrapped around her.
“Min 'iinsan 'iilaa wahash, tadhuba, abhath ean shaklik alhaqiqii wa'asheil fara'aka, taghir!”
She instinctively squirmed when Miriam finished her incantation with a loud shout, feeling a powerful surge of goosebumps wash over her body and dot her skin. “Gosh…” She murmured, blushing when Miriam flashed her a knowing smile. “Does magic always feel this nice?”
“Just mine.” Winking, Miriam dragged Kendall out of her office. “Now then… I’ve got to do a bit of inventory before the day starts, so if you could be a dear and run along to the front, I do believe there’s a few bags of coffee that need to be ground. And if you can manage it, it would be lovely if you could wake up the fire spirit so I can get a head start on today’s pastries.”
“Er, fire spirit?” Kendall quizzically tilted her head, shivering when a second round of goosebumps washed over her body. Strange… this time, it felt like her clothes had shivered as well.
“Just pop around the corner and there’s a door in the back that leads to the kitchen. Just toss a lump of wood on it, that should do the trick. Ta-ta!” With a firm nudge, Miriam waved Kendall away.
Kendall caught one last hint of a wink before the door to Miriam’s office clicked shut. Well… off to work, then? She rubbed her arms, eyes widening when she saw that her woolen jacket had started to tinge a reddish orange. “Oh my gosh…” She whispered, fighting down the giddy urge to just hide away somewhere and watch herself change. Fur! She had fur!
Correction, she would have fur, soon enough. Kendall pinched the sleeve of her jacket, grinning so hard that her cheeks hurt. She could already feel it sticking to her skin, just the way Callie had described— and with every wave of goosebumps that washed over her, she could feel the fabric sticking a little more, weaving itself into her body as a thick, luscious coat of tawny-orange fur.
Lightheaded, Kendall stumbled into the dimly lit café.
*****
Finding the coffee beans had taken a few minutes longer than expected (because all of the bags had been labelled in a foreign language, Arabic, maybe?) and by the time Kendall began grinding them up, her fur coat had spread far beyond the reaches of her winter clothes. The back of her hands were beginning to show tufts of orange fur— Kendall reckoned that she looked a bit like a werewolf, what with all the fur —and she could feel some soft peach fuzz encircling her chin and creeping up her face.
The way her fur hugged her body was rather embarrassing, though. It looked as if she were wearing an orange onesie— and it just kept tightening around her body, conforming to her contours, outlining her frame. The spreading tufts of fur masked Kendall’s blush, at least, and as she ground the beans, more changes began to make themselves known, distracting her.
Kendall gasped when a light sting pinched her tailbone, blinking rapidly when a gentle tugging on her ears followed it up— and then froze when she felt her tongue scratch against the roof of her mouth!
This was a slow change? It had only been a few minutes! Kendall shifted from foot to foot, her excitement slowly returning after the initial shock. She could feel her ears thickening, and feel her spine stretching out of her back— and oh gosh! They moved around on their own! That lightheaded, excited feeling swept over Kendall again, and without thinking, she purred and licked her lips, thrashing her half-formed tail around while her thickening ears twitched.
It was only a few seconds later that Kendall realized what kind of sound she had just made. Her eyes widened— and she put a hand up to her throat, feeling her nails prick the tender skin around her neck as the reason for the itch in her throat suddenly became crystal clear.
“Wrrrow…” Kendall panted, listening to the throaty purr that tinged her words— before suddenly realizing that the countertop was starting to creep towards her! She was shrinking now, too! With a frantic yowl, she rushed to pour the second bag into the machine, standing on her tippy toes, swaying from side to side as her sole began to plump up with velvety paw pads…
One more bag to go. Kendall figured it would be smart to set the bag on the countertop (and join it there herself too), and she did just that, surprising herself with how nimbly she managed to hop up. Her tail wiggled as she felt herself shrink again, and this time, the numbing tingle across her skin was accompanied by a loving ache, deep inside her body. Callie had mentioned this too… and she’d also mentioned the warmth traveling down her arms and legs, too.
Kendall scrunched up her face, like she was about to sneeze, as her body started to slowly stretch and mold itself into the shape it wanted to be in. Her legs and arms lightly popped when her ankles and wrists shot upwards, dragging her toes downwards as they started to thicken into proper paws.
And her fingers were no different— they thickened and began to stick together, rounding into cute little nubs as her thumb sank into her arm, leaving just the nail sticking out. She hadn’t even realized it, but she’d shrunk so much that her feet— no, her rear paws —were touching the countertop. She still looked human… bordering on furry, maybe, what with her paws, ears, and tail… and forming snout. Kendall couldn’t see it, but she could feel her nose itching from her growing whiskers. She sneezed and shook her head to clear it, pushing herself further back on the counter to keep herself from sliding off.
It was getting harder and harder to sit up straight, too. Kendall rolled her shoulders, listening to them pop and creak as they widened, forcing her to slump forward like a hunchback. This was all rather overwhelming— exciting, yes, but gosh, there was SO much happening all at once!
With twitching ears, Kendall rolled onto the counter, placing her paws against the slick surface as her nails started to thicken into claws. She could feel her face sliding forwards, like a bit of taffy being yanked on, and she could see her nose pinkening as it slid further and further into her field of view! A sudden toothache filled Kendall's mouth, and she yawned, the corners of her lips stretching as her jaw continued to lengthen and her head started to jut upwards. She felt her teeth slide against her gums and the inside of her lips as they sharpened into pearly white fangs, and the ache in her mouth intensified when her fangs squeezed together to make room for the extra teeth forming along her jaw.
It was easier to be on all fours now— Kendall’s hips and shoulders had already made the change and widened her stance for her, after all. She didn’t even have to think about it, when her curves started to flatten into her body, bum diffusing into her haunches and chest smoothing away against her underbelly, she just got up on all fours and arched her back, fur rising as the pressure in her face reached a peak, pushing her snout well into view!
She was mostly cat, apart from her wide, human eyes and a little vestigial trace of her brunette hair lingering in the orange pelt covering every last inch of her body. Her front legs still looked a little gangly as well, and she had just enough flexibility left to hoist the coffee bag (which was almost the same size as her) up into the machine and slice it open with a claw.
As she gracefully landed back on the countertop, she felt her pupils squeeze into slits. Blinking, Kendall peered at herself, admiring her fiery orange coat, absolutely smitten with the way the orange fur along her back seemed to glow a little in the slowly brightening café lights. It was gorgeous! She caught a glimpse of her tail happily dancing around and grinned, feeling the muscles in her snout clench in a different, but familiar way.
“Lovely!” She thought to herself, proudly swishing her tail around a few more times before hopping off the counter. The machine was starting to get on her nerves, now that the monotonous grinding sounded as loud as construction work— and now that she could sense the vibrations through her whiskers as well. She stared up at the comparatively massive counter, feeling little butterflies pop in her stomach as she basked in the feeling of being small and cute and feline.
Kendall jubilantly yowled, listening to her voice echo back to her in the empty coffee shop with a surge of joy. She had NO idea how Callie had managed to keep herself together, all she wanted to do was jump around and zoom across the café! She wanted to feel her ears flatten against her skull, and her tail whip around behind her, and the gentle recoil of her paw pads thumping against the wooden floor— “Mmmrrrrrwwwoorrrr!” She caterwauled again and made a beeline for one of the tables, eager to test out her new body!
She leapt up… right into Miriam’s arms. Somehow, the witch had managed to sneak into the café proper without being detected by Kendall’s sharp ears or nose…?
Indeed she had— Kendall had been too busy fawning over herself to notice Miriam walking in to feed the fire spirit, and she’d been so blinded by her desire to jump atop one of the tables that she hadn’t even heard Miriam saunter in front of her! It was hard for a cat to look embarrassed, but Kendall managed to pull it off— she gave Miriam an apologetic, sheepish meow as the witch lowered her to the floor.
“Careful~.” Miriam purred. “Now, instead of rampaging around, sweet, why don’t you come and sit with me in my office until we open?”
*****
The sky was dark by the time Callie arrived, red-faced and shivering in the cold. She wondered how Kendall was holding up after spending all day as a cat— probably quite well, if she had to guess. Probably much better than her, if she had to guess. With a tired sigh, Callie stared around the mostly empty café, and took a seat, looking around to see if she could spot her girlfriend.
She didn’t have to wait very long— within seconds, an orange cat had hopped onto the table and was rubbing its flank against her hand, loudly purring as it begged for attention.
“Hullo, Kay~.” Callie chortled, scratching her girlfriend behind the ears— before curiously looking up at Miriam. “And, er, hullo, Miriam!”
“Hi, sweet.” Miriam waved. “Here.”
Callie took the note Miriam passed her with a bemused look— she felt like she was in primary again, sharing notes with her friends. “Thank you?”
“My pleasure.” With a wink, Miriam stalked away, leaving a very confused Callie (and a very expectant Kendall) behind.
Callie stared for a few seconds, before shrugging. “Odd.” She put her hand back on Kendall’s head and made to set the note down— only for Kendall to insistently paw at it.
Callie narrowed her eyes. “Kendall…” She murmured, shaking her head when Kendall meowed. “Right. Let’s see what you’ve gotten up to…”
“I asked Miriam if I could stay a cat till tomorrow morning, and she agreed, so please take care of your cat girlfriend tonight :3 (ps sneak me into our apartment in your bag, I won't make any noise)”
Kendall’s smug, triumphant meow made Callie roll her eyes, but she couldn’t hide the grin spreading across her face as she stuffed the note into her coat pocket. “You minx.” She teased. “Should have known you’d pull something like this.”
A saucy meow from Kendall made Callie snort— she just knew Kendall was being unbearably smug. Just the way her tail was swishing back and forth reeked of priggish amusement.
“Right, in you go, then.” Callie opened her bag, holding it steady as Kendall sauntered in and squeezed herself inside, looking like a little cat-loaf by the time she was done. She purred, making the bag vibrate against Callie’s palms, and tucked her tail underneath herself as Callie started to slowly zip the bag up, leaving a little gap for air.
Miriam watched the couple leave, putting her hand on her cheek with an adoring sigh. Ah, young love~.
*****
Callie unzipped her bag— and had a split-second to see the orange blur rushing towards her before she fell on her bed, tackled by Kendall. “Kay!” She yelled, staring at her cat-girlfriend’s amused snout as their tail idly smacked against her chest. Groaning (but again, unable to keep her lips from curling up) Callie pushed Kendall off of her body, straightening up with an exasperated sigh when Kendall pounced onto her lap instead.
“So that’s why you bought all those brushes and mice and whatnot.” Callie grinned, gently nudging Kendall aside, fighting with her for a bit before Kendall relented. “At least let me grab all of that first! You are SO needy!”
Kendall bobbed her head, as if to say that yes, yes, she was— which earned her a light, teasing bop on the head. Meowing, she pawed at Callie, delighting in her girlfriend’s reaction to her mock impatience. So cute~. This had been an excellent idea— she’d have to see what other magic Miriam was capable of when she showed up for her shift tomorrow~.
“Here, you attention-seeking grimalkin.” Callie flumped back down on her bed, arms full of brushes, feather wands, jingling bells, and cloth mice— along with a little sprig of dried catnip and a laser pointer. She palmed one of the mice, holding it up for Kendall to smell… before shoving it beneath the covers!
Kendall raced to catch it as her feline instincts flared to life with an exhilarating rush of adrenaline. She yowled and tunneled beneath the sheets, squirming around as she frantically searched for the mouse!
Callie giggled and grabbed the feather wand as the lump scurrying beneath her blankets darted left and right, bursting out into a fit of laughter when Kendall found the mouse and started trying to navigate out of the twisted tunnel she’d made.
Oh, gosh, she was really stuck~! Kendall spun around in circles with the fabric mouse tightly clenched between her teeth, her muffled meows echoing around the bedroom for a few minutes before Callie finally took pity on her and plucked her out of the tangled nest she’d made.
Kendall hissed when Callie tried to take her mouse from her, but when she saw the feather wand, all thoughts of her mouse vanished— and she absentmindedly let the battered plush mouse drop out of her jaw as she leapt for the dancing feather instead!
Meowing excitedly, Kendall jumped around the bed, pawing and pouncing towards the feather, delighting in the way it flew around her paws! She slowly rose onto her hind paws as Callie dragged the feather higher and higher, her meows growing louder as well as she strained to reach the feather—
She spun around, completely forgetting about the feather as all of her attention narrowed onto the tiny red dot jiggling against the far wall. Kendall knew it was just a little laser dot— but seeing it wiggle around made her literally itch with the need to pounce on it!
She spent the next few minutes chasing after a dot that stayed juuust out of reach, meowing as she jumped against the wall and leapt over the dresser, before ducking underneath the endtable and mattress and finally ending up back in Callie’s lap, where the red dot tantalizingly sat.
Kendall didn’t waste any time jumping on it— but she meowed in confusion when the dot simply teleported on top of her paws. She pawed at it a few more times, yowling when the dot evaded her— HOW? She slunk back, tail waving as she went into ambush mode, her eyes thinning as her muscles tensed and she POUNCED on the dot—
Only for it to disappear entirely! Kendall meowed, distraught… before remember that it was just a laser dot. She’d been so caught up that she’d forgotten entirely…
But all thoughts faded when Callie started to gently brush her back. Purring, Kendall languidly settled into Callie’s lap, opening wide to accept the cloth mouse her girlfriend offered her as a lovely scratching sensation trailed along her spine. The air rumbled around Kendall as her purr deepened, and she shook her head and flicked her ears, gnawing on the mouse with a lazy, contented air— a bit like a pharoah —as Callie brushed her ruffled fur back to a silky smooth sheen.
*****
Callie grinned as she set the brush aside— Kendall had fallen asleep in her lap. She rubbed her girlfriend’s flank as a wheezy little snore echoed out of their open snout, muting her giggle with her hand when Kendall’s tail stiffened and started to wiggle around.
“Having a nice dream, eh?” She whispered, giving Kendall a light scritch behind the ears as she removed the damp, pockmarked mouse from her mouth. She couldn’t believe Kendall had fallen asleep— it was bloody adorable, honestly~.
It did mean that she was stuck in bed now, but Callie was more than fine with that~.
The rest of the toys and combs were carefully set aside, placed on the endtable to be dealt with in the morning. Callie planted a kiss on top of her sleeping cat-girlfriend’s head, and very gently laid down, shifting Kendall from her lap to her chest.
“Sweet dreams, Kay~. My lovely little cat~.”
They were sweet dreams indeed.