Confusion was my only thought, surprisingly. One might think that I would be scared or worried about not being able to change back, but no, I was just confused. Being a cat was oddly comfortable, though I did wish to be able to turn back into a human. I couldn’t really do my job without hands.

Even just looking down at my paws, I could see the calico patterns in my fur. It was mostly white, broken up by sparse spots of orange and black, just like the plushy.

In the meantime, while I was lost in thought, Sarah was cooing and stroking at my head between my ears. It felt amazing and I soon had to wonder where the vibrating hum was coming from, only to realize that I was purring. This was quite acceptable to me.

Avery and Allie Prosper rushed up from the back room, scanning around until Allie saw me in the Bartender’s arms. They looked panicked and Avery seemed to be carrying my clothes, with the notable exception of my waist apron, which was in the hands of the singer. The plushy was gripped in one hand, her eyes flicking between me and the toy. It occurred to me that if my clothes were in the office, I probably changed there. 

The boss was the first to reach us. “Ari?! Is that still you?!”

Allie was just behind him. “Where did you get this toy?!”

I responded the only way I could. “Mrow?”

All three of the people around me blinked. 

“Why are you calling this cat Ari? She just stepped away to change her shirt, I’m sure she’ll be right down.” Sarah was confused too it seemed. If I could have, I would have laughed at the utter chaos I had somehow unknowingly caused.

Allie was the one to respond, but only in a loud whisper that could just be heard over the crowd and music. “That cat is Ari. We just watched her change!”

Sarah blinked. Avery waved their hands before anything else could be said though. “Let's take her into the back. We don’t need to do this in front of customers.” Ah Avery… the boss was always a stickler for appearances, and honestly, with the random magic happening, I couldn’t blame them.

The experience of being carried gently into the office was quite nice actually. I felt comfortable in Sarah’s arms and was just kind of vibing as a cat. I felt like I really ought to care that I was no longer human but just couldn’t find it within myself. 

The others did care though it seemed. The door closed behind us and Sarah placed me on the desk. I sat back on my hindquarters and allowed my tail to wave back and forth. Allie was staring at me intently, the plushy still in her hand. The other two were also staring, but seemed more confused than anything.

“Can you still understand me?” The singer asked. I nodded. “Well, there’s that at least.” She sighed. 

“So who wants to explain to me how Ari became a cat?!” Poor Sarah. She didn’t see the change, she just saw a cat walk into the bar and immediately got swarmed. 

The boss stuttered and held their hands up in a very obvious ‘I don’t know’. The rocker girl was less confused though. 

“I’m fairly certain that it was this plushy.”

“How do you figure?” Came the Enby.

Allie looked somewhat sheepish. “I uh… let’s just say I spent time around some less than mundane things when I was younger. My cousin would be able to tell you a lot more, but I could feel the magic on it when the change happened.”

I nodded, accepting the explanation, though I was curious as to what she was talking about. It was obvious that magic was real so I had no reason to doubt her words. The others were a bit dumbfounded. I couldn’t blame them though. It was a strange situation to say the least. 

The woman didn’t stop though. “Ari, what did you do to trigger the change?” I meowed. “Oh, right. You can’t talk, can you? Ugh… Here, see if you can trigger the change again.” She unclipped the toy from my apron and set it on the floor. 

Sarah set me down and I padded forward to prod at the toy with my snout. It didn’t feel magical to me, but I guessed… wait… I prodded at it again. I could actually feel a thread of something that connected it and me. My head tilted in curiosity and I wracked my memory to think of what exactly I had done to activate the magic. Only one thing stood out. 

With a paw on the plush cat that I seemed to have taken my likeness from,  I meowed at it.

Nothing happened. 

I blinked and pawed at the plush toy. What was I doing wrong? All I had done before was hold it and say ‘nyaa’...

In a single moment, the thread of connection I could feel with the plush flared brightly. Almost in unison with the plush’s magic though, something else seemed to tingle in my very being until both settled into a spot near my heart. In a rush of sound, the muffled music that could still be heard through the walls sharpened until I could hear every note, every melody. It was as if I had never heard music before until this moment, the change was so immense. Something very strange had just happened. 

A squeak of embarrassment came from Sarah behind me and a similar squawk echoed from Avery, causing me to startle. I looked back at them, my face awash with bewilderment. Sarah was blushing lightly and had turned her face deliberately away from me. Avery had slapped their hands over their eyes, refusing to peek. The odd one out of the bunch, Allie was gaping right at me.

My ears twitched and I shivered, suddenly cold. I wrapped my arms around myself, trying to conserve warmth. 

Everything was quiet for almost a full minute before Allie broke the silence. “Uh… Miss, could you please go inform the band that something came up and that I won’t be available to play tonight? And Avery, I think I should have a few minutes alone with Ari, here.”

Still shielding his eyes, my boss answered. “Ari, you can have the rest of the night off. Why don’t you take Miss Prosper up to your room if she wants to talk. Just ah… put something on first.”

I blinked again. “Why do I need to put something on if I’m a cat?”

Allie snorted. “Ari, you aren’t a cat anymore, well, mostly at least.”  

The realization that I had spoken aloud struck me and I looked down at myself. 

“Oh…” My voice was soft as I repeated an earlier statement, though this time with far different connotation. “Fucking tits!”