(Man to Cat)
Paul sighed as he stepped out into the rain, alone as usual. For some reason, being single Halloween always hit harder than Valentine’s Day. Maybe it was because everyone was actually… Well, happy. He passed another giggling couple in matching outfits, and blew out an exasperated sigh.
“Sorry, did you just sigh out loud?”
A female voice interrupted his musings, and the man turned in surprise. A gorgeous brunette smiled at him, her head tilted up to meet his eyes. Though she might have been a head shorter than him, that didn’t keep her from having an hourglass that most women would kill for… And most men would kill to hold.
“Mhghrm.” He managed, which was rather eloquent given the situation. He desperately coughed to clear his throat and buy him time, a little unsettled by how she was looking at him. “I mean… I’m Paul how are you doing today lovely weather.”
“Well, I guess that’s technically better than your first try.” She laughed, extending a hand. “I’m Tabbi, two k’s and an i. I couldn’t help but notice that you looked like you were a bit… Well, fed up with this holiday.”
“Yeah…” He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. “Was it that obvious?”
“Only to people with eyes. Don’t worry, I think it’s cute.” Tabbi laughed again, and Paul decided that even if she was laughing at him, he liked the sound very much.
“Well, I’m glad to hear it. Do you want to… Like, go somewhere?”
“Hm? Paul, unless I’m much mistaken,” Tabbi put a surprised look on her face, a second before smirking and leaning in towards him. “It sounds to me like you want to be a little familiar.”
“With you? I mean… That’s certainly a way to put it.”
“Well… If you were, it’s certainly a coincidence that’s in your favor. I’m looking to get a little familiar tonight.” Tabbi positively purred as she spoke, trailing her fingers under the hapless man’s chin.
Paul swallowed hard, shifting from side to side uneasily. “Come again?”
“Lewd boy.”
“You know what I mean. Really? Isn’t this a little… Abnormal?” Paul hated himself for having common sense, but at this moment something inside him was telling him to back off. Life had never been this kind to him before, so why would it start now?
“Well, ‘tis the season.” Tabbi nuzzled her cheek to Paul’s, whispering into his ear. “I promise you this is going to be simply magical.”
Paul second-guessed his second thoughts immediately, gulping and instinctively wrapping his arms around her slender waist. It was the first time he’d held a woman like this since high school dances, and he hoped he wasn’t being too forward. “Well… What are we waiting for?”
The answer to that turned out to be ‘a bus to take them into the city, then a quick stop on the red line’. It was the tensest half hour of Paul’s life, as he couldn’t shake the thoughts that people were staring at him, judging him. And why wouldn’t they? He wasn’t unattractive, but he knew he was well out of this woman’s league.
Every time he started to have doubts, the brunette gently trailed her fingers along the back of his neck. It was an alien sensation, but a calming one that left him wanting more. It was all he could do to keep himself from nuzzling up to her, and he chewed on his lip so hard that he worried it might bruise.
Then, they finally arrived.
Paul’s mouth was dry; too dry. He tried to lick at his lips, but even his tongue felt like sandpaper. “So… What now?” He looked to Tabbi, trying to hide his excitement.
The warmth fell from her gaze, as though a curtain had been parted. A cold arrogance crept into her visage, and she pointed to the ground. “Now… Now you fall to all fours, pet.”
His brow furrowed, and he looked up to her to ask what she meant. Then he felt the delayed ache that had come from his palms slapping against the ground seconds prior. The man arched his back to rise from his stance, but his body wasn’t responding the way it should. It was like he was trying to tell his knees to bend backwards—the impulse to stand never fully registered.
Tabbi must have sensed some of his indecision, because her smile only widened. She looked very much like the cat that caught the canary, and Paul cowered beneath her visage. She lifted one of her slender feet, pressing it against the small of his back and forcing him to grovel before her.
“Stop!” He mewled, distressed at how nasally and light his voice sounded. “Pleowse!”
“Silly kitty.” She positively purred from above his prostrated form. “Words aren’t for pets like you. No, you’re supposed to just mewl and meow at your owner’s behest.”
He did. It was as shocking as it was terrifying, and the irresistible impulse to run flooded his body. Her foot kept him anchored beneath her, and he squirmed in clothing that felt too large. “Preorsss!” He managed. Speaking English was getting progressively harder, that same mental disconnect making his every word sound like he was trying to learn the language.
“Sorry, I don’t speak cat. And while talking about thing that we don’t do… You don’t wear clothing. You have such a luscious coat of fur, after all.”
As she spoke, a rippling, itching wave of fur erupted from his every pore. The rich shade of black started at his flanks and soon spread across his entire frame. He shuddered as it came in, the bridge of his nose crinkling in distaste as if to accompany the motion. In reality, it was crinkling for another reason altogether.
Paul’s sinuses ached sharply as they widened, allowing him to better detect a range of scents. Then his nose flattened on his face, lightening to a bright pink that stood out in contrast to his midnight fur. Transformed as it was, his nose was now able to tell the changing man something his brain had been unable to process: Tabbi wasn’t entirely human.
Tufts of fur grew within his ears, and they lengthened to points. He could feel them twitching atop his head apprehensively as he sniffed at the woman once more, picking up motes of some feline essence to her smell. His ears agreed with his nose, now able to hear a faint rattling purr embedded within her every exhalation.
“Aw, kitty finally noticed. Shame I’ve already got your tongue.” Tabbi sniggered, reaching her hands around her head as though she was grabbing the brim of a hat. Then she lifted them, and Paul yowled in surprise as a witch’s hat appeared in her hands. At the same time, her eyes turned golden and black-furred ears slipped up from beneath her hair.
“Animals always can see through these little glamours.” She sighed, her ears drooping slightly. She lifted her foot from his back, as if to allow the next change to her body. A tail lifted her skirt almost in time with Paul’s spine beginning to ache, and he could tell that he was growing a tail of his own. “But don’t worry, you won’t just be any animal.”
He tried to speak, but the sound exited his mouth as a mewl. He followed it with a whimper, his fingers and toes curling as they dwindled away. His new paws thumped against the ground, and he rose to them shakily.
He realized he could move just as Tabbi scooped her hands under his armpits, lifting him towards her face. As she did, he shrank and dwindled away, his limbs flailing slightly. His pants fell from his feline legs, and his shirt was soon wrapped around him like a blanket.
The man kicked and yowled within its confines, remembering her words from earlier, that cats weren’t supposed to wear clothes. It was the strangest sensation: he hadn’t lost his mind, but he had at the same time. He knew that he was still Paul, he could think perfectly fine, but… For some reason, he couldn’t think of himself as anything but a cat.
“See that? I think you’ve noticed. You’re not just an animal, you’re a familiar. My familiar.” Tabbi gave that odd little half-purr, stroking Paul’s ears. It was nice, as nice as when she’d pampered him earlier. He practically melted in her arms, a midnight puddle of content.
“But,” She continued, and he perked an ear up. “If you happen to ever think of betraying or escaping from me…”
She let the words hand, and Paul didn’t follow. He tried, he really tried to. But there was something in his mind, something clouding everything over. A mewl slipped from his lips, then another and another. He couldn’t remember why he’d started, but he had sounded upset so he was upset. He was also hungry, and wanted out of this human’s arms because he was hungry and—
The fog lifted as quickly as it had come, and Paul blinked his golden eyes several times. It actually helped, and he looked up to Tabbi in horror. For a moment, just a moment… He’d been nothing but a cat. He had died, and been reborn as an animal.
Fear gripped him once more, and he burrowed towards her breasts, nuzzling them and licking at her collar as if to promise her that he would never cross her for as long as he lived. It seemed to get the answer across, and she beamed.
“That’s what I thought. Good kitten.”