Really Strange Stuff

=::= Bailey's PoV =::=

"I'm not so sure about this," I commented as I gave the new camera a suspicious look. "In fact I'm starting to think getting my own mic last week was the start of a slippery slope."

My calico catgirl girlfriend grinned, "C'mon Bailey, this is perfect! Honestly we should have thought of this ages ago."

"Considering you're the one in control of the show you can always just opt not to ever cut to that camera," my ravenette catgirl girlfriend added.

I couldn't help smiling as I teased, "That's right, I control the transmission. I can make it louder, or quieter. I control the vertical, and the horizontal."

Sure enough both of them knew exactly what I was referencing, and neither of them needed any further prompting to roll with it.

Callie chimed in immediately, "There's nothing wrong with your computers folks, so strap yourselves in while we take you on a great adventure."

"You're about to experience the awe and mystery that is... Really Strange Stuff!" Serenity completed the bit.

Then the petite busty calico continued with the usual introductions, "I'm Callie Wilson -"

"And I'm Serenity Varela," the tall sexy ravenette continued.

I gave the newest camera another uncertain look as I did my bit, "And I'm Bailey Hoffman."

"And you're watching Really Strange Stuff!" Callie finished with a flourish.

After a second or so I announced, "Ok cut! The ad-lib stuff actually worked really well. But I still don't know about this new camera."

It was Friday December ninth and the three of us were in our home studio, preparing for our regularly scheduled live-stream. Like last week I had my own mic again, but the newest addition was a small HD camera mounted just to the left of my computer.

It was my girlfriends' idea of compromise, since they both wanted me to join them on the streams. But if all three of us were on the sofa then we wouldn't have anyone managing the production, and I pointed out that would cut into the quality of our shows. It'd be a step backwards, like back before I got involved, when it was just the two of them. With my own camera and mic I could be a much more active participant, while still managing all the behind-the-scenes stuff.

My girlfriends both crowded around to watch my monitor as I played back the test intro footage. Like usual the image was dominated by the two of them on the sofa, but I appeared in a head-and-shoulders inset in the lower right corner of the image.

"We have to run this on the stream tonight," Callie stated as soon as the clip ended. "Like we need to open with this, it's too perfect to waste."

Serenity nodded, "Agreed. Run this as the intro clip, then fade out to our full-screen title card, then fade back to the live shot of us on the sofa."

I grimaced, "Yeah ok. I'm still not convinced about being on screen though."

My calico girlfriend gave me a worried look while her ears drooped and her tail twitched, "You're not changing your mind again are you Bails? I thought you'd already decided, this was going to be your big night!"

That made me cringe slightly, and if I had a tail it would probably be between my legs. Or maybe I'd wrap it around in front and try to hide behind it, depending on how big and floofy it was. Meanwhile my tall fuzzy ears would probably be drooping down a little. And all those thoughts sent a flock of butterflies dancing through my stomach.

"I haven't changed my mind Callie," I stated, with a lot less confidence than I'd intended. "That doesn't mean I'm not nervous though."

Serenity gave me a quick hug as she promised, "It'll be fine. It's amazing Bailey and I just know you're going to love it."

"I was nervous at first too," the tall sexy catgirl reminded me. "I was afraid to do it, and if not for Callie I might never have worked up the courage."

Our petite calico girlfriend blushed but smiled, "It was the one time acting before thinking paid off. I still say it was the best mistake I ever made."

"Yeah," I nodded slowly. "Thanks you two. I'm probably going to be nervous right up until it happens, but thanks for trying to reassure me."

The three of us shared a group hug, then we finished the last of the preparations for the live stream. Soon enough all three of us were ready, with a couple minutes to spare. Callie got her mug with the new RSS logo and topped it up with water, while Serenity grabbed a can of soda from the fridge and tucked it into her RSS coozie. And I had a bottle of spring water on my desk in between my computer and the AV control deck.

My little fox plushie was there too, sitting ontop of the control deck. And when I noticed those amber eyes sparkling at me I felt another mix of anxiety and excitement. Then I quickly took a sip of my other beverage. I had a glass of wine alongside the water bottle tonight, to try and help steady my nerves.

At precisely two minutes to nine an alarm sounded on my phone, to remind all three of us to mute our devices and get into position. Sure enough Callie and Serenity were soon seated on the sofa in front of me, while I was in my usual spot behind the camera and computer.

"You're going to roll that clip from earlier right?" the cute calico asked. "That's our opener tonight?"

I nodded, "Don't worry Callie, I haven't forgotten."

Serenity just smiled as she checked her tablet. Then she commented, "Looks like a good crowd already. Almost a hundred and fifty viewers, and we haven't even started yet."

"They know there's something special happening tonight," Callie pointed out. "They just don't know what."

We'd been talking up tonight's stream all week on social media, and I was positive people thought we were going to reveal some wild ghost action from our trip to the Soo. I just hoped they wouldn't be too disappointed when it turned out the 'something special' was just me and my plushie.

"Ok rolling the intro in three, two, one!" I told my girlfriends as I began the stream.

Like we discussed earlier I had the clip fade to our title card, then I pointed at the two catgirls as I faded out to the live shot of them.

"Hey folks welcome to our regularly scheduled December stream," Callie began. "We've got some wild stuff in store for you tonight..."

She and Serenity played off each other like usual, bouncing back and forth as the two of them talked up our plans for the stream. Our pre-recorded episodes were usually scripted, but the banter in the live streams was completely ad-libbed. The only notes the catgirls prepared in advance were more like bullet points and technical details, to make sure they didn't forget anything important.

The first topic they covered was the fact that I finally had my own camera. And of course I had to cut to my cam so I could smile and wave and say hello to all the viewers. Then I quickly cut back to the catgirls and had another sip of wine while they did the usual thank-yous and shout-outs to our chat mods, Gorgonz-Hola and Fluffkat.

After all the introductions and everything else they moved on to the first topic of the show, which was basically a recap of last week's special show from the haunted hotel room. Callie and Serenity talked about the knocking sound we experienced, then I ran a short clip from when it happened. And finally I showed some still images from the sound analysis software we'd put the captured audio through after we got back home, while the catgirls explained the results.

That segment came to an end when the two of them admitted that we didn't encounter any other strange phenomena that night, and that the three of us all wanted to return to the Soo again some time to conduct a more thorough investigation.

My heart rate picked up as my girlfriends began the lead-in to the evening's main segment, and I couldn't help glancing at my little fox plushie again as I had another sip of wine.

"Looking at the chat I can see some folks are wondering why we bothered with the extra hype," Callie commented. "The hotel haunting turned out to be a bit of a dud after all."

Serenity smiled, "Fair enough. But the thing is, the haunting wasn't actually our main topic for tonight."

Both catgirls looked to me as the cute calico nodded, "That's right Sere. So what do you say Bailey? Ready to come join us on the sofa?"

I quickly gulped down the rest of my wine, then put the glass down and picked up my little plushie fox. I hesitated just long enough to make sure the main camera was set up properly with the whole sofa centred in the shot, then with my heart pounding I made my way out from behind my desk to join my girlfriends for the main event.

The two of them moved a little further apart so I had plenty of room to sit down between them, which meant I'd be front and centre on the stream. My cheeks were heating up and I could easily imagine my tail would be down between my legs again, and my ears would probably be folded back or drooping down to either side. I felt another flutter of nervous excitement when it hit me, that in another minute or so those ears and tail wouldn't just be imaginary.

"So folks are probably wondering why we've got Bailey out here on the sofa with us tonight," Callie began as she slipped an arm around my waist and gave me a reassuring side-hug.

Then Serenity's arm settled around my shoulders as she joined in with another hug while commenting, "A valid question, considering we've just set her up with her own camera."

"Bailey?" the cute calico asked as she gave me an excited smile. "Why don't you show the folks what you're hiding in your hand."

I gulped again but nodded. And I tried not to mumble too much as I spoke, "Ok Callie. So this is it everyone, this is tonight's main event..."

"Kid Chaos sent me my very own enchanted plushie," I announced as I held my little fox up in front of me for the camera. "And tonight I'm going to join Callie and Serenity in the fuzzy ears and furry tails club."

"Yeah!" Callie exclaimed. "Another demonstration of real live magic, right here on the RSS stream!"

Serenity was a little more restrained. She still had her arm around me, and after a gentle reassuring squeeze she said "In your own time Bailey. No rush, no pressure."

I nodded again as I looked down at the little plush fox in my hand. A few questions shot through my mind, but the biggest one was what would I look like afterwards? Would I get taller like Sere? Or smaller like Callie and my cousins? Or would I change in other ways? Would I still recognize myself in the mirror? Would my family still know me?

That last question reminded me of something else, and I looked up at the camera again. I was positive I sounded nervous as I said, "Mom, dad, if you're watching please don't worry. It's totally safe. And Heather, Jasmine, if you're watching then maybe we can all compare notes or something afterwards? Or at least maybe you can give me some tips or pointers, about the foxy stuff."

"Anyways I guess I should quit stalling and just do this," I added. I took one more deep breath then looked at the plushie and stated, "Floof!"

I already knew what to expect, since I'd watched my girlfriends transform themselves dozens of times over the past two months. And they'd described it multiple times, especially in the past few days they'd both made a point of telling me all about it.

Despite all that I was still positive I'd feel something, or notice something. I honestly couldn't imagine how someone could miss the fact that they'd been changed from a normal boring human to a small furry quadrupedal animal. At the very least I knew my perspective would shift, so as soon as I said the word I looked up at the camera again and waited for it to happen.

After a couple seconds Callie asked, "Uh Bails? How are you doing? Feeling ok?"

I looked up at my petite calico girlfriend, with my head cocked slightly to one side. I couldn't help wondering if maybe my plushie was a dud or something, that it didn't work and that's why she was asking if I was ok.

"Give her a few more seconds," Serenity commented with an amused smile on her face. "I bet she hasn't even noticed yet."

My ears twitched and I turned to look up at her. I tried to ask what she was talking about, but instead of words my question came out as a couple cute little 'yip' noises. And as soon as I heard that my eyes widened in surprise. I looked down at myself and sure enough instead of my hoodie and jeans I found myself staring at a white furry chest, orange-red furry front-legs, and black furry paws. Behind me a big floofy orange-red tail with a floofy white tip began to wag back and forth.

Just like that all the hesitation and anxiety were gone, and I practically leapt to my feet so I could get a better look at myself. I was standing ontop of the clothes I'd been wearing earlier, and I realized my glasses were there too, resting on my discarded hoodie. Except I didn't seem to need them now.

I was momentarily surprised by the fact that I could see just fine without them. Then again, as a small red fox I wouldn't have been able to wear glasses anyways.

With my tail still wagging up a storm I jumped off the sofa and ran a couple quick laps around the studio, while Serenity got to her feet. She moved to take my usual spot behind the camera, then tried to keep it focused on me as I dashed around.

While I was busy with my zoomies Callie addressed the stream, "There you go folks! Another demonstration of real live magic, brought to you by Really Strange Stuff!"

My girlfriends gave me another minute or so to play before Serenity suggested, "Bailey? How about you hop back up on the sofa with Callie, then use the plushie again? There'll be plenty of time for zoomies later, but now it's foxgirl time."

"Right on," Callie agreed with a wide grin. She picked up my plushie and held it out for me as she added, "All three of us can go kitty and fox mode later on if you like. But right now we're in the middle of a stream, and it's time to continue the show."

I replied with a happy yip, then dashed over and jumped up onto the sofa next to my cute calico girlfriend. She set my little fox plushie down on the cushion in front of me, and I gently placed my right paw on it then thought the word 'Floof!' at it.

Like before I tried to catch the moment when I changed, but once again I completely missed it. It wasn't until Callie held my hoodie out in front of me that I realized I was back to being human. Or at least, mostly human. And that I was completely naked.

Just like that my cheeks were burning hot, and I mumbled a grateful thank-you as I hugged the soft comfy garment to my chest. It took me another moment to realize everything was blurry again, and I found myself glancing around as I asked "Where's my glasses?"

"Here you go Bails," Callie replied as she held them out for me. Then she looked towards Serenity and the camera and suggested, "How about we take a quick break Sere? Give Bailey a minute or two to get herself all sorted out before we continue the stream."

"Sounds good," the tall sexy catgirl agreed.

Meanwhile I fumbled with my glasses a couple times, before it finally dawned on me that they weren't going to sit right because my ears weren't on the sides of my head anymore.

And even though that was probably going to be an issue, I could feel my tail starting to wag again behind me.