In for a penny (part 1/2)
a
Trust Machines story
by
clancy688
"I'm still not entirely convinced that this is a good idea..." I complained for the umpteenth time. "You know why these things are called Trust Machines? Because you have to trust whoever is going to change you. If he or she betrays your trust..."
Thomas just rolled his eyes. "Come on, Clark. Just because your older sister had a certified asshole for a 'friend' doesn't mean that everyone is like that. There are way more decent people around than the opposite."
"But..." I protested, then bit myself on my lips. There was nothing I could say which I hadn't already said a bazillion times. Venn Machines were not something I readily used. In fact, I'd only visited them a few times to get fancy, fashionable clothes. But given the fact that these would vanish soon enough had let me lose interest pretty quick.
I'd never used them for the... stranger things they were capable of. The strict 'No Venn' policy of our school had only reinforced me indifference. From time to time my sister came home in a subtly altered shape, but it would only be the addition of a tail or a flashy new hair color. Nothing too strange, certainly.
But the tales she sometimes shared with me were something else entirely. Some things had been too fantastic for me to believe, like the so-called 'Quick Draw' duels, where girls would enter the Venn Machines and try to transform the other as fast as possible - with the loser often ending up as clothes to be worn by the winner. Who in their right mind would want to become clothing?
One story which had stuck with me, though. One which I had no trouble believing due to the utterly disgusted look on my sister's face when she'd shared it, despite the fact that it was just as unbelievable. She'd entered the booth with a so-called 'friend', to style each other for a party. But unbeknownst to my sister, her friend had believed her to have an affair with her boyfriend. Instead of leveling out the accusations first, she'd simply opted for revenge. And turned my sister into a writhing worm which she'd then deposited in a flowerbed.
For three days, my sister had told me grimly, she'd buried herself through the earth as a blind and deaf grub, hoping to not get eaten by a predator and that she'd indeed gone for a three-day transformation - and not a three months one.
I had drawn a simple lesson from her experience - don't use Venn Machines. And I'd stayed true to this credo - until now.
Morosely, I took out the adorned card again. The invitation to our classmate Chelsea's birthday party. Normally something I would be looking forward to, if not for the fine print:
The party starts at 7 p.m. at my home - please arrive Venned into an antrophomorphous shape of your choosing!
I'm looking forward to seeing you!
Thomas heeded her advice and tapped the duration in. I couldn't help but notice that he'd taken her suggestion to heart and gone for the full day.
"Alright, all set. Then let's roll. Other side, boy..." She shooed Thomas to the correct entrance. With a flushed face, he entered the booth, giving me what was probably intended as an encouraging glance but failed miserably, and then the entrance disappeared behind him.
Nervously, I waited. One minute passed. Another. Restlessly, I shuffled my legs, when suddenly a giant prank landed on my shoulder and squeezed reassuringly. I almost jumped at the touch.
"Don't worry, boy." the grey dragon-man said with a grin. "She's taking her time because she wants to make it perfect. She's like that, and- oh, look! They are finished!"
I whipped my head around, and indeed, the blue dragon-girl stepped out of the machine with a big grin. "I like this one." she exclaimed. "Have to try this shape myself eventually."
My eyes clung to Thomas side of the booth and indeed something moved, something big... I gasped as his... her body stepped fully into the open.
"A centaur..." I murmured in wonder as Thomas stepped out of the Venn Machine cautiously, moving on four equine, hoofed legs. Well... of sorts. Her entire lower body was that of a fair-sized horse, black with white stripes on its back and its four lower legs, and sporting a long, crimson-red tail.
But where a centaur would have displayed a human upper body, Thomas only had a human-like upper body. There was no boundary, the black fur only continued upwards, covering a human-like shape. A definitely female shape, with a slim waist and a pair of firm, generously-sized breasts. Her arms looked just like a human's as well, even though they were covered in the same black fur like everything else and had small, trimmed claws for fingernails. There were hardly any clothes on her body, not that the horse-half (or rather full-horse-half) would have needed some. Only her breasts were kept in check by an oddly vertically split top which showed a very appealing amount of firm, deep cleavage.
The most striking thing, though, was her head. It was not human. Not even close. It was, for all intents and purposes, a one-hundred percent equine muzzle, with a flowing, red mane of feminine long hair, two mobile horse-ears on top and a long, curved horn in between. But for some reason, it looked oddly aesthetic, definitely female, even cute. And even more strangely I had no problem reading human emotions in it. Just like the slack-awed surprise Thomas was obviously feeling at her change right now. Nor had I trouble recognizing Thomas' face somewhere in this equine beauty.
She sashayed around in circles in front of us, her hooves clip-clopping on the tarmac, while bending her upper body to see and touch her new body from all possible angles.
Finally, I found the strength to speak. "Thomas..." I asked hoarsely. "You're... wow."
She stopped prancing around and looked at me, then stepped a bit closer, and I had to tilt my head back. I was barely reaching her tummy, she must be well over 8 feet high!
"I know, right!" Thomas said, and her eyes went wide in wonder as she heard her new voice for the first time, a soft, melodious, definitely female one. "Oh my, that's how I sound? That's... wow! This body is... I mean, I feel so powerful and good! That's like..."
The blue dragon laughed. "A simple 'Thank you' should suffice. But I'm glad you like it."
"I love it!" She exclaimed, then looked at me with a grin. "This is totally great! Imagine me at the party, I'm going to be the star!"
"But you're a girl!" I protested feebly.
That seemed to induce something in Thomas. "Oh, right... so..." she raised her hands and grabbed her bosom. "I got tits... so this is how this feels..." she giggled.
The dragon-girl snorted in disgust. "Boys. Always the same. Get Venned into a beautiful girl and what's the first thing they care about? Grabbing their knockers. Urgs..."
"Huh?" Surprised, Thomas looked at her. "I'm beautiful?"
"You're hot!" I blurted out, and the centaur's eyes widened. "But I got a muzzle and..." Without further ado, she turned on the spot and sprinted, well, galloped rather, towards the nearest mirror front where she started to admire herself.
"And at that point they are just like normal gals." The big one sighed, then looked at me. "Speaking of gals, one is still missing. Come on, you don't want to let your friend have all the fun for herself, right?"
I looked back towards Thomas fantastic shape, nibbling my lower lip. That this... creature was actually my friend Thomas was inconceivable. But the dragons were right. I couldn't imagine anyone coming up with a shape which would be equally striking. And if I'd compliment him... her...
"Okay..." I said despite feeling exactly the contrary. "I'll do it." Since Thomas was preoccupied, I handed my phone to the dragon man, and then went towards the booth's entrance.
A few moments later I was left alone in my side of the Venn Machine, my stomach now in dozens of knots while the dragon-girl hummed faintly on her side and worked the interface.
"You know, you're thinking too much." She finally said with a grin. "Too many thoughts. Too many 'ifs'. You seriously gotta stop that. But for now... I think I'll just roll with this side of your personality. If you got too much brains for your head, we're gonna have to adjust a bit..."
I was still trying to figure out what she meant as she pushed down on something, and suddenly my entire body felt different. Well, not alien. Just... different. Startled I looked down to found myself sporting light brown fur on a very muscular, and very female body - so much I could discern from the two breasts which pushed out of my chest behind a tummy-free top. This was odd, I didn't sport four legs like Thomas, my body looked the same... I had some vision problems, though. Probably an after effect of the transformation... funny that my sister never mentioned this. I thought.
"Come on, lets get out of here!" The dragon winked at me over the interface, and I looked around, searching for the exit. I quickly spotted it, even though I still was seeing double...
Moments later, I stepped out of the booth. I had obviously paws on my hands and feet, with claws, like cats. And a tail. But this didn't seem as strange as I'd thought. Just why...
"Oh my!" The grey dragon said with a laughing rumble. "The poor girl. Don't overwhelm her, she's a Venn Virgin!"
Thomas had come galloping back as well, ogling me. "Oh my..." she gasped while looking at me. "I thought having six limbs was strange, but this..."
Uhoh... I didn't like this. I had a suspicion, some of the tales my sister had told me. But surly the dragon hadn't... surly I wasn't... Like in trance, I stepped over to the next mirror, trying to ignore the strange double-vision I was experiencing. And looked at it. And then gasped. In stereo.
In the mirror, some sort of cat-human hybrid was staring back dumbfounded. She was covered in dark fur, with heavily muscled arms and legs, easily the fittest female I'd ever seen - but still womanly and not grotesque. Her waist was covered by a short miniskirt which had a fluffy tail snaking out behind, and the large, firm breasts were contained by a short top which left the navel exposed.
But just like with Thomas, her most striking features were above her neck. She was obviously some kind of saber-toothed tiger, with a pair of long tusks sticking out of her muzzle and reaching down well over her chin. There was a lot of big cat in that muzzle, but also a lot of human emotion, and the hair was framed by a bob of thick, white fur which, due to its contrast to the rest of the otherwise brown body, almost looked like hair, with two large, mobile ears sticking out.
Overall, she looked downright cute and lovely. And doubly so. Because she sported these features not once, but twice. There were not one, but two feline heads on one body gaping back at me in the mirror.
I'm looking forward to seeing you!
Venned... of course. Chelsea was a huge fan of the Disney movie Zootopia, so she had opted to have a party where the partygoers would be Venned into half-human, half-animal shapes. I was actually sure that for most attendees, this wouldn't be anything out of the norm. Venn-themed parties seemed to mushroom up everywhere, and most people would have no problem finding a proper shape.
But Thomas and me were practically Venn virgins. We had no idea how to design such a body, and our first haphazard tries had been... frightening. We'd aborted without even changing each other, for the results displayed to us had been lightyears away from anything which could show up at such a party. So we had decided to rely on-
Thomas' elbow jolted me out of my dreams. "See, I told you they'd be here. They are always here." He whispered and pointed towards two persons which lingered next to the Venn Machine. Well, if you took the term person loosely.
The two... figures he was referring to were always close to the Venn Machine. I'd often enough noticed them when buying groceries in the mall, but I hadn't ever thought that they were the same people until my sister told me with a grin. Because they always looked different.
Nobody knew their actual age or gender, but all agreed that if there were two animal-human-beast-hybrids standing right next to the Venn Machine, it would be a good bet that they'd be the Crazy Twins.
Both of them were some kind of dragon-like people this time, one of them a big, heavily muscled male with grey skin while the other was a dainty but well-endowed brightly blue female. Both sported big, leathery wings, horns on their heads, long fleshy tails and clawed fingers and toes. They weren't wearing any clothes, but the female's breasts had no nipples, and both their groins were completely void of any openings, so nobody had a reason to call the cops on them for public indecency.
Still... the utter strangeness of their shape let a shiver run down my back.
"There, go ask them." Thomas whispered and pushed me forward a bit.
"What? No! Why me?" I whispered back, trying to get behind my friend. "You're going to talk to them, this was your idea!"
"Yeah, so you have to do something, too! Go and ask them!"
"What? That's ridiculous, it's your-"
"Can I help you boys?" The voice of the female dragon was surprisingly loud, and both of us froze as the blue creature looked us over interested.
"You got something to say?" The big one pitched in, his voice a deep, gruff rumble.
I swallowed.
"And I hope it's not to insult us." He continued, loudly cracking his knuckles. "I wouldn't like that."
Uhoh...
"Shhhh, they look like good kids." The blue one smiled at her mate, putting a clawed hand on his chest soothingly. "I don't think that's what they want."
"No Ma'am, of course not! Uh, and Sir." I blurted out quickly, which prompted the grey dragon to laugh, his hands unclasping again and falling down at his sides in a relaxed manner.
"Ma'am and Sir! Wow, we haven't been addressed like this for ages. We're unworthy of such reverence, but I like you. So shoot." He made an inviting gesture with his hand and I closed my eyes, counting to ten internally. In for a penny, in for a pound... so be it.
"Um, we're, us two here... we're invited to a friend's birthday party." I stammered while the dragon couple listened, a friendly smile on their faces. "A Venn party to be precise, and party-goers are supposed to Venn into an anthro...pomorphic shape." I sighed in relief at having managed to say the word without putting knots in my tongue.
"Just call it 'anthro', way easier." The blue dragon put in with a chuckle.
"Yeah, okay, anthro shapes." I flushed. "And we really want to visit that party, but..." I spread my arms helplessly. "We have hardly ever Venned. And our first tries to turn ourselves into shapes like yours was a disaster. So..."
"Oh, I understand." The big one chuckled, rubbing his chin with a prank. "You want us to Venn you into something acceptable. Since it's obvious that we have the experience you two are lacking. That about right?"
Both Thomas and me nodded, and the dragon grinned back. "Well, sure can do. Or what do you think?" He looked at his female companion quizzically.
The she-dragon smiled back. "Venning is our life. We shall gladly help you out."
"Awesome!" Thomas erupted and raised his fist victoriously in the air. Meanwhile, I felt a slight knot forming in my stomach. Deep down I'd hoped that they'd decline, that I wouldn't have to step into the booth with a strang-
"But there are caveats of course." The dragon-girl said, cutting off my friend's hollering with a mischievous wink.
"You probably have prepared a sketch of how you want to look." The male one rumbled, and Thomas and me nodded flabbergasted. We had indeed scribbled some details on paper, both of us had opted to go for- "Something easy probably, and widespread... cats? Dogs? Wolves? Ah, wolves!" He grinned at the look of consternation on our faces.
"Here's the deal, boys." The blue one chirped in. "We're going to Venn you. But it's going to be shapes of our choosing. Not your ideas. And while they are going to fit perfectly in an anthro setting, they are probably going to be a bit more radical than you expected."
"But... but..." Thomas stammered. "Why?"
"Oh, easy. We consider ourselves masters of our art, and yes, Venning truly is an art. If we Venn you, you'll not be any run-of-the-mill wolf morph. You're gonna be something distinct, which people will remember. And we like you, so we want you to make an impact at this party you're going to."
"Um..." I was unsure what to do now. This was-
"That's okay!"
Huh? My head flew around, gaping at my friend. "What are you doing?" I whispered. "They could transform us into anything!"
"Shhh, I don't think that they mean us ill. They are even warning us. Come on, stop being such a wuss! This is an opportunity! Imagine, us two being the stars of Chelsea's party! I'm going to do it, no matter what!"
I couldn't argue against his logic, but still...
"We're doing it!" Thomas declared, no longer waiting for me coming to a decision.
The dragon girl chuckled. "Good, good. Although there's one more thing I haven't mentioned. You're going to be girls."
The male dragon rolled his eyes at this, but didn't object. Thomas' jaw hit the floor and I couldn't help gaping at her either. "Um... why?" I asked dumbfounded.
"Oh, this mischievous little beast here believes into the superiority of the fairer sex." The grey one rumble-chuckled. "Basically she's of the opinion that every male on this planet should spend at least a day as a female. And since you're self-declared Venn virgins, chances are good that you haven't done this so far. So..." he shrugged. "Two birds with one stone."
I looked at Thomas. Surly he wouldn't agree to this! And I could practically see the sweat glistering on his forehead. Getting fur and claws was one thing, but becoming girls? This was...
"Okay, I'll do it. I'll go first." He said with a slightly trembling voice, but steady eyes. Of course! He never shooed away from a challenge, and since he'd declared that he would do it no matter what previously...
"Splendid!" The dragon girl said with a wide grin, displaying a set of wicked, pointed teeth for the first time. "You go first, then you can tell your friend here that we don't want to trick you. Follow me."
Purposefully, she strode towards the Venn Machine, her tail swishing left and right while she walked. "Here's a dime, my treat." She declared and flipped a coin over to Thomas who caught it clumsily. "Dial in whatever time you need. If the party is tonight, I'd go for 24 hours. You don't want to wake up in your real bodies when snuggled against any conquests of the previous night." She snickered. "And that gives you enough time to enjoy your new bodies afterwards. If not, you just enter the Venn Machine again and turn back. Oh, and you better hand your phone to your companion here, or it's getting Venned with you and you won't see it again until you turn back."
But Thomas and me were practically Venn virgins. We had no idea how to design such a body, and our first haphazard tries had been... frightening. We'd aborted without even changing each other, for the results displayed to us had been lightyears away from anything which could show up at such a party. So we had decided to rely on-
Thomas' elbow jolted me out of my dreams. "See, I told you they'd be here. They are always here." He whispered and pointed towards two persons which lingered next to the Venn Machine. Well, if you took the term person loosely.
The two... figures he was referring to were always close to the Venn Machine. I'd often enough noticed them when buying groceries in the mall, but I hadn't ever thought that they were the same people until my sister told me with a grin. Because they always looked different.
Nobody knew their actual age or gender, but all agreed that if there were two animal-human-beast-hybrids standing right next to the Venn Machine, it would be a good bet that they'd be the Crazy Twins.
Both of them were some kind of dragon-like people this time, one of them a big, heavily muscled male with grey skin while the other was a dainty but well-endowed brightly blue female. Both sported big, leathery wings, horns on their heads, long fleshy tails and clawed fingers and toes. They weren't wearing any clothes, but the female's breasts had no nipples, and both their groins were completely void of any openings, so nobody had a reason to call the cops on them for public indecency.
Still... the utter strangeness of their shape let a shiver run down my back.
"There, go ask them." Thomas whispered and pushed me forward a bit.
"What? No! Why me?" I whispered back, trying to get behind my friend. "You're going to talk to them, this was your idea!"
"Yeah, so you have to do something, too! Go and ask them!"
"What? That's ridiculous, it's your-"
"Can I help you boys?" The voice of the female dragon was surprisingly loud, and both of us froze as the blue creature looked us over interested.
"You got something to say?" The big one pitched in, his voice a deep, gruff rumble.
I swallowed.
"And I hope it's not to insult us." He continued, loudly cracking his knuckles. "I wouldn't like that."
Uhoh...
"Shhhh, they look like good kids." The blue one smiled at her mate, putting a clawed hand on his chest soothingly. "I don't think that's what they want."
"No Ma'am, of course not! Uh, and Sir." I blurted out quickly, which prompted the grey dragon to laugh, his hands unclasping again and falling down at his sides in a relaxed manner.
"Ma'am and Sir! Wow, we haven't been addressed like this for ages. We're unworthy of such reverence, but I like you. So shoot." He made an inviting gesture with his hand and I closed my eyes, counting to ten internally. In for a penny, in for a pound... so be it.
"Um, we're, us two here... we're invited to a friend's birthday party." I stammered while the dragon couple listened, a friendly smile on their faces. "A Venn party to be precise, and party-goers are supposed to Venn into an anthro...pomorphic shape." I sighed in relief at having managed to say the word without putting knots in my tongue.
"Just call it 'anthro', way easier." The blue dragon put in with a chuckle.
"Yeah, okay, anthro shapes." I flushed. "And we really want to visit that party, but..." I spread my arms helplessly. "We have hardly ever Venned. And our first tries to turn ourselves into shapes like yours was a disaster. So..."
"Oh, I understand." The big one chuckled, rubbing his chin with a prank. "You want us to Venn you into something acceptable. Since it's obvious that we have the experience you two are lacking. That about right?"
Both Thomas and me nodded, and the dragon grinned back. "Well, sure can do. Or what do you think?" He looked at his female companion quizzically.
The she-dragon smiled back. "Venning is our life. We shall gladly help you out."
"Awesome!" Thomas erupted and raised his fist victoriously in the air. Meanwhile, I felt a slight knot forming in my stomach. Deep down I'd hoped that they'd decline, that I wouldn't have to step into the booth with a strang-
"But there are caveats of course." The dragon-girl said, cutting off my friend's hollering with a mischievous wink.
"You probably have prepared a sketch of how you want to look." The male one rumbled, and Thomas and me nodded flabbergasted. We had indeed scribbled some details on paper, both of us had opted to go for- "Something easy probably, and widespread... cats? Dogs? Wolves? Ah, wolves!" He grinned at the look of consternation on our faces.
"Here's the deal, boys." The blue one chirped in. "We're going to Venn you. But it's going to be shapes of our choosing. Not your ideas. And while they are going to fit perfectly in an anthro setting, they are probably going to be a bit more radical than you expected."
"But... but..." Thomas stammered. "Why?"
"Oh, easy. We consider ourselves masters of our art, and yes, Venning truly is an art. If we Venn you, you'll not be any run-of-the-mill wolf morph. You're gonna be something distinct, which people will remember. And we like you, so we want you to make an impact at this party you're going to."
"Um..." I was unsure what to do now. This was-
"That's okay!"
Huh? My head flew around, gaping at my friend. "What are you doing?" I whispered. "They could transform us into anything!"
"Shhh, I don't think that they mean us ill. They are even warning us. Come on, stop being such a wuss! This is an opportunity! Imagine, us two being the stars of Chelsea's party! I'm going to do it, no matter what!"
I couldn't argue against his logic, but still...
"We're doing it!" Thomas declared, no longer waiting for me coming to a decision.
The dragon girl chuckled. "Good, good. Although there's one more thing I haven't mentioned. You're going to be girls."
The male dragon rolled his eyes at this, but didn't object. Thomas' jaw hit the floor and I couldn't help gaping at her either. "Um... why?" I asked dumbfounded.
"Oh, this mischievous little beast here believes into the superiority of the fairer sex." The grey one rumble-chuckled. "Basically she's of the opinion that every male on this planet should spend at least a day as a female. And since you're self-declared Venn virgins, chances are good that you haven't done this so far. So..." he shrugged. "Two birds with one stone."
I looked at Thomas. Surly he wouldn't agree to this! And I could practically see the sweat glistering on his forehead. Getting fur and claws was one thing, but becoming girls? This was...
"Okay, I'll do it. I'll go first." He said with a slightly trembling voice, but steady eyes. Of course! He never shooed away from a challenge, and since he'd declared that he would do it no matter what previously...
"Splendid!" The dragon girl said with a wide grin, displaying a set of wicked, pointed teeth for the first time. "You go first, then you can tell your friend here that we don't want to trick you. Follow me."
Purposefully, she strode towards the Venn Machine, her tail swishing left and right while she walked. "Here's a dime, my treat." She declared and flipped a coin over to Thomas who caught it clumsily. "Dial in whatever time you need. If the party is tonight, I'd go for 24 hours. You don't want to wake up in your real bodies when snuggled against any conquests of the previous night." She snickered. "And that gives you enough time to enjoy your new bodies afterwards. If not, you just enter the Venn Machine again and turn back. Oh, and you better hand your phone to your companion here, or it's getting Venned with you and you won't see it again until you turn back."
Thomas heeded her advice and tapped the duration in. I couldn't help but notice that he'd taken her suggestion to heart and gone for the full day.
"Alright, all set. Then let's roll. Other side, boy..." She shooed Thomas to the correct entrance. With a flushed face, he entered the booth, giving me what was probably intended as an encouraging glance but failed miserably, and then the entrance disappeared behind him.
Nervously, I waited. One minute passed. Another. Restlessly, I shuffled my legs, when suddenly a giant prank landed on my shoulder and squeezed reassuringly. I almost jumped at the touch.
"Don't worry, boy." the grey dragon-man said with a grin. "She's taking her time because she wants to make it perfect. She's like that, and- oh, look! They are finished!"
I whipped my head around, and indeed, the blue dragon-girl stepped out of the machine with a big grin. "I like this one." she exclaimed. "Have to try this shape myself eventually."
My eyes clung to Thomas side of the booth and indeed something moved, something big... I gasped as his... her body stepped fully into the open.
"A centaur..." I murmured in wonder as Thomas stepped out of the Venn Machine cautiously, moving on four equine, hoofed legs. Well... of sorts. Her entire lower body was that of a fair-sized horse, black with white stripes on its back and its four lower legs, and sporting a long, crimson-red tail.
But where a centaur would have displayed a human upper body, Thomas only had a human-like upper body. There was no boundary, the black fur only continued upwards, covering a human-like shape. A definitely female shape, with a slim waist and a pair of firm, generously-sized breasts. Her arms looked just like a human's as well, even though they were covered in the same black fur like everything else and had small, trimmed claws for fingernails. There were hardly any clothes on her body, not that the horse-half (or rather full-horse-half) would have needed some. Only her breasts were kept in check by an oddly vertically split top which showed a very appealing amount of firm, deep cleavage.
The most striking thing, though, was her head. It was not human. Not even close. It was, for all intents and purposes, a one-hundred percent equine muzzle, with a flowing, red mane of feminine long hair, two mobile horse-ears on top and a long, curved horn in between. But for some reason, it looked oddly aesthetic, definitely female, even cute. And even more strangely I had no problem reading human emotions in it. Just like the slack-awed surprise Thomas was obviously feeling at her change right now. Nor had I trouble recognizing Thomas' face somewhere in this equine beauty.
She sashayed around in circles in front of us, her hooves clip-clopping on the tarmac, while bending her upper body to see and touch her new body from all possible angles.
Finally, I found the strength to speak. "Thomas..." I asked hoarsely. "You're... wow."
She stopped prancing around and looked at me, then stepped a bit closer, and I had to tilt my head back. I was barely reaching her tummy, she must be well over 8 feet high!
"I know, right!" Thomas said, and her eyes went wide in wonder as she heard her new voice for the first time, a soft, melodious, definitely female one. "Oh my, that's how I sound? That's... wow! This body is... I mean, I feel so powerful and good! That's like..."
The blue dragon laughed. "A simple 'Thank you' should suffice. But I'm glad you like it."
"I love it!" She exclaimed, then looked at me with a grin. "This is totally great! Imagine me at the party, I'm going to be the star!"
"But you're a girl!" I protested feebly.
That seemed to induce something in Thomas. "Oh, right... so..." she raised her hands and grabbed her bosom. "I got tits... so this is how this feels..." she giggled.
The dragon-girl snorted in disgust. "Boys. Always the same. Get Venned into a beautiful girl and what's the first thing they care about? Grabbing their knockers. Urgs..."
"Huh?" Surprised, Thomas looked at her. "I'm beautiful?"
"You're hot!" I blurted out, and the centaur's eyes widened. "But I got a muzzle and..." Without further ado, she turned on the spot and sprinted, well, galloped rather, towards the nearest mirror front where she started to admire herself.
"And at that point they are just like normal gals." The big one sighed, then looked at me. "Speaking of gals, one is still missing. Come on, you don't want to let your friend have all the fun for herself, right?"
I looked back towards Thomas fantastic shape, nibbling my lower lip. That this... creature was actually my friend Thomas was inconceivable. But the dragons were right. I couldn't imagine anyone coming up with a shape which would be equally striking. And if I'd compliment him... her...
"Okay..." I said despite feeling exactly the contrary. "I'll do it." Since Thomas was preoccupied, I handed my phone to the dragon man, and then went towards the booth's entrance.
A few moments later I was left alone in my side of the Venn Machine, my stomach now in dozens of knots while the dragon-girl hummed faintly on her side and worked the interface.
"You know, you're thinking too much." She finally said with a grin. "Too many thoughts. Too many 'ifs'. You seriously gotta stop that. But for now... I think I'll just roll with this side of your personality. If you got too much brains for your head, we're gonna have to adjust a bit..."
I was still trying to figure out what she meant as she pushed down on something, and suddenly my entire body felt different. Well, not alien. Just... different. Startled I looked down to found myself sporting light brown fur on a very muscular, and very female body - so much I could discern from the two breasts which pushed out of my chest behind a tummy-free top. This was odd, I didn't sport four legs like Thomas, my body looked the same... I had some vision problems, though. Probably an after effect of the transformation... funny that my sister never mentioned this. I thought.
"Come on, lets get out of here!" The dragon winked at me over the interface, and I looked around, searching for the exit. I quickly spotted it, even though I still was seeing double...
Moments later, I stepped out of the booth. I had obviously paws on my hands and feet, with claws, like cats. And a tail. But this didn't seem as strange as I'd thought. Just why...
"Oh my!" The grey dragon said with a laughing rumble. "The poor girl. Don't overwhelm her, she's a Venn Virgin!"
Thomas had come galloping back as well, ogling me. "Oh my..." she gasped while looking at me. "I thought having six limbs was strange, but this..."
Uhoh... I didn't like this. I had a suspicion, some of the tales my sister had told me. But surly the dragon hadn't... surly I wasn't... Like in trance, I stepped over to the next mirror, trying to ignore the strange double-vision I was experiencing. And looked at it. And then gasped. In stereo.
In the mirror, some sort of cat-human hybrid was staring back dumbfounded. She was covered in dark fur, with heavily muscled arms and legs, easily the fittest female I'd ever seen - but still womanly and not grotesque. Her waist was covered by a short miniskirt which had a fluffy tail snaking out behind, and the large, firm breasts were contained by a short top which left the navel exposed.
But just like with Thomas, her most striking features were above her neck. She was obviously some kind of saber-toothed tiger, with a pair of long tusks sticking out of her muzzle and reaching down well over her chin. There was a lot of big cat in that muzzle, but also a lot of human emotion, and the hair was framed by a bob of thick, white fur which, due to its contrast to the rest of the otherwise brown body, almost looked like hair, with two large, mobile ears sticking out.
Overall, she looked downright cute and lovely. And doubly so. Because she sported these features not once, but twice. There were not one, but two feline heads on one body gaping back at me in the mirror.
****************************
"Can you please slow down a bit?" I pleaded while gripping Thomas' mane, desperate to not fall off her back. "People are staring!" I tried my best to look as plain as possible as we trotted past a middle-aged couple, a mixture of shock and awe plastered over their faces. At first it had sounded like a good idea, to use Thomas as a ride to get to the party. As a centaur, she was way faster than a bipedal hum- anthro, and with her size she could easily carry me.
Of course everything in life had downsides, but in hindsight it should have been obvious that a pairing like us would stand out and attract lots of attention. It made me more than uncomfortable, but Thomas seemed to enjoy all the stares.
Now she turned her head and grinned at me. "Even slower? We're barely moving as it is. In fact, I'd love to go a bit faster, like... this!"
I yelped as her gait changed, suddenly evolving to swift canter. People in front of us gasped and jumped out of the way as the centauress sped up, and in sudden reflex I gripped her mane harder, noticing just a fraction of a second too late what I was doing.
"Ouch! Stop that!" Thomas cried out and stopped, nearly throwing me off. "You don't need to scratch me for that." She complained, glaring at me.
"Sorry..." I mumbled sheepishly, looking down at my hands. "That wasn't on purpose..." Little tiny spikes dotted the ends of my fingers - the tips of my claws which I had unconsciously unsheathed to get a grip. I flexed the unfamiliar muscles, and the things slid out fully, gleaming in the sunlight.
My friend raised her eyebrows, looking at them. "Wow, these things are wicked. How long are they, that's gotta be an inch, right? Be careful not to disembowel anyone. I hope you didn't ruin my fur?"
Embarrassed, I sheathed my weapons again. "No, I caught them just in time. You only got a tiny prick, didn't even draw blood..."
Thomas sighed. "Yeah, I thought though. Still, you gotta be careful. You better get used to them. Don't wanna scratch anyone at the party."
I scowled. "Easier said than done. There's so much stuff to get used to. Even just sitting on you is strange. You might not necessarily notice it, but by sitting on your back I constantly reminds me that I'm missing my... uh... manly parts!" Thomas simply laughed at this, and now it was my turn to glower. "You seem to adapt just fine."
The centauress chuckled. "Yeah, I know. It's kinda strange. Can't really explain this, but this body just feels cool. I like it." She shrugged. "But speaking of strange... or rather... speaking of speaking...". Now she squinted at me. "Could you please stop speaking with both your heads at the same time? It just sounds... freaky."
Oh. I closed my mouths. Both of them. Well, yeah. There it was, the craziest change of all. The one I had been doing my best to just... ignore. Which had been kinda hard, you know? You can ignore a pimple. Possibly. A shiner. Maybe. But how in all what's holy do you ignore a frigging second head?
The thing which was driving me nuts most was that it even felt... normal. Comfortable. Not strange at all.
"I'm not sure I can-" I started synchronously, but was cut short by Thomas.
"Maybe you just have to gag one, so that only the other can speak?" Before I could react, she grabbed my left head's mouth with her hands.
"Hey, what are you...!" "Mffmfhmmhmffflll!"
"See, it works!" She beamed, even while I pried her hands of my face irritated.
I sighed. "That's not the problem..." I said, this time only using my left head. During our ride I had quickly noticed that I had no problem whatsoever using both heads separately, even looking at different things at the same time. "It's just... I don't... feel comfortable doing it."
At that, Thomas simply rolled her eyes. "Okay, listen to me. This is not what we signed up for when we asked for a Venn. I ended up with boobs and hooves and two more legs than I'm used to. You ended up with boobs and claws and double the heads you're used to." She raised her left front leg, scratching the pavement with her hoof. "While I think it's cool, having hooves still is fairly strange. And I can't even imagine how weird it must be to have a second head."
I nodded solemnly with both heads, all four of my ears drooping. "I guess so, but..."
"But!" My friend fixated me sternly. "Now we got the change, and we should just roll with it. You have to agree that we'll probably be the stars of the party. Come on, you've seen the pics from this other anthro party on Chelsea's facebook page. Nothing there came even close to us. We will be at the center of attention. Isn't that what we wanted?"
I pondered this for a few moments. He was right there. Still... "But what does this have to do with me not speaking in stereo?"
Thomas grimaced. "In for a penny, in for a pound, as you always like to say. If there's a two-headed gal, I expect her second head to not be some copy of the first. Besides..." she wrinkled her nose, "...have you tried listening to yourself? Your weird stereo act sounds creepy as fuck."
I sighed with my left while answering with my right. "I guess so..." He was right, mind you. My double voices had freaked me out as well. "It's still freaky." I added with the left.
"That's the spirit!" Thomas beamed. "Believe me, we're going to be a hit at the party!"
The scary thing was - I did believe him.
Of course everything in life had downsides, but in hindsight it should have been obvious that a pairing like us would stand out and attract lots of attention. It made me more than uncomfortable, but Thomas seemed to enjoy all the stares.
Now she turned her head and grinned at me. "Even slower? We're barely moving as it is. In fact, I'd love to go a bit faster, like... this!"
I yelped as her gait changed, suddenly evolving to swift canter. People in front of us gasped and jumped out of the way as the centauress sped up, and in sudden reflex I gripped her mane harder, noticing just a fraction of a second too late what I was doing.
"Ouch! Stop that!" Thomas cried out and stopped, nearly throwing me off. "You don't need to scratch me for that." She complained, glaring at me.
"Sorry..." I mumbled sheepishly, looking down at my hands. "That wasn't on purpose..." Little tiny spikes dotted the ends of my fingers - the tips of my claws which I had unconsciously unsheathed to get a grip. I flexed the unfamiliar muscles, and the things slid out fully, gleaming in the sunlight.
My friend raised her eyebrows, looking at them. "Wow, these things are wicked. How long are they, that's gotta be an inch, right? Be careful not to disembowel anyone. I hope you didn't ruin my fur?"
Embarrassed, I sheathed my weapons again. "No, I caught them just in time. You only got a tiny prick, didn't even draw blood..."
Thomas sighed. "Yeah, I thought though. Still, you gotta be careful. You better get used to them. Don't wanna scratch anyone at the party."
I scowled. "Easier said than done. There's so much stuff to get used to. Even just sitting on you is strange. You might not necessarily notice it, but by sitting on your back I constantly reminds me that I'm missing my... uh... manly parts!" Thomas simply laughed at this, and now it was my turn to glower. "You seem to adapt just fine."
The centauress chuckled. "Yeah, I know. It's kinda strange. Can't really explain this, but this body just feels cool. I like it." She shrugged. "But speaking of strange... or rather... speaking of speaking...". Now she squinted at me. "Could you please stop speaking with both your heads at the same time? It just sounds... freaky."
Oh. I closed my mouths. Both of them. Well, yeah. There it was, the craziest change of all. The one I had been doing my best to just... ignore. Which had been kinda hard, you know? You can ignore a pimple. Possibly. A shiner. Maybe. But how in all what's holy do you ignore a frigging second head?
The thing which was driving me nuts most was that it even felt... normal. Comfortable. Not strange at all.
"I'm not sure I can-" I started synchronously, but was cut short by Thomas.
"Maybe you just have to gag one, so that only the other can speak?" Before I could react, she grabbed my left head's mouth with her hands.
"Hey, what are you...!" "Mffmfhmmhmffflll!"
"See, it works!" She beamed, even while I pried her hands of my face irritated.
I sighed. "That's not the problem..." I said, this time only using my left head. During our ride I had quickly noticed that I had no problem whatsoever using both heads separately, even looking at different things at the same time. "It's just... I don't... feel comfortable doing it."
At that, Thomas simply rolled her eyes. "Okay, listen to me. This is not what we signed up for when we asked for a Venn. I ended up with boobs and hooves and two more legs than I'm used to. You ended up with boobs and claws and double the heads you're used to." She raised her left front leg, scratching the pavement with her hoof. "While I think it's cool, having hooves still is fairly strange. And I can't even imagine how weird it must be to have a second head."
I nodded solemnly with both heads, all four of my ears drooping. "I guess so, but..."
"But!" My friend fixated me sternly. "Now we got the change, and we should just roll with it. You have to agree that we'll probably be the stars of the party. Come on, you've seen the pics from this other anthro party on Chelsea's facebook page. Nothing there came even close to us. We will be at the center of attention. Isn't that what we wanted?"
I pondered this for a few moments. He was right there. Still... "But what does this have to do with me not speaking in stereo?"
Thomas grimaced. "In for a penny, in for a pound, as you always like to say. If there's a two-headed gal, I expect her second head to not be some copy of the first. Besides..." she wrinkled her nose, "...have you tried listening to yourself? Your weird stereo act sounds creepy as fuck."
I sighed with my left while answering with my right. "I guess so..." He was right, mind you. My double voices had freaked me out as well. "It's still freaky." I added with the left.
"That's the spirit!" Thomas beamed. "Believe me, we're going to be a hit at the party!"
The scary thing was - I did believe him.
****************************
"So where to now?" Thomas looked at me questioningly while we trotted along the residential neighborhood.
I checked the route on my phone again. "It's still the next branch to the left. Just like a minute ago. And a minute before that." I retorted slightly annoyed. Since Thomas was busy walking (and not crashing into things), I had to play huma- err, feline satnav.
My friend giggled, the sweet sound of her voice easily carrying over the soft clopping of her hooves. Exasperated, I looked back at her while checking my maps app again. Had we become lost and I hadn't noticed? Thomas loved teasing me when stuff like that happened. "Why the hell are you snickering? What's so funny?" I demanded, looking her into the eyes. Nope, nothing wrong with our position. So what-
"Oh, nothing." She grinned. "I just think it's totally funny how quickly you adapted. When we left the mall, you were way too scared to even acknowledge the existence of your second head. And look at you now, perfectly multi-tasking."
I felt my cheeks heat - all four of them - and looked up with my left head as well. She was right - I'd done the speaking with her and giving directions from my right head while I'd used my left one to fully concentrate on my phone. And it hadn't even felt strange - only natural.
"Um... yeah... thanks..." I mumbled with my right head while I stuck out my other head's tongue. "I have to confess that it's fun, being able to focus on two different things."
"Look at this, little kitty is starting to like the taste." Thomas grinned at me, but then her ears twitched and she stopped in her tracks. "You hear that?"
"Huh?" I closed my eyes, listening carefully. Right, there was... "The music, you mean?" I asked through my left head while the right one kept listening. Definitely party music. That was interesting. According to my maps, we were still several hundred yards out. I was pretty sure that we wouldn't have noticed a single sound, had we still been human.
"Yep. Guess we're here then. You wanna get down? Arrive on your own two legs?"
I shrugged. "Sure." With a quick leap, I exited her back, landing graciously and silently next to her on the street. Only then did I notice what I'd just done. Jumping down a good six feet as if it was only a minor step. In my normal body, I'd probably have twisted an ankle - or worse.
My companion smiled slyly, then trotted forward, towards the music. "You coming?" She asked while looking over her shoulders, her long tail swishing around excitedly. "There's a party waiting for us."
Her enthusiasm had something unsettling, but then again... it was somehow contagious. Grinning, I followed her. "You sure bet!"
I checked the route on my phone again. "It's still the next branch to the left. Just like a minute ago. And a minute before that." I retorted slightly annoyed. Since Thomas was busy walking (and not crashing into things), I had to play huma- err, feline satnav.
My friend giggled, the sweet sound of her voice easily carrying over the soft clopping of her hooves. Exasperated, I looked back at her while checking my maps app again. Had we become lost and I hadn't noticed? Thomas loved teasing me when stuff like that happened. "Why the hell are you snickering? What's so funny?" I demanded, looking her into the eyes. Nope, nothing wrong with our position. So what-
"Oh, nothing." She grinned. "I just think it's totally funny how quickly you adapted. When we left the mall, you were way too scared to even acknowledge the existence of your second head. And look at you now, perfectly multi-tasking."
I felt my cheeks heat - all four of them - and looked up with my left head as well. She was right - I'd done the speaking with her and giving directions from my right head while I'd used my left one to fully concentrate on my phone. And it hadn't even felt strange - only natural.
"Um... yeah... thanks..." I mumbled with my right head while I stuck out my other head's tongue. "I have to confess that it's fun, being able to focus on two different things."
"Look at this, little kitty is starting to like the taste." Thomas grinned at me, but then her ears twitched and she stopped in her tracks. "You hear that?"
"Huh?" I closed my eyes, listening carefully. Right, there was... "The music, you mean?" I asked through my left head while the right one kept listening. Definitely party music. That was interesting. According to my maps, we were still several hundred yards out. I was pretty sure that we wouldn't have noticed a single sound, had we still been human.
"Yep. Guess we're here then. You wanna get down? Arrive on your own two legs?"
I shrugged. "Sure." With a quick leap, I exited her back, landing graciously and silently next to her on the street. Only then did I notice what I'd just done. Jumping down a good six feet as if it was only a minor step. In my normal body, I'd probably have twisted an ankle - or worse.
My companion smiled slyly, then trotted forward, towards the music. "You coming?" She asked while looking over her shoulders, her long tail swishing around excitedly. "There's a party waiting for us."
Her enthusiasm had something unsettling, but then again... it was somehow contagious. Grinning, I followed her. "You sure bet!"
****************************
Thomas wrinkled her brows. "I'm not sure how this is gonna work." She said and nervously scampered around. "I'm not gonna fit through the door. And even if, what if they have parquet? I'm gonna scratch it!"
I rolled one head's eyes at her antics while I looked for the doorbell with the other. It wasn't hard to find, there wasn't anyone else living in the house. Only Chelsea's family. "Oh, chill out." I chided her, but couldn't suppress a chuckle from my non-talking head. "Why are you suddenly so skittish? Barely ten minutes ago you'd been the-"
A clicking sound cut me short and then the door opened. Chelsea's familiar head appeared and I opened my left head's mouth to say something, but then gaped as our classmate thumped back on her front paws. Well. Duh. Yeah.
I actually had expected that she'd be the one to answer the door. A party's host usually did. And I'd expected her to be Venned, even seriously Venned. The anthro party had been her idea after all. But I hadn't expected her to be... what was she, anyway?
My friend answered this question for me. "Chelsea?" She blurted out. "You're a sphinx? How cool!"
Yeah, right. I wanted to smack myself in the head, errr, heads, for not recognizing it. Chelsea still had her normal, human head, with big, yellow eyes instead of her usual brown ones. Her body seemed to entirely belong to a lioness, though, no arms at all, only four legs, a long, sinuous lion's tail and a pair of feathery wings folded on her back.
She had probably used her front paws to press down the doorhandle and now opened her mouth to greet us with a smug smile, but that dissipated quickly as she took in our shapes in return.
"Hey, welcome t- holy shit!" Obviously flabbergasted she stared at us, first taking in Thomas' looming and yet beautiful shape, then looking at me and darting back and forth between my two heads.
I barely managed to stifle a laugh. I knew Chelsea quite well. She was a nice person, but just a little bit self-opinionated. She'd probably thought that her Venned shape would impress all visitors, and now we'd impressed her. I couldn't stop myself from teasing her just a tiny bit.
With my left head, I looked right at Thomas while I kept focusing Chelsea with my right one. "Huh, it looks like we made an impression?" I asked toward my friend. And then towards Chelsea: "Am I right?"
She closed her mouth with an audible click. There was a look of consternation on her face, but then she started to chuckle. "Well yeah, you have. That's one hell of a Venn." Widely grinning, the sphinx padded forward, walking around us slowly to study us from all directions.
Her shape wasn't shabby either, definitely not. Her lioness body walked with a natural, feline grace, her paws moving over the floor silently - even to my enhanced hearing. Now that she was closer, I could see that her head wasn't entirely unchanged either. She also had lion ears and her human teeth had been replaced by more canine ones. Additionally, the hair on her head just seemed to be a natural extension of the golden fur on her back.
"I love your face. It's so beautiful and exotic!" Chelsea exclaimed towards Thomas now. The centauress took the compliment with a beaming smile and nodded. Then she looked right at me. "Just like your faces. I can't believe you went for the two heads. Susan had tried that once, but she hadn't been able to get the two heads straight, the poor girl had to Venn back barely ten minutes later." She chuckled, her yellow eyes boring down into mine. "But you seem to adapt just fine."
Huh? So Venn Machines didn't make you adapt at two-headed forms automatically? That was interesting. But she was right, I'd become used to my duality just fine.
"Did you practice a lot?"
"Uh, no." I answered with my left head. "Actually just Venned into a two-headed shape for the first time today." I added with the other.
Chelsea's eyes went wide. "Wow, then you're adapting really well. Anyway..." She gave a critical stare to both of us. "Who are you gals? I don't recognize your faces, but that doesn't have to mean anything, Venn Machines and all." Somehow, she managed to shrug with her front-legs' shoulders. "You do look familiar, though."
A malicious gleam spread over Thomas face and she looked at me questioningly. Right, so she wants to drop the bomb. I shrugged. Sure, go ahead.
"Weeeeell..." she said with her melodious voice. "I'm Thomas. And my beautiful companion here is Clark."
For the second time in like five minutes, Chelsea's jaw hit the floor. "You're shitting me!" Unbelieving, the young sphinx ogled both of us. "Normally, boys rather shun the Venn Machines. Hell, most of the boys on my party opted for nothing more serious than a pair of nekomimi, and I can tell you that this is already freaking them out hard. Seriously, boys are just..." She rolled her eyes, but then seemed to remember whom she was talking to. Chelsea giggled. "Well, I'd have never thought that you two would go all the way... and with a gender change on top. And I just have to ask again - it's really, really, REALLY you, not just some not-so-funny prank? That's not just you, Amanda, messing with me?"
I simply shrugged, smiling embarrassed with one head while answering with the other. "Yeah, Clark here. It's really us. And I can tell you-" I decided to switch heads in mid-sentence, just to mess with her a bit more "-It's crazy as hell. I actually don't know what's freaking me out more... to be in skirts and have boobs or to have two heads." "-to have two heads". To drive the point home I said the last part in stereo, making Thomas wince. It seemed to have the same effect on Chelsea.
"Ugh." She wrinkled her nose, whiskers shuddering. "Could you please not do this? It just freaks me out." She shook herself, much like I imagined a real lion would when shaking off water. "Still, how comes? I don't know you two that well, but you're not exactly the most daring folks I know. Your fantastic anthro bodies I can believe - barely. But why the gender change?"
Thomas raised her arms in exasperation. "Came with the package. Truth be told, we asked someone to Venn us, and getting boobs were their conditions. They'd change us into some anthro bodies, but only female ones."
This made our host giggle. "Huh, that sounds ominous. I suspect there's a really interesting stor-"
Chelsea was cut short when another party-goer appeared in the door frame, a brown-skinned mouse-girl. At least that's what it looked like to me. "Hey Chelsea, the orange juice is empty again, where do I- eeek!" The rodent squeaked as she took notice of us two newcomers, nearly dropping the empty juice bottle she was holding in her paw-like hands. "Uhhhh... but you seem... occupied... I guess... I'll just look for it...?"
Hastily, the mousy retreated, but not after giving me a disbelieving double take. While I simply looked after her awkwardly, Chelsea and Thomas both started to laugh loudly.
"I guess... I'll upset your guests..." I mumbled. "So I think it would be better if I-"
"Poppycock!" Grinning, Chelsea slipped behind me and started pushing me towards the door with her half-feline head. "Lisa's just a scaredy-cat. Or mouse. You two are exactly what this party has needed, and I'll not have you leave now!"
"Yeah, but what about me?" Thomas called after us. "I'm to big to fit through the door."
"Do I really have to spell that out for you?" the sphinx called back. "Come on, you're part of the fairer sex now. That means that you're allowed to use your brain! The gate to the garden is to the left, just go through it or jump over it like any self-respecting centaur!"
I shook my heads. Us crashing the party in our fantastic forms might just create a riot - one way or the other.
I rolled one head's eyes at her antics while I looked for the doorbell with the other. It wasn't hard to find, there wasn't anyone else living in the house. Only Chelsea's family. "Oh, chill out." I chided her, but couldn't suppress a chuckle from my non-talking head. "Why are you suddenly so skittish? Barely ten minutes ago you'd been the-"
A clicking sound cut me short and then the door opened. Chelsea's familiar head appeared and I opened my left head's mouth to say something, but then gaped as our classmate thumped back on her front paws. Well. Duh. Yeah.
I actually had expected that she'd be the one to answer the door. A party's host usually did. And I'd expected her to be Venned, even seriously Venned. The anthro party had been her idea after all. But I hadn't expected her to be... what was she, anyway?
My friend answered this question for me. "Chelsea?" She blurted out. "You're a sphinx? How cool!"
Yeah, right. I wanted to smack myself in the head, errr, heads, for not recognizing it. Chelsea still had her normal, human head, with big, yellow eyes instead of her usual brown ones. Her body seemed to entirely belong to a lioness, though, no arms at all, only four legs, a long, sinuous lion's tail and a pair of feathery wings folded on her back.
She had probably used her front paws to press down the doorhandle and now opened her mouth to greet us with a smug smile, but that dissipated quickly as she took in our shapes in return.
"Hey, welcome t- holy shit!" Obviously flabbergasted she stared at us, first taking in Thomas' looming and yet beautiful shape, then looking at me and darting back and forth between my two heads.
I barely managed to stifle a laugh. I knew Chelsea quite well. She was a nice person, but just a little bit self-opinionated. She'd probably thought that her Venned shape would impress all visitors, and now we'd impressed her. I couldn't stop myself from teasing her just a tiny bit.
With my left head, I looked right at Thomas while I kept focusing Chelsea with my right one. "Huh, it looks like we made an impression?" I asked toward my friend. And then towards Chelsea: "Am I right?"
She closed her mouth with an audible click. There was a look of consternation on her face, but then she started to chuckle. "Well yeah, you have. That's one hell of a Venn." Widely grinning, the sphinx padded forward, walking around us slowly to study us from all directions.
Her shape wasn't shabby either, definitely not. Her lioness body walked with a natural, feline grace, her paws moving over the floor silently - even to my enhanced hearing. Now that she was closer, I could see that her head wasn't entirely unchanged either. She also had lion ears and her human teeth had been replaced by more canine ones. Additionally, the hair on her head just seemed to be a natural extension of the golden fur on her back.
"I love your face. It's so beautiful and exotic!" Chelsea exclaimed towards Thomas now. The centauress took the compliment with a beaming smile and nodded. Then she looked right at me. "Just like your faces. I can't believe you went for the two heads. Susan had tried that once, but she hadn't been able to get the two heads straight, the poor girl had to Venn back barely ten minutes later." She chuckled, her yellow eyes boring down into mine. "But you seem to adapt just fine."
Huh? So Venn Machines didn't make you adapt at two-headed forms automatically? That was interesting. But she was right, I'd become used to my duality just fine.
"Did you practice a lot?"
"Uh, no." I answered with my left head. "Actually just Venned into a two-headed shape for the first time today." I added with the other.
Chelsea's eyes went wide. "Wow, then you're adapting really well. Anyway..." She gave a critical stare to both of us. "Who are you gals? I don't recognize your faces, but that doesn't have to mean anything, Venn Machines and all." Somehow, she managed to shrug with her front-legs' shoulders. "You do look familiar, though."
A malicious gleam spread over Thomas face and she looked at me questioningly. Right, so she wants to drop the bomb. I shrugged. Sure, go ahead.
"Weeeeell..." she said with her melodious voice. "I'm Thomas. And my beautiful companion here is Clark."
For the second time in like five minutes, Chelsea's jaw hit the floor. "You're shitting me!" Unbelieving, the young sphinx ogled both of us. "Normally, boys rather shun the Venn Machines. Hell, most of the boys on my party opted for nothing more serious than a pair of nekomimi, and I can tell you that this is already freaking them out hard. Seriously, boys are just..." She rolled her eyes, but then seemed to remember whom she was talking to. Chelsea giggled. "Well, I'd have never thought that you two would go all the way... and with a gender change on top. And I just have to ask again - it's really, really, REALLY you, not just some not-so-funny prank? That's not just you, Amanda, messing with me?"
I simply shrugged, smiling embarrassed with one head while answering with the other. "Yeah, Clark here. It's really us. And I can tell you-" I decided to switch heads in mid-sentence, just to mess with her a bit more "-It's crazy as hell. I actually don't know what's freaking me out more... to be in skirts and have boobs or to have two heads." "-to have two heads". To drive the point home I said the last part in stereo, making Thomas wince. It seemed to have the same effect on Chelsea.
"Ugh." She wrinkled her nose, whiskers shuddering. "Could you please not do this? It just freaks me out." She shook herself, much like I imagined a real lion would when shaking off water. "Still, how comes? I don't know you two that well, but you're not exactly the most daring folks I know. Your fantastic anthro bodies I can believe - barely. But why the gender change?"
Thomas raised her arms in exasperation. "Came with the package. Truth be told, we asked someone to Venn us, and getting boobs were their conditions. They'd change us into some anthro bodies, but only female ones."
This made our host giggle. "Huh, that sounds ominous. I suspect there's a really interesting stor-"
Chelsea was cut short when another party-goer appeared in the door frame, a brown-skinned mouse-girl. At least that's what it looked like to me. "Hey Chelsea, the orange juice is empty again, where do I- eeek!" The rodent squeaked as she took notice of us two newcomers, nearly dropping the empty juice bottle she was holding in her paw-like hands. "Uhhhh... but you seem... occupied... I guess... I'll just look for it...?"
Hastily, the mousy retreated, but not after giving me a disbelieving double take. While I simply looked after her awkwardly, Chelsea and Thomas both started to laugh loudly.
"I guess... I'll upset your guests..." I mumbled. "So I think it would be better if I-"
"Poppycock!" Grinning, Chelsea slipped behind me and started pushing me towards the door with her half-feline head. "Lisa's just a scaredy-cat. Or mouse. You two are exactly what this party has needed, and I'll not have you leave now!"
"Yeah, but what about me?" Thomas called after us. "I'm to big to fit through the door."
"Do I really have to spell that out for you?" the sphinx called back. "Come on, you're part of the fairer sex now. That means that you're allowed to use your brain! The gate to the garden is to the left, just go through it or jump over it like any self-respecting centaur!"
I shook my heads. Us crashing the party in our fantastic forms might just create a riot - one way or the other.