“It’s a different color.”

“Is it?”

“Yeah, it was all purply and stuff, now it’s more red.”

“Purply?”

“I mean, I’m pretty sure it was. I dunno, I didn’t really examine it much before I touched it.”

Maple snorted. “So it might have been bright green.”

I rolled my eyes. “I can definitely remember it was not glowing green when I first found it. Anyway, I know for a fact it was not glowing this color when I found it.”

Maple and I were watching the small idol, discussing it. It looked largely the same as when I had first found it - the writing hadn’t noticeably changed, and the shape - human body with fox ears and tail - was still the same. But rather than glowing with a purple light, it now glowed with a more orange-red light; the glow lit up rays of Maple’s wardrobe. The idol was sitting on the floor of Maple’s closet, laying in a bundle of unfolded black shirts. Neither of us wanted to touch it. While the changes it had given me weren’t bad, they still had the fun side effect of me both looking nothing like any of my ID and having massive, hard-to-miss fox ears adorning my head. I loved that I got turned into a girl, of course, but I could acknowledge it presented me with several issues.

“We should probably take it out to examine it better,” Maple said.

“We should not touch it.”

“It already transformed you.”

“That doesn’t mean I can touch it again.”

“I touched it earlier and it was fine.”

“It wasn’t glowing then! Now it is.”

Maple rolled their eyes before grabbing a pair of gloves off the shelf at the top of their closet. “Use these then.”

I accepted the gloves. “What if it works through gloves?”

“What would it do? Make you more girly?”

“It could fully turn me into a fox.”

“Ok, good point.” They moved to place the gloves back, but I grabbed them. Maple smirked. “Thought you didn’t want to touch it?”

“It will still be easier to examine it on your desk.” I pulled the gloves on. “I dunno, like… knock it out of my hands if it looks like it’s doing more magic on me or something.” I took a deep breath. “Here goes nothing.”

Maple shot me a worried look, but I steeled my nerves and grabbed the idol.

Nothing happened.

I lifted it out of Maple’s closet. I turned around and looked for a place to set it. The first thing I saw was Maple’s bed beside us, but I decided against placing that there. The last thing I want was Maple shifting when they wanted to enjoy theirself. Across from the bed was Maple’s desk. It only had a stack of their geology notes, a pencil, a laptop, and a lava lamp. There was plenty of room to put it. I set it down next to the left wall.

“Guess the gloves worked then,” I said.

“Or it can’t affect you a second time,” Maple said, stepping towards their desk. “It looks a bit like you.”

“The only similarities are the ears and tail.” I snarked. “You can’t even tell what gender this is.”

Maple frowned. “You’re right. Weird. I could have sworn it looked like a girl before.”

“Maybe it was the angle,” I said, moving to look at it from the side.

“Nope, it is most definitely NOT a girl.”

I poked the idol’s head, but it stubbornly stayed androgynous.

“Hey, have you already had something to eat?” Maple said from behind me.

“Yeah,” I said, distractedly, lifting up the statue to look at the base. “Hey, there’s more writing under here.”

“No script I recognize,” Maple said. “You want snacks though?”

I shrugged, placing the idol back on the desk. “What snacks do you got?”

“Chips.”

“That’s it?”

“I have ice cream too.”

My ears perked up. “Ice cream?” I turned to face my friend.

Maple nodded. “Strawberry ice cream.”

I started salivating. I love strawberry ice cream! “But, what about the idol?”

Maple shrugged. “We can’t read what’s written on it. There’s not much else we can figure out about it just by looking at it. I don’t have any equipment to examine its chemical make-up.”

“That’s fair, I don’t want to try anything else without more safety. I doubt throwing random cleaning supplies will help us narrow anything down. I guess we should take a break.”

“Ice cream then?” Maple asked.

“Ice cream,” I confirmed.

Have I mentioned that I love strawberry ice cream? Because I fucking love strawberry ice cream.

We walked out of Maple’s room and entered the Kitchen. I sat at a chair on the other side of the peninsula while Maple rummaged through the freezer to find the ice cream.

“Got it!” Maple pulled out a pint tub of ice cream and set it in front of me. They went back and opened a drawer and retrieved a spoon. They handed it to me and I started eating immediately. It was so good. Ice cream tastes so much better as a fox, trust me.

Our break consisted mainly of Maple munching on a bag of chips while I viciously attacked a bowl of delicious pink-colored ice cream. It even had little strawberry bits in it, which I really like.

Once I finished my ice cream, I looked up at Maple, grinning like a lunatic.

Maple snorted. “You’ve got some on your face. Right here.” They pointed at the side of their lips.

I reached up to wipe it off, but apparently I got the wrong spot, because Maple shook their head, smiling.

“Right here,” Maple said, reaching over to wipe the ice cream with their finger.

My tail started wagging back and forth, “Thanks Maple!!!”

“No problem Alex. You looked adorable.”

“Oh ummmmm… thanks!” My face felt super hot. It was probably bright red too.

Maple grabbed the empty box and threw it into the garbage can on the end of the peninsula. They dropped my spoon into the sink and started rinsing it.

“You wanna watch something? I got the Transformers box set.”

“Like the cartoon?”

“No, the Michael Bay movies.”

“Aren’t those really bad or something?”

“They’re fun! Okay, more like so bad they’re fun. I like to watch them while stoned.”

“Wait, you’re not stoned now, are you?”

Maple shook their head.” No, but I’m probably gonna take an edible. You want one?”

“I have never tried one as a human… I have no idea how being a fox will affect getting high.”

“You’re still mostly human. Should be fine.”

I grabbed a handful of chips from Maple’s bag. “I’ll try one, sure.”

Maple grinned. “Awesome. Edibles last a while, so we should be good to marathon the whole thing.”

We left the kitchen and entered the common room. It had 1 couch, a love seat, and a chair. All made from the same worn out blue upholstery. We both decided to sit on the beige carpet instead. Maple turned on the T.V., which was tiny and over a decade old, and opened the DVD player. They reached over to a long shelf full of orphaned DVD cases and picked out one that said, TRANSFORMERS on it. It was a black case with a silver sharpie written in Maple’s distinctive handwriting. They opened the case, took out a blank DVD, and put it in the player. I ran up to it and pressed play.

“That wasn’t so bad,” I said after the first movie. “Sure, it was a big goofy action movie, but those are fun.”

“The quality really goes down from here though, you sure you wanna keep going?”

“Fuck it, I’m enjoying myself. If I don’t like it, we can watch My Little Pony or something.”

“My Little Pony?” Maple teased.

I blushed. “Shut up. It was the first thing I thought of.”

“I don’t have My Little Pony.”

“Ok then, something on Netflix.”

“I don’t have Netflix.”

“What do you have?”

“Transformers, uh… Scott Pilgrim-”

“I have never seen Scott Pilgrim.”

“Wait, really?”

“Do you ever think Scott might be trans?”

Maple looked at me funny. “Why do you ask?”

“He keeps bringing up lesbians.”

“He mentioned lesbians twice, Alex. Plus, one of Ramona’s exes is a girl.”

“Didn’t he bring up lesbians before she showed up?”

“Well, yeah. Why? Does that make him trans?”

“I think about lesbians a lot… a lot, a lot.”

Maple snorted. “So do I. I think a lot about kissing them.”

“I’m a lesbian,” I said, “I AM A LESBIAN!!!!! WOOOOOO!!!!”

“Ok Alex, you’re stoned.”

“I had like one edible. How stoned could I be?”

Maple gave me an amused look. “You would have barely any tolerance. You’re tiny and you’ve never had weed before.”

“I feel fine,” I said. I tried to get up to get another bag of chips. “Ok, well, my legs don’t want to move, but I’m fine, I swear!”

“No, you’re super stoned. You should probably get some sleep. I’ll carry you to my bed, and I’ll sleep on the couch.”

“I am but a damsel in distress and my knight must carry me to safety!” I kept giggling to myself.

I felt Maple pick me up off their couch and carry me back to their bedroom. I noticed the idol still sitting on its side on their desk. The eyes felt like they were following us as Maple placed me on their bed, pulling the blanket over me.

“Get some sleep. I’ll drive you to class in the morning.”

They started to leave, but I grabbed their shirt. “Stay.”

“Alex, the bed isn’t big enough for two people.”

“I’m really small.”

“You’re not that small.”

They started pulling away, but I refused to let go. “Please?” I gave them my best puppy dog (wait, but I’m not a dog) eyes. “I’m cold! I need warmth!!”

Maple hesitated, but managed to get me to let go of them. “We won’t both fit.” They started walking back to the door. “Good night, Alex.”

I whined, yanking the blankets off and getting out of bed, stumbling over to Maple. They turned just in time to catch me before I fell over.

I giggled. “My hero.”

Maple started saying something, but I can’t remember what it was. They had such nice lips… I wondered what they’d feel like touching my own lips.

“Alex, are you listening?”

I shook my head vigorously. “Nope!”

Maple sighed, smiling. “You’re adorable.”

I blushed and whined loudly. “No I’m not! Um… you are!”

Maple smirked, but I could tell they started blushing a little. “Whether or not I am adorable, you definitely are.”

Oh what was that wonderful feeling? I started melting a little and… oh, they were stroking my ears…

I moaned. Loudly. Shit, Maple had a housemate…

Maple kept stroking my ears. My worries were melting away. I forgot all about Maple’s housemate as their hand gently rubbed the back of my ear. It twitched involuntarily in response.

I stood up on my toes, and placed a quick kiss on Maple’s lips. The ear stroking briefly stopped, before Maple kissed me back, stroking my ears and back. My tail was wagging, smacking against Maple’s desk chair.

Maple gently pushed me towards the bed. Maple isn’t getting rid of me that easy! I grabbed their back and held on. We both tumbled into Maple’s bed, making a loud creak. Maple was still half off of it and started to lean to the side to kiss me. I held on tighter and started pushing myself against them, twisting and turning with them. It felt so good. Maple went in for a big kiss and launched their legs off the carpet next to the desk to get into the bed. I heard both the bed and the desk rattle. I heard the sound of the stone hitting wood. Maple shot a glance over at the table. The idol had fallen and was starting to roll off. Maple contorted their body and instinctively reached for the idol. I tried to move, but Maple pinned me to the bed. The idol was falling through the air. I slowly watched Maple’s hand stretch out for it. I was helpless. The stone made contact with skin. Red light started pulsating from the stone. Inorganic veins of light travelled up their hand. They started writhing. Muscles were spasming throughout their body. Sweat started to bead across their body. Their facial features started to deform and reconstitute themselves. I could hear the sound of bone and connective tissue shifting and growing to accommodate. I saw bone after bone develop from their tail. Hair rapidly growing and changing hue. Maple fell to the floor, their eyes closed.

When the transformation finished, Maple was still recognizably Maple. Their face seemed slightly different, but I couldn’t place exactly how. Well, outside of the bright orange-y red hair adorning their head. It was the same shaggy style Maple had had since we were 15, but now, sticking up through their hair were a pair of ears, almost identical to my own, save for the same red coloring present in the rest of their hair and on their fluffy tail. Yes, Maple had also grown a tail of their own. It was about the same length as my own. It was mostly red except for the tip, which was a white color. Actually, the tips of their ears were white too. They were still passed out on the floor. I started trying to help them into the bed, but it quickly became clear to me I had nowhere near enough upper body strength for such a task. They were still breathing, which was good. I sat next to them on the floor to wait for them to wake up.

I didn’t have to wait long. After around 10 minutes, they started to stir. Their eyes fluttered open.

“You ok?” I said, my voice full of concern.

“What just happened?” Their voice sounded slightly different. Not nearly as feminine, but also not masculine either.

“Uh, you touched the statue.” I pointed to where it was lying on the ground, smoking. The writing was blacked out again.

“Oh fuck. How do I look?”

“Um, mostly the same, actually. Aside from the ears and tail, of course. Although, yours are red, not white. Same with your hair.”

Maple grabbed a lock of their hair, holding it in front of their eyes. “Could be worse. I’ve been meaning to dye it for a while now. I can live with this color.”

“Also, um… your face looks slightly different. I guess you don’t look exactly feminine anymore. Not that you look masculine either.”

“I can live with that.”

“And your voice.”

“What happened to my voice?”

“It’s deeper. Just a bit. Um, I wouldn’t call it feminine or masculine either.”

“So I’m just more androgynous then?”

I nodded.

They grabbed at their chest. “Well, at least these stayed the same. I quite like these.”

I blushed. “Yeah, uh. I like having those too.”

Maple smirked. “They suit you well.”

My blush intensified.

Maple used the bed to help them get to their feet. They seemed a bit unsteady, but they didn’t fall. “Well, guess I don’t need to go on T then. Good, I really didn’t want body hair.”

“What did you want T for?”

“Voice, which just changed a bit, so I’m good. Also bottom growth, but if that thing did give me my ideal body, I got that too.”

“Ideal body?”

“Honestly, outside of the fox features, I love being more androgynous. I feel ever so slightly more comfortable in my skin.”

“I mean, I have no complaints here.”

Maple nodded. “Exactly. But uh, I think I’ll go check to see what changed.”

Maple moved to go to the bathroom, but hesitated. A mischievous grin appeared on their face. “You wanna see too?”

I was definitely bright red after that. I opened my mouth to say something, but the only sound that came out was a low whine.

Maple laughed. “God, you’re so adorable. Nah, I’ll just head to the bathroom.” Maple stepped over to their bedroom door. They stopped and turned to face me. “But maybe I’ll show you some other time.” They winked.

They fucking winked at me. They stepped out and walked down the hall before disappearing into the bathroom to the left.

I was left gaping at the empty doorway after them.

When Maple returned their face was painted with the biggest grin I had ever seen. Even bigger than when I looked at myself in the mirror.

“What’d ya get?”

“Oh you’ll see soon enough Alex, be patient.”

I ran up to Maple and I hugged them tight.

“I am so happy for you! You’re the bestest.”