ALL NOVEL 3 of 3 – Not a Dream
Mmm... this isn't a dream anymore, right?
I heard something shift below me. Oh, Nadia's sleeping on the floor. I guess that means it ended up being longer than a nap. And I stole her bed. Sorry. I'm feeling a lot more energized than I have the past few days, though! And hungry. I probably should've eaten more before going back to sleep, huh?
Wait, the dream! It was… I was definitely a girl. I don't think my body was much different- ah, right, that's changed again. But I just felt more… girl. It was a nice feeling, somehow. I was calling myself Paige too! Definitely a good name. All this… or at least, what this was? feels so much more bland. She had more of that potion mix though, right? Maybe I can get the recipe.
I guess I'm on my own here until she wakes up. Oh, my tail carried over from the dream. Just a bit longer than my legs now, which is a much more reasonable length. It even works as a furry belt! All those boring familiars are missing out.
The rest of my body seems to have carried over as well. My nipples were now having an easier time poking out from on top of my... breasts. Huh. That's… kinda cool, really. I guess I always figured in the past that I would have… well, not like, big badonkeroos, but more than this. But now? This felt right. Normal even. Actually, I want to have a proper look at myself.
As I got up to go to her bathroom, I noticed a sticky note she left in my path.
"Your nap ended up going long, and I'm tired. At least you didn't sleep through another whole day if you're reading this. I trust you to not do anything weird, but wake me up if I'm still sleeping, okay?"
Well that's nice. Thanks, Nadia! I'll wake you up as soon as I'm done looking at myself, 'kay?
As expected, my face looked a bit more feminine. However that worked. It still wasn't far from how it was before the transformation, though. I could probably pretend nothing changed if I hid everything else. Weird how that works. Alright, before I get stuck thinking about that again I should go wake up Nadia.
Hm. She didn't say anything about how to wake her up… why not have a little fun and bap her with my newly lengthened tail? I gave her a couple soft pokes as I was getting my bearings, but she was still sound asleep. The only solution was more baps per second. I felt like I managed to get up to nearly a whole 3.0 BPS before she started to wake, so just to be safe I kept on-
"Ow!" What the heck? "You can't just grab people's tails, Nadia!" That's gotta be the weirdest thing I've felt since… well, at least since yesterday!
"Wh.. oh, huh. Wait, you were hitting me with your tail?" Clearly a bit sleepy still, but please! My tail!
"Yes! I was hitting you with my tail, okay! Can you let it go now? It feels real strange for it to be grabbed!"
She snapped her hand open like she didn't even realize she was holding it, and got up to sit on her bed. "Sorry! I, uh. Sleepy. You, uh, changed some more, huh?"
Hah! Yes, I've grown more powerful! "Yep! I told you my tail would get longer! Not so silly now, is it?"
"I hate to break it to you, but waking me up by hitting me in the face with your tail is still pretty silly."
"I- hmph." She had a point.
"I also got to watch it grow a bit, since you went to bed so early. It was kinda cute, really. The tip seemed to constantly be stretching ahead, and just behind the tip was a wave of refluffening."
Oh, so I was right about how a person would grow a tail, nice. "Well, my tail isn't the only thing that changed! I- wait." Hold on. I'm not, like, sticking my nipples out at her or something, right? I crossed my arms just to be safe, but apparently that gave away the change.
"Ah, more feminine again? So how was the dream?"
"It was weirdly nice. All I remember is that I was more feminine than when I went to sleep, and I felt distinctly girl? If that makes sense? Oh, and I was calling myself Paige too. That's the name I… the name I thought I wanted to be called if I was a cat..." I told the cat spirit the same thing, didn't I? I should probably try to find them again. For… something, at least.
"Cute! So, is there anything else you wanted to tell me?"
Was the question on my face? She always seems to know these things… anyway. "Yeah, actually. I was wondering if you could teach me the recipe for that potion-tea-thing. I'm not sure why you didn't want to talk about it, but it was nicer than most of the dreams I remember, and I kinda want to do it again. Actually, no, why didn't you want to talk about what it did?" Not that it really mattered, but I was curious.
"I- you do realize you can do that outside of dreams too, right? I mean…" She trailed off and kinda just looked at me.
"Well, yeah, but I'm not… I… hrm." I mean, that would be cool, but… "I'm not trans though, right? I'm just… a really feminine guy, I guess? Nothing wrong with that."
"Well, that's great but… well, being trans aside, you liked being a girl, right?"
"Well yeah?"
"So then… you can just be a girl then. It doesn't have to be that complicated, Paige."
Oh. I, uh. Wow. Huh. That's… is this still a dream? That's a nice feeling. And I can just… be a girl? "Isn't that, I dunno, rude or something to trans people?"
"Just. forget about the trans stuff for now, I promise there's no gender police here. If it makes you happy, you can be a girl. I can call you Paige, and even use she/her and all that to refer to you if you want. Happiness first, labels later."
Gaaah. She's making too much sense, and I really like hearing her call me Paige. "I guess… if it's just us, then I can be a girl. That's fine, right?"
"Perfectly fine, Paige. Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to properly wake up before we continue. Make some breakfast and all that. You can just sit here and think if you'd like, alright?"
"Oh, now that you mention it, I'm really hungry. I forgot to eat before going to sleep, didn't I?"
"Alright! One big bowl of milk, coming right up!"
"Wait, I, wh, that's not-"
She interrupted me by messing with my hair, bumping my ears a few times in the process. "Oh shush, I'm just teasing you." Gah! "How do pancakes sound? Wouldn't be hard to make some more for you, if you're interested."
"Jerk." You're way too good at messing with my feelings, Nadia! "Pancakes sound nice though, if you don't mind."
"Of course! It'll just be a few minutes."
So. I guess I'm a girl. Well, it's only with her, but it's… surprisingly normal. It's nice, but it's not like when she was petting me at all.
Wasn't she preparing that potion before I slipped into being a uh, catgirl, though? Heh. Hehah. I'm a catgirl!
Did she know? Yeah, actually, that makes sense. She seems to just… know me. A bit weird how she knew before me, but I guess she didn't say it to my face at least. That would've been weirder.
Despite all the weirdness… or maybe because of it? Whatever. I just want to stay here… I, oh no. I'm gonna have to figure out how to hide my ears and tail now, aren't I? I don't want people staring at me like that person I ran into.
Hang on. Tail, how are you even sticking out without pushing my pants down? I twisted around to properly look at my innocent looking pajamas. It almost looked like my tail was just going through the fabric?
Wait, no. There's a hole there, but there's no sewing or anything. The fabric just nicely ends at the hole. So the magic must affect my clothes too… but if that's the case, why are they still so big!? I mean, it is kinda comfy in its own way, and… cute, but. Hm.
"Nice tail."
Wh, that's, why? Oh! "I was inspecting my tail hole."
She raised an eyebrow at that. "Fun. Well, you've got some fresh hot pancakes waiting for you."
"Oh! Thank you!" I hopped back off the bed to dig in.
We ate in relative silence, only the sounds of metal and ceramics. It wasn't a bad silence though.
I guess we're both a little worn out from this, but it's nice to have her around.
It feels safe, some sort of mutual trust and understanding. Well, the understanding is probably a bit unbalanced, but that's… hm. I frowned. That's whatever that is.
"Cute. Whatcha thinking about?"
Ah, uhm, right. Guess I'm blushing now. "A lot. I really like all of this, but it's just a lot to process, y'know? Like, I really want to stay here and make you pet me and help you with your magic stuff and just… be your familiar, I guess, but." I noticed her blushing at that, but I continued.
"I still haven't responded to any messages to my phone in, what, a week? I'm also a catgirl now, which is… a lot, I guess."
"Yeah, that… that is a lot, yeah. You seem to be having an easier time thinking about all this now, which is good I guess. It's a bit much for me, too, but I'm doing my best. Not quite what I expected the potion to lead to. Gosh, it feels weird for me to be more embarrassed about it than you, but I uh. I wouldn't mind it. Or, I'd like it. The familiar stuff. I think I could do a little to help with being a catgirl suddenly, too."
I let out a breath I didn't even realize I was holding. "Thanks. I guess I was a little worried you wouldn't… whatever. I don't think I can finish the rest of this last pancake after all that thinking though."
"That's fine, don't worry about it."
Neither of us did anything about it though. We just sat there, in the lingering presence of what we both just said. Thankfully, Nadia was able to break through it.
"I guess that probably means you'll have to go back and sort out your stuff, then?"
"... I guess, yeah."
"Can… can I pet you again before that?"
"Yes please."
And so my last few minutes in her apartment were spent purring on the floor, with my head in her lap and my tail wrapped around her arm. I guess the transformation decided to lend a hand for the purring.
She gave me a beanie to cover my ears when I left, and I tucked my tail back into my pants. Probably still a bit suspicious looking, but less likely to attract attention. Fortunately, I managed to get back to my apartment without seeing anyone anyway.
The spirit light cat was sitting in the windowsill. They acknowledged my presence with a look, but closed their eyes and relaxed again immediately. I guess I'll be seeing my new friend around here, then. I had a few questions, but given that they hadn't communicated with me at all and they seemed more interested in the sun than me, I left them alone. Better to let them start or at least learn from Nadia more before doing anything.
To my surprise, I wasn't even a little bit tired. Maybe that meant the changes had finished, since they seemed to be happening while I was asleep. It did mean that I had to figure out something else to do, though.
Still not ready to deal with work and my other friends, I spent a few hours jumping around online, trying to understand all this better.
My spirit friend vanished again at some point, but I'm sure they'll return. Maybe I should thank them for the ears and tail, if that's even their doing.
I guess I am transgender. I thought there was something more to it, but nope. Just like the magic stuff, it was the most boring answer possible. If you don't like the gender you're given, then you count as transgender. If you want to, at least. Wild.
Didn't find so much about being an animal-like familiar, though. Maybe I just wasn't using the right words in my searches, but I guess it's fine. It'd probably be like everything else, anyway. 'If the idea of having cat ears feels right and makes you happy, then you have them.' Probably harder without magic, though.
I sighed. Why's this all gotta be so weirdly complicated and simple? Nadia petting me is so much nicer. I wish I could be with her forever. Uh. In the normal way. The platonic way, right? I uh. Hm.
