Part 3 - Transformations, Rays of Sunlight, Neighbors, and Plans

For about a second, I doubted. Then I saw a spark at the place I touched. Time seemed to slow down. As Mister Russell turned, I got a look at his cantankerous features as they started to melt away. His tartan shirt bloomed with a milky-white blouse that overwhelmed it and turned the pattern into trim along his collar and sleeves. His jumpsuit softened to a dull brown as dark stockings soared up his legs. His flat cap deepened to a lustrous shade of maroon but otherwise was unchanged.

His physical changes were almost too much for me to take in. Never that tall, he shrunk even more. His face assumed a simple, colorful softness not far removed from the images on my computer. Vast, golden eyes with just a touch of a cat-like shape loomed on his face. A mosaic of light browns, dark browns, and even a streak or two of white made up the confection of his new hair. As his figure revealed a young female one instead of an old male one, a long, curving tail to match her hair slipped out of her jumpsuit as a pair of fuzzy ears popped out along the sides of her hat.

All the time I watched with my eyes wide and my body unable to bring up my lower lip, she still wore the same look of irritation. Then, time seemed to return to normal, and she realized with a quick blink that something was wrong.

I searched my mind for something to say, but I just couldn’t find it before she gave a look down at her delicate, frail hands which followed to her body and a groan that came out as a high, strangled squeak. She backed away from me and shrieked, “What have you done to me?!”

As I toppled backward onto the stairs, she looked up at me in horror. She wasn’t quite what I was hoping for. Still, the memory of every image I had stored away brought to life before my eyes automatically tented the front of my pants. She crawled backwards up the stairs, her ears curled down, and her tail dragging behind her as she yelled, “Get the fuck away!”

I felt a little sick inside and turned away to hide. Without seeing those vast yellow eyes trembling, I managed to stammer, “I d-d-don’t know what happened…I j-just…was gonna a-ask…to fix the faucet. I’m s-s-sorry!” Three lies all together.

She whimpered and scuffed on the steps. I peeked quickly behind me and saw she was still examining her body. I wanted a photo. No, I wanted a video. If only I had my phone with me.

Things were settling down for me because this was getting outside my normal fantasies. I couldn’t find an explanation which didn’t sound immediately stupid. Still, I chose to tell her, “You’re very pretty…”

Her head darted up from checking the shape of her breasts (rather modest compared to some in my collection). She cursed at me over and over as her eyes grew accusing. I took a step towards her before she could say anything else. Her mouth shut, and she gripped the railing behind her.

I caught her arm as she tried to bat me away. She had claws almost like a cat's as well, and they dug into my palm. I held her and, slowly, she started to relax. I had to know what would happen if I touched her again.

I felt woozy, but I held onto her hand as she stopped fidgeting and settled against the stone of the steps. I kept to the side and didn’t loom over her. I felt a little sick, but I’d committed to this. Soon, she softly “mewed” and I let her hand go. She didn’t claw at me. She didn’t seem angry. Her eyes opened a little wider and, slowly, she licked the back of her hand.

As I sat next to her, she didn’t pay me much attention. I swallowed and reached out to touch her head like I’d touched Arjuma’s. She evaded me casually like I’d seen a cat or two do before. Though she kept her distance, she didn’t flash me a bitter look or a sharp hiss. She just carefully groomed herself as her tail rose to hang behind her. Calmly, her ears beside her cap turned a few times, and she gave a wide yawn.

When she finally got up, she crept down the stairs and around till she came upon a sun-soaked spot at the inner courtyard of the apartment complex. Curling up there, she tucked her tail against her back and rested in the bright sun as her ears flicked at falling leaves.

It still wasn’t quite what I expected, but I wasn’t going to touch her again. I stood there and admired her. It was still worthy of a picture and perhaps using something to rub her head, if I felt bold enough for that.

My heart was finally settling though and, despite the time of day, there was no one else around to see what I’d done, respond to the landlord’s yells, or ask what I was doing standing near a catgirl with the last trace of awkward arousal. For a first try with this power, I felt like I’d really fucked up. But I wasn’t going to go back to Gloria and her friend. Not yet. I had an idea.

I knew there was an anime fan who lived on the other side of the complex from me. He had a British-like accent, but I knew he wasn’t from England. I hadn’t paid attention when I’d met him a scant few times. But we’d shared a passing mention of catgirls.

Compared to an old man and the shock of completely changing, he was a better possibility. He even had a slightly-effeminate look to him with his wavy brown hair. I went looking for him after I returned to my apartment to pick up my phone and get a picture of the landlord snoozing in the bright spot.

When I got to the guy’s door, I rubbed at my lips a bit. I had no idea if he was in. Even if he was, that didn’t matter too much because I would have to knock on his door. I held my clasped hand over it and tried to will him to randomly come out. That wasn’t a much better notion. I’d been yelled at back at home and in college for knocking. Each and every face and moment still played like a fragment from a lasting nightmare whenever I approached a door like this.

It didn’t matter what I’d just done or what I’d done ten minutes ago or a few weeks ago when I hadn’t been afraid. This time, I was terrified. I scratched at my arms and considered trying to call him but I certainly hadn’t saved his number among my sparse contacts (though he’d given it to me for us to hang out sometime, as I recalled).

Eventually, I rapped my fingers on the door in a quick and uncertain way and backed off like it was an accident. That would be my explanation, if he asked. Or I could confabulate someone rushing past and brushing against the door. I had no other ideas beyond that.

I could hear footsteps inside, and it wasn’t long before the door eased open and he poked his head out. I couldn’t pin down if his name was Sam or something else, so I just offered up a quick, “Hey” without anything else as I weighed my answers. Both of them seemed lousy as I heard him ask, “Did you knock?”

Looking at him with his long, wavy brown hair and face a little younger than mine (though I figured we were about the same age), I came up with a better thing to say, because it was closer to the truth.

“Oh, uh, I just thought there was something…there’s something I want to show you.” I turned my phone towards him and wondered if he held my phone after I touched then that would count as some kind of catgirl-making contact. He bent over and scrunched his eyes. I forgot if he wore glasses or contacts. I liked cute glasses on a catgirl, but I tried not to imagine him that way. Not yet.

He raised an eyebrow as he looked at my phone and asked, “It’s shopped, right? Or a cosplay?”

“No…it’s not.” I motioned towards the hallway which split the main building and led to the inner courtyard. It didn’t take too much urging for him to get out of his apartment and follow me. I took him over to the landlord all curled up in her warm spot. I kept my distance with my hands in my pockets.

Softly, he muttered, “Holy crap” and crouched over her as he brushed back his hair. He pointed his hazel eyes right at me and asked, “Has she just been…sleeping here?”

I tried a shrug because, technically, she could’ve done anything while I was away. He had on a long-sleeved shirt with a high collar and long pants. Not that it mattered. I’d touched the landlord through his shirt and he’d changed, but he’d changed more in his mind when I’d touched skin. I wondered if there was a difference.

My neighbor marveled at her tail and ears while slowly shaking his head. He muttered, “It looks better than anything I’ve seen at a convention. Wow…” Curling my fingers back, I approached him from behind. He shook her petite shoulder and her colorful tail turned around casually.

“Miss? Miss? You okay?”

I was close enough that I could touch him at any moment. Finally, I had an idea and another careful lie. I pointed out her ears and said, “They look so real.” He readily agreed with me and muttered, “Gotta be some sort of…prosthetic though.”

With a careful breath, I laid the bait. “What would those feel like?” It was enough to get him to lean closer and check them out. I tried to pick the right moment. We both stood really close.

He shook his head and said, “Can’t be real.” Before it occurred to him how weird it was to touch some random, sleeping woman’s ears (fake or not), he brushed against the tip and I brushed against him with a planned stagger at the same instant.

My question was, “Is it real?” but by the time he could consider an answer, he had already started to change.

While, like the landlord, he didn’t seem to notice my touch, he was immediately aware that something was happening to his body but there was no spark or dilation of time. His arms sunk into the depths of his shirt and his jeans became awkwardly loose enough that it seemed no belt could possibly keep them up.

But that was okay because his clothes were quickly changing into a completely different outfit. I hadn’t thought about what they would become, same as with the landlord, nor did I have any thought to what kind of physical form would result. So, I watched with wide eyes and as much surprise as I could show about the whole thing.

His reaction was touchy-feely and just as curious. This was a good sign that he wouldn’t be an unsettling repeat of the landlord. While he stood about my height before, he shrunk to a little over a head less than me. His eyes loomed the same way as the landlord’s while his mouth seemed so small.

When the change was done, there stood a catgirl with ears which stuck out of the top of her head like arrows. She had a lean and slinky tail which moved slowly but with playful enthusiasm. It was a light shade of blue sharper than the sky which matched her hair and ears. Her large eyes were a mellow brown. I was glad they weren’t some ominous or creepy shade of red. Her hands had short fingers with stubby nails but a gentle arch when she bent them.

Her clothes had turned into a yukata, which I knew well from my stockpile of catgirls. It hung loosely on her body but in a fetching way. She had more at the chest than the landlord and she noticed that as well, touching everything with a blush and little sounds. I turned away when her explorations became more personal.

I asked, “Are you alright?” I didn’t know if there was enough confusion in my voice. She answered with an easy but strong and girlish intonation, “This is…pretty cool. She must’ve infected me. I think. Why would a catgirl just be here?”

I gave a turned shrug of my shoulders as she came across new questions. A look back told me she had let go of her body and gripped tight to the quandary. And her attention had turned to me with a finger placed to her chin. She seemed so unassuming with the pink flowers across her clothes but her eyes took on a predatory aspect as she asked, “I wonder if I can spread it to you…”

She’d gained a nimble, catlike quality as she smiled and approached. My retreat was only partly for show as I said, “We have no idea what happened…”

Smirking, she noted, “But we can find out more if I touch you…I remember you staring a long time when I showed you my plush catgirl…”

I waved my hands and assured her, “That’s different. You shouldn’t do anything rash…”