Storming out was largely ineffective given they shared a living space, so he hadn’t far to go. Lacking any better refuge, he found himself sitting on the mattress in the closet, pouting. He could hear Cailyn moving around the apartment, messing about in the kitchen, watching TV, listening to music. He lost track of time and drifted off into a hazy daydream.

The cute girl he had imagined in the mirror was back at his apartment, hanging out, enjoying her free time, playing some games. Aiden walked in and smiled.

“Hey, babe,” Aiden said as he plopped onto the couch beside her.

“Hey,” she smiled back, blushing.

“Mind if I watch you play?” he asked.

“I’d rather you play with me,” she said.

Aiden grinned, leaning in closer. “I’d prefer to play with you, too.” He leaned in to kiss her, and she felt herself leaning right back towards him, closing her eyes…

Then, suddenly, the closet door opened and Aiden reached for a hanger for his coat.

“Woah, sorry. Didn’t realize you were in here…” Aiden awkwardly hung up his coat and tossed it back into the closet, towards the ‘foot’ of Chris’ makeshift bed.

“A-A-Aiden!” Chris stuttered, flustered by his sudden presence after the very steamy daydream.

“You okay? You look kinda… red?” He tilted his head, looking at Chris.

“I’m fine, I’m fine! Totally fine!” Chris laughed nervously.

“If you say so. Did Cay head out somewhere?”

“Huh? She’s not here? I thought she was in her room,” Chris said.

Aiden shook his head, taking a step back. “No, the whole place is empty. She didn’t tell you she was leaving?”

“No?” Chris shrugged as he stood up and left his closet. “Not like she has to or anything. I’m just a guest.”

“She still coulda at least said something,” Aiden grumbled, sending her a text as he trudged off to the kitchen.

Chris trailed after him, seeing the further mess that she’d left in her wake.

“She couldn’t clean anything up? Seriously?” Aiden complained loudly as he tossed a dirty bowl on the counter into the sink with other dirty dishes. “I’m working doubles every day to cover her and she can’t even clean up? Fuck’s sake, Cay…”

Guilt gnawed at his stomach fluff. The place was a mess and he was just sitting around not helping out.

“Hey, Aiden?”

“Yeah?” Aiden looked back at Chris, pausing in his frustrated cleaning of the kitchen.

“I uh… I’m sorry. I’ll start helping out around here. I’ll clean up the place since I’m home all day.” Something in him was churning at the idea of just how much of a leech he’d been. If he was capable of crying, he was sure he would be.

“What? Hey, no, I didn’t mean– you’re our guest, you shouldn’t have to help clean up the house!” Aiden said, quickly trying to soothe Chris’ apparent hurt. “Look, why don’t we uh, just call in something for dinner tonight, we can hang out and watch a movie, and I’ll just talk to Cay about cleaning up whenever she gets back.”

Chris wanted to protest, but the growling in his stomach fluff told him that ordering in dinner would be good. He nodded his approval.

“Okay, you okay with pizza or…?”

“Yeah, pizza sounds good. I can eat non-meat again so… yeah.” 

“Cool,” Aiden smiled, swiping around on his phone for a minute. After a brief discussion of toppings, the order was placed, and Aiden tucked his phone away into his pocket.

“How about you find us a movie to watch while I get the kitchen cleaned up a bit?” Chris ventured, the nagging guilt of being a leech still lingering. 

Aiden looked as if he were about to argue, but when he saw Chris’ hands go to his hips and his expression harden with resolve, he relented. “Yes ma’am,” he said as he trudged over to the couch.

Chris savored his victory, striding confidently into the kitchen to begin cleaning. He had already filled the sink, put on rubber gloves, and started scrubbing dishes when he realized what Aiden had said.

‘Ma’am’

The word looped through his mind. 

‘A girl. Aiden sees me as a girl.’ The thought should have repulsed him, but instead it sent a tidal wave of warmth through his fluffy interior. 

“Never seen anyone so happy to be doing dishes,” Aiden laughed.

Chris realized he’d been grinning like an idiot again, and did his best to compose himself. “Sh-shush. Just find us a good movie or something.”

Aiden grinned and turned back to the TV, thumbing through the listings.

‘Sure, my body is girl-shaped,’ Chris thought as he scrubbed at a particularly stubborn pot, ‘but that doesn’t mean I’m a girl, right?’

‘But if I was a girl…’ His mind wandered back to the daydream, to Aiden. What if “she” picked a scary movie, and “she” could cuddle up against Aiden, and he would put his arm around her, and she would feel safe, and maybe they would…

Chris found himself squirming, pressing his thighs together as he absent-mindedly scrubbed a now thoroughly clean small circle at the center of the otherwise still dirty pot.

He groaned and tried to dismiss his weird thoughts, continuing with his clean-up.

‘Why do I keep thinking stupid shit like that? There’s no way I’m into Aiden like that, right? I mean, we’re both straight guys, right? So it’d be weird if I liked him, since we’re both guys. But… if I look like a girl and he sees me as a girl, does that mean he might like me?’

The thought sent a fresh wave of warmth buzzing through him, and his whole body felt… good.

“Hey, you okay?” Aiden asked, standing beside him, one hand on Chris’ shoulder.

Chris eeped and dropped a plate he had been washing back into the sink, causing a minor cacophony. 

That single point of contact, his hand on his shoulder, felt like it was electrocuting him in the best possible way.

“I-I-I-I’m fine!” Chris stammered, backing away. Water dripped all over the place from his gloved hands.

“Are you sure? You’ve been standing back here for a couple minutes just gasping and staring off into space.” Aiden took a step closer, concern evident in his features.

‘He’s so close, he’s so close, why do I feel so funny!? Goddess, I just want him to… to… wh-what do I want him to do?’

The mental picture of their lips meeting sprung to mind.

‘N-no! I don’t… I don’t want him to… Oh goddess I really do!’

Chris let out a soft gasp dangerously approaching a moan, and forced himself to take another step back.

“It’s fine, I’m fine, we’re all fine here!” He blurted out, covering his face with his gloved hands.

“Chris? You’re uh… you’re turning really red. Do we need to get you over to Nate’s place again?” He closed the gap again, placing his hands on Chris’ shoulders and holding him gently.

‘Oh goddess, oh goddess, oh goddess, oh…’

The mental picture of Aiden leaning in to kiss him flooded his mind, and then it went further. Embracing Aiden, hungrily pawing at him, kissing, peeling away clothing, hands on his flesh, Aiden’s body pressing against his, skin against skin, burning hot, the taste of his kisses dancing on her tongue. All she wanted was to tackle him to the floor and indulge in this hot fantasy, and…

“Chris!” Aiden half-shouted, shaking her slightly.

“Guh-hehh?” Chris sputtered, shaking himself out of the frenzied fantasy state. 

“Holy shit, Chris…” Aiden looked down at him slightly, removing one hand from Chris’ shoulder. He lifted his hand past Chris’ face slowly.

Chris wasn’t exactly sure what he was doing, until he felt a sudden completely new sensation.

“You’ve got… horns, Chris,” Aiden said in disbelief. 

“Wh-what?” Chris gasped, breaking loose from Aiden’s grip and running to the hall mirror.

Standing there in his reflection was a late teens or perhaps early twenties girl with deep red sackcloth skin and black woven fabric for hair. Her lifelike doll eyes had changed to a brilliant amber color, and a set of horns now protruded from her forehead, sweeping up and back, ending in slightly upturned points.

“Oh my goddess,” Chris half-whispered to his reflection, reaching out to touch her. 

He was vaguely aware of a discomfort at the small of his back, just above his butt.

“Uh, Chris?” Aiden chimed in, “I think you uh… I think your tail is stuck in your pants.”

Chris gasped as he looked back over his shoulder to spot something wriggling in the back of his pants. He tugged the waistband down slightly, and felt immediate relief as his tail lashed out, finally set free. The dark, whiplike appendage seemed to move of its own accord, and he could only distantly feel any sort of control for it. 

‘Oh my goddess,’ he thought. 

“What the fuck am I, Aiden?”