“So,” Laura said on the drive to who-knows-where, “is Kade still a good name for you?”
“Ah, um,” she thought, “well, maybe Katie would work better like this, wouldn’t it?”
“What do you mean ‘like this’?” Laura asked, somewhat confused.
“Well, I mean, I’m not always a girl,” Katie replied, “at least, not yet.”
“Would I have asked you out if you weren’t always a girl?” Laura asked as they pulled to a stoplight, and turned to stare at Katie.
“But, I mean, you know what I mean, tomorrow I’m gonna have my old body,” Katie stammered out nervously.
“Right, and even though that’s so, it’s clear you’re a chick. Being a wolf is about being proud of who you’ve become, not the cards you were born with,” Laura explained as the light turned green and she accelerated. “Have you really never considered you might be transgender?”
“I mean, like that olympian and the one actress?” Katie asked.
“Gods, what do they teach these days? Poor puppy,” Laura muttered to herself as she pulled into the parking lot of the mall and parked at a spot close to the front of a clothing store. “Look, do you want to be a woman?”
“Yes,” Katie replied in a heartbeat, “this is the weirdest thing that’s ever happened to me and I love it. I don’t feel any depression anymore and I don’t think I even crave a drink right now.”
“Okay,” Laura said deliberately, “then you are a woman, even when you don’t look like this.”
“But I–”
“No butts, except that one down there,” Laura said as she hopped out of the car.
Katie blushed under her fur as she jumped out of the car, hiking her shorts up. The store was big and daunting. Katie had always just gone to the local Benevolent Volition store, or the Starvation Army, as the case may have been. Going to an actual store for her clothes was borderline unheard of. But as she walked in, she felt a novel sense of wonder at the selection, how many things she couldn’t wait to show off.
Laura explained the difference between the types of tops, showed her all kinds of skirts and dresses, even helped her find some paw wrappings to replace the shoes that Katie had totally forgotten about until her paws started to ache as they walked across the tile.
Eventually, they had built up a genuine pile of clothes in their cart. Laura was insistent, strangely, that Katie change in the dressing room by herself, though she’d occasionally offer advice on outfits. The clothing wolves wore, especially in summer, was far more revealing than human clothes, causing Katie to blush at some of the “outfits” that amounted to little more than a tank top and short shorts.
Eventually, Katie had sorted everything that fit her figure and had appropriate holes for the tail. Katie opted for one of the less revealing shirts, and a nice flowy skirt, to wear out. As she stepped out of the changing room, she noticed: Laura was nowhere to be seen. She began to worry, her tail and ears drooping. However, she heard in the distance, someone running in her direction.
Laura waved to her from afar, a mysterious item wrapped in paper in her hands. Laura stopped and panted in front of Katie, before apologizing, “Sorry, I had to get something from another store.”
“It’s okay!” Katie replied, pretending she hadn’t just been catastrophizing. “Do you want to go to checkout?”
The checkout lady was noticeably on edge, though Katie was trying to be as friendly as possible. She noticed Laura was vaguely on edge as well, and while she considered asking why, she figured it’d be best to wait. They finished checking out, and she put her card in the wrong way at first, nervous.
“Here, let me do that,” the cashier interjected as she shoved it in the machine. It went through, and Katie timidly took her card and then walked out quickly with her bags, letting Laura handle the cart.
“What a bitch, hate it when people don’t like wolves,” Laura said as soon as they got in the car.
“What?” Katie asked.
“She was glaring at both of us the whole time, and I saw her watching us earlier from across the store,” Laura replied, “that’s one thing you’re gonna learn. Not everyone is friendly.”
“O..okay,” Katie replied in shock. She’d tried her best to be nice to the cashier, but Laura was right, it only seemed to make her more frustrated. And then the cashier had treated her as stupid and…
“Hey, it’s okay,” Laura said as she rubbed Katie’s back gently. Katie felt wet tears on her face, and reached up to wipe them away.
“What did I get myself into?” Katie choked out, “Dad’s gonna hate me, random people are gonna hate me, even if I get the money, I’ll be alone and–”
“You’re not going to be alone,” Laura replied, “not as long as I’m here. In fact, well, this may be, um, a vulnerable moment for you, more than I expected, so I want you to feel free to say no to this…”
“What is it?” Katie asked, her sobs reduced to sniffles.
Laura unwrapped the paper packaging to reveal a bouquet of red roses. Each was placed delicately in the wrapping. She handed it to Katie, who looked at her as if to say, “What’s this for?”
“Katie, I don’t know what it is about you, but something tells me there’s more to you than meets the eye. Which is saying a lot, because, I mean, look at you!”
Katie’s tail wagging behind her betrayed her carefully curated stoic expression as she looked on at Laura, who gained confidence as she saw the display of excitement. “I’d like to officially ask you out on a date, and for a kiss, if that’s not too much to ask.”
“Yes to both, God Laura I–”
Katie was silenced by a carefully planted kiss. She felt herself really heating up, which caused her instinctively to pant. The only issue being, that caused her tongue to dart into Laura’s muzzle. She was even more thrown out of sorts when Laura, with a devious look in her eyes, returned the tongue. They continued for a few minutes in that parking lot before finally stopping, both thoroughly out of breath and panting.
“You’re a really good kisser,” Laura spoke first, “you didn’t seem like the type into tongue stuff, though.”
“I, um, I just don’t know how to control it yet, and I was getting weirdly hot across my body and I started panting and it just kind of…happened,” Katie admitted as she looked down at her paws shyly.
Laura started laughing, which caused Katie to blush even harder. Eventually, Laura calmed down and sighed. “Sorry, I just forget that some girls need it explained to them, that is, what being flustered is.”
“Oh, is it like heat?” Katie asked.
“Gods, I’m gonna have to do sex ed with my date, that’s how it’s gonna be, huh? No, it’s not like heat, human girls get it too, silly. You felt like that because you’re a girl, you just expressed it in a wolfish way,” Laura replied with a grin.
“B..but is heat a real thing?”
“Oh, yes, but we usually take meds to suppress it these days,” Laura replied, “it sounds fun until you can’t even work without sex on the brain.”
“I..I see,” Katie said, desperate to get away from the embarrassment of not knowing anything about her new physiology, “Where are we going for the date?”
“Steakhouse,” Laura answered.
“That’s pretty expensive, isn’t it?” Katie asked, “I can pay if you want.”
“Shush. You can pay next time. We’re celebrating you tonight.”
They found a small chain place at the end of the parking lot, and decided it was as good a place as any. Katie took Laura’s paw in hers as they walked in, nervous and excited. Laura seemed to have this air of confidence about her, but Katie was beginning to see through the cracks. Laura was just as nervous as her, she realized from looking at the taller wolf’s tail. She pet Laura’s arm gently, in an attempt to calm her down, but that only seemed to, what was the word, fluster her? Katie stopped, worried she’d done something wrong.
“Why’d you stop?” Laura asked with a disappointed tone.
“Y..you were getting, y’now,” Katie said, before whispering in her ear, “flustered.”
Laura had to keep from laughing a second time. “Yes, I know, that’s how it should be. You’re so innocent and cute. I’ll have to be careful with you.”
“Hey! I can handle it!” Katie exclaimed as they waited in the lobby for a host to greet them.
“We’ll see about that,” Laura said back as a host finally arrived.
“Table for two?” he asked.
“Yep!” Laura replied as she led Katie with her, following the host to their table.
Super happy to see this back!
I can’t tell you what a lovely surprise this was to see this posted! Also this is so cute!
Happy to see you again!
Oh heck, it's alive!
...the hell sort of stores are Benevolent Volition and Starvation Army?
Probably expy for Goodwill and Salvation Army
I forgot how cute this story was, Happy to see it come back! :D
Welcome back :)
Yay! My desire was answered!
I just realized this story started in 2022
I thought it was only like a year