Quick disclaimer:
This story is extremely story focussed. Seeing as how it’s over 30,000 words. I don’t plan on doing things like this very often, but I had a writing itch and wanted to see this whole thing through, in spite of the fact this has been several months in the making which has literally been interfering with my studies. I’ll be separating segments of this into acts by empty lines. Take a look at the tags, the description, as well as the little blurbs put on the acts and see if it’s something you want to deal with before you read it. Anyways, enough of this, I hope you, viewer, enjoy this.
 
 
 
 
 
 
Act One: Waking Up [Exposition, woo yeah get excited]
 
 
 
 
 
 
It had been several weeks since they’d officially started their relationship, and there was not a moment spared on Sally’s end to show her love, albeit in her own way.
As Jack slowly came into consciousness, it became very apparent to him that he wouldn’t be able to slip out of her grasp today, if their position was anything to go off of.
It wasn’t easy to see under the bedding, but Jack was locked in a tight embrace by the large Meowscarada, for seemingly the whole night.
Her arms were wrapped entirely around the center of his body with unrelenting pressure, while his hands lightly gripped at her sides. His head was over and resting against her shoulder. Her legs were locked around his own. Essentially, he wasn’t moving unless Sally allowed him to.
It should have been expected, however. It was the large feline’s favorite sleeping position, and so far she’d only gone with others a couple times.
Nevertheless, the Quaquaval still tried to separate himself from her, to little avail. He could just barely shift his limbs a bit, with the majority of his movement capability located in his right arm. That one at least wasn’t numb and entirely asleep from being underneath the clingy fluffball.
It wasn’t necessary to get up immediately, but he liked getting things out of the way sooner rather than later, and mornings were usually the best time to knock those future problems away.
The situation wasn’t ideal, he wasn’t going to be able to get up without Sally’s help, and if she got up with him, she may decide to slow his progress through a refusal to leave him alone.
Though, there wasn’t really any other option, right? He could still probably get something done, no matter how small. Heck, she may end up wanting to help. He enjoyed these smoother days.
But, he couldn’t exactly say he was against Sally distracting him. It was nice spending time with her, though it was more enjoyable when she was awake and wasn’t simply hugging him to death.
Jack laid there for a moment, thinking about how he could wake her up without surprising her. She wasn’t quite used to being woken up suddenly. But, listening closely, he came to the conclusion that he wasn’t going to need to go slow today.
There was a light, barely audible purr coming from his captor, something Sally would try to hide so she could cuddle him longer.
Jack lightly rubbed Sally’s side with his available hand, and whispered, “Sal, I know you’re awaaaake. It’s time to get up.”
Her expression furrowed as she snuggled closer to Jack, and tightened her hug a bit in protest.
“Mmmmmm…” Sally let out a quiet disappointed whine.
Something Jack quickly learned in the time they’d been together was that Sally’s fur wasn’t just for show. It was incredibly fluffy, and absurdly soft. Softer than any blanket he’d ever had the pleasure of covering himself with. It wasn’t easy to commit to this whole ‘getting up’ thing being reminded of how comfortable it was being covered and wrapped up in the pounds upon pounds of fluff she had.
Though, the sooner things were done, the more time he could spend with her with a clean conscience.
“Come on, Sal. I know you just want to sleep all day, but there’s so many things we could do today, things we need to do.” He stretched the truth in an attempt to convince her. In reality, there was very little that needed to be done. Menial house tasks, and a couple other things.
“Mmmm!” She whined louder this time, hugging his whole body tighter than ever before.
Jack wasn’t aware she could even hug that tight, nor that a hug that up to this point was nothing but comfortable could hurt.
He strained and closed his eyes. “Ah! Ok, too tight! I get it, I get it! I yield!” He managed to say.
“Mmm!? Ah!… S-sorry…” She mumbled, relaxing her intense grip before pulling a bit away from him.
“Ah, thank you.” Jack said, now able to see her sad guilty eyes through her mask.
“I… I didn’t mean to…” She began, suddenly pausing.
She stared for a moment, and then lifted a bit of the bed covers off herself, a small staticy sound followed. Her fur was mussed up and disorganized from the blankets on the bed.
“Why do we have to get up so soon? You have a week off work, don’t you?” She asked, confused.
“Well, yeah, I do. But, I’m thinking for efficiency's sake, why not get things done sooner so we can waste time later?” Jack responded, attempting to sit up.
He’s mostly successful, but due to Sally’s strength, he’d just fall back in bed if he stopped holding himself in place.
Fortunately for him, Sally sat up as well and cuddled up to him, fiddling with the sleeves of his plain gray pajamas.
He was glad she read the situation, as his waking arm was already starting to have the feeling of pins and needles set in.
Sally breathed in, and sighed. “…I guess that makes sense. It doesn’t make me any happier about it, though.” She said, giving a quick laugh after that last comment.
She squinted, and glanced around the bed. “Do you have any idea where my glasses ended up?” She asked. “They must have fallen off in the middle of the night, and I can’t really see anything else but you right now.”
“Sal… how many times are you gonna..? You know it’s not good to sleep with those on.” He chided. “I can go look for them this time… but in order to do that, I kind of need you to…” He patiently motioned to her paws, holding him firmly in place.
She looked at him for a moment in confusion, before realizing what he was asking her to do. She quickly let go. “Oh! Right, sorry. I’m not entirely awake.” She said, placing her paws in her lap.
“Alright, be right back.” He said, slipping out of the bed, and becoming a mere blur in Sally’s vision
She wished she had better hold of her strength. She wasn’t even sure why she was so strong, considering she barely took the steps to maintain it.
(Is it my genetics? Does Hunter also have strange strength?) She thought to herself. She’d have to ask him if he ever called.
Finding nothing on the bed, Jack did a quick scan of the floor around it. Yet, all he saw was the carpet, and a couple pieces of trash.
He liked to keep his room mostly clean, but he’d been a bit busy with his work schedule. That’s something he’d have to add to the menial house task list.
He raised an eyebrow, before bending down to get on his hands and knees, and looked under the bed.
There was plain and simple darkness under the bed. Out of ideas, he blindly grasped around the darkness, and surprisingly enough towards the middle, his hand came into contact with an object.
He pulled it out, and sure enough, it was Sally’s glasses.
“How in the…” Jack questioned as he stood up.
Sally looked up at the Jack shaped blur. She was no longer covered by a blanket, revealing she only wore a pair of overburdened gray pajama pants. She wasn’t fond of shirts.
“What? What happened? Are they broken?” She asked, attempting to suppress her panic at what wasn’t confirmed.
Jack handed them to her as he began talking. “No, it’s just… they were directly underneath the bed, right smack dab in the middle.”
Sally paused in the middle of putting on her glasses, and stared at Jack. She glanced to the side, then back forward. She furrowed her expression, suddenly deep in thought as she placed the glasses in her lap. The tip of her tail twitched.
Sure, her glasses had ended up in some weird places in the past, but directly underneath her under the bed? That couldn’t be right.
She shook her head.
“Okay. That’s gonna itch at the back of my head for a bit. You had plans?” She asked.
“Oh, uh, yeah. Did you want to–” He’s cut off by Sally, “Okay. You’re spared for now. I wanted to play around a bit more, but now there’s nothing I want to do more than figure this out. Gonna take some pictures of the room and figure out what would have needed to happen for my glasses to fall like that.” She declared, putting her glasses on before promptly getting up, and walking to her room.
(…That went better than I expected it to…) Jack thought. (I might be able to get more work done.)
Though at the same time, part of him wished she had let it go. He had a week, after all. What was an hour when he had a hundred more?
 
 
Jack had gotten dressed, skipped food, and had started working on his list of house tasks. Picking up, vacuuming, dishes, those things. If not for Sally’s sudden fixation on the physics of landing objects, she likely would have taken over the dishes wanting to help Jack, then promptly remember why she hated doing dishes. Last he saw of her, she, fully clothed now, had walked into his room, phone in hand.
Though, once more, he got an unintentional glimpse of the effect her most recent meal of him had on her figure. It was usually only a small layer or two, so how did she grow that much this time?
She had relented with getting bigger pajama pants, but refused getting bigger leggings, the evidence being her big fluffy butt sticking clearly out in the open.
Sally decided she liked the look, and adopted it as a “fashion statement” modifying her remaining pairs of leggings, and turning them into thigh highs.
…Which removed the main purpose of those pants.
In spite of the discount Jack was entitled to at his work, and pestered her about constantly, she remained adamant that she enjoyed this look, as well the small bit of extra attention.
Sure, she had a point, no one really cared if you didn’t even wear clothes out in public. After all, clothing was more considered a way of showing status, if you even cared about that kind of thing. However, it didn’t exactly remove Jack’s embarrassment about his partner’s added weight, especially when people connected the dots, and congratulated him on the ‘extra cushion’. Sally found this cycle amusing.
He also just wasn’t comfortable with those aspects of their relationship, yet.
Yet, the day still moved on, though much quicker with this sudden distraction he wouldn’t quite get out of his mind.
Jack had started reading information messaged to him by his work. It was fairly boring, mostly stuff that he was pretty sure didn’t require tens of pages to explain, when all of it could probably be boiled down to about a paragraph.
Jack shifted in the large armchair he sat in, setting aside the laptop for a moment to rub his eyes. He had saved this for last because reading this verbose jargon had become physically tiring. Though, he took solace in the fact that once he finished, he could mostly relax for the rest of his week off.
(Maybe I could convince Sally that her torn leggings really do need replacing.)
“…Probably not actually…” He whispered to himself.
Once he thought he’d prepared himself enough, he picked the laptop back up and continued reading.
Moments after, he felt a chill run up his back, as though he were being watched.
He glanced behind himself, and saw none other than Sally hovering over the chair, paws resting on the top of the backrest. She wore a neutral expression staring at Jack’s work updates.
“Oh, hey. Did you figure out how your glasses–” She answered before he finished again. “Nah, it got boring. Turns out no one’s made a math formula to figure out how objects can end up in a specific place after being dropped. Or I just didn’t search hard enough. Plus it was getting really boring trying to figure it out myself.”
“Can’t say I’m not surprised. You at least feel any better since getting up?” Jack asked.
She nodded. “Yeah. Waking up is just kind of a chore. Easier to just sleep in. But it’s easier to get up when there’s something on your mind, though.” She explained.
He wasn’t going to pretend to fully understand, but he also wasn’t going to pretend he was superior to her in this aspect. There were days he would rather do nothing as well, even if she did much more than he did.
“It wasn’t all for nothing, though.” She said, “I got some drawing done after I stopped. Think I’m starting to get a style I can call my own.” She recounted, examining her claws.
“Oh nice. Can I see?” Jack asked, clearly intrigued.
Sally lowered herself, rested her head on the backrest, and slid her paws around the back of the chair. She gave Jack a more mischievous look.
“Actually, it’s getting a bit late for that kind of thing. No time when there’s better things to do.” She narrowed her eyes, “And uh… you’ve been working a loooong while, on your week off no less. Have you even looked at the time recently?” She asked.
Jack raised an eyebrow at her, confused by the strange change in tone.
After a moment, he glanced at the clock in the corner of the laptop, to observe that he had been working far longer than he thought he was.
If he had work the next day, he would have needed to go to sleep within the next hour or two.
Jack furrowed his eyebrows and tilted his head. “What? Huh. I could’ve sworn… I’d been doing chores only half an hour ago, and those only took an hour, or… at least I thought they did.” He said, confused.
Sally giggled, “Time flies, I suppose. But there’s still something semi-productive to do today, you know that?”
He turned back around to look at her. “What’s that?” He asked.
But, she’s no longer there.
A paw grabbed the screen of the laptop, and pushed it closed. Jack whipped back around to see Sally, now up and close in his face.
(Oh.)
“Well… all this time, we’ve both been a bit distracted, and I believe we’ve neglected something a bit important. Something we simply can’t ignore any longer.” She continued.
Jack stared at her paw still on the laptop. The tension in the air was clear. This situation felt all too familiar, and he was pretty sure he knew what she was getting at.
He slid the laptop out from under her paw, and set it aside. “Okay… Are you going where I think you’re going with this?” He asked, raising an eyebrow.
She giggled, “I don’t know Jack~ Are you thinking about…” She paused a moment, before she leaned in closer and placed a paw on his shoulder. “...F o o d ?” she whispered into his ear, a low rumble coming from her belly.
“Yep. That’s pretty much what I expected.” He admitted, backing his head away from her hot breath.
Her grin edged on a smile as she forcefully tugged one of his arms out of his sweatshirt. “Really? then, you wouldn’t mind if I just…” She said as she stuck a feathered hand in her maw, immediately licking it up and down.
Jack didn’t move. “I actually kind of do mind.” He said plainly.
She suddenly stopped, and stared at Jack, her grin falling apart.
Her mind finally comprehending that he essentially said ‘no you’re not allowed’, her eyes became confused.
She let out a muffled “Whu?” before pulling his ruffled hand out of her mouth. “Why not?” She asked, trying to savor the flavor of the feathers that remained in her mouth. “You really liked it last time, didn’t you?”
She was clearly upset by this outcome.
“Well, yes… but there are so many other options for food that AREN’T me. Plus it’s been barely any time since the last time. And… you know… I thought… Why not save it for special occasions? Maintain that specialness. We could just go to a restaurant tonight instead.” He said, occasionally glancing at his soaked hand. He wished he had a towel or something to wipe it off with.
Sally stared at him disappointedly. Sure, it was an OKAY idea, but at the same time, she REALLY just wanted to gobble him up right here and now. Going to a restaurant usually meant it would be an hour or two before they would eat, and her stomach was getting increasingly impatient with her hesitation to eat the meal that sat in front of her. But, being a part of a relationship meant there had to be compromise.
(Fine…) Sally thought.
She sighed. “Alright then. What were you thinking?” She asked, dejected.
Jack shrugged, “I wasn’t, really. You can choose.” he offered.
Her ears noticeably perked up behind her mask as her eyes widened a bit. She glanced to the side, putting a paw to her chin as she thought.
Jack wondered when she was going to let go of his hand. Or if.
Last time she’d been given this much power, she recommended going to a local fair, simply for the overpriced fried foods. Jack had been wary of giving her full control since that experience.
She would have grabbed a fourth round of those fried delights if not for the look of despair he gave her, the third round in her paws. She didn’t want to ruin her chances of getting into a proper relationship with him at the time.
But, now that she was given this power once more, what was she going to do with it? There were a couple options that immediately jumped out.
Pizza? From Fidough’s? No… Not a great idea. There was still half of a stale cheese pizza in the fridge. Didn’t really make sense to get pizza when they already had pizza.
Maybe… Schrodinger’s Chance? No, that just means there’s a chance she ends up with some random person or beast on her plate instead of the thing she painstakingly decided upon. Low cost didn’t justify the inconvenience, especially when you’re left with a mere Scatterbug that bounces around in your stomach in just the right way to make you feel sick.
Or maybe–
(NO. Not again.) She thought, practically screaming.
Maybe it really was just an isolated experience, but it was enough to turn her off completely. Last time she’d order a Corphish from anywhere…
So then… What was she interested in having that was at least semi-close by?
Conversations with friends suddenly re-entered her mind, cementing a potential candidate.
“Hmmm… The Ditto place… People keep telling me about it. Learned a bit online, not too sure I’m interested… saw some things I’m not sure about… but it’s something you try once and make your opinions from there…” Sally said, more thinking out loud.
“Ditto place? Sounds… interesting. What is it?” Jack asked with a hint of concern. He knew Sally was very particular about food, so there was always hesitance whenever the prospect of something new arrived.
Sally looked back over at Jack, her eyes widened for a moment.
(D-did I say that out loud? Whoops…)
“U-um… Well, it’s… this big restaurant, owned and operated by this big weird guy called Ditops.” She looked away, suddenly unsure of her wording. “He uh… openly calls himself and his business a bit weird.” She stammered.
“A-anyways, he’s a strange mutation of Ditto, you know, that amorphous purple blob? See maybe once in an alley in your whole life? And… they’re often considered about as real as the elusive Hue-man by the general public?” She asked, looking back over at Jack.
Jack nodded.
“Well…” She let go of his hand and stood up. Her rhythm slowly reoriented, her voice restabilizing. “He has a weird body, he can separate pieces of himself that break off and become ordinary ditzy Ditto.” She grabbed her shoulder and did a tearing motion. “After that, his body seemingly generates more mass out of nothing so he can keep doing this.” She formed a circle with her paws, and expanded them outwards. “Anyways, most of the meals are actually these Dittos, just in different shapes.” She started counting the digits on her paw. “There’s liquids, there’s desserts… There’s others, of course… The weirdest part… is that they can mimic any flavor or texture. Or at least that’s weird to me.”
Jack looked puzzled. “…Certainly interesting. Is… Is that all they serve?” He asked, unsure he wanted to consume a literal glob of shapeshifting paste.
Sally nodded. “Oh, yeah. They have regular food too. And it’s like… pretty high-end for some reason, especially for its price. Or, so I’m told. The guy’s apparently a gifted chef.”
Jack thought for a moment.
“…Are things particularly expensive there?” He finally asked.
“Well, normally the Ditto things are pretty expensive, but actually, they’ve been doing an indefinite half-off sale on all Ditto related items. Something about wanting to encourage the usage of renewable material as opposed to dwindling supplies.” She explained. “On top of the global discount already in effect on reforming food sources, it’s really cheap. For… just about anything there.”
“Huh. Well, then I don’t see why we can’t try it.” Jack said. “I’m not ordering a Ditto, though.”
Sally shrugged. “That’s fine. Still trying to debate if I want to try one myself… Would much rather just not risk it and have you instead~” She said, grinning.
“You could just order a burger or something.” He offered nonchalantly.
Sally pouted. “That’s not fun though! Risks are fun occasionally.”
Jack put his hands out. “You’ve outright proven that wrong only weeks ago. Look, if you really needed to, then, yeah I’d be perfectly fine with being–” His offer is cut off.
“All right, I’ve completely made up my mind and you can’t change it. We’re gonna go there.” She stated as she walked away.
Jack put his hands up. “What? What do you..?”
Jack gave up, putting his hands in his lap. “…Okay then. I don’t understand your decisions sometimes, Sally.” He said.
“You think I do?” Her voice echoed from down the hall.
Jack had at least been hoping she did.
He stood up, grabbed the laptop with his un-licked hand, and went to plug it in. He then left the room to go prepare for an outing.
And, just like that, Sally had unknowingly decided how their week would go, for better or for worse.
 
 
 
 
 
 
Act Two: The Odd Restaurant [Slime time]
 
 
 
 
 
 
This was the longest twenty minute walk Jack had ever been on.
The walk to Fidough’s was only about ten minutes, and yet for some reason a walk that was supposed to take twice as long felt like it was five times as long.
“It’s times like these when I wish we had a form of alternative transportation.” Jack said. “Like, just anything. I know a couple people who can teleport, and I envy them so much right now at this moment.”
“Same here. But, it’s always good to stretch your legs every now and then.” Sally responded, glancing back at him.
He still wasn’t comfortable with how much of a view he got from behind her, even in spite of the barriers Sally broke down over the weeks. He would have expected her large swishing tail to have helped with covering it, but really it only drew attention to her large behind.
He forced his eyes back up to her face. “Says sleepy Sally.” He joked.
“Hey!” She giggled, “don’t call me out like that!” She said, smiling.
The day was slowly getting dark, it would likely be pitch black by the time they were finished at the restaurant.
Suddenly, Sally stopped, and turned to the left towards a building that looked like an old-timey diner. She looked at Jack with a quick smile. “Here it is!” She said, pointing at a small sign attached to the doors.
Jack approached the glass doors, and squinted. There was a graphic on them that depicted a cartoon smiling Ditto in a chef’s hat holding a frying pan in one arm nub, and a spatula in the other. Underneath, there was text that was stylized to look as though it were melting. It said “Home of the Ditto”. It was all colored in a hard to read deep purple.
“Feel like there’s a better name for this… Also, kind of low profile when you don’t know what you’re looking for, don’t you think?” Jack noted, glancing back at Sally.
“Maybe. Would explain why so many people still think Dittos are a myth. Though then again, I’d think through word of mouth, it would be more well known.” She replied.
Jack shrugged, “Eh. People are kinda ignorant.” He opened one of the doors, and motioned for Sally. “After you.” He said.
“Oh, thank you. You don’t need to do that.” She said, giving a shy gentle smile as she walked in.
Jack followed.
Sally looked around the place. There were a number of booth seats, as well as smaller square tables scattered about. There was a beautiful dark wood theme. There weren’t many people sitting about, and business seemed quiet and slow.
“Hm. I like it. Looks quaint and… homey.” She observed.
“I suppose.” Jack said.
Jack noticed someone approaching them. A Delphox about his height, wearing a simple pair of brown sweatpants and a purple shirt. A nametag labeled “Jesse” was attached to the shirt.
“Hello, hello! New faces, I assume? Table for two? How’s your evening? It doesn’t say on the door, but I’ll also need to see your IDs.” They said, barely any pause between statements.
Sally was about to answer their first question, but paused in bewilderment when everything else came out in quick succession.
There’s a moment of silence that Jack breaks. “…Uh, yes. We haven’t been here before. Heard about it, wanted to check it out. And, uh…” He fumbled with a wallet and pulled out a card with his face on it, as well as one with Sally’s.
She had left it on the counter, so Jack took it with after she walked out the door.
Jesse wrote something down on a notepad. “Good, good.” They squint at Jack’s ID for a moment longer, then look back to him. “Say… You look pretty interesting. Have you ever been told that?” They asked.
Jack squinted back. “Um… excuse me?” He asked back.
Sally glanced at Jack, then back forward at Jesse with a stone face. Her tail twitched.
(He’s mine, fox.) She thought to herself.
“Oh! Sorry if that’s an odd question! Just a bit hard to tell that you’re JUST a Quaquaval is all. So many fusions in this little town… and then there’s the ones who look starkly different from the ‘ideal specimen’ of their species! There’s just so many different looking people all from the same species… The whole concept is just really interesting to me!” They gushed, their eyes sparkling.
Jack recalled his father telling him that when he first met his mother, he couldn’t tell if she were a Gardevoir or not, but that it became more obvious with the beak. He gave his father a puzzled look, and still today, he had little idea why he was told this.
Jesse snapped back to reality. “Oh! Sorry to waste your time, dear! I like to think about things I shouldn’t. Just forget I asked you anything. Come with me.” Jesse said as they began walking away at a brisk pace.
Sally glanced at Jack with a bit of confusion, which Jack returned. This person seemed really eccentric, and they talked a little too quickly for easy conversation.
“Were they hitting on you?” Sally whispered, her tail still twitching.
Jack shrugged. “I couldn’t tell.” He whispered back.
Nevertheless, they followed. They arrived at a sturdy looking square table with four chairs around it. The Delphox waved their hand, and two of them began to float away towards a back room.
“Huh.” Jack said. “That’s not something we see every day.”
“Glad to have entertained you with that! How’s your night? Please take a seat. Here’s your menus.” They responded in a flurry, a pair of menus fell from the ceiling.
Sally stared up at the ceiling, a surprised look on her face. “Where did..?”
“We’re… fine, thanks. Why’s everything so odd here?” Jack asked.
Jesse looked up from their notes. “Eh? OH! The everything? Yeah, that’s just the vibe we’re going for. An experience like no other, to really WOW you! And, just so you know, this is just the beginning. You’ve seen practically nothing so far, so your reactions have got me excited…” They explained, their grin becoming wider and wider.
Sally blinked. “Interesting… I’m certainly getting the wow factor. Though, it felt more like a magic trick that escalated into something weird…” Sally said as she slowly sat down, grabbing her tail and laying it across her lap. “And if you’re right about this being the ‘beginning’, I see no other conclusion than the idea I’m about to be on a roller coaster.” She joked
Jesse’s eyes widened, their grin going neutral, before a much more mischievous grin replaced it. They made a mental note of Sally’s “idea” before putting their usual smile back on.
Jack followed Sally’s lead, and sat down before lifting up the menu in front of him.
He scanned it for a moment, when suddenly Jesse spoke again. “So what are you having? Ditto? What shape? Flavoring? None? Other? They’re indefinitely half-off! You know that, right?”
Jack jumped, “Geez! I didn’t know you were just gonna stand there! I don’t know what I’m having yet, I haven’t found the part of the menu that isn’t Dittos.”
“Oh! Other side, dear.” Jack shook his head and turned the menu over as Jesse continued. “And yes, I have a lot of open time. Wish it was filled, people don’t come here often, we have some repeat customers though, but I wish Ditops would just bite the bullet and advertise already as I’m soooo tired of waiting around for nothing!” They needlessly explained.
Sally Overheard a voice whispering “There they go yapping again…” but is unable to detect who said it, or even where it came from.
Sally turned back to Jesse, and attempted to take hold of the situation. “So, um… Could you explain the Ditto items a bit? I read a little online, but I was a bit confused by some of the wording.”
Jesse tore a page off of the notes and placed it on the table. They immediately began writing again.
Jack glanced at the note. He simply couldn’t read it, whether that be some form of code, or illegible chicken scratch, he wouldn’t know.
“Well, the Dittos are supplied by Ditops.” They pointed to a framed picture that slowly rose up from the floor. It depicted a smooth purple mound in the vague shape of a hue-manoid. They wore chef’s attire colored white that was stylized with purple lines on the seams. They bore a friendly open smile consisting of teeth that looked no different from the rest of their body, as well as unreadable dot eyes. They hold a pan and a spatula in each hand, similarly to the art on the front door.
(…They look friendly enough.) Sally decided.
“How is this place put together?” Jack asked, an intrigued look on his face as the picture was slowly pulled back into the floor by the mechanism holding it.
“I’ve worked here a while, they don’t care what renovations I make.” They vaguely answered.
Jack looked at them puzzled. “…Whhhhy?”
They ignored the additional question.
“And you can order one in essentially any form. You want a drink in a goblet all royal-like? Alright! You want it to taste like actual ash? Odd request, but why not? You want a pizza made out of these guys? Do it! You can even tell your order to change to your liking! Though, if you’re gonna order a drink, stick to a drink. If you order solid food, stick to it. Don’t ask your drink to turn into an apple, and don’t ask your apple to turn into a drink. Especially when it comes to the larger drink sizes…”
Sally nodded, already fully aware of everything they had said thus far. “And… the rest?” She asked.
Jesse paused, and frowned. They impatiently tapped their writing implement against the side of their notes. “Hmm… What specifically? You can’t just say “the rest” and expect me to know what you’re talking about.”
“Oh, um… well there was a blurb about how the Dittos have a… sense of humor? And… something about clothes? I’m not exactly sure what that meant, so–” She’s suddenly cut off.
“Ah! Sense of humor! Yes, that one. Buckle in, it’s a bit of a long explanation that goes a couple places. So,” They began writing again. “You know how Dittos can so easily change shape? Become any object, even people?” They didn’t even wait for a response. “Well, they seem to have the strange ability to control where they end up once digested. Normally when you eat a person, they become fat dependent on where your body decides, as well as factors like how big a person is.”
Sally raised an eyebrow as the explanation developed.
“Well, like I said, they can ignore these small facts of life, and instead choose wherever the hell they wanna end up! They can also just gain mass if they decide they wanna give ya a hard time, which they likely will. It’s best to eat these guys late in the day, when you’re about to go to bed. You’ll feel pretty tired after a bit, starting to feel the effects after an hour at the very least. Also, don’t sleep with your clothes on. That’s where the humor comes in.” They tore another page off. “They’re absolutely devious little things! They love to ruin clothes, and will grow your assets such they’ll break! So if you’re wearing anything important after eating one, take it off as soon as ya get home!”
They simply stared at Jesse as they took in the info dump. Sally looked much more interested than Jack did.
“…You know, some people even mention… OTHER physical side effects after it’s all over… One repeat customer told me that after they went back to normal, their ability to control their ghostly powers almost became second nature, and so much stronger for about a day or two… It’s really interesting how stuff like that can happen…”
(…Fascinating.)
Jack was about to say something, but was suddenly cut off.
Jesse gasped, and put a hand to their head. “Oops! Forgot about the most important part about ‘em. I asked for your IDs because Dittos are what we focus on selling, and Dittos are technically considered a form of intoxication, purely because if you eat enough of one, you’ll feel different for a bit. Depends on who ya are, though.” They explained, their voice slow and apologetic.
They continued. “You may decide you need to be incredibly productive if you like to find work, or maybe you’ll feel flirty for a day or two. Countless possibilities! Drunkenness included, unfortunately.”
Jack waited a moment to make sure they were actually done this time.
…
Jesse stared awkwardly at them in the silence.
Finally, Jack glanced at Sally with a look of disapproval. “Please don’t tell me you’re ordering one, after hearing all that.”
“I’m certainly thinking about it.” She said, scratching her chin. “I like the idea of being bigger. Especially after the last time I ate you…” She grinned at Jack. “Can’t imagine it going too terribly.”
“You’re ignoring the side effects, Sal!” Jack said as Jesse laughed.
“Knock on wood, kitty! I meant it when I said remove all the clothes you care about. First one I had, had the gall and skill to make my reading glasses of all things break! If that mask you’re wearing is important to you, or your glasses are hard to replace, you oughta remove ‘em if you’re gonna order a Ditto!” They warned.
Sally’s eyes widened for a moment. She turned away and fiddled with one of the straps on the fabric mask as she thought. She turned back to Jesse and simply mumbled, “Noted.” as she tapped a single claw furiously into the wooden table.
Sally would take it off if she had to, but she wasn’t too keen on the possibility of Jack seeing how her face had changed. She told herself she would show him eventually, but she kept pushing the date back.
“Okay, well I guess I’m ordering a burger. Literally any, I’m pretty open to all of them. No water or drink, I’m fine without one.” Jack said. He suddenly turned towards Sally. “Sally.”
“Hmm?”
“You’ve heard the negatives. I haven’t heard anything that is guaranteed to be positive. Please, think before you decide anything potentially drastic.” He pleaded.
Sally pondered the possibilities. She wanted to venture outside her comfort zone for the first time in forever, and try more things for once. Why not take this opportunity, and jump into the biggest hole she could find? As long as it wasn’t too serious, it shouldn’t matter. Right?
She would end up regretting not taking their warnings more seriously, especially in regards to potential emotional changes.
She covered her eyes with one paw, and quickly removed it, turning toward Jesse.
“It’s not gonna KILL me though, right?” She asked.
Jesse put down the notepad, and fished in one of their pockets with a unsure expression.
She already regretted asking based on that reaction. She glanced over to Jack. He stared intently at their pocket.
They pulled out a pamphlet and opened it up. Jack gets a glimpse of the cover. It was simply titled “Home of the Ditto Official Legal Jargon”. It did not do any favors for the question Sally asked.
Jesse flipped through the document, and skimmed a specific line with a finger.
“Hmmmmmm–Ah! “Death and Injury”! Says here that though unlikely, should you perish for the reason of our products, we’ll pay for your resurrection costs. Pretty sure that was written before the Cofagrigus payout to acquire the monopolization of all resurrection through non-digested reason, but I think it still applies! Ditops is a good guy, and is number one when it comes to customer service!”
“Eh, good enough for me.” Sally said, looking back at the menu to confirm her order. “A Ditto drink, in… a… mug? I guess? if you… even have one of those. With… chocolate flavor… but what kind..?” Her eyes suddenly lit up in excitement, her manner of speech quickened. “Ooh! What’s that one chocolate that’s extremely melty, that seems like it’s more liquid than solid even though it probably isn’t? It’s one of the best chocolates out there, I know the name! I know it, I know it… Is it fudge?–I choose fudge!” She declared.
Jesse continued writing, and relayed their orders back. “Got it! Burger, surprise me style, and a Ditto, drink style! In a mug–what size?” They cut themself off.
“Oh, right. Uh… large, I’m a bit starved.” She said, her belly growling at the mere mention of size.
They looked up from their notes and raised an eyebrow. They slow their words down. “Large? You’re sure? Our larges are pretty–”
Sally’s brain doesn’t pick up on the idea that bigger may not end up being better, more focused on the idea of having more of what it lacked.
“Absolutely give it to me.” She replied, unblinking.
“Mmhmm… alright.” Jesse mumbled. “A LARGE.” They greatly emphasize the large, staring at Sally. She’s none the wiser, and simply blankly stared back at Jesse. “Which you cannot take home or dispose of, as stated on the menu, Ditto drink in a mug… that is fudge flavored…” They paused, giving her one last chance to connect the dots, to no avail.
“Gimme.” Sally said, Jesse’s words falling on deaf ears.
Jesse clicked their tongue. “Okay… Then I guess your orders are set.”
Jesse reached behind their back, and pulled out a piece of paper. They placed it on the table, and slid it toward Sally.
“We’ll just need ya to sign this, love.” They said, tapping an empty line on the paper with a pen.
Jack furrowed his eyebrows.
Sally squinted at the paper, and read the single statement on it.
“You cannot sue us for any reason directly or indirectly involved with your experience with Ditto related products…”
Sally tilted her head as she slipped the pen out of Jesse’s hand.
“Okaaaaaay…” She said, neatly signing her name with barely a hint of hesitation.
Jack stammered seeing this. (WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?) He thought, the words failing to form in his mouth.
The paper and pen along with their menus simply vanished.
“Alright then. NOW you’re all set! I will be back with your orders soon.” They said as they snatched their notes off the table.
They quickly ran off, calling out, “Make sure you’re hungry, you’ll need to be!” as they left.
Sally stared at her now empty paws. “I’m running out of ways to be surprised at this place. I’m also a bit confused about Jesse. They’re… a bit odd for lack of better terms. What uh… what do you think, Jack?” She asked, looking back up at Jack.
His eyes were covered with a single hand. He sat there a moment with no response, leaving Sally to just stare at him.
She shifted uncomfortably in her chair with the sudden change in atmosphere.
Finally, he removed his hand from his face. “…I want you to know that I respect your decision, but I also want you to know that I don’t see this going any way but bad. Too many variables are going through my head for me to try and justify this.” He explained.
Jack suddenly continued. “Especially with the contract. Why the contract? It can’t be good if there’s a fucking contract involved, can it?”
Sally looked at him, then down at his hands resting on the table. She reached over and gently grabbed them.
“Well… then I guess if things go bad, I’ll have to figure out how to deal with it. Sometimes you get a feeling that you just can’t let go of, and you’re gonna be willing to do anything to get one end goal, even if the process seems a bit risky. And sure, a contract is a bit odd, but right now, I don’t really care. I’m hungry. Besides, It seems like a good starting point to try things.”
He stared at her.
“Just… If things do get worse than expected, don’t feel the need to worry about me.”
Jack sighed and shook his head, “I’m not going to promise that.”
Sally sank a bit. “…Can you at least promise you won’t do anything you don’t want to? Especially if it’s only for my sake?” She pleaded.
There was a long pause.
“…Fine.” He yielded.
Sally gave a gentle smile. “Okay. Thank you.”
He left out the part that if something went wrong, whatever that wrong could be, there was very little he wouldn’t be willing to do to try and help.
(…How is the flavor of fudge supposed to broaden your food profile?) Jack wondered.
He doubted she would make use of the fact you could change its flavor.
 
 
Time went by, and the mood between Jack and Sally had improved considerably.
The subject had been changed to their plans in the coming weeks and months, and though Jack looked distracted, he also seemed to actually be engaged in the conversation.
“Oh, that reminds me. A friend of mine invited us to a Christmas party. If it ends up happening. Apparently it was supposed to be a normal party just for the fun of it, but the host had an emergency or something so it was pushed back a couple months. Which… is apparently prone to happening again. often.” Jack said.
“Interesting.” Sally said, as she raised an eyebrow. “But this friend isn’t the host? Are they allowed to invite others?” She asked.
Jack shrugged. “If what they said is right, yeah. Apparently they want as many people as possible to come. Sounds like it’ll either be a blast or a blow out. If it even happens. You at all interested?”
Sally scratched her chin. “Hmm… sure. I mean, we don’t have any plans for Christmas. Considering the fact that Halloween doesn’t even happen for another month. If it doesn’t happen, I’ll just eat ya. Nothing better to do than that, eh? But if we do get to go, it’d be fun to meet some new people. Maybe take one home for the road~?” She said, grinning.
Jack narrowed his eyes. “I mean… potentially. For… both of those. You uh… have a reason why you’d wanna do that?”
She snickered, and then sighed. “Hungry. Very hungry.” She emphasized. “I have food on the mind. Might find a different reason why I want to when we’re actually there in the moment.”
“Hmm. We’ll… see about that.” He relented.
Jack’s eyes widened. “Oh! I almost forgot. Me and this friend are gonna go on a long run a couple weeks from now, during the weekend.”
Sally tilted her head. “What? A run? Where to?” She asked.
“There was no destination in mind. Just to stretch our legs, get some good exercise. She loves exercise, can’t get enough of it. You’ll meet her the day before, she’ll be spending the night.”
Sally stared blankly and blinked. “She.” Her tail noticeably twitched.
“Oh, come off it, Sal! I met her a year or two after I met you, and she’s said I’m more a brother than anything else. In fact, I think she’d be more likely to try and get in your book. She's always been more interested in fluffy, anyways.” Jack explained.
“Mmm. If you say so…” She said.
Sally suddenly shook her head. “I-I’m sorry, I’m sure she’s wonderful, and I’d love to get to know her. It’s just… I can’t help but feel left out.”
“What?” Jack tilted his head. He methodically tapped his fingers on the table. “You know… you could come with us if you wanted. You know that, right?” He offered.
Sally laughed nervously, her ears going flat behind her mask. “Hummm… pass. That’s um… not exactly what I meant. I hate exercise… for a lot of reasons… I got a lot of fur, and I get really warm if I overexert myself. Plus I pretty much always wear this hoodie, just… mostly only for comfort!” She patted her covered chest. “I would end up refusing to take it off… and proceed to pass out within the hour.”
“What’s the problem, then? If you don’t wanna go, and there’s a legitimate reason you don’t want to go, what’s the actual problem on your mind?”
Sally shook her head. “I-I wanna be with you! And… she gets to be with you for all that time that I’m not! The–the point is that it’s selfish of me to get upset, but I don’t know how to not…” She looked down to her tail which continued to twitch.
(Quit fluttering around!) She thought as she put a paw over it, ceasing most of its movements.
Jack looked down at the table, his folded hands resting on the surface. He looked back up to Sally.
“Sally, it’s fine. That’s… a completely normal reaction. I’m sure with time… future things like this will become easier to deal with. Okay?” He assured her, giving a patient smile.
Sally briefly looked at him, and quickly looked back down, a frown on her face.
(I wish it were that simple…) She thought, feeling the mark on her face grow warmer.
Suddenly, without even a moment to change the conversation or respond, a plate holding a decently hefty burger with a shiny bun emerged from the surface of the table in front of Jack. He scooted his chair back in surprise.
“Woah! Okay… wow. I almost forgot we were in the house of madness.” He said, hand to his chest. “Hard to remember stuff like that when you’re thinking about life…”
“I thought psychic types dealt with moving objects with their mind, or like reading someone’s mind… not bending reality, or whatever you wanna call that. How do you even do something like that?” Sally remarked, scanning the room for Jesse.
“Quite simple!” The Delphox said as they materialized mere inches away from the table.
(Oh cool, you can also teleport… I bet you don’t even have a limit of how far you can go…) Sally thought, holding back the intense urge to roll her eyes out of jealousy and frustration.
She’d hardly known them, yet Sally was already starting to get tired of the constant one-upping Jesse did.
“I learned from the best, an old retired Hypno that dabbled in some strange stuff taught me some things and evolved my psychic abilities farther than I ever would have thought! I can perform tricks on people’s very brains! Make you see things that aren’t! Not only can I manipulate objects, but now minds! Good thing I care not for violence!” They said in jest with an unconvincing laugh.
“Cooool…” Sally said, unphased. She debated asking if there were literally any other servers as opposed to them.
She settled on the second worst thing she could think of. “So, is mine ready? I’d like to leave as soon as possible, for no reason in particular, none at all.” She asked, fidgeting in her chair, the tip of her tail fluttering and lightly whipping against her lap.
Their strange smile faltered for a moment, sensing they were about to cross a fine line. They glanced at the ceiling, then back to Sally.
Jesse’s notepad materialized in their hands, and they began writing once more. “Yes! It’s ready. Just need to–”
“What are you writing?” Jack interjected, slightly concerned given what they’d said so far. “You already took our order.”
“Spells.” They quickly replied in a plain voice, a small grin tugging at their mouth. They said it as though it were nothing more than a simple grocery list.
They waste no time returning to their explanation, “Just need to modify it’s entrance given your patience seems to have dropped significantly. Not every joke works with every audience, after all!”
Sally tilted her head, and raised an eyebrow. “What? It’s… a mug. What was the original plan, even? I mean, like… you could just… make it appear right now. Or… something equally simple.”
They shifted in place, and put a hand up to their chin as they looked toward the ceiling once more. “Hmmm… You know, while COMPLETELY and TOTALLY uninteresting, that could work.”
They took a step closer to Sally. “I will remind you though, you ordered LARGE. Right? So you won’t be surprised to see a LARGE mug, right?” They asked, trying to jog at least the slightest bit of recognition.
“…No?” Sally replied, entirely unaware of what they were getting at.
Jack looked confused. “Why do you keep mentioning the size..?” His eyes widened. “How large is this drink?” He asked concernedly, a sudden realization dawning on him.
“Hmmm… I’d say about… this big!” They announced as they snapped their fingers.
In an instant, a giant floating shiny green mug *POOF*ed directly in front of Sally out of a loud cloud. She recoiled and leaned back into the chair with widened eyes, her now poofed up tail wrapped around the back of the chair.
It simply floated there for what felt like hours, but was actually mere seconds as both Sally and Jack stared at the cup in surprise. It then slowly descended onto the surface of the table, landing noiselessly.
The table didn’t move an inch under what had to be immense weight, certainly capable of entirely flipping any other anatomically similar table.
If one were to meticulously compare its size with Sally, the seven foot tall, several hundred pound feline, it would be found it was slightly larger than half her size in weight, as well as a bit under half her height.
“There it is! Big reveal! I’m really glad you didn’t order extra large, that thing is about three times as big! Could feed an entire full-size Tyranitar with one of those… It also takes forever to make, given all the generated mass needed. I also don’t think we have a mug made for the extra large size yet…” Jesse said, their voice neutral.
Sally scooted back forward, and looked over the top inside of the mug in both panic and suppressed excitement.
Her best dream and worst nightmare had revealed itself, as the mug did in fact contain a swirling purple liquid that went almost to the top.
On one hand, food. A whole person's worth of food. Food that would last her a literal week, and give her a temporary asset boost to flaunt off to Jack, potentially to cover him entirely and tease him with.
On the other hand, she had no idea if this was even going to be a good experience. If it wasn’t, she’d simply have to suffer through it, given their policy against taking home products that were Dittos. Combine that with the fact they can’t be disposed of in any way but consumption, then now there was another ring of problems if things weren’t peachy keen in her pickiness.
“Oh no.” Jack mumbled, reading the visible panic on Sally’s face.
Already? They hadn’t even left the place, so what’s next if this was now the base level of things going wrong? Sally’s affected mood being that of a depressive slump?
(Please whichever deity is actually lord of all no. Whether that be the countless “arms” that theoretically created the world, that stupid ancient resurrected shellfish with too many followers, or something equally as ridiculous.) Jack silently prayed.
As Sally looked at the still swirling liquid, Jesse’s voice was heard once more.
“I suggest you take this. You’re probably going to need it.” They offered a thick green milkshake straw.
Sally’s head turned slowly to look at it. She slowly reached over, and slipped it out of their hand. Her heart started beating faster upon grasping the implement.
“I uh… wish you luck. I once lasted about half-way before needing to begrudgingly pass it off to someone else. I eventually learned to just go with a small. But, given your size, I would’ve recommended a medium for you. You were pretty adamant about a large, though.” they said.
Sally sighed, remembering her exact words.
“Originally, I was gonna give ya quick spook, the mug would fall from the ceiling and slam into the table! But, you looked like if something like that happened, you’d either kill me, or he’d kill me because I killed you.” They explained, pointing at Jack. He didn’t respond, instead, he simply continued to dwell on the potential consequences of what might happen with that much Ditto in Sally’s system.
“…I’m at least glad you didn’t do that.” Sally said shortly after. “But… couldn’t you have explained first? And… can’t you take it back? I haven’t touched it yet, surely you can take it back, right?”
(Say no! Say no! Say no!) A voice in the back of her head greedily prayed. She got mad at herself for thinking that.
Jesse shook their head. “Well, because often I can’t even get it out before they say they don’t care, and that they want it anyways. No one wants to hear it, they’d rather get angry that I’d even ask, then swallow their pride when they’d been proven wrong, their guests needing to pick up their slack and drink up. I did try to explain, however.” They said.
“And, no, we can’t take it back once it’s separated from Ditops. Recollection of additional mass doesn’t exactly… work. Especially once it’s gained its own life. They explained.
The logical and reasoning part of Sally’s mind felt crushed as this information set in. Meanwhile, her body shivered as a wave of excitement and hunger flowed through her.
“…Oh… Okay. I guess we’ll call you when we’re ready for the bill. Might… take a bit, though.” She said, still conflicted with her senses.
“Alrighty then. I meant it when I said good luck. You’ll need it!” They laughed, half forced. “I’ll just be… over here.” They said, pointing towards a short wall nearby the front doors. “…Waiting. For… more customers.” They said as they walked away, staring intently at the notepad in their hands.
A small metal service bell emerged from the table, a note attached to it said “Ring For Service”.
Sally looked over her shoulder, and waited until Jesse was out of sight. They moved behind the short wall, and sat down, their ears still slightly visible. (Good enough.) She looked back over to Jack.
He stood over the mug, looking at the thick swirling liquid within with disgust. With how tall the mug was combined with the table height, he could just barely see over the top.
“Sal… I think you’re in trouble.” He said, looking at Sally.
Sally blinked. “I might be. I… might also not be. I have no clue right now. All I know… is that I’m reeeaaally hungry… and I won’t know if this is a good situation… until I try drinking this…” She said, her voice gradually losing grace.
She felt saliva quickly collecting in her mouth as her widening eyes stared at the shiny purple slime, a faint pleasant odor of chocolate emanated from it.
Her logic and reasoning started actively losing control. The nightmare scenario slowly started seeming less and less like a nightmare, her stomach gurgling louder and louder each second she looked into the mug.
Jack continued staring at her. She appeared to be entranced by her drink, as she simply didn’t move. “Um… You alright?” He asked as he waved a hand in front of her face.
She didn’t react, and acted as though his hand was never there. She suddenly looked right at him.
“Hey can I borrow your spoon?” She quickly asked, pointing at a single spoon that had arrived with his burger.
He stared at the misplaced spoon. “…Yeah? I-I guess?”
(Why’d they give me a spoon for a fuckin’ burger?) He’d contemplate this all night.
She grabbed it and looked back inside the mug, which had slowed its stirring.
A face slowly emerged from the fading vortex, a small misshapen smile with two little oval eyes. It opened its mouth to give Sally an even warmer friendly smile.
(Oh that’s adorable.)
A grin tugged at the corner of her mouth. “Heeeey buddy. How are yoooooou? Are you a Diiiittoooo?” She asked.
The slimy creature closed its mouth and eyes, and moved them up and down its surface before opening them once more in a primitive attempt to nod.
“Cooooooooooooooool…” She responded. “…I’m gonna eat you now. You don’t mind, do you?” She asked.
The Ditto closed its mouth and eyes again, and did another primitive movement, this time recreating a shake, before resetting to its happy face once more. It didn’t mind one bit. Though at this point given her hunger, she wouldn’t have cared if it did.
Sally wiped a bit of dribble off her mouth. “Glad to hear it…” She said as she stuck the spoon into one of the sides.
She pulled it out, and picked up a small dribbling portion of the Ditto. She looked at it for maybe a second, before promptly sticking it in her mouth. Her teeth clinked against the metal of the spoon as she pulled it back out, now clean of the Ditto.
As she swirled the slime around in her mouth, she came to several conclusions.
She shivered. It was exceptionally cold, colder than rock solid ice cream. Too cold.
The texture was odd, normally a surefire sign she would hate it. It was thick and, obviously, silmy with several consistencies that fought for attention. She almost didn’t care simply for the next part.
The taste was heavenly, one of the best fudges she’d ever had. Combined with the texture, it was a solid that quickly melted and fell apart, turning syrupy in one cluster, and creamy in another. It was a constant revolution of tasting an ever greater version of this fudge with each layer she scrubbed off.
Once the mixture had dissolved into a lukewarm single consistency resembling a thick broth, she swallowed the thick ‘liquid’. it slowly glided down her throat.
She let out a quiet “Mmmmmm…” as it slid down, her eyes twitching in satisfaction.
Jack glanced around, then looked back at Sally. “…Does that mean it's good?” Jack asked.
Sally didn’t respond for a moment, simply allowing herself to take in the experience. Finally, she spoke. “…With a modification or two… I’d say It’ll be perfect…” She vaguely explained.
“What would that be?”
(Jack please stop…)
She glanced over the mug at Jack’s burger. “Your burger’s getting cold… You should go eat it…” She deflected.
She didn’t want to explain, she just wanted to do it so she could drink it already. Why was Jack so worried about HER drink when he had a burger he still hadn’t even touched?
Jack looked at the burger, and remembered that he had in fact ordered food. “Oh. Uh, okay.” He went to sit back down.
Sally leaned in close to the mug. “Heeeeey. Can you tone down the coooold? Maybe go all the way up to a hot fudge level of heat?” She requested.
Once more, the Ditto closed its eyes and mouth, but this time scrunched up as though it were concentrating. The liquid rumbled and bubbled a moment before going neutral once more, small wisps of steam emanating from it, and the smile returned.
She stuck the spoon in once more, and quickly scooped it into her mouth again.
Heat capable of giving third degree burns quickly spread across her tongue, and all throughout her mouth, as freshly made hot fudge was actually quite hot.
…Though it didn’t actually hurt in the slightest.
It made sense, since she lived with a fire type as a brother who she got into several fights with as she grew up. Things mellowed out eventually, but they were both quite relentless for a while.
…Though it may have also been her father’s fire genes.
Essentially, this kind of heat was more than manageable, and was honestly comparable to hot cocoa.
Sally closed her eyes and smiled. “Mmm… purrrrfect!” She quietly declared.
She set the spoon aside, and picked up the milkshake straw. She stuck it just above the Ditto’s face. It opened its mouth in an O shape in surprise at the sudden speed and ferocity, yet still it just smiled after.
This thing had little self preservation. Though that was likely for the best.
She sipped from the straw slowly, a happy dazed smile covering her face.
…
Jack spoke in between large bites of his burger. He wasn’t one who often savored his food, so he had already eaten roughly a third of the thing. “So… it’s good? Tastes fine?” He asked.
She gave a light giggle. “Mmhmm… Second only to you…” She mumbled, quickly returning to sipping from the straw.
“Really now? Okay… Well, I’d say the burger is pretty good as well. Not the best thing ever, but it’s certainly one I’ll remember.” He replied, unsure if he was supposed to be proud or not to be number one on her list.
“Thaass… *gulp…* nice…”
…
She felt her belly get tighter and tighter with each gulp, already it was beginning to expand. The fabric of her hoodie being pushed out against it wouldn’t last long, so she physically moved her hoodie up over her belly, which revealed the slowly expanding, soft, fluffy, light green chub underneath. She caressed it slowly with one paw.
“Hmmmm…” She sighed as she closed her eyes, a very soft purr beginning.
She may have been happy, but her rapidly filling stomach couldn’t have been more the opposite.
It let out a slow defiant *Groooooooooooarrrrr…* seemingly unaware of what it was supposed to do with the nutrient rich, blazingly hot slime that seemed to never decrease in intake.
Sally gave a small giggle, and ignored the angry noises her belly made. It would figure it out eventually. She couldn’t care less about the discomfort down there, right now at least. She was more interested in filling it entirely
*Gloooooop…* Her stomach went, as it slowly stretched and filled. She felt the sloshy bean that was her belly touch her legs, warmth quickly seeping into them.
“You’re… drinking a bit fast, don’t you think?” Jack asked, an eyebrow raised as he looked over the mug at her.
“Hmm?” She opened her eyes and looked up at Jack. She swallowed some of the Ditto and briefly took the straw out of her mouth, a copious amount of steam billowing out.
Jack frowned at that, feeling mildly concerned.
“Shehs th onne wifout a burrrrrgrrr…” Sally said, slurring her words with a giggle.
“You’re literally a fourth of the way through what is several gallons of… Why is it boiling?!? You weren’t sure you could handle this five minutes ago, why are you drinking it this hot this fast? I think you should slow down.” He said, at the side of the table once more, looking in the mug.
The Ditto looked content being slowly consumed, with each slurp its face went under the rest of itself for a moment.
“Gotta…” She paused. “Gotta drink faster then… Need… all of it… now…” She whispered, however, her speed noticeably stayed the same.
*Grrrrrummmmmble…* *Grooooooooan…* her stomach spoke up once more, much louder this time.
“So warm… so good…” She mumbled, a paw on her belly.
Drool quickly seeped out of her mouth, presumably an overcompensation on her body’s part to cool her down. It fell either directly onto the table, or ran down the sides of the straw.
Jack stared at the seemingly unceasing drool. He grimaced, and looked down to her belly.
The clearly overburdened organ threatened to touch and topple the table if this were to continue in spite of the fact the table hadn’t moved an inch or been replaced since creation of the business.
“Your body itself is telling you to stop. I don’t know how it could be any clearer that you should take a break. Here, let me…” He reached toward the straw.
“Mmm mmm!” She defiantly responded, refusing to allow him the straw by covering it with both her paws. “Hmmmmm…” She closed her eyes again in bliss.
“Wh– Sal, what’re you doing? Give– gimme… that…” He struggled, trying to wrestle the straw out of her grasp.
*Grooooooarrrrrglllll…* Her belly strained under Sally finally attempting to drink as much as she could as fast as she could. She knew it was a losing battle, however, her fingers being quickly unclamped from around the straw.
Jack saw his chance, and quickly snatched the straw out of her paws in the vain hope she hadn’t fried her senses already.
The straw was hot to the touch, and it felt softer than a straw should feel.
Her now orb of a belly *Squiiiiissssh*ed against the unmoving table, when suddenly it stopped expanding. It now angrily sloshed and groaned under the pressure and heat.
Jack held the steaming straw away from her, and put it in one of the pockets of his sweatshirt after covering it with a napkin.
He sighed, “There. Just wait a moment, please. It isn’t good to drink that much at once… especially that hot looking… Even if you’re only waiting five minutes, that’s good. Just not all of it right now.” He tried to explain to Sally.
Her sad gaze lowered. She rested her mouth against the rim of the shiny mug, and started nibbling on it. She caught a glimpse of the Ditto’s face, now about half way down the mug. It stared at her in awe and wonder.
(…I don’t care if you're right… I want it… now… I NEED it… NOW!)
She furrowed her expression, and wrapped her arms around the giant mug. She felt like she was trying to carry someone unconscious without proper preparation as she slid it across the table towards herself. “Heeeaavve…” She began.
Jack’s heat sank, his explanation entirely faded from his voice. “…Please don’t–”
“Ho!” She finished, as the mug landed on her belly, the tilted rim inches away from her mouth.
“Hah!” She went, half in pleasure.
The chair shifted its entire structure, the entire back end now tilted, as though it were a recliner as she leaned back into it.
It was times like these she appreciated the ingenuity of that strange Delphox.
“Bottoms *urp* up~” She said with a smile, glancing at Jack’s emotionless face.
She put the rim up to her mouth, and tried lifting the mug slightly to let gravity help her. Fortunately, gravity was in her favor today, as the blazing liquid began to quickly flood her mouth, and her throat.
She made quick swallow after quick swallow, and felt her aggravated belly begin to balloon once more, though at a much faster pace this time.
If one were looking close enough, they may have seen the pupils in her eyes look like hearts for a single fleeting instant, as the warm feeling of fullness her stomach had been trying to portray filled her body.
*Gwwwrrrrglllll…* Her stomach went, almost entirely inaudible through the gallons upon gallons of boiling Ditto that slowly forced through and settled within.
The liquid within the mug began to swirl less and less as more and more of the Ditto disappeared into Sally’s maw, with the bottom of the green mug now visible.
*Glug… Glug…*
Until, finally, the face of the Ditto gave the world one last smile, a small mischievous glint in its eye, before disappearing with the rest of itself in her mouth.
Sally forced the mug back onto the table, and sat up tall with her hands on her soft warm gut.
The chair reset its structure.
She closed her eyes, tilted her head back, and gave one last large *Guuuullllp…* sending the Ditto down into the depths of her now filled belly.
She collapsed into herself, and absently rubbed her engorged middle as she panted slowly, faint whispers of steam escaping her mouth.
Her paws sank into the absurd fluff and pudge. Bliss encaptured her face, her eyes closed and tongue lolling slightly out of her mouth. She would have been purring if not for the sensory overload she just experienced.
*uaaarrrp…*
A small airy burp forced its way out of her, giving one last lingering taste of the heavenly fudge flavor.
Jack stared at her unimpressed through a single uncovered eye. He dragged his hand off of his eye and down his face, and looked at the covered straw in his other hand.
He placed it on the table, and approached Sally.
Her belly was slightly bigger than the average time she ate Jack, only this time, instead of some of that space being filled with air, it was entirely full of a thick, disproportionately heavy, strangely compact slime without air pockets.
*Brrrrrbl…* *Bluurrrrp…* Her belly quietly went.
Jack took a deep breath, and sighed. “You alright there, Sal? Was it too much?” He asked, neither concerned nor unconcerned.
She didn’t react, instead she kept her head down as she continued to stroke the warm sensitive organ, the world around her just a distant echo.
He stood there a moment waiting for a response. When he didn’t get one, he leaned down, and placed a hand on her shoulder. She was hot to the touch.“Sally.” He said, trying to look at her face.
Sally jolted at the touch, letting out a quick “Mrr!” as her head shot up to look at Jack. Her senses mostly revitalized, she began to quietly purr as her widened eyes closed to about a sliver. “Huu-hmmm..?”
“Are you okay?” He asked, slower this time.
“Mmm…” She went.
*Brrrbloooooarrr…* Her belly went, its occupant turning roiling and churning relentlessly inside of her.
Sally weakly winced. (Owie…)
she reached for his arm, and pulled it off of her shoulder, pulling it close to her chest. She gave it a small hug, closed her eyes and nuzzled against it. “…Stuffed… Tired… Wanna go sleep… Digest…” She mumbled.
“…Okay. I’ll assume that means you’re fine… and, I hate to break it to you, but we can’t… sleep here. We have a twenty minute walk before we can sleep, or anything really. Can you stand?”
“Hmmmmmm…” She quietly whined, hugging his arm tighter, and nuzzling harder.
Jack sighed, and put his available hand on the table to pull himself up. He reached over, and was just barely able to reach the service bell on the opposite side of the table.
A loud *DING* rang out. Jesse’s ears perked up behind the short wall. They look over their shoulder, a confused smile on their face, an eyebrow raised. Regardless, they stood up, and fast walked over.
“Heya. Whatcha need?” They suddenly furrow their eyebrows. “Something happen to her?” They asked, pointing at Sally, who still refused to let go of Jack's arm.
“Too much perhaps? Let me see how far along you are…” They looked over the rim of the mug, and saw an empty shiny mug, their surprised reflection staring back at them.
Jesse narrowed their eyes, and gave what could only be called a jealous smile. “Huh. Neat.” They said. “Quite the accomplishment there. I’ve seen GROUPS of people unable to finish a large given an entire hour to eat.” They remarked.
They looked back over to Sally. “You alright, love? Need help getting up? That’s… a lot to take in at once.” They asked as they approached.
She appeared to have rolled up the sleeve of Jack’s sweatshirt, and had been gently nibbling the feathers on his arm. “Fine… Just… need… sleep…” She mumbled, now starting to gently lick his arm.
Jack’s eye twitched. (Literally any other time or place, Sal.)
Jesse clicked their tongue. “Hmm. That much, that quickly. Must’ve jump started the signature Ditto sleepiness. You’re full of surprises, aren’t ya?” They gathered.
“What’s the bill come to?” Jack asked, wanting to leave as soon as possible.
A small slip of paper floated down from the ceiling, landing onto the table.
Jack blinked. “O-kay.” He scooped up the paper and looked at it.
“That much? That’s a lot less than I was expecting.”
Jesse shrugged. “Eh. Indefinite deal. Plus, usually most of the payment comes from the fun the Ditto has. Like I said, make sure she removes everything that isn’t physically attached to her body. Most harm they can do after that is make her look pregnant for a week at most or something. Maybe give her a big behind? That would make ya reeeeal lucky for that week or less, more so than ya are now.” They explained, making a small joke at Jack’s expense.
He tried to ignore the joke as well as the feeling of his face warming, but noted the tidbit about it lasting about a week. “…Do you take card?” He asked, pulling a blue card out of one of the pockets in his jeans.
Jesse put a hand behind their ear, and pulled out a small device. “Yep. Just hover it right over the screen.”
Jack paused looking at the sudden device, which displayed the total. “…Have you considered literally any other job? You’ve got strange talent, a lot more than I’ve seen from people who get way too much credit.” He inquired.
Jesse smiled. “You know, I have, actually. Just like it here too much to actually take a leap. Never really needed to.” They replied. “Anyways, you should probably pay, and get her home before she falls completely asleep. Don’t think you’re gonna be carrying her anywhere, especially not with that much Ditto stewing away inside her.” They warned, pointing at Sally.
Her movements were slowing, and her purrs were becoming less frequent.
“Probably a good idea.” Jack said, scanning the card as he stared at Sally, the feathers on his arm looking more and more ruffled by the seconds.
“Alright! Then, that means you’re good to go.” Jesse said as they slipped the device into a pocket. “I hope your experience was, and will continue to be, mostly positive. I completely understand if you find yourselves not wanting to return. We get a lot of calls stating such. But, I wish you both luck getting home on time.” They said, walking back toward where they got up.
“Thanks.” Jack said.
…
“Sal.” He said, leaning back down to her.
“Mph…” Sally mumbled into his arm.
“Come on, it’s time to go.” He said. “Come here, I’ll help you up.” He offered, patting her on the back.
But, Sally, despite being so tired, slowly and shakily stood up right then and there.
“Oh, okay, I guess not. That’s fine, you got it. Easy now…” He rose back to a standing position, given Sally still had a tight grip on his arm.
Sally then let go of Jack’s soaked again arm, and moved around to his back. She put her paws in a criss-cross manner over his chest, and pulled him close.
His back squished into her belly. He felt some of the warmth of its occupant slowly work its way through his body.
(How hot did you make that thing, Sal?) Jack thought.
“Uh… Sal? This isn’t a very convenient way to move.” Jack explained.
He felt something slightly less warm and soft suddenly rest on his shoulder, which was directly followed by the feeling he was suddenly carrying an extra hundred pounds.
“Ack..!” Jack went, his knees buckled.
“Nmmmph…” He went, standing tall once more, his legs shaking slightly.
Sally had placed her head on his shoulder with a relieved sigh. “Belly… heavy… Brain… tired…” She managed to force out.
Jack grunted. “Okay… We should get going then. Preferably… before my shoulder gives out.”
The two then left the restaurant, back to the now dark sidewalks, and began the slow trek home.
Jack just hoped there wouldn’t be too many hiccups along the way.
 
 
Jack opened the door, and entered the house with a loud sigh, Sally trailed directly behind him with almost entirely closed eyes.
The walk home was half an hour or more, with Sally’s walking speed, and needing to occasionally stop for a moment to gather strength being contributors to the extra time.
Jack stood still next to the front door, and took a moment to just breathe.
He felt the head on his shoulder shift, and turn after a bit of nothing.
“Hmm..? Why’d we… stop..? We’re… home..?” Sally quietly asked.
Her body temperature had gone back to normal during the walk.
“Yeah.” Jack replied.
“Mmm… Bedtime… now..?” She asked, hopeful.
“Probably for the best. Did you wanna sleep in separate beds? Given the… lack of clothing you’re supposed to have?” He asked.
She nuzzled his shoulder. “Nooooo… Wanna sleep with yooou…” She whined.
“Um… Alright then.” He relented, unsure of if he was comfortable with that. “Well, I’ll give you a moment to… undress in privacy. You can do that yourself, right?” He asked.
Sally quietly groaned. “…Fine… Don’t need any privacy… silly…” She said as her paws slipped off his body.
The weight on Jack’s shoulder disappeared, and Sally trudged off to her room, paws on her belly.
Jack rubbed his shoulder, and stretched.
This, to him, was on the edge of something going wrong. Though Sally wasn’t acting in too much distress, it had already done a beating to her state of consciousness, when it wasn’t supposed to yet. He couldn’t imagine this going any better, because if this part could go different than expected, what’s to say other parts won’t?
For now, he’d just have to hope it wouldn’t be serious, because that’s all he could really do right now.
“Jaaack…” Sally’s voice quietly called out.
Jack snapped back to reality, and walked down the hall.
“You’re ready?” He asked.
“Yeah…” She responded.
She stood in her doorway, bundled in a large fuzzy blue blanket, more for Jack’s sake than her own. A large noisy round bump poked out from around her midriff. Behind her, her bed was unmade to get this one blanket, the sheets and other bedding strewn about in a heap on the bed.
At first glance, things looked fine. But, while she did take her glasses off at least, she still had her mask on.
“…You need to take this off as well, remember?” He asked, pointing at her mask.
She pouted, and covered her mouth with the blanket. “But… what if it… didn’t break?” She mumbled into the blanket.
Jack looked at her funny. “You probably shouldn’t take that chance. That Jesse person said the Ditto have “a sense of humor”” He reminded her, motioning with finger quotes. “Look, I’ll just… go over here, and… get in bed, and you can come in when you’re ready. Alright?”
She stood there quietly for a moment, but eventually she gave in and nodded.
“Okay. Then in that case…” He faltered.
Jack looked up at her face, and realized he was having a bit more difficulty looking at her, like he had to look up farther.
He looked down to his eye level, and instead of seeing her covered chest, he instead saw her covered belly, angrily gurgling at him.
Jack squinted back up at her. “…Is it just me, or are you taller?”
Sally weakly shrugged. “Mow dunno…” She mumbled out, barely considering the question.
Jack shook his head. “…I need sleep…” He decided, entering his room.
…
Jack removed his clothes, and placed them into a hamper in his closet. He hung up his sweatshirt, and put on his gray pajamas, before quickly slipping under the covers of the bed.
He sighed, feeling himself sink into the comfort of the mattress after what felt like a marathon.
He wondered why Sally always wore her mask around. He’d gotten little tidbits here and there over the years. Mother made it for her in compliance with family tradition… It’s an item of extreme sentimental value… Her face didn’t feel right without it on… ‘It’s got magic imbued into it, Jack’, which means ‘It doesn’t need to be cleaned, it cleans itself’… The list goes on.
It just concerned him, because for a long time, there wasn’t a day he didn’t see her face. Then, one day, like a light, the mask appeared, went on, and remained on.
For a while when people asked about it, she would become anxious, and recluse herself for a while.
It became less and less of a touchy subject over time, but she still didn’t say specifically why it bothered her. Maybe she sustained an injury? Got an embarrassing scar?
He’d always found that circle of dark green fur quite distinguishing, and, in a way, cute. Though, she must have had her reasons to cover it.
Sally suddenly trudged into the room. Her face was covered in a hood-like manner by the blanket. She got over to her side of the bed, and crawled into it, entirely covering herself with the bedding.
“Hey. You ready to sleep?” Jack asked the bed lump.
“…Yeah…” The lump mumbled.
“That’s good. Did you want to get in your favorite position? The one where you hug and don’t let go?”
“I… was actually thinking… something… a little different… for tonight…”
Jack tilted his head. “Hmm?”
The back of her head slowly emerged from the top of the covers, as the rest of Sally moved closer to Jack, pressing up against his body.
Jack’s heart skipped a beat, hoping it was the blanket on her body touching him as opposed to bare fur. It was hard to tell, as her blanket was also quite soft.
It was fine without her hoodie, but come on, there was a reason he REALLY wanted her to get new pants. They may be a couple now, but something like this didn’t feel right yet.
“Can you… hold me..?” Sally asked hopefully.
“Um… Sure? Let me…” Jack slowly put his hands on her sides. “Is that good?”
“Nnnn…. Hug… Need hug…” She elaborated.
(Oh great.)
Jack was very iffy on hugs. He loved hugs from Sally, but not really from anyone else. He also wasn’t fond of giving hugs, but with such a request from Sally, he felt there was very little reason not to.
“…Okay then.” He wrapped his arms around her body, completing the hug. “Like this?”
She whined a bit, “hmmm… Can… you go tighter..? Please..?” She pleaded.
(…Does she do this position so much because she wants ME to do it?) He thought.
Jack sighed, and tightened his wrap, pulling her closer to his body. He stopped when he felt a twitch from her. “I-is that enough?”
A weak smile covered her face as she draped her arms over his. “H-haaah~ Yes… that’s… purrrfect… Thank you…” She said as she began to purr.
“Okay… that’s good… Good night?” Jack said.
“Mrr… yeah… Night… Jack…” She mumbled.
They laid there together almost silently, with only Sally’s purrs and the occasional gurgle filling the quiet room. However, they slowly got quieter and quieter, before eventually disappearing when she finally fell asleep, leaving Jack alone with his thoughts.
He just hoped that tomorrow morning, she wasn’t an emotional wreck or something. He didn’t know how the “feeling different” Jesse referred to was supposed to work, but in his mind, it couldn’t exactly be stellar, given all of the caveats.
But, in the end, he wouldn’t know until tomorrow.
 
 
 
 
 
 
Act Three: Growing Pains [HEY THAT’S THE TITLE] [Themes CW: Giantess pred, Petting, Semi-creulty, Mouth play]
 
 
 
 
 
 
Jack woke up to the sound of heavy breathing.
His eyes slowly but surely opened, and adjusted to the light. The first thing he saw wasn't Sally, much to his confusion. Instead, he saw the wall. A lot closer than it was supposed to be.
His bed was normally right in the center of his room, but here it was in the corner, right next to the wall.
He shook his head slightly, a confused look on his face. “What?” He whispered.
He sat up. “Sal? Where did you go?” He called out.
“You’re awaaaake!” Sally’s voice rang out, mere inches away from him.
“Sal?” He turned to his right towards the rest of his room. He gasped and backed up across the bed away from what was in front of him, putting a hand to his chest. The shock quickly vanished. “You gotta be kidding me…”
It was Sally, without a shadow of a doubt. The problem was the fact that she looked way bigger than she was supposed to. Not just any individual part, however. All of her, was giant. From her head, to her paws, to her long fluffy tail wiggling lightly in the air behind her. Everything, in all of its uncovered, fluffy glory.
Her legs were folded in strange angles. It did not look comfortable in the slightest.
Being in the master bedroom certainly helped, but not exactly by much. It just meant she might have a bit of an easier time shifting around.
(At least her butt isn’t visible from this angle.) Jack thought, looking on the bright side of things.
She stared at him in a way that could only be described as lustful, with a large open mouth smile, her pupils replaced with large pink hearts. Her chin was resting on the edge of the bed, noticeably creaking and groaning under her weight.
If one were to compare Jack’s standing height to her face, they would find he would be face-to-face with her nose.
Jack looked up at Sally’s face with both intrigue and frustration.
“What’s the matter, Jackie?~ What’re you looking at?~” She asked, absentmindedly fluttering her eyes.
Before, he was looking at her immense size. At the current instant, he was staring at the dark green pattern on her uncovered face. It was heart shaped, starting at the nose, and ending around the eyes.
(…When did that change? Actually… HOW did that change? The Ditto?)
“You’re uh… a bit big right now, aren’t you? That… odd to you at all?” He asked.
She looked at him for a moment, leaving only her heavy breathing to fill the silence. Finally, she spoke. “I’ve always been big, silly~ Always been bigger and taller than you, that’s what makes you so huggable~” She said.
Sally suddenly frowned, the hearts in her eyes dimming a bit. “But if I tried to hug you right now, I might crush you… The world shrank for some reason, and now all I can do is lay down…” She said dejected in a quiet voice.
“I woke up on the floor… not really sure how… and I tried to get up and wake up my favorite person… But when I tried to stand, I hit my head on the dumb shrunken ceiling…”
Jack winced thinking about it. Though, she said the world shrunk, not that she had grown. Had she forgotten the restaurant?
“But… But then…” Her eyes lit up again, the smile returned. “But now you’re awake! I-I can spend all my time with you, looking at you, being with you,” She leaned in closer, her eyes staring directly at him. “Loving yooooou~” She said, muffled into the bed.
There was an audible snap as she pushed into the bed.
Jack put his hands up, ignoring the sound. “Woah! That’s a… bit too close at that size! I-I do admit, it’s nice to see all of your face up close after so lo–” Jack is suddenly cut off.
“My face?” She lifted her head off the bed, and tilted it. “But, how would you see my face through my ma–” Her eyes widened in sudden realization, her smile wavered and collapsed to a neutral expression.
She lifted up a massive paw, and brought it up to her face, feeling around her eyes and cheeks. She felt no fabric, only fur, confirming she had in fact taken off her mask the previous night.
“Ahhh!” She squeaked out, ducking out of view. She quickly came back up, her blue blanket draped over her head, covering the top half of her face. “You weren’t uh-s’posed to see that!” She said, her quivering mouth seemingly trying to force itself back into a smile.
“I wasn’t– I wasn’t ready to–Oh forget it!” She pulled the blanket off her face. “I don’t know why, but I don’t care! I just don’t care!” She started panting and laughing.
Jack stared at her, concerned. He couldn’t think of anything to say about this strange display.
Sally spoke through her laughs. “I just– I just wanna…” She suddenly shifted her entire body, and laid down on her side. She lowered her head to the floor.
Jack crawled to the end of the bed, and looked over the edge. Sally rested the side of her head on the floor, with her eyes closed, and still smiling. The back half of her head was underneath the bed.
Sally continued. “…to be with you… and… to be seen by you. I’m so tired of hiding this mark… Especially since it basically represents my love for you!~” Her eyes widened and locked onto Jack.
Sally’s pupils usually became hearts when she was feeling an extreme amount of happiness or joy, but usually they never stayed hearts for as long as they currently had been.
“What?”
Sally groaned. “Story too long, I’ll tell you another time~ Right now, I wanna… I wanna… Mmmph! Be with you! Go…” She suddenly yawned. “…sleep with you…” She whispered, looking more tired by the seconds.
Jack squinted. “Wha? Didn’t you… just wake up? What time is it, even?” He asked incredulously.
Sally curled up slightly, wrapping her paws around her tail. “Mmmm… Don’t know… Couldn’t reorient myself to read the microwave from here… Plus even if I could… I think it’d be too blurry… and I think my glasses are too small to use… I think it’s been about half an hour since I woke up, but I don’t know… Was going to wake you up, but you looked too comfortable… Been so… tired since getting up… But, I did feel pretty awake when you woke up…” She explained.
How long had she been purring? He could’ve sworn the walls weren’t shaking this much just a moment ago.
Jack tried putting together what he’d observed. The effects of the Ditto had on Sally was enhancing Sally’s obsessiveness of Jack, as well as her flirtatious mannerisms.
On top of this, it had also taken her favorite hobby, sleeping in, and made it a requirement for her to spend almost all her time and energy focused on returning to sleep.
Not to mention she was like four times her size, with seemingly nothing to cover herself with. Somehow he doubted the fully conscious Sally would even care about that last one, though.
Plus, who knew if this was all she would experience. For all he knew, she would wake up the next day with completely different hijacked feelings.
(Well, that’s just perfect… absolutely dandy…) Jack thought.
Jesse said a week at most. Sure, it was possible to get through, but he couldn’t exactly see this as a walk in the park. How do you take care of someone at this size?
Jack sighed. “Well… alright then. We can… go back to sleep if you really need to. How did you… want us to sleep together? I don’t think it’s exactly possible for you to get on the bed.”
“Mmmm…” Sally went. She slowly raised her head back up, and rested her chin on the edge of the bed once more.
“How about… you try laying on my head… With you being so small, it should be pretty easy… plus it’ll be soft and comfy~” She offered, attempting to flatten the tuft of fur on her head.
Jack blinked. “That doesn’t… make a lot of… O-kay. Sure, no reason to not at least try.” He said, approaching her large face. “I don’t expect this to work how you think it will.”
He put a hand on her cheek, and his hand quickly slipped on her smooth fur, and ran up her cheek.
“MMREEOW!~ Mrryaaa!~” Sally suddenly yelled out as her whole body tensed up. The hearts in her eyes suddenly became large before she slammed her eyes shut, and she rolled to the side, the side of her head now resting on the bed. Her body shivered and her purring intensified.
Jack flinched at the sudden freakout, with noises he’d never heard come out of her. “Oh! I-I’m sorry, are you alright!?” He asked, concerned.
“Mmmmmmmm!~ D-do it again!~ A-again!” She demanded.
“What!? Excuse me?”
“P-please Jackie!~ Again! R-rub my face!~” She closed her eyes and panted before opening them wide once more. “PET ME!~ Pleeeease!~” She pleaded, moving her head back to where he sat.
Jack guessed it was only a matter of time before he found something Sally enjoyed to such an absurd degree, but he didn’t expect it to be something so tame that had so many opportunities to reveal itself. Especially with how clingy she was…
Perhaps it was something else he could blame on that Ditto, affecting her emotions.
“Come on! Come on! Do it! Do it!” Sally requested in response to Jack’s silence, her tail wiggling more and more violently behind her.
Jack put his hands slightly out. “Okay! Okay. Just… calm down.”
Sally shut her mouth, and looked at him expectantly with an enamored smile.
Jack slowly put his hand towards her face once more, and touched the soft green fur on her cheek once more.
“Mph!” Sally bit her lip upon contact, narrowing her eyes.
He then brushed the fur in a slow downward motion, against the way her fur grew.
…
“Is that what you wanted?” Jack asked, noticing a distinct lack of a reaction.
“You’re… getting there… B-but you’re doing it wrong! G-go the… O-other way! Other way! Other way!” She demanded.
Jack’s thoughts gave a resounding (…What?)
“Uh… You mean like this?” He asked, reversing the movement his hand made.
She leaned hard into his hand and body. “HAaaaAh! Y-yes! That’s– that’s great! K-keep doing that! P-pet more!~”
Jack, now essentially cradling the side of her face due to the sudden intrusion of space, was trying to recollect himself, his senses feeling out of whack upon being momentarily smothered by Sally’s absurdly soft fur. He felt dazed, but quickly came back, feeling just a bit more tired now.
“Uff… alright… you fluffy giant… You’re a bit close, do you mind back–” One of his hands slipped, and once more gave Sally a hard, quick, yet overstimulating rub.
“MMMmmmpph! Hmmmm!” her face fell directly into the bed. Jack just barely got out from under her before she made contact with the bed, avoiding a quick and painful one way trip to sleep town, guaranteed to leave a bruise or three upon waking up.
It was honestly quite surprising that the bed hadn’t been destroyed yet.
“Ack! Careful! I’d prefer to not be… crushed!”
Sally panted quickly, a paw gripping one of the legs of the bed with extreme force, embedding deep claw marks into it. “Hah, hah, hah! S-sorry, J-Jack! It-it-it j-just… huff… feeeels soooooo goood! H-here– Let– Let me just… hah! K-keep my head down! That way, I-I’ll stay still!”
She kept her head firmly planted on the edge of the bed, her eyes closed, and quickly panting.
The bed gave a strange long groan underneath her, almost as though it came alive for this one moment to voice its torment.
Jack put a hand to his forehead, and sighed with wide eyes, shaking his head.
Once he thought he’d gathered himself back together, his heart slowly returning to a more normal beat, he removed his hand, and slowly reapproached his needy overgrown partner.
“Why’d we have to go to the place with body and mind changing slime?” He muttered under his breath, gently placing his hand back on her cheek.
“Nnmph!” Sally bit her lip once more, her closed eyes straining as she attempted to close them even tighter.
Nothing else to do now…
Jack gently stroked the fur on her cheek, the expanse of fluff shifting underneath his hand.
Sally’s breathing quickened, inhaling and exhaling through her nose at an absurd speed.
“Calm down! You’re gonna pass out if you keep breathing like that.” Jack warned.
“Nnmmm..! Mmmmm… How am I meant to do thaaat… When it… feels so goooood..?” She responded, her breathing barely slowly down.
(There’s no way it feels that good, Sal.)
Jack continued petting, slowly rising to his feet, his balance uneven on the shifting bed underneath him. He extended his reach to a larger area, the entire side of her face, slowly and methodically.
“H-have you… done this before!?” Sally asked through her teeth.
Jack narrowed his eyes, a confused look on his face. “Have I–”
Sally groaned. “Never mind! D-don’t tell me! I-I’ll just assume I’m your… first! I’ll be happier with that thought!”
Jack shook his head. “You’re acting like this is sex…” He mumbled.
He thought about it more, and tilted his head. “…Is it? To you?” He whispered, unaware of how cat-like people treated this action.
He reached toward the top of her head as best he could, just barely able to touch it. The tuft of fur that was on the top of her head was messily flattened, and slowly attempted to rise to its original shape.
He rubbed the top of her head with both of his hands, using the side of Sally’s face to keep himself up.
“AH! A-ah! K-keep going there!” She lowered her head even deeper into the overburdened mattress, allowing Jack to easily pet her head.
Though, not without slipping first.
The sudden movement caused him to fall against her, his face completely buried in her fur.
“Mmpph..! Uff… Huff…” He went, blinking rapidly as he pushed himself up from the wall of fur.
(She’s too soft…)
If that was what it was like to simply fall into her, what was it like being entirely covered? He could only imagine.
It was times like these he appreciated most the fact he had no allergies. Of course so he could be with Sally, but now that she was as big as she was, there was likely all sorts of allergy ridden hair littering the house.
“Ugh… Up here? You wanted up here?” Jack asked, reaching back up to pet her head.
Sally squeaked. “Yes! Yes, yes yes yes, up there! J-just a bit longer up there, and– and then somewhere else!”
Jack slowly blinked. “One at a time… I want to feel all your fluff too, but I can’t exactly do that… Best to be patient, Sal…”
“Mmmmm…”
This continued for some time. Pet an area, avoid loss of balance if possible, move to a different area as directed by Sally, and repeat.
For Jack, this had become monotonous rather quickly. There was only so many times he could scratch behind Sally’s ears or scritch her chin before her reactions were no longer endearing, and more just predictable.
Plus, each and every time he wasn’t able to keep himself up when Sally shifted her head, he inexplicably felt more and more tired.
The only explanation he could come up with was that his body had started to associate Sally’s fur covering him as ‘sleep time’. He could only assume, though, and it was entirely baseless.
Slow, monotonous work doing what felt like hours of petting, yet really it was no more than ten minutes.
And, after all of it…
Sally's body was sprawled across the room, her twitching legs hanging high in the air.
The back of her head rested against the bed, using it as a strangely tall makeshift pillow.
It heaved and groaned underneath her, a large cracking formation had begun running its way down the side rail. The bed also noticeably looked more curved than usual.
Jack took both of his hands, and slowly rubbed in a comb like fashion from just above her eyes, down to her ears, and on and over to the upper back of her head. His eyes were fighting to stay open, and he looked quite bored.
“Mrrr… Mrrr… Mrrr… Mraa…”
Sally’s panting intensified each and every time her ears were passed over, her sharp open smile widening and shrinking in response.
How much longer did she need this attention? It wasn’t unendurable by any means, but there was only so long he could repeat these hand movements over a constantly moving surface with his lack of consciousness.
Sally suddenly raised her head, causing Jack’s knees to buckle, and slowly descend onto the bed as his legs gave out. For once, he doesn’t collapse into Sally.
One last “Mrrrreeeyaaa..!” came out of Sally as she rose.
Her head then slowly slid down off the bed, and onto the floor. Her legs fall with her, folding against the walls back into that uncomfortable looking position.
Jack blinked slowly, and looked down at Sally, who had once more curled up on the floor. She quietly panted and purred to herself with closed eyes as she slowly rubbed her body against the carpet.
Jack yawned. “Are ya good now, Sal..?”
“…Mrrrooww…” She mewed in response.
“…Sal, I don’t know what that means… I don’t speak in meows…”
Before today, he didn’t even know that she meowed.
Jack rubbed his eyes. “Whatever… I’ll just assume that means yes… Can we sleep now?” He asked.
“mrrrrr…” She went.
Jack held his head up with a single hand on his forehead, his eyes closed.
“…I’d really like to sleep now, and… silence doesn’t really help you or me…” He quietly explained.
Sally curled up into herself tighter.
“nnnnnnn…”
She suddenly unfurled and raised her head up to Jack, her tired heart eyes looking at him through small slits.
“Can I have a snaaaack..?” Sally asked, her belly growling in violent disagreement.
Jack slowly opened his eyes and stared at her blankly. “…Wasn’t that ‘food’ meant to feed a person for a week..?” He reminded her.
She stared back at him, her light smile unwavering. “…Hmm..? I don’t know whatcha talking about… I may not feel very hungry right now… but I still want somethin’ to fill my belly…” She replied.
Jack slowly shook his head and sighed. “…Whatever… What do you want?” He relented.
Sally looked up at the ceiling. “Uhhhhhhh…” She leaned toward Jack. “You…” She declared.
“…”
“It solves two problems at once..! My hunger… and a place for you to sleep with me…” Sally explained.
“Why’d we go to that place if we were just going to do this not even a day later..?” Jack whispered to himself.
Jack sighed. “You know what? I’m too tired to… aaargue… Get it over with.” He said, fighting a yawn.
“Yaaaaaaayyy…” Sally went, slowly bobbing her body up and down.
She put her face into Jack’s body, and nudged him backward away from the edge of the bed.
“Uff!” Jack went, now on his back.
He lifted his head up and looked over his body.
Sally now rested her chin on the edge.
“Ahhhhh…” Sally went, slowly opening her mouth, her tongue covering her sharp bottom row of teeth.
Jack stared incredulously. “…What are you doing?” He asked.
“C’mon… C'mere… I’m waiting..!” She said.
“…Okay then… Didn’t think this was happening this way…” Jack replied. “Just… give me a moment, I like these pajamas…” He continued as he started removing the aforementioned pajamas.
Sally closed her mouth, and stared at him intently the entire time.
(…Does she have to stare? This feels so awkward…)
Jack set aside his removed pajamas, and looked back to Sally.
“Okay..! Now… hurry up and get in my mouth..!” She quietly demanded, opening her mouth once more.
There was a lot more drool than before, it pooled on either side of her tongue, with strands falling from the roof of her mouth.
Jack shakily stood up and stepped toward her gaping maw.
He looked at the small, yet big confined space he was about to enter. He grabbed a fang for support.
Jack shook his head. “The things I do for you…”
Sally weakly giggled.
Jack slowly lifted a leg over her lip, and placed his foot onto the giant pink fleshy mass that was her tongue. It deformed and squished under his jagged ‘talons’.
Sally winced. “Owwwww…” She went, the hearts in her eyes dimming for a moment. Small droplets of tears collected in the corner of her eyes.
Jack quickly brought his foot back up. “Oh..! shit…” He whispered. “Sorry Sal… I wasn’t thinking straight… It won’t hurt this time, I promise…” He reassured her.
“Mmokay…” Sally said.
Jack pulled his leg out of her mouth, and slowly lowered himself down.
If he couldn’t do it that way, he’d have to crawl in.
A drop of saliva slowly dipped directly in front of his face as he was about to climb in. He backed his head in response.
Jack grimaced. “…Eeugh… Come on, Jack… Just get it over with already…”
Finally, he reached over her lip, and pulled himself entirely up and over into her mouth. He landed directly face down onto the squishy tongue, a sensation of wetness quickly soaking his feathers as her humid breath beat down his back.
Jack lifted his face up, his eyes and mouth tightly shut.
He cracked his eyes open. “Yuck…” He said through his closed beak.
Sally glanced down at the spot on the bed where Jack used to be. She blinked, and attempted to gently move her tongue.
She found difficulty without using her actual strength, as though Jack was small, he was big enough to at least cover her tongue, and fill a decent amount of her mouth. The weight on her tongue was entirely evident as she slowly shifted it under him.
Her breathing quickened for a moment with the slow realization that Jack was entirely under her whim now.
“Hah… hah… hah… hah…”
If she were in her right mind, she wouldn’t even think of doing what she was about to do to him.
Suddenly, she shut her mouth, a loud *CLUNK* rang out as her teeth quickly smashed into each other.
In an instant, Jack was plunged into wet darkness, stuck in his lover’s mouth. If he wanted to turn back, he couldn’t now.
His eyes shot over to the now closed entrance, a row of closed sharp fangs now blocking the fleshy inside. “H-hey! Careful! I’d prefer to not lose my legs!”
Sally smiled wide, her breathing heavy. She slowly lifted her head off the bed, and began moving around and manipulating Jack’s body with her tongue.
She raised her tongue to the roof of her mouth, squishing Jack against the hard surface.
“Uff!” Jack went.
Her tongue pulled back, allowing Jack to slide off onto his side. His back to the wall of teeth, he felt dazed, a dull wave of pain rolled down his limbs. Though painful, it was nothing compared to some other things he’d experienced.
“…Oooooowwww…” He groaned out.
She put her tongue back toward him, and slowly but terrifyingly, covered and pressed up the tired and unaware Jack against her teeth.
She gently rubbed her tongue against him and across every square inch of his body, trying to get every ounce of taste out of him that she could.
“Mlam… Mlam… Mlam…”
Jack’s senses weren’t doing him a lot of favors. The most he understood in the current instant was the vague idea that his body was heavy and wet, and that he couldn’t hear or feel anything aside from a dull numbness.
Quickly becoming bored with this act, Sally wrapped Jack in her tongue, and miraculously put him in a similar position to when he first landed in her mouth, his head facing her mouth.
She slowly reopened her mouth, and attempted to speak to her little captive, her voice odd considering her tongue was covered.
“Oohkhaay Jaach… Umm dun playung… Aurr yoo readee fer me to… *gulp* ‘wallow..?” She asked.
Jack simply laid limply, his body soaking wet and dripping, his feathers matted. He suddenly coughed, and continued to just lay silently.
Sally looked down. “…Jaaaach..?”
Slipping back into consciousness, Jack lifted his head slightly. “Huuuhh..?”
“Aurr yoo readee?” She repeated.
“Y-yeah..! Puh… Please… G-go ahead and… get it over with… I’d like to go to sleep. So… tired…” He managed to say through his delirium.
“Uhmkay!” She went as she lifted and tilted her tongue.
Immediately, Jack began to slowly slide downwards toward the gaping hole that was her throat. He simply did nothing and let this happen, considering his lack of mind at this moment.
He suddenly fell entirely off of the tongue, and in an instant, was sent down the large tube as Sally involuntarily swallowed.
A paw shot up to her throat over the pink fuzz that covered her neck, exerting the force required to stop any and all downward movement. Trapping Jack once more.
Sally looked at the ceiling with a blissful smile, biting the tongue that stuck out of her mouth.
She swallowed a collection of saliva, her eyes forcing themselves shut as she did this.
Unsatisfied, she does this again. Then again. Then again.
For Jack, the walls around him pulsed and flexed randomly without much rhythm or rhyme. He couldn’t help but notice his movement had changed. Instead of downward, he felt tossed and turned around.
Strangely enough, he could’ve sworn his wet prison was becoming wetter, and harder to breathe in, but he had no understanding of why this was.
Even if his eyes were open, he wouldn’t be seeing anything.
“…Come on, Sal… Hurry up… please…” He mumbled to himself. “…I really need some… comfort down there about now…” He said, even quieter.
Sally heard his request, but not the second part.
A more conscious, but emotionally unstable Sally, will end remembering this, and add it to a list.
*Gulp…* *Gulp…* *Gulp…*
Finally, Sally relented and removed her paw.
She gave one last large swallow, plunging Jack down deep into the abyss of her belly. A barely noticeable bump appearing on the surface, an angry *Grrk* bubbling from within as Jack settled in.
“Meeyaawww…” Sally moaned, absentmindedly rubbing her small bump with a single paw.
Her eyes shortly thereafter shut, before she slowly ‘melts’, collapsing to the floor.
Sally rolled around for a moment, trying to find a comfortable position. She finally settled down on her back, laying the side of her face on the floor under the bed.
She let out a big yawn. “…Night… Jack…” She weakly mumbled, unable to force herself to stay awake any longer.
Her purring then quickly petered out entirely.
Now, the only noise in the room was the loud irritated gurgling and groaning of Sally’s belly.
He could almost imagine her stomach was yelling at him, angry that he was even in there, to strangely varied results.
It was unwelcoming, yet oddly enough, It was comforting at the same time. Really, any noise was better than simple silence.
It was similar, yet also quite different from last time.
The soft squishy walls did not hug him as much as they had before. He could infer why.
In spite of that, however, he couldn’t say it wasn’t nice to stretch his limbs, feeling the walls squish and slide beneath him.
Jack stretched as far as he could as he breathed in deep.
He settled into the most comfortable position he could manage, releasing his breath as a sigh.
His blinks were slow, and prolonged now.
He could almost pretend things were normal like this… After all, this was a fairly normal part of life.
But, having nothing else to distract him, Jack reflected on the knowledge he knew, and came up with questions he knew not the answer to.
(A week at most.)
(What was the least possible time?)
(What was the point of that place if I still ended up in here?)
…
(How am I meant to help her through this when I’m not even as big as one of her paws?)
But then, his tiredness became too much.
“Good night… Sally…” Jack mumbled.
His eyes slowly shut, and didn’t reopen.
At least, not for a long while.
 
 
 
 
 
 
Act Four: Slowly Does It [The shrinkening] [It went places, contains what one could call an emotional scene. Also the vore is over, the rest is story if you’re not into that.]
 
 
 
 
 
 
Jack woke up on his bed once more, feeling refreshed and ready to get up.
This wasn’t normal in the slightest.
He stared up the ceiling confusedly blinking. He put hand in front of his face, finding zero difficulty in moving entirely.
“The hell?”
Why didn’t he feel like he needed to rest? That was a crucial part of reforming, being entirely unable to do most of anything other than sleep so that your body can actually function.
He sat up, and quickly looked over to the rest of the room.
In the center of the room, there was a decently large pile of bedding from Sally’s bed that covered a large unknown mass. It rose and fell in a slight rhythm.
(…She shrank quite a bit already, and while she’s still fucking giant, she no longer takes up the entire room, and is using her bedding to sleep.)
Or, at least that’s what Jack could assume.
“…Sally?” Jack called out with little regard.
The mass of bedding practically exploded, a flurry of blankets and sheets tossed away in an instant as a spinning fluff ball jumped up with a loud squeal.
Jack flinched, a balled up comforter flew past his head and hit the wall behind him.
Sally, the large feline, now was mostly uncovered aside from a particular blue blanket that was draped across her back. She had a paw on her chest, and another holding her up off the floor. Her claws were at full extension.
She stared at Jack with fear, her eyes dilated to a severe degree, the hearts that were previously plastered onto her eyes seemingly gone. Her fluffy tail had poofed up and stood up straight, and she panted quickly.
It was only a moment before she removed the paw from her chest, and lowered her tail.
“O-oh! J-Jack! It’s–It’s you!” She realized. “I-I… D-don’t scare me like that!” She said, still panting.
Tears had started to well up in her eyes, but they did not fall.
“Oh, sorry I wasn’t… I wasn’t thinking.” Jack stammered. “I didn’t mean to startle you. Y-you okay? Other than… the size?” He asked.
“Umm…” Sally glanced around “Y-yeah? I’m… fine I guess… I…” She stopped.
She gave Jack a closer look. She lightly gasped, her eyes widened in sudden realization.
(You’re… back.)
She glanced around and gathered a couple blankets together. She bundled herself up, and gingerly approached Jack, crawling across the floor on her knees. She occasionally glanced up at the ceiling.
Once she reached the bed, she laid her head on it in front of Jack, a sad look on her face.
Now that she was up close, he could determine that while he was sitting down, he was just about half as tall as her head, and probably only just as tall at full standing height.
It may not have seemed like much had changed, but really the fact that the bed didn’t creak as much as it did the last time her head was on it said everything.
Jack leaned closer to her. “H-hey. What’s wrong?” He asked.
Sally sighed, and refused to speak.
…
“…Sally. What’s wrong? It’s okay, you can tell me.” He reassured her, giving the side of her face a light pat.
She shut her eyes on contact, a very soft purr beginning, if only for a moment.
(It’s not the same…) She thought.
She’s silent for just a moment longer.
Sally opened her now glossy eyes. “I… I missed you…” She said, her breaking voice but a whisper.
Jack looked puzzled. “Missed me? What do you mean? Wasn’t I… right here?” He asked, tapping the bed beneath him.
“…Yes…” Sally admitted. “But… also no…”
“Eh?” Jack said, his eyes squinted and eyebrows furrowed. He sat down, keeping a single hand on Sally’s cheek. He hoped that it would help her in some way if she had physical contact with him.
“I… I remember waking up, feeling about as crazy as before I went to sleep…” She began. “And… I went over to the bed, hoping you were reformed already so I could spend more… ‘quality time’ with you…”
Jack waited for her to continue, but she didn't.
He glanced around concernedly. “What… what happened next?”
…
“Sally!” Jack said.
“What..?” She mumbled.
“Please. Tell me what happened. What’s got you upset. I need to know, because I want to help you, so please, tell me.” He pleaded.
She’s silent for a moment.
“I… I’ve never been eaten before…” She began, slowly. “So… I don’t know how exactly reforming works. All I really know is what little you’ve told me. I don’t know if there’s some kind of ruleset, or if there’s a chance it d-doesn’t work…”
Jack inhaled as though he were about to say something knowledgeable and informed, but suddenly paused, and tilted his head. He didn’t know much about it either.
“Well… not that I’ve heard of or seen. It’s… pretty well documented online, yet, we don’t know why or how ‘dying’–” He put up some finger quotes.”–in that particular way just up and resurrects someone, no strings attached unless they were already missing a limb, or deity forbid you chewed them.” He explained.
Sally sighed, seeing no end in sight to his mostly unrelated ramblings. In spite of her apparent disinterest, she let him continue in the hope he would bring up something that might explain what happened.
“Like I said, we don’t even know why it happens. I’ve seen theories, like the possibility of some unknown Deity whose special little thing happens to be this. Similar to the red and black shadow guy who appears in your worst nightmares, you know?”
Sally abruptly cut off Jack just as he was about to bring another detail up, running out of patience. “So essentially you don’t know, and neither does anyone else, and this may be something I have to deal with again?”
“I mean… maybe?” Jack shook his head, realizing she still hadn’t explained why she was acting the way she was. “What even happened? Can–can you PLEASE tell me now?” He asked once more.
She slammed her eyes shut. “You wouldn’t wake up!” She yelled.
Jack backed up, his eyes wide. It wasn’t often she raised her voice, but when she did, it was loud, and startling.
He blinked. “Huh?”
Sally opened her watery eyes and sniffed quietly. “Y-you wouldn’t wake up… You’d always woken up before…” She mumbled. “I-I didn’t know what to do, if anything at all given how big I obviously was… All I know is that I was scared… and that just moments before, I was never happier…”
Jack looked down at his lap with a confused look on his face, taking a moment to think. The situation hadn’t entirely settled in his mind.
He looked back up. “How long was I asleep for? What… time is it?” He finally asked.
Sally sighed. “…I don’t know… I can’t leave the room to check, and I can’t read anything from here… My best guess is two or three days… and… considering how dark it is, I think it’s night time.”
Jack put a hand to his head. “Okay… It’s probably two days if my general healing time is anything to go by…” He concluded. “But why didn’t I wake up..?” He whispered.
Sally closed her eyes. “I don’t know…” She mumbled miserably, gently rolling her head into Jack’s lap.
“O-Oh..! Uhm…” Unsure of what exactly to do in this situation, he leaned in, and awkwardly put his arms around her head. He gently stroked to try and comfort her. “Listen, you’re okay. You’re fine. Just talk.”
Sally slowly leaned into the petting, a brief warm feeling flowing through her.
“Mrrr…”
She opened her eyes. Her voice sounded the slightest bit more calm.
“I… called your name so many times. I shook the bed, I poked you as gently as I thought I could… I did everything I could think of. Nothing worked.” She lightly shook her head. “I was worried that… you wouldn’t wake up, period.” She explained.
She continued. “The thought was terrifying. That after all this time, I lose you because of my neglect. Sure, resurrection is technically an option, but who can afford that without being one of the high-elite nowadays? The haggle option is so extensive… and they’ll drain you for everything… if they even entertain the idea, that is… It’s… just not an option for people like us. And… I had no idea what to do… How to take it back…”
…
“Well… I’m here now. In fact, I never left. So, everything’s going to be fine. I’m okay… and you’re okay, right?” He assured her.
Sally trembled. “N-no…” She whimpered her response. “I don’t think… I’ll be eating you much… anymore… I don’t deserve it… and I don't want it to happen again…”
Jack felt shocked. The thought that this statement came from Sally almost didn’t compute. After all, Jack was essentially a form of comfort food for her. Jack wasn’t blind to that.
For example, there were times she would eat him in public, for seemingly no reason.
But, when they’d get home, she’d be happier, more lively, a stark contrast to how she felt those mornings. She always did like having him close…
Jack tried to maintain a positive attitude.
“Hey, whaddaya mean? I don’t really understand the ‘deserve’ talk, but I’m… you know, mostly neutral, and you love to eat me. You can’t let one bad experience dictate the rest of your life, can you?”
“I think I will…” She replied.
Jack frowned. Staying positive immediately wasn’t going well.
He tilted his head. “Well… why? I don’t… I don’t understand the sudden switch.”
Sally closed her eyes tight. “…I acted like such a jerk to you…” She whimpered out, small tears forcing themselves out of her shut eyes. “I look back at myself, bouncing you around and beating the air out of you when you were already so… broken looking… and all I see is a big bully torturing you…” She shakily mumbled.
Jack thought back to what felt like the other day, and though he remembered the strange tiredness and shakiness in himself, he had no memory of what Sally could have been referring to. There was a strange fuzziness in his head of what happened after he had settled in her mouth.
Jack brought a hand to his chin. “I… I don’t remember anything like that. What… What do you mean?” He asked.
Sally suddenly lifted her head off the bed, and turned to face him, confusion and concern in her eyes. “H-huh? You don’t… remember..? Y-you were BEGGING me to get it over with! How… how could you not remember something like that?” She questioned, utterly dumbfounded.
Jack put his hands up. “I-I don’t know! I just don’t remember! I-It’s not my fault!” Jack paused, then stammered out, “N-not that it’s your fault! I-I didn’t mean it like that…”
Sally closed her eyes and rubbed her temples. “I don’t… understand how you forgot… You not remembering doesn't help my conscience at all! In fact that’s almost worse!” She exclaimed. “And… now that you say it… maybe the experience hurt you so much… your brain forced yourself to forget…”
“…What? No. Sal, what did I just say? I’m fine. In fact, I’m sure I’ve felt worse in similar situations. It’s… It’s fine, please calm down.” He pleaded.
But, it was too late. Sally’s mind went off the deep end, and she started spiraling.
She ran her paws down her face to her cheeks, unable to listen to reason. “I-I… I’m an awful person!” She whimpered out. Her breathing sounded more like gasping. “I don’t deserve you! I-I hurt you… s-so much… I ruin everything I touch… Even–” She involuntarily breathed in deep. “–Even you… W-what kind of person hurts–”
Jack stopped listening, and got lost in thought.
(Ruin. Hurt. Sally..?)
Those words didn’t feel right together.
After all, in his mind, that was an impossibility. He knew what actual pain felt like.
But, he lingered too long on the memories, and flashed back to the worst moments. It almost felt like he was right there.
He saw his body being slowly but surely engulfed in a purple sludge, feeling a slow burning sensation run up his body.
The feelings faded, then in came the laughing glares of faces he no longer recognized.
Finally, he saw the unsightly visage of a specter's toothy grin, its wicked eyes staring through him, its snout quivering before it suddenly lunged.
For a moment, he forgot they were only memories. It was hard to take that in mind when the pain felt so real.
But then, the visions dissolved, and all he saw was Sally’s distraught face, covering her eyes. Her words were not heard by Jack.
If for only a moment, he felt at ease seeing her face, reminded of all the joy and kindness she had given him in the years he’d known her.
The thought of even comparing the moments he’s had with Sally with these moments of genuine pain he’d experienced made his stomach turn. Made his throat turn dry.
It hurt him, her opinion of herself. He felt sick. Saddened.
It would be like comparing a devil to an angel, to him at least. The similarities ended quickly, and the thought of it made his chest feel hot.
Sally’s voice wormed its way back into his ears. “…–I’m a monster… A-a beast!” She clarified. She looked down to the floor. “A giant beast who’s done nothing but hurt you and cause problems… I… I need to leave… so I can’t hurt you anymore… But I can’t fit through the door!” She wailed.
(A giant beast who’s done nothing but hurt and cause problems.) Jack’s mind echoed.
The meaning of the word ‘beast’ had an interesting definition in this world.
A beast is an unevolved creature closely related to people, which acts purely on instinct. Strangely violent, most have no remorse or empathy. Their link with people is clear, yet it isn’t known how exactly they changed into the people we know today, nor the exact number of species who have evolved such.
The positive side of Jack couldn’t stay any longer.
His face became blank. A red hot stirring ball of emotions collected and churned in his gut.
He felt the, frankly, insane urge to impress upon Sally the complete and total lack of pain she had dealt him by whatever means necessary. Even if it meant delving even further into the pains he thought were no big deal until he thought about them today.
He quickly committed to the idea.
Jack looked down, closed his eyes, and sighed. He looked back up to her and lowered his voice.
“Sally.” He said firmly.
She dragged her paws off her tear filled eyes. They shot open. “What!?”
“Please. Calm down.” He whispered.
Sally stared at him unmoving, her paws still on her face, her frowning lips trembling.
“…Come here.” He beckoned to her, scooching back and patting the bed in front of him.
She glanced at the edge of the bed, then back to Jack.
…
“Come on, just lay your head down. For me?” He tried once more.
Sally closed her eyes again and exhaled through her nose. She put her paws to the floor, and slowly lowered her head down onto the bed.
“…What…” She mumbled miserably.
Jack stood up, and quickly hugged the side of her face. His arms wrapped around either side of her head.
Sally jolted, her eyes shot open to look at Jack. “Huh!?”
He slowly rubbed the top of her head. “Shhhh… Shhhh…”
“…What..?” She went, confused.
Jack hugged tighter, he felt his shut eyes begin to involuntarily water. “It’s fine… You’re fine… You’re FINE.” He repeated louder. “You have always been fine.” He assured her, his voice now quiet. “You. Are. NOT. A. Beast.”
Sally’s breathing became slightly faster. “B-but… but I… I–” She whimpered out, her eyes quivering.
Jack cut her off. “I don’t care what you may or may not have done. In my mind, you’ve done nothing that would make me hate you… Even if it was as bad as you make it out to be, I knew what I was signing up for, did I not? I’ve been in the nightmare scenarios everyone is terrified of MAYBE experiencing.” He explained, his voice strangely calm in spite of the tears that fell from his eyes onto Sally’s fur.
He hugged tighter. “For example, I’ve been thrown to the ground and slowly dissolved piece by piece by a Goomy…” He muttered, matter of factly.
He hugged tighter. “Or, the time I was laughed at and mocked by so-called ‘friends’ who one time decided it would REALLY funny to take turns eating me over and over, not even letting me recover, twisting and turning me in odd angles so I was awake for every burning part of it, on what was supposed to just be a quick game night… It was weeks long… Oh I forgot to mention, they purposely made it hurt.” He said through his tightly shut beak. “‘Not even a dent’ They’d say… ‘Let’s try again!’ They’d respond… Get a life, why don’t you.”
He hugged even tighter. He raised his voice for this one. “Imagine being told and misled by your captor that ‘those digested by ghosts never return!’ as your body actively falls apart and turns into ectoplasm!” He said, his voice dripping with hate.
“I would say that those moments of my life were the most painful, terrifying, and torturous my life has ever been. And I still remember them. Vividly! The list of what I wouldn’t give to forget them is shorter than the list of what I would give.”
Sally stared at him with wide eyes, unable to respond.
He loosened his grip a bit. “You are nothing compared to all that. I promise.” He explained, his voice quiet once more. “In fact, I’ve never felt safer than I have been with you, and I didn’t know it until just a few weeks ago.”
…
“You didn’t hurt me, call me names, pick on me, nothing like that at all… We watched a movie together, spent time together. We simply talked and had fun…” He reminded her. “I felt safe. I felt loved.”
He continued. “Even before then, whenever I was in bed recovering, you stayed by my side and talked to me. You didn’t leave me there to just stew away with my thoughts as I tried to go back to sleep, or slowly swallow me again as someone laughed at my slow, tired struggles, you gave me something to put my mind on, ground my mind and thoughts. Last time, you laid with me and refused to get up until I could. It was nice… being in your arms. It was comfortable.”
Sally quietly sniffed, trying to hold back her tears. “N-no… I… I hurt you… E-even that day… I squeezed and shook you around… I made you miss something really important…”
Jack quietly inhaled. “…You know what you did that no one else didn’t?” He doesn’t wait for a response. “You LISTENED when I asked you to stop squeezing me… From that point on, you tried to make me as comfortable as possible. Like it or not, You. Helped. Me.”
Sally stammered. “B-but…”
Jack put his forehead against her face. “Stop!” He said sternly.
“Stop worrying about the pain you think I felt… Because I don’t care about it. I love you too much for that kind of thing to affect me.” He said, his voice calmer.
Sally sniveled and sobbed quietly, digging her nose into the bed.
Jack continued. “Even now, as big as you are, I. Still. Love. You. All. The. Same.” He emphasized each word. “You are still you… and I love you, more than anything…”
Sally brought a paw up as she broke down, her closed eyes straining, tears streaming down her face.
She hugged him tightly into her cheek. Jack didn’t react, only comforting her.
They simply embraced each other for a long while.
…
Minutes go by. Still, they refused to let go of each other.
…
Even longer. They are mostly silent now. Still, they hold on to each other. The silence is occasionally broken by a quiet sniffle from Sally.
…
Finally, Jack spoke. “…You okay now? Did you get it all out?” He whispered.
Sally lightly nodded.
“Gooood…” He said, slowly stroking her head. “I love you, Sal. Why would I still be here if I didn’t?”
Sally sniveled. She lightly nuzzled against Jack.
She’s silent for a moment.
“…I love you too… so much…” She whispered.
Jack exhaled. “I don’t want to hear anymore… ‘worth’ talk. You are everything to me. You have and will always be worth everything.”
“No…” Sally responded. “…You’re everything to ME…”
Jack weakly smiled. “…If you say so…”
…
“I’m… Sorry. For… everything…” Sally whispered.
“Don’t be…” Jack mumbled. “You’re just fine…”
…
Sally opened her now puffy eyes. Her mouth slightly opened and closed at random.
Finally, her mouth forced itself wide open, her eyes closing and ears going back as she yawned.
Her teeth clunked together, much quieter this time, as she closed her mouth.
“Damn it all… I guess my body isn’t done being tired…” She said, disappointed.
Jack gently stroked her face. “…Oh, Sally… I’m sorry…”
He opened his eyes. “Did you want me to sleep with–” He’s cut off.
“N-no. It’s… fine… I’ll just sleep on the floor… I want you to be comfy on the bed…” She requested, letting go of him, and slowly slinking to the floor.
“Uh… Y-you don't..? I thought you’d want that.” He said, confused. He slowly got back down to his knees as she slipped out from under him.
Sally continued to sink. “Mmmph… I’d love it, but… I’d really rather not risk crushing you… At all…” She explained. “I-it’s fine… I’m fine… Just… sleep… if you need to…”
“Ah. Alright then… Well, if you’re certain, I guess I can’t stop you.”
“…Sorry for… needing to sleep so much… I’ll… be back… tomorrow…” Her eyes slowly closed as she disappeared from view, her head slinking underneath the bed.
“Don’t worry, it’s fine.” Jack called out. “Good night Sally.”
“…”
She doesn’t respond, though he could infer why.
Jack slowly turned to look over to his pillow.
Though he looked outwardly stoic, dredging up those memories and admitting them had taken a lot out of Jack. Sure, it was one thing to randomly think of it. It was another thing entirely to lay out what you thought were past traumas to someone you love.
He slowly crawled over, and covered himself under the blankets.
Jack stared up at the ceiling in silence.
…
He quickly turned to his side.
He curled up into himself, quivering. He slammed his eyes shut, and tried to go to sleep in spite of the fact he was well rested and did not feel tired.
It was long and difficult, with Sally’s words sticking in his mind.
But, eventually the world spared him from his thoughts.
And, he fell asleep.
 
 
[Okay we’re toning down the emotion now]
 
 
Sally sighed loudly, rousing Jack from his sleep.
“H-huh?” Jack went, blinking quickly.
“Hmmm? Oh… S-sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you.” She responded.
Jack put a hand to his head. He had a pretty bad headache.
He groaned, quickly remembering the breakdown from the previous night.
Jack rolled over, and looked down at Sally.
She laid on her stomach, curled up, and partly covered with a blanket. She was looking up at him. A frown on her face. She looked back to her paw, which she had been examining before.
She flexed her paw, gripping and releasing the air.
“…Are… Are you okay?” Sally asked him, the things he recounted the previous night weighing heavy on her mind.
Jack furrowed his eyebrows and blinked. “…My head hurts. Fine otherwise.” He replied. “But uh… I’m a bit confused why you’re asking me. I should be asking you.”
Sally tried ignoring his sudden reversal of the situation. “I don’t think you’re fine after hearing what I heard yesterday.” She stated. “…Please be honest…” She pleaded.
Jack sighed. “Sally… I’m fine. Trust me. Just got a little too deep into the memories… and felt the need to put things into perspective.” He explained. “And, you kinda skated by your own question. I’d appreciate it if you answered as well.”
(Damn…) Sally thought.
…
“Sally?”
“Not great…” She admitted.
Jack closed his eyes and sighed. He opened them to look at Sally again. “Is… Is it still because of those feelings? Or…”
Sally slowly looked over to Jack. “No, it’s not that.” She quickly replied, almost irritated. “I’m… still bigger than my mom. And she’s twice my fucking height.” She exclaimed. “Sure, the emotions are still kind of fresh… but the size thing is REALLY biting at me right now. I just… I don’t know how much longer I can deal with this.” She said, sighing.
…
“We are never returning to that restaurant. I never want to deal with something like this ever again.”
Jack involuntarily laughed, stopping himself quickly after. “Hah… No objections here…” He agreed.
“A literal hangover would be better than this.” She continued.
Jack frowned. “…Not a great comparison… Don’t really agree with it, either…” He stated.
…
“How much bigger than her are you..?” He suddenly asked, wanting to move on.
Sally shrugged. “I dunno… Like a foot or two? Which means like an extra hundred pounds or something.”
“Mmm…” Jack went.
…
“Did you want to get up and do something..? Outside of this room..?” Jack offered.
“…Yeah… that’s not gonna work. I’m pretty sure I’m still too big. For this door, at least. I’d rather not break the hinges, or even the wall trying to force my way through.”
Jack sighed. “…I hate Dittos.”
“Yeah…” Sally agreed. “Jesse wasn’t lying about these things. Think they held back when describing how relentless they are, but… I don’t know. I just find this to be… so unbalanced in a horrible way.”
“Huh?”
Sally turned her head to face him. “It’s like… sure it tasted and felt great… nice and hot… and it filled me up in just the right way… but it's been a whirlwind of emotions for me these last few days. Plus, I can’t move much. The craziest thing I can do right now is SIT STRAIGHT UP. Something I literally couldn’t do a couple days ago.” She explained.
She continued, sighing. “I don’t know how my mom even gets around if this is what it’s like for me… Then again, her house is massive. Guess working for the cause of space travel has its perks…”
Jack thought for a moment. “…Am I allowed to ask an odd question?” He asked.
Sally shrugged. “Sure. In fact, please. Anything to pass the time and distract me from my problems. Plus, we’re TOGETHER together now, so I don’t really think there should be any questions between us.” She replied.
“…Was there a reason why your mom is so…” He struggled to find words that weren’t inherently negative sounding. “…Large..?”
Sally looked to the side. “You know… She was pretty big when me and my brother were growing up… maybe like an inch or two bigger than I normally am, actually. But… one day in her escapades to learn more about the unknown vacuum of space, she came into contact with a weird looking meteor.”
“Where’d she find something like that?” Jack inquired.
Sally narrowed her eyes, deep in thought.
(She liked to travel a bit. Wouldn’t surprise me if she found a crater during her travels.)
(She stalked a lotta websites that sold weird knick knacks and other strange items. Maybe she found it there.)
But suddenly (She probably stole it.) popped into her head.
She quickly chuckled. “Hehe… Knowing her, she stole it from a museum or something.”
Jack tilted his head. “Eh!?” He went, flabbergasted. “Why would she do that? …And why is that your first thought?”
“Well, Mom wasn’t always the greatest person. Did everything she could when it came to me and Hunter. Taught me some basic magic, as some wacko family members demanded it. She refused the useless stuff, really only the ones that I’d be more likely to actually use. And she gave Hunter some life advice I’m unaware of. But with other things… she was a bit wild. I’m just glad she got calmer over the years… But, you know, it just wouldn’t surprise me if she did steal it.” She explained.
“…Huh.”
“Anyways, Mom started tinkering around with it. It was all bumpy and weird… had what looked like hollow eyes… She’d hit a bump, and it’d change color from dull and lifeless to bright and pink! And green, then yellow… yada yada…” Sally rolled her eyes.
“What can I say? It was a weird old meteorite that did strange things when she interacted with it. The important part is when she told us she didn’t feel it was safe for us to be in the same room as it. So she sent us out, closed the door, and I assume she continued, but who knows?” She said, tossing her hands up. “All I know is that when we were finally able to see it again… we demanded to see it again… the whole room looked a whole lot sparklier, and the meteor looked a whole lot smaller… A strange multicolor fluid leaking out of the shattered thing… Same kind that I couldn’t help but notice her greedily licking off of her paws, a funny look in her eyes. She told us to stay away from it, all the while looking longingly at it.”
Jack blinked a couple times, his beak agape. “She… cracked open a weird space rock and…”
“Drank some mystery liquid in it?” Sally finished. “Yeah. Evidence points to yes. Things got a bit weird after–”
Jack cut her off. “Why’d she do that? That… that sounds like a great way to die!”
He sounded much more awake.
Sally clicked her tongue. “Well… in her favor… it DID smell delicious… in a weird way I can’t describe.”
Jack shook his head. “That still doesn’t mean you can just willy-nilly drink it. That’s like going up to a Magcargo and saying ‘Oh, but it doesn’t hurt when I put my hand AROUND it! It just feels a bit warm, is all. That means it won’t hurt to TOUCH’. It’s Darwin’s theory in action.” He explained.
Sally sighed. “Jackie?”
“…Yes?”
“You’re preaching to the choir. Please, stop.” She chuckled.
Jack closed his beak.
…
Jack sighed. “Fine. So, is that why she’s all… big? And… spacey looking? And why she randomly gave us an old oversized chair? Followed by that giant fucking couch that takes up almost the entire length of the wall?” He asked.
For years, that chair sat in a storage room. Sally’s mother had only recently outgrown the twelve foot long couch, however.
Sally still remembered that odd phone call mere minutes before her mom arrived outside their front door. Sure, she could’ve still sat in it, but what was the point of even having it if she couldn’t lie down the way she wanted?
In spite of the hesitance, they took it. Jack was worried about getting it in, but it quickly proved to be a non-issue. Magic is a pretty handy thing to have when it comes to moving furniture, no way it would have fit through the door.
“Pretty much. Her fur started to change a couple days after. From a light green, her fur darkened, turning all sorts of shades of gray…” She furrowed her eyebrows. She shook her head. “I didn’t mean it that way, don’t laugh!” She said, pointing at Jack.
“I didn’t say anything!” He said, defending himself.
“I may not have my glasses, but I saw the eyebrow raise, Jack! And that little grin, too! You have big eyebrows that give you away.” She noted.
Jack sighed. “Whatever! Just continue.”
Sally breathed in. “Fine…” She said, smiling.
Her expression quickly went neutral again. “She also got a bunch of strange shiny multicolor patches of fur on her legs… one day her clothes were suddenly just all replaced, the only explanation we got was ‘I wanted to switch things up!’ …The whites of her eyes became all creepy and black… the nice blue in her pupils turned stone white… Why am I explaining this? You know the description. She turned into how you met and currently know her.”
Jack nodded.
…
“And then she got bigger?”
“Mmhmm. It was gradual. Just started happening pretty soon after that whole thing. One month she was eight feet tall, and the month after she was eight foot five. Hunter and I didn’t notice until she was bending over to get through doors. And… when we couldn’t judge how much we’d grown based on her. Almost thought we were shrinking.” She explained.
“It’d happen in bursts. She’d grow a couple feet, then a year or two would pass… then she’d get bigger… a couple more years… a couple more feet. But, eventually she stopped. Good timing, too. We absolutely wouldn’t be able to fit her current couch in here.”
Sally slowly stretched her whole body, putting her arms far out and closing her eyes. “And… that’s… how… sheeeee… got all biiiiig…” She said, straining her words as she stretched.
A loud pop rang out. “Hah!”
Sally sighed, relieved. “Ugh… Did you know laying down all day for several days isn’t good for your back?” She reopened her eyes to look at Jack.
Though it was hard to tell through her blurry vision, he had his eyes covered, and was looking away. It looked like he was blushing.
“Y-yeah… I could assume that…” He said, obviously uncomfortable.
Sally furrowed her eyebrows. She looked down to the rest of her body.
Her blanket had fallen off, and was no longer covering her bare fluffy ass. Her tail absently waved around.
“Oh.” She said in a monotone voice.
Sally slowly got off of her stomach, and reoriented herself into a criss-cross sitting position. Finally, she covered her lap with the blanket.
She sighed. “Okay… I’m covered… You can look at me now…” She said, looking off to the side, visibly irritated.
Jack peeked through his fingers, and removed his hand from his face entirely, seeing she was covered.
“Ah… Thank you…” He cleared his throat.
Sally’s tail loudly whipped against the floor beside her. “Hmmm…” She grumbled.
She looked back over to him. “Why do you have such a problem with seeing me undressed? If you’re that concerned about it, we’re gonna have problems being ‘intimate’, if you get what I mean. Especially with the things I have in mind…” She demanded, mumbling her last statement.
Jack stammered. “I-is it wrong for me to feel weird about it? I mean– come on! A-and, you being so… pushy about it, that just makes me feel even weirder about it…” He attempted to explain.
“Jack, it’s just my ass! About as ‘weird’ as my chest.” She snapped back. “You’re seeing my chest right now. I’ve covered you with it MANY times over the last few weeks. You’re totally fine with it both covered and uncovered! Why’s that, Jack? Why not the rest of me?” She asked, covering and uncovering her small fluffy breasts in rapid succession.
“Sally, that’s different and you know it! Th-that’s like saying because I’m not comfortable seeing your… backside… I-I shouldn’t be comfortable seeing your fa–” He suddenly stopped himself.
He looked to the side, suddenly deep in thought. He looked back over to Sally. “…Why are you allowed to be shy about your mask, but I can’t have my own comfort level about what I see?” He asked, pointing to her face, then his chest.
Sally’s tail froze. Her face went blank.
“…My… M-my…” She reached up to the center of her face. Her paw lightly grazed bare fur.
“Ahhh!” She squeaked out, throwing her paws over her eyes, covering the heart shaped mark on her face.
“D-dammit! I forgot about that…” She mumbled, shaking.
“I-I… Touche… Touche, Jack…” She yielded.
…
“It… It’s just… I want you to be comfortable around me… without the clothes… It’s… heartbreaking to have someone you care about… so uncomfortable around you when you feel so yourself… I-I hate shirts for a reason! It doesn’t feel right against my fur… The hoodie is comfy, and the leggings are soft… but nothing else feels right, and I just want to feel the air on my fur when I’m here at home… And, actually FEEL a hug… It’s not the same with those things on…” She dejectedly explained.
Jack frowned and looked to the side. “Oh…”
He hadn’t thought about how it felt to Sally, nor just how much it got to her.
“A-as for my face… I… um… It’s… really embarrassing for me… I… I wasn’t ready for you to see it…”
“Well… why not?” Jack inquired, confused by the severity she put upon it.
Sally turned away, her face still covered. “Well… the mark is… It’s… unbefitting… strange… out of the ordinary…”
Jack clenched his fists. “Who told you that?”
…
“Who told you?” He repeated, more direct.
“I-I did…” She whispered.
Jack released his grip and stared at her.
“…Why?” Is all he could think to ask.
…
“It’s… it’s written in important family passages that the mark hidden behind one’s mask marks their one true ambition…” She began. “It… starts out looking fairly shapeless… but, over time… it morphs and changes to resemble one’s passion… whether or not they even know it fully yet…”
She paused, gathering her thoughts.
Jack tilted his head and raised an eyebrow.
“Hunter’s mark at one point looked vaguely like two hands… performing a handshake… At least before he took some scissors and cut it… and cut it… and cut it… until the fur just gave up and grew differently… He didn’t care about much, but he seemed to care about looking presentable. In terms of his physical body. His clothes were often shredded within a month, as you know…”
Jack nodded. “Yeah…” He said, silently lamenting the loss of several great looking polo shirts he would’ve loved to have in various states of disrepair.
Sally turned her head to the side, and started blindly grasping around herself, keeping a single hand on her face.
“He’s… some kind of dealmaker now… whatever that is…” She muttered. “But… at least his mark used to represent something that’s actually… a job. That he can perform. Mine is just about… loving someone. It… started changing shortly after I met you… I felt embarrassed… How can an ambition be simple love? It sounded so weird… My mom was confused, but supportive… even when I demanded she help me make a mask… She didn’t want to force family traditions on us, but I kinda refused to leave her alone until she helped me make one…”
(…That’s a lot of information to take in, Sal.) Jack thought.
Jack had a hand on his forehead. “…Okay… multiple things…” He started.
He breathed in deep. “One: Mask tradition? What is that?”
Sally shrugged, a blanket now covering her face. “I dunno. It’s ancient. Once you’re old enough, no longer considered ‘kitten’, or ‘teen’, you’re kind of expected to hide your face from the world. It just kind of stuck with the whole species… Sometime between the transition between beast and person? It’s… not well documented or talked about… but it’s pretty universal for most of the Meowscarada I’ve seen or met. No one really questions it.”
“…So it’s a tradition no one understands yet still follows?” Jack summarized, trying to hide his contempt at the notion.
“Yep.”
“Okay… Next thing: You wear your mask to hide… what? How do you describe what you hide?” Jack inquired.
Sally is silent. She fidgeted with her wiggling tail.
“…What do you hide by hiding your face?” He repeated.
“…M-my… My love… for you…” She mumbled. “B-but it’s not that simple. It’s something that constantly runs through your conscious and unconscious mind, whether you know it or not. I’m… ALWAYS thinking about you! Th-that’s how a mark chooses its shape, and thus your eventual ‘job’ as part of the ‘pack’. L-loving you isn’t and can’t be a job, and it sounds… really creepy to say out loud. It essentially represents a general uselessness. I can’t imagine the odd stares I’d get…” She said, shaking her head lightly.
Jack exhaled quickly. “No… Sal, you’re not useless… Don’t say that…” He pleaded.
“Jack, I know that. Other people don’t, those who know will assume whatever they want. I can’t stop their opinions unless they don’t know at all. That’s why I wear it…” She explained.
Jack looked down. “…Then… lastly, why do you wear it around me?”
“What?”
“You… say other people would judge you. And, you know I’d never judge you. So… why do you hide it from me? We already know that we love each other. Right?”
Sally is silent.
Jack continued. “I… I understand you want me to feel comfortable around you with your… uncovered fluff… but, how can you demand that from me if… YOU yourself don’t feel comfortable around me without your mask? Combined with that… I… I miss seeing your cute face.” He admitted.
…
Sally slowly turned her head away from him, looking to the floor from beneath the blanket.
Sally sniffed quietly. “…I… I don’t… I don’t know how to… answer that…” She whimpered.
“It… it just doesn’t… feel right… I mean… is it not weird to you? I… I have an overbearingly strong need to be with you… so much so it has a physical effect on my body. I-I don’t think I’ve impressed upon you the fact that I can’t… NOT think of you… I don’t understand why you’d be fine with that…” She said quietly.
…
Sally closed her eyes underneath the blanket. “To be without my mask, you’d be reminded of my insane desires each and every time you see my face… That… doesn’t sound weird to you? At all?”
(Oh for crying out loud, Sal.)
Jack sighed. He slowly lowered himself off of the bed, and quietly walked up to her.
In an instant, he jumped up into her lap, and hugged her soft, fuzzy middle, his head almost nearing her neck.
Sally put her paws up. Her eyes shot open and darted down at Jack in surprise. “Eeep..!” She squeaked.
The fur on her back momentarily stood on end, her tail slightly poofed.
…
“Hum… Umm… J-Jack..? What are you..? Why are you–”
(How many times do I gotta hug you for you to understand, Sal?)
“You’re not weird, Sal. Maybe a bit silly, but not weird.” He whispered. “And, like I said yesterday, there’s nothing you can do that will make me hate you. I love you, and you love me. I don’t really care how much you think about me. It’s not weird. At least not to me.” He chuckled. “You’re just being you. And I love you, remember? I’ll ALWAYS be here for you.” He assured her.
Sally stared quietly at him, his face still slightly buried in her fur.
“…For anything! If you want a hug… to cuddle… to talk. Anything. Hell, if your mind is bugging you that much, you could just pick me up and take me where you need me. I won’t mind, I promise. We’re in this together, aren’t we? That’s part of being in a relationship. We do things for each other.” Jack explained.
“I…” Sally started to say.
“Right?” Jack interjected.
Sally closed her mouth, thinking for a moment.
Finally, she responded. “…Yes.”
“Then… let’s agree to something.” He began.
(Oh no…) Sally thought.
“If I… try to get used to your… body… then, can you… try not wearing your mask around me as often?” He offered.
Sally quickly glanced to the side. “Um… W-well… I… I don’t…” She looked back down at Jack.
He was staring up into her eyes. “Please? Can… can we give it a chance at least?”
Sally froze once more, her eyes widened.
There was an intense feeling that she needed to hide her face that bubbled up more and more for each second that passed.
Sally tried pushing the feeling down, but it just kept building. Her heart raced faster and faster.
Everything was telling her to run, run, run.
In a last ditch effort, she shut her eyes tight, and put her paws on her knees, massaging them gently.
She slowly breathed in through her nose, and held it for a moment.
She exhaled slowly through her mouth, a minimal amount of stress dissolving from her chest.
Sally repeated this exercise in an attempt to ground herself. Once. Then twice. Then more.
Finally, most of the feeling had left her system.
Sally sighed, and slowly reopened her eyes to look at Jack.
Some of the stress quickly returned, but it didn’t feel nearly as bad this time.
“…Okay. I’ll… try. I’ll try to work on it… If… that’s what will help us…” She accepted.
Jack smiled lightly, and looked back down. He put his forehead against her fluffy body, and closed his eyes. “…Thank you. I know… this isn’t easy for you… but it isn’t for me either. But, that’s what we’re both here for. To help each other through it. Okay?”
Sally is silent once more.
She slowly slid her paws over Jack’s lower body, finally completing her part of the hug.
“…Okay…” She quietly said.
…
Jack ran his hands through the fur on her back. “Did you know you’re really soft? Like… really, really soft?” He asked.
Sally chuckled. “I mean, I assumed I was. Why ask?”
“I really like how fuzzy you are. Not really any other reason.” He admitted, continuing to pass his hands across the plush fur.
Sally giggled. “Ha ha… Well just wait until my winter coat fully comes in in a few months, this isn’t as fuzzy as I get…” She replied.
(This really shouldn’t feel as good as it does…) She thought, fighting the urge to purr.
…
“…Are you feeling tired?” Jack suddenly asked, remembering her other sudden bouts of tiredness.
Sally forced a laugh. “Hah. I wish. I’d love to sleep this size away. ‘Specially with you right here in my arms… But I’ve never felt more awake than I do now. In fact, I tried going back to sleep before you got up. It uh… obviously didn’t work. So I just looked at my overgrown body, and moped.”
“Oh. I’m sorry.” He offered.
“It’s not your fault. Just… Just not tired is all. Just happened to be NOW of all times…” She muttered. “It just means we have more time to talk. Which can be considered better.”
Jack nodded. “Mmm.”
…
Jack looked back up. “I have an idea, if you’re interested in passing the time a bit faster.”
“Hmm… Sure. This moment is kind of nice by itself, but I’d enjoy something a bit more… distracting. What’s the idea?” She asked.
Jack let go of Sally. “Let me go get something real quick.”
Sally moved her paws off of him, and let him get down to the floor. He then left the room.
She removed the blanket from her face, and sighed.
…
Her heart rate started to go up again at the realization of what she just signed up for.
She closed her eyes, and deeply inhaled.
She tried to convince herself that she could do this. That she could knowingly be without her mask for a prolonged period of time, at least with Jack.
She slowly exhaled. “Deep breaths… Deep breaths… He’s already seen it… He’s fine with it, so you should be too…”
Sally fiddled with her still poofed tail, smoothing it out. “After all… you agreed to this, and he’s doing something for you as well… It’s… It’s all gonna be fine…”
“Alright, I got it.” Jack said as he walked back in, holding a closed laptop as well as his phone in one hand, and a charger in his other hand.
Sally flinched and fought the urge to re-cover her face.
Jack’s eyes lingered on her face for a moment. He quickly turned to the closest wall socket, and began walking to it.
(…Probably better to not mention it.)
“Was thinking we could pass the time watching some stuff together… or maybe play a game… You wanna do something like that? We can talk while we do it.” He offered.
“…Sure. Ahm… Anything… specific?” She asked, getting down and curling up on her side, her back to the bed.
Jack plugged the laptop’s charger into the socket. “I was just going to go with whatever you suggested.” He said, approaching Sally.
He looked her up and down. “…How um… How do you want to do this?” He asked.
Sally tilted her head. “Eh? What do you mean?”
“Where should I… sit. So we can both see the screen.” He clarified.
“Oh. Uh… I don’t know… Mmm… Maybe… prop yourself against my face? I-I don’t know.” She admitted.
(Your face? Whatever.)
“…Alright. Let’s try that.” He said, approaching her face.
He sat down, and scooted himself back into her fuzzy cheek. He is taller than her head while sitting.
“Nnmph…” She went.
Sally strangely felt a lot more at ease with the lack of comment on her uncovered face. With Jack acting like it was normal, it became the slightest bit easier for Sally to pretend as well.
“Okay… is this fine? This comfortable for you? Can you see the screen fine?” He asked, opening the laptop. The screen brightened quickly.
It was open on a blank window that simply stated “Error Timeout” and under that “please reload the page and login”
Sally squinted. “Y-yeah. I can see it. And, yeah, stay there. I like having you close.”
“Okay.” Jack said, looking back to the laptop.
“Hmm. Suppose I’ll have to finish reading that later. Almost forgot with everything else going on.” He said, opening a new tab and closing the previous one.
“So, what do you wanna watch?” He asked, turning his head to look at Sally.
 
 
A let’s play from some quiet individuals with occasionally very funny quips. They were silent during cutscenes, only making jokes when they saw a priceless opportunity.
It offered a decent amount of time for passive conversation between Jack and Sally. Things like general life outside of the house in recents months, reassessments of plans, as well as personal conversations.
Sally learned that Jack’s father worked at a call center, while his mom was a fashionista of sorts. She personally handcrafted Jack’s sweatshirt styled to his preferences as per his request. He was quite floored, considering he had only asked for a blue sweatshirt, not for her to make one.
His place of work was even directly involved with her, having several lines of her specially designed articles. It’s how Jack got the job so easily, and why the idea of ‘letting go’ of such an asset isn’t even entertained by upper management.
There were even protections he was unaware of even having, such as a zero-tolerance policy regarding him in specific, whether it be customer or worker or even someone of higher authority: ‘You will be blacklisted or fired if you eat this person on the premises’.
Jack learned that Sally’s father wasn’t around long enough for her to remember, but her mother made constant reference to him as being quite kind. He had apparently come to the realization that he wasn’t ready to settle down, and just wanted to keep exploring the world.
He left on good terms, but with his departure from the family, Hunter had lost someone he could actually relate to. Hunter always got a fiery look in his eyes when he was brought up.
Several hours go by relatively quickly with the videos as background noise, and the occasional story.
But, suddenly, as another video in the playlist finished:
Jack’s phone began ringing.
Jack quickly turned and picked up the phone at his side.
“Ah… Kaycie…” He whispered.
Sally glanced down at him hearing the name. (Kaycie) Her mind echoed.
Jack answered the call and put it on speaker mode.
“Hey kaycie.” He said.
“Heeeeey Jack.” A friendly monotone voice responded. “How ya been? You been doin’ anything for your week off yet? Spendin’ some time with the love? Second or third baaaaase?” They asked, stretching their words.
Sally snorted, and suppressed the urge to laugh.
(Oh, she’s funny…)
Jack put a hand to his face. “…I’ve got you on speaker, Kaycie.”
“Whoops!” Kaycie laughed. “Oh well. Sorry about that, didn’t mean ta embarrass ya. You’re not on that level yet?”
“Can we not talk about this? H-how are you?” Jack deflected.
Kaycie clicked her tongue. It sounded odd through the phone’s speaker. “Eh, I’m fine. Could be better, but also could be worse. Ran outta good protein yesterday and I forgot ta order more of it, so I went out ta the mart today to try and find some more… ended up eatin’ someone again since they NEVER have anythin’ even remotely comparable… at least not for very long before they replace it with some other JUNK.” She replied. “You?”
“Um…” Jack glanced at Sally behind him. She returned his gaze with a tired stare.
He sighed. “Growing pains.”
Kaycie audibly paused. “…What? You’re growing?” Kaycie asked, confused.
“No. It’s–It’s a long story, and we’re still dealing with it. Just, the whole thing has been emotionally tiring to deal with.” He vaguely explained.
“Oh.” She went, her laid back voice losing steam. “I’m… sorry. You uh… need to cancel our run? Or, do you need anythin’?”
Jack shook his head even though she wouldn’t see it. “No, don’t worry you’re fine. We’ll be fine as well. Just going through it right now is all.”
“…Okay. If you say so.”
…
“What uh… What did you need?” Jack suddenly asked.
“Oh, well, just to check in, really. Was interested in what you were doin’. And uh… to say I invited someone else ta that party. Somebody who I thought kinda needed it.” Kaycie answered.
Jack narrowed his eyes. “Okay… You invited another person… I get that part… But uh, why are you telling me?” He asked, confused.
“I dunno. I wanted to tell someone, and Amelia wouldn’t answer ‘er phone.” She said. “Plus… It’s technically two persons. They got two heads, and uh… share a body.”
Jack thought for a moment. “…Did you invite the two guys I occasionally see working at the Meowth Mart?”
“THAT’S what it’s called? How unoriginal! That’s like naming a bird store after a Taillow…”
“Okay, one: Timburr CO. Two: Do you pay attention to the names of businesses? Like at all?” Jack inquired.
“No.” Kaycie immediately said without an ounce of embarrassment.
Jack waited a moment for her to say something else.
…
Jack stammered at her silence. “O-okay. You know what? It doesn’t matter. T-third: You didn’t answer my question. Did you invite those two who work there?” He repeated.
“Yeah, I did. The two fluffy boys…” She mentioned them in a dreamy voice.
There was a moment of silence. She continued in a normal tone. “I’d take my shot with ‘em if I didn’t catch the timid one blushin’ at that lovely gal I saw. Though, then again I’m not too sure I like the dick-ish nature of the other head…”
Jack ignored her ramblings. “Okay cool. Why them, though?” He asked.
Sally quietly yawned, and began rhythmically tapping the digits of one of her paws against the floor. She stared at Jack through half closed eyes.
She found listening to other people’s phone calls boring and mind numbing.
She had been listening so intently on the off chance the call would lead to other less savory talk, but really it just seemed like two friends talking. That combined with Kaycie’s opening line really tickling Sally’s funny bone, she didn’t see any reason to suspect anything, nor listen to make sure.
If only she could sleep…
Though, maybe she could. Maybe, she could use this call to her advantage.
“They constantly bicker, and they could only come up with one example of a friend. I only ever see them at the mart, and supposedly they don’t really get out anywhere. I felt bad! I want them to find a friend, get out in the world. Those kinds of things! I thought that maybe they’ll find that kind of thing at a party.” Kaycie explained.
Jack sat up straight. Sally’s head slowly slipped out from behind him, falling to the floor on its side.
“Mmph…”
“Oh. Well, that was nice of you.” Jack said.
“Eh. I do that occasionally. Not always, but sometimes.”
“Mmm. Was there anything else you wanted to say?”
“Well, now that you mention it…” Kaycie began once more.
The voices became indistinct as Sally slowly but surely fell deeper and deeper into unconsciousness.
…
“…So is this friend the clothing or is she the…”
It felt long. At some points, it felt like she had been laying for hours.
“…That’s why we think this party keeps being pushed back so mu…”
But, eventually, she fully slipped into slumber.
…
…
…
“Okay, okay, I got it! I’ll bring my largest bottle. Don’t worry about it.” Jack said.
“Good. Long run, even a water type like yerself is gonna need some water eventually.” Kaycie repeated.
Jack shook his head. “Understood… Look, we’ve been talking awhile, surely there’s nothing else, right?”
Kaycie thought for a moment. “Hmmmm…”
Jack heard the tapping of fingers on a hard surface coming through the receiver.
(Please be over please be over please be over please be over)
“…Eh. Yeah I can’t think of anythin’ else to bother ya with. At least not over the phone.” She finally responded.
Jack sighed with relief. “Okay… Alright. I’m hanging up now. Bye.”
“See ya soon! Can’t wait to meet ya girlfriend. Hope she’s not fluffy, ‘cause if so I might steal ‘er from ya!” She teased, hanging up on HIM immediately after.
Jack faltered at that comment as his phone screen went dark.
He had been joking when he said Kaycie would be more likely to try to get with Sally.
“…”
Jack shook it off and put the phone down.
He sighed and stretched for a moment. “Alright… Sorry about that, Sal. That call lasted a lot longer than I was expecting it to. You wanna watch this next video?” He asked, hand hovering over the spacebar.
All he heard for a response was silence.
Jack raised an eyebrow and glanced behind himself. “Sal?”
Sally was sound asleep, curled up with her paws close to her chest, her tail in her arms. Her lips were slightly parted. A light barely audible snore came from her as her chest rose and fell.
“Ah.” Jack whispered. “I see.”
Jack turned back to the laptop, bookmarked the playlist, and shut the machine down before closing it.
He set it aside, and quietly left the room.
 
 
A very fuzzy looking Sally sat against a wall and held a sleeping Jack, his beak slightly agape, close in her lap. a loud purr ran through her. Her fur was all mussed up, and she had a big smile.
She was merely only double his height now, and would likely be back to her normal size by the next day.
“Mrrr… Mrrr… Mrrr…” She went, rubbing her cheeks lightly against the top of his head.
Sally finally felt somewhat safe handling him, believing she was small enough to not crush him.
When she awoke, she found herself in another lovey-dovey mood, so she took the opportunity to release her pent up love upon Jack. He had been sleeping against her side.
Loose strands of fur filled the air, fallen off with how rough Sally was being with her own body.
“Mrrr… Prrr… Merow… Mmmph…” She hugged him tighter and buried her face into him.
Jack began to stir. “…Hmm..? Mmph..? Pthoo…” He quietly went, blowing stray wisps of fur out of his mouth.
Sally opened her eyes feeling the light gust against her face. “Mrrm? Mra?” She went, backing her head up slightly.
Jack turned his head to the side and rubbed his eyes. “Pfft… Phoo… Eugh…” He went, seemingly unable to remove the fluff that assaulted the inside of his mouth.
He reached into his open beak, and scraped his feathered hand against his tongue. He collected a small amount of semi-damp green fur, and shook it off.
“Ahk… *cough*… What the fuh… Why ith ther tho muth..?” He mumbled, his words slurring.
Sally gave him a moment to recover, staring innocently at him while purring.
…
“Eugh…” Jack opened his eyes. His head tilted up, and he glanced into Sally’s eyes. His back was buried in her fluffy chest.
“…Morning?” He said, sounding unsure. “What–what was that about..?”
“Hmmm…” Sally went, pulling him closer to her face again. Her purring intensified.
“…Sorry… prr… Guess… prr… I got… prrrr… a little… mrrrff..! Carried away… mrrrrrrrrr…” She said, lightly rubbing her face against his own.
“Mpph… Okay, yeah, I get it. I love you too, Sal.” Jack mumbled. He gently patted the side of her face a couple times.
Sally drew away a tad, her face inches away from Jack’s. Her eyes squinted at him. “…It’s just been so long… since I’ve been able to actually… HuUUuuUuug yoOooOu…” She shuddered and shivered. Her pupils quickly flickered between hearts and not, finally settling back to normal after a moment.
“…I see… You… You get what you needed out of that?” He asked.
She fully closed her eyes and looked down to her lap. Her purrs turned into a quiet squealing trill.
Sally suddenly flipped Jack over, and squeezed him against her chest, burying his face in the fluff once more.
“Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah…” She whispered.
“…Mmkay…” Jack went, his voice muffled.
Sally let out a relieved sigh and released her grip. Jack removed his face from her chest.
He violently yawned. “Come on, Sal..! I just woke up. Your fur is making me tired…”
Sally giggled. “Ha… ha… That’s… an odd reaction… Sorry..?” She offered, not sorry in the slightest.
She would keep this in mind for future potential cuddling sessions.
Jack got off of her and stood up. “It’s fine…” He plainly replied.
Sally sank and fell to her side. Her purring picked up once more as she rubbed her body against both the wall behind her, and the carpet beneath her. “Mrrr… Prrr…”
Her mussed up fur continued to look worse and worse for wear, going in all sorts of directions. It was even hard to tell there was ever a tuft on the top of her head.
Jack couldn’t help but stare, an odd look on his face. “…You’re acting strange… You alright? I thought the emotional phase was over.”
“Jack, I’m a cat… Don’t worry about it…” She assured him. “…It’s a bit easy for us to switch on a dime and slip into moods like this… I’m just unlucky… got a large unrelenting spectrum… and I’ve just been decent at holding back until now…” She explained.
Sally paused.
She continued before Jack could say anything. “For example…There have been days I wanted you to treat me like your little pet… holding me by the arms… carrying me around… laying in your lap… Now that I know I like pets, getting pet by you…”
“There are days I’ve wanted to grab you… throw you on the chair… and shove you in its corner as I hugged and cuddled you… And, in the same day, I would just switch, and decide I wanted nothing more than to slowly swallow you from the feet up, no matter where we were… and playfully smother you with your own added pudge in your bed… I enacted that specific eating part only a couple times, as you know… I held back HAAAARD with the second part, though… Every… single… time…” She admitted.
Yet, she still wasn’t done. “The point is, this is just another one of my moods… I have a lot of them in constant rotation… I just couldn’t resist this one this time… I let it consume me… Probably gonna last a while… if not all day…” She whispered.
Jack isn’t sure how to respond. “Sounds… interesting. That’s… pretty chaotic to try and deal with, wouldn’t you say?”
Sally let out a single loud “HA!” before going into a short fit of giggles.
“Oh, please! It’s actually really easy to deal with… Just don’t entertain it for too long and you’re fine! But if you do… that’s what will cement it…” She explained.
“…That one day… Day I first got big… THAT’S what I would consider TRUE chaos in my head…” She said, giggling. “I may seem a bit similar outwardly… But dear Deity! I felt like I needed everything all at once… There was nothing for my mind to decide on, yet it took everything that I thought of for even a moment… And nothing I did gave me true satisfaction… Meanwhile, I actually feel somewhat satisfied with just that hug… Though now I feel like I just wanna lie down all day…”
“…Okay. I’ll… take your word for it. I guess.” Jack relented.
…
“Did you want me to stay here with you?” Jack asked. “Was thinking I’d finally knock out that reading I needed to do.”
Sally tilted her head up to think. “Mmmm…”
She put her head back down. “Nah… I got what I wanted… For now at least…” She responded.
Jack wasn’t expecting that outcome.
“Oh. Alright. Holler if you need anything?”
“Mmkay…” She went. “Bye~”
“See ya.” Jack said, leaving the room.
 
 
Jack picked up the white mug from underneath a small device, a semi-dark liquid occasionally dripping from it. He brought the mug close to his face.
He inhaled deeply, taking in the aroma of the coffee. Dryness, making his mouth water simply smelling it, combined with that wonderful note of sweetness that chesto berries are known for. Almost candy-like.
Jack lowered the mug and sighed. He quickly brought the rim of the mug back up to his beak, and took a long drink from it.
The taste was bitter, water-like. The aroma barely translated in terms of flavor, and was quite a big letdown for Jack.
Jack’s face twitched. “That’s… I don’t know what I was expecting.”
He wished he could simply buy creamers and other taste enhancers without needing to drastically change his eating habits. He, unlike Sally, wasn’t fond of having extra weight.
Jack’s eyes wandered across the counter. He stopped at something foil-wrapped in the corner.
He tilted his head and grabbed it.
He turned it over in his hand and examined the packaging.
A pokéblock bar.
‘Limited Edition: Enigma’
Beneath that: ‘TASTE THE UNKNOWN’
There were clear attempts to open the packaging, a slight tear at the top that didn’t quite reach the contents.
“Oh, hey. Thought we ran out of these…” Jack said, tearing the rest of the wrapper off.
He remembered the sour look Sally gave him when she first took a bite of one.
‘I think I’d like to actually know what I’m eating…’ She had mumbled, turning the solid gray and white bar over so she could read the ingredients on its wrapper.
Jack was glad that he had at least liked them. They weren’t exactly cheap.
Back in the present, Jack took a bite of the bar as he rounded the corner and entered the living room.
He suddenly stopped mid chew, a puzzled look on his face.
He had set up the laptop on the couch, yet where it once was, there was instead a sleeping Sally, taking up just about the whole couch. She was bundled in two blankets.
The now closed laptop was moved to the table in the center of the room.
Looks like she was finally small enough to squeeze through that door.
Jack swallowed, and approached the sleeping invader.
He set down his makeshift breakfast next to the laptop.
Sally’s head and face was uncovered. She breathed quietly through her slightly open mouth.
Jack reached out and tapped the top of her head.
“Mrr!” Sally flinched, her eyes shot open.
Her widened eyes focussed on Jack, and her increased heart rate began to slow back down.
“Myeaa…” She went, narrowing her eyes. Her ears went flat. “You scared meeee-aawww…” She said, yawning.
“What do you waaant..? I’m tryna sleeeeeep..!” She whined, turning her head away.
Jack sighed. “Did you not see… the computer? On the couch? I was… planning on reading right where you’ve placed yourself.”
Sally is silent for a moment.
“…Well… Couch comfy… So there…” She reasoned.
“…Listen, all I need is like… ONE cushion.” He said, patting the cushion Sally’s head rested on. “Do you think you could… move a bit? Please?”
…
Sally quickly exhaled through her nose.
“…Fine…” She mumbled.
She folded into herself a tad, laying more on her side, her legs and paws drawn into her as opposed to stretched out.
She moved her head off of the cushion, drawing it toward her chest, and nuzzled against the couch.
“nnnnn…” Sally went, closing her eyes once more.
“Okay. Thank you.” Jack said.
He turned around, and grabbed the laptop as well as his ‘meal’. He placed the mug and the bar on an end table in the corner of the room, threatening to be crushed by the couch if it were moved wrong.
Jack sat down and placed the laptop in his lap.
“Alright…” He said, opening it up.
“mmmm…” Sally went, immediately placing her head over the laptop’s keyboard and into Jack’s lap.
The tab he had open began spamming the letter “h” in the search bar.
Jack blinked and clicked his tongue. “O-kay…”
He carefully slipped the laptop out from under her, and placed it on the armrest of the couch.
Jack sighed. “What’re you doing?”
Sally had an innocent looking smile on her face, her eyes remained closed. “Being cute…” She said.
Jack nodded. “Mhm. I see that. You’re being VERY cute. Adorable even. I’m more confused about the fact you told me you were fine without me, and that I didn’t need to stay with you, yet, here you are in my lap.” He replied, slowly running his hand across the top of her head. “Why?”
Sally’s smile widened the slightest bit. She leaned hard into his hand and began quietly trilling.
“mmm… Well… if you’re right here, why not get a little extra attention..? It just makes sense to me…” She reasoned. “Plus… it’s only fair… It’s been pretty hard for me to sleep without you lately… and you just woke me up, so you gotta help me get to sleep again…”
Jack sighed.
He put his other hand on the underside of her chin, and pulled her head close.
He tightly hugged it, and rubbed the sides of her face.
“You’re just a big cuddlebug… You can just never get enough, can you?” He observed.
“Mrrrrrrrr! mmmm… H-hah…” Sally shuddered.
“Prrr… Never…” She confirmed.
(Why’s she gotta be so cute?) Jack thought.
He slowly lowered her head back into his lap.
“Mraa…”
“Fine, you can stay there. Don’t expect me to be petting you the whole time, though. I need to make sure I get at least some of this information in my head.” He said, turning his upper body to the laptop. He rested both arms on the single armrest.
“Mmkay…” Sally went.
…
The typing on the keyboard was loud, almost irritatingly so.
“Let’s see…”
…
Jack shook his head. “Did they make this longer..?” He asked, noting a larger number of pages than when he had first started reading.
(Not sure I’m interested in reading more of what was already pretty fucking confusing sounding.)
Sally shifted her head. “Just remember… I’m right here if you need a breeeak…” She mumbled.
He glanced at her, and patted her head a couple times before quickly returning his attention to the laptop.
(…Not long enough…) She thought, nuzzling back into his lap.
 
 
“Oh for crying out loud… HOW much more?” Jack muttered, observing the number of pages he still had left.
He absentmindedly rubbed the top of Sally’s head, much to her now silent enjoyment.
She had her paws gently wrapped around him.
Several hours had gone by, plus the hours he had read before, and still he was not even halfway through the large text.
“I’m running out of patience real quick. Debating just asking a coworker…” He paused. “In fact, I might just ask one of the higher ups. Maybe they’ll get the hint that this is too long and that something needs to change.”
Sally nuzzled her face against Jack’s chest.
Jack looked down at her. “Nothing to say about that?” He asked.
Sally slowly tilted her head to look up at him through squinted tired eyes. Her whole body began to shiver with only this slight movement.
She’s silent for a moment, slowly blinking.
“…Did you want me to say something..?” She whispered weakly.
At this point, it looked like she was fighting sleep simply to be with him longer.
Though, it was hard to tell.
Jack furrowed his eyebrows. “I mean… only if you wanted to.”
Sally laid her head back down and fully closed her eyes. “nnnn…”
“Hm. Riiiight. Forgot you were sleepy today.” He said.
…
(…You know what? I’m tired of this, too.) Jack decided.
He squirmed out from under Sally’s head, and slipped out of her weakly grasping paws.
Sally’s smile melted into a frown. she cracked her eyes back open. “Hmm..?” She whined.
Jack got on her front, and laid down on her chest. He sneaked his arms through her own, and reached around to the back of her head in a tight hug.
“Meerrrmm..! M-mrow…” She quietly groaned, settling back down.
Jack sighed. “You’re so soft…” He mumbled into her fur. “So soft, so tired, and so needy… Luckily for you, I’ve lost interest in that overly long document, and I think I’m going to focus my efforts into helping you sleep, since you seem to be having some trouble with that.”
Sally quietly purred. “W…where has this side of you been..?” She whispered.
Jack furrowed his eyebrows. “What do you mean?”
“You’re… acting so much more… I don’t know…” She admitted. “The vibe I get from you has just changed dramatically… It reminds me of my fantasies…”
Jack lifted his head up. “Really…” He said plainly. “How’s that?”
“…Promise you won’t be weirded out or laugh..?” She asked.
“Sal, we've been through this. Tell me.”
…
“…I’ve debated getting a leash and collar for you to lead me around with…” She whispered. “…In a lot of my more intimate dreams… you’re a sly devil… small yet strong… Dommminaaannt…” She shivered at that last word.
Sally paused to take a breath.
(You’ve got quite the spectrum, Sally.) Jack thought.
Jack seemed puzzled. “…Aren’t you the dominant one? From what I’ve seen?”
“…Usually… B-but the thought of you being the one to switch on a dime and… take control… something so unlike yourself… it’s an intoxicating thought… Especially since there’s really nothing stopping you from doing so..! You’re really strong when you want to be… I wouldn’t stand a chance…” She muttered.
Jack glanced to the side, a sour look on his face. “Yeah… Sorry to say, I think that kind of thing is out of the cards. This is about as ‘dominant’, as you called it, as I’m willing to get…” He said, gently patting the back of her head.
Sally frowned. “Oh man… And here I was hoping…” She mumbled.
Jack ran his hand from her head down to her neck. He lightly scritched her chin. “That’s… fine though, right?”
…
(Of course it is you sweet, sweet bird… Just hold still for me…) Sally thought.
Sally gently put her paws on him. “Yeeaaah…” She said.
Jack let out a relieved sigh. “Alright. It just sounds like a bit much to me… Not exactly comfortable with… treating you that way is all.” He explained.
“…It’s fine…” Sally mumbled, slowly adjusting her paws over his arms. “After all…”
In an instant, she gripped his arms hard, and rolled over. In the ensuing chaos, the blankets slipped off. She was now on top of Jack, his arms pinned against the couch, the lower half of his body covered by her own.
Jack’s eyes widened. He looked up at Sally, A surprised look on his face.
“…”
Sally squinted down at him, a very light glint in her eye, her smile coy. Her ears were flat, and her tail slowly fwipped back and forth behind her.
Sally continued. “I thought about it… and I suppose you’re right… I am the more dominant one… You wouldn’t even do something as tame as this… would you..?” She asked.
“…” Jack remained silent, still processing what exactly happened.
“…Jack..?” Sally went, a hint of concern in her otherwise tired voice. “Hello..? You alright..?”
Jack blinked. “What just happened?”
“I flipped ya…” She plainly replied.
“Ah. I see.” He said slowly.
Sally looked at him expectantly.
Jack shook his head in an attempt to reorient himself. “Uhm… You asked a question?”
“You’re not the kind to do what I’m currently doing… right? Something as tame as this?” She repeated.
“Ah.” He lightly nodded. “Yeah no. I-I don’t think so.”
Sally stared intently into his eyes.
“A-are you gonna let go of me now?” He asked.
She slowly leaned in closer to his face. Waves of hot breath hit him, forcing him to squint.
She simply continued to stare for a moment.
Finally, she spoke. “What do you think I should do to you now that I have you..?” She pondered.
Jack glanced at one of his pinned arms, then back to Sally.
(…Again..? So soon..? What happened to–) His thought is suddenly interrupted.
Sally giggled, the glint in her eyes fading. “Just kidding…”
She loosened her grip slightly.
“…I just want to sleep… couldn’t sleep during your little… thing… so I thought maybe some more direct attention would help…” Sally explained.
Jack slipped an arm out from under her paw, and examined it.
It was a bit numb from lack of blood flow, but otherwise it looked and felt fine.
He looked back to Sally. “…Wasn’t I already… providing that? Before you… flipped me?” He asked, confused by her seemingly backwards logic.
“Yes…” She said.
“…So why–”
“But it wasn’t under my terms…” Sally interjected. “I’m… very very tired… but I’m also in another one of my moods… I sat quietly for a while… just letting you work… get the occasional pet… but still I couldn’t sleep… No matter how much time went by… And, that means you chose unfortunate timing to finally show even the slightest bit of dominance… Got a severe need to be the one in control right now…” She mumbled.
Sally got back into a lying position, and gently set the side of her cheek on Jack’s chest. “So… I’m just gonna lay on you… and…” She yawned quietly. “Sleep…” She snuggled against him and purred.
“Nnmmph..!” Jack grunted.
Though gentle, and a much more manageable size, she was still twice his height, and decently large, her head alone taking up his entire chest and then some.
The weight on his chest was only a couple pounds away from being too much to handle.
“W-well… If it’s control you wanted… I think ya got it…” Jack said in a strained voice. “D-don’t think… I can… move…” He said, demonstrating his point by trying to grab and pull himself towards the armrest.
He doesn’t move an inch.
(…Okay… I guess we’re doing this now…)
Jack slowly slid a hand up to Sally’s head, and began petting.
“Mmmmmm… Yeah… this is much better…” Sally said.
“Glad to… huff… hear it…” He responded.
Jack was hopeful that today would be the last he saw of the Ditto’s effects. He felt stir crazy, and just wanted to get up and do something with her again.
His original goal was to help Sally fall asleep, then get up and get some fresh air. Maybe grab a thing or two at a store, even though they needed nothing at the moment.
But… he supposed fate had a different plan for him for the rest of this experience.
Though, he had to admit, the lack of control didn’t feel as bad as he might’ve thought. In fact, it felt strangely comfortable.
Familiarly so…
“…Sal?” Jack whispered.
“Yeah..?”
“…I wouldn’t mind you doing something like this again in the future…” He said. “A-at your normal size! N-not with this kind of… growth… next time…” He stammeringly clarified.
“Ooh..!” Sally giggled. “Okay… I’ll keep that in mind…” She mumbled.
…
Sally’s breathing suddenly changed.
Jack paused and furrowed his eyebrows. “Sal..?” He whispered.
…
There’s no response.
He listened closer, and could make out Sally’s signature quiet snore.
She’d fallen asleep already.
(…Guess she wasn’t kidding about being really tired…)
Jack slid his hands down to his chest, and attempted to slip them underneath her head to take some of the pressure off his chest.
He’s successful. It helps a minimal amount, but it could also be considered about as bad as before.
“Mrrm…” Sally fussed, quickly becoming silent again.
(Oh, sorry, am I making you a bit uncomfortable???) Jack couldn’t help but think.
Jack sighed and closed his eyes.
(Is it even nighttime? My sleep schedule is going to be so fucked…)
 
 
 
 
 
 
Act Five: Back to normal [Includes biting]
 
 
 
 
 
 
…
“Jack…” A quiet whisper echoed in Jack’s mind.
…
“Jack…” A bit louder this time.
..
“JACK!” Sally suddenly yelled.
Jack practically leapt into a sitting position, his heart rate thoroughly accelerated.
“HUH!?” He blindly looked around, blinking rapidly. “What!? Whatisit??!”
“Calm down!” Sally demanded. “Nothing’s wrong! In fact everything’s great!” She said excitedly.
“Huh?” Jack went, rubbing his eyes.
He looked toward where her voice was coming from, and his vision slowly returned to normal.
She had a big smile on her uncovered face. She was leaning incredibly close towards him, her legs on top of his own. Her fur looked slightly less unkempt.
…
“W-what?” Jack asked, entirely oblivious in his delirium.
Sally didn’t skip a beat. “I’m back to normal!” She said, throwing her arms around him. Her tail also coiled tightly around his back.
“Ack…” Jack went.
“I-I can finally hug you… and I mean ACTUALLY HUG you! N-not a gentle paw wrap… or that strange half hug I had to do the other day… A genuine embrace… I’ve wanted to do this again for soooo long..!” She said, nuzzling hard into his shoulder.
“…Oh.” He said, the realization finally clicking in his mind.
“OH! Y-you’re right! Ha… I didn’t notice somehow…” He returned the hug.
“Th-there’s so much I can finally do again… I-I can go outside, for one… I can actually do some art and writing, now… I can go on my phone without fear of crushing it!”
“Yeah. And… I can get some fresh air if I want it now…” Jack added.
Sally shuddered. “Ah… fresh air…” She muttered. “Never thought I’d yearn to feel the cold winter breeze… when that time comes along, anyways…”
Jack laughed. “Yeah… I like winter. Can’t wait for it to–” Jack faltered.
He furrowed his eyebrows.
He hadn’t realized it before, but his body felt… odd. Tingly.
The feeling only found itself wherever Sally’s body was touching his. The tail on his lower back, paws on his upper back, her arms on his sides, his arms and hands on her sides and back, her head on his shoulder, and his entire front minus his head and face.
Jack slowly shifted a hand downward across her fur.
His hand is filled with this tingly sensation, an overwhelming feeling of soft assaulting his senses. the softness of her fur seemingly multiplied by several factors since just the other day.
His eyes widened and he softly gasped as a new feeling settled within him. A surge of warmth entered his face.
(She’s… she’s so… s o f t …)
He’d never felt something like this before, the complete disinterest of letting go, the thought that he NEEDED to keep holding her in his arms so that he could keep feeling her fur.
…
Sally began pulling away. “So… what’s the first thing you want to do now that–”
Jack pulled her back in. Tight. “No. C-come back…” He begged.
Sally, taken aback by her head being forcibly put back on his shoulder, glanced at the side of Jack’s head with a shocked expression, followed by confusion.
(Since when have you prolonged a hug?) She thought.
“…Jack?” Sally went. “I-I guess I can… stay here for… a minute…” She mumbled. “But um… c-could you explain why YOU’RE suddenly the clingy one?” She nervously laughed, unsure of how to respond to this sudden shift.
Jack simply continued to slowly rub his hands across her back, occasionally starting up toward the back of her neck.
“Jaaack? I… this feels nice and all but… I’m a bit confused. Please explain why you’re so… this.” She requested, unsure of how to refer to his state.
Jack lightly rubbed the side of his head against hers. “You’re so… soft…”
Sally paused.
Sally tilted her head slightly. “…Yeeeaaahhh..? You uh… already came to that conclusion a couple days ago… right?”
“Noooooo…” Jack said. “You’re softer… It’s… It’s like…” He seemingly couldn’t come up with a comparison.
Sally furrowed her eyebrows. (Like what..?)
“…I don’t know… But it’s like I’m hugging… silk… but it’s something even softer than that…”
Sally narrowed her eyes. The cramped conditions combined with the slow rhythmic pets Jack gave her were bringing about the beginnings of a particular mood within Sally. It gnawed at the back of her mind.
She did her best to push it aside.
Sally took a paw and rubbed it up and down her other arm.
…
(This… this doesn’t feel any different.)
“Are you alright?” Sally asked, concerned. “I don’t feel what you’re feeling and–”
Jack covered her head with his hands, and massaged her ears. “I’ve never been better…”
“Mmmaaa…” Sally moaned.
She couldn’t ignore the stimulation that time.
The mood she had put aside was instantly brought to the front of her mind. She felt her body grow heavy, and with that her thoughts went on a frenzy.
(Pet! Pet! Pet!)
(Be HIS. You belong to HIM.)
(Cuddle him… Cuddle him!)
(Let him do his thing…)
But, stronger than the rest:
(W-wait! What about the rest of today? W-we can’t do this now, we just started!)
Sally’s eyes twitched wildly. “J… Jack… Th-there’s… still a chance… for today to be productive…” She forced out. “We’ve… wasted a lot of time… And… I can still… get up and actually do something… if you stop… petting me…”
Jack pulled her closer. “What’s just a bit longer, right? I’ve still got a day or two before work… This is what I want right now…”
“Ah! Mrrrrrrrr… Prrrr… nnnnm…” Sally shivered, trying to regain composure.
“Stop…” She mumbled.
(No, Jack! Keep going! She doesn't know what she wants!) Her mind retaliated.
(Quiet, you!) She demanded.
“You sound like you’re enjoying this, Sal… You sure you want me to stop..?” Jack asked, running a single finger down her spine.
She couldn’t help herself, she nuzzled fiercely against the side of his neck.
“M-mrrrrr..! I-I can’t hold back this feeling much longer, Jack… Th-think before you… do something you might regret…” She warned.
Jack hugged even tighter.
Sally squeaked.
“Shhhhhhhh…” Jack went. “Just let me show my love, Sal… It’s all fine…” He whispered.
And with that, Sally’s mental state fully deteriorated, unable to stop it.
Sally shut her eyes and began to loudly purr. Her tensed body softened, and slowly sank into Jack’s arms.
Jack relaxed his hug. “There we go… See..? You’re fine… Just melt into me… with all your soft fluff…”
“Mrrrrrm… Prrrr… Mrrrrr… Prrrr…”
Jack remembered her telling him about a mood that sounded similar to this.
Though hesitant, he spoke in a way he thought she’d enjoy.
“Good girl… Sally’s a good girl, right..?” He asked, rubbing her down.
The tip of her tail excitedly wiggled, her purring intensified.
(Looks like she likes it…)
“Tell me… who’s a good girl..? Is it you..?” He prodded.
Sally cuddled tighter. “…Mmmeeeee…” She trilled. “…I aaammm… Mrrr…”
“That’s nice to hear…”
…
“You know… you’re almost TOO soft, Sal… I can feel my senses being overloaded, my hands becoming number and number the longer I do this…” Jack admitted.
“Myaaack…” Sally went in a failed attempt to speak again.
She was trying to use the last bit of her common sense to tell him he may need to stop if that was truly the case, but she stopped herself as soon as the butchered pronunciation of Jack’s name came out, the needy side of her winning over her common sense.
Jack continued. “But… It’s nice… The feeling… Can’t help but want more… It’s pretty average for you, but… this is the first time I’ve felt as strongly as you usually do… It feels odd doing this…”
“Prrr… Prrr… Prrr…”
(Welcome to the club… You get used to it…) Sally thought to herself.
…
“…I have an idea…” Jack said.
He backed his body into the corner of the couch, dragging Sally along with him, settling into a criss-cross sitting position with the armrest to his right, and the backrest to his left.
“And…”
He moved his hands down to her arms, and gently lifted Sally off of his shoulder.
He lowered her, and placed her upper body in his lap.
“Meroooowww…” Sally went, her smile going from relatively normal looking, to unnaturally crooked, a trait typical of older generations of Meowscarada.
“…There. How’s th–”
In an instant, Sally had curled up entirely in his lap.
“Oof..!” Jack went. “…Heavy cat… I guess that means you like it?”
Sally responded by nuzzling his leg.
Jack put an arm across her middle, and his other underneath her head, his hands clasping each other. He then leaned down to finish his strange looking hug, and closed his eyes, sighing.
Sally softly groaned.
Jack let go of his hands, and lightly rubbed her neck, further messing up the pink fuzz on it.
…
Just as sickeningly soft as the rest of her.
“…I’m still so confused how your fur got this way in a single day… I’m not complaining, but I don’t understand it…” Jack said.
He took a moment to actually put more thought into it.
As it turns out, using your head is a great way to figure things out. Who would’ve guessed.
“…You know what? I think I remember Jesse saying something about temporary after effects. Those Ditto are really strange…” He remembered.
Sally remained quiet, letting Jack continue petting her.
…
Jack shifted his body a tad, trying to get a bit more comfortable. He took a hand away from her neck to better move himself under her weight.
(…Come back..!) Sally thought.
Sally perked up. Her ears went flat as she quickly bit at his retreating hand.
She caught it, her teeth closing hard over his fingers.
Though his numbness had reduced the feeling of pain to a mere pinch, Jack instinctively flinched and let out a quick and quiet “Ow.”
Sally glared at the hand in her mouth. She let out a low growl at its attempts to free itself.
“Rrrrr…”
Her purring had noticeably ceased.
“Sal… what do you think you’re doing?” He asked.
Sally simply continued to growl, ignoring the question.
(Oh, Sal…) Jack thought.
He took his other hand, and grasped her by her middle once more.
He adjusted his posture, and made himself more comfortable, moving Sally along with him.
“Rrrrr… Rrrrr…” Sally continued, her paws weakly grasping his arm.
Jack stared at the display, and couldn’t help but find it a bit funny.
“Saaaaal…” He called to her, placing his available hand on her head. “Can you let go of my hand? Before the feeling in it returns?” He requested, lightly rubbing her head.
“Rrrrr…” She went, biting harder.
(Mine… All mine…)
He waved his hand in front of her eyes. “Hey. Listen to me, Sal. I’m talking to yooooou.” He said playfully.
Sally’s eyes softened for a moment.
“…Rr… mrr?”
“Come on… Let go…” He repeated, patting her head.
Her eyes flickered.
Sally shut her eyes and shook her head.
She quietly let go of his hand. Her paws slowly fell to the couch, and her head sank.
She nuzzled back into his lap.
Jack examined his hand.
…
His fingers were damp. A small red line ran along where she had bitten him.
“That’ll hurt later.” He whispered. “Though, your fur seems to be so soft, it’s making me numb. So I think I’ll use that to my advantage.”
Jack began petting her again.
“Prrrrr…”
…
(Hurt?)
Sally cracked her eyes open. “…What’ll hurt later..?” She quietly asked.
“You don’t remember? It literally just happened.”
“…No..? W-what happened..?” She asked, concerned.
“…Don’t worry about it. I’m fine.” He lied, realizing a bit too late she may not take well to that information.
“N-no… Tell me… What hurt you..?”
Jack sighed.
He wrapped an arm around her chest, and the other around her head. He quickly brought her up to his head, indirectly putting her into a sitting position.
“Myeaaah…” She closed her eyes and purred.
“I’m fine, Sally. It never happened. Okay?” Jack said.
…
“Mmkay…” She meekly replied, still purring.
“Good…”
Jack separated his legs, and pulled Sally closer to his body, his arms wrapped around her chest.
Sally weakly smiled. “Mmmm…”
Jack continued petting her, a small realization popping into his head.
(I think I just did the thing I said I didn’t want to do.)
…
Jack nuzzled against the side of Sally’s neck. “Sorry, Sal. I think I got carried away by just how soft your fur felt. I might not have thought it through fully.” He admitted.
…
“It’s fiiiine…” Sally trilled. “Tomorrow still exists… Like you said…”
“Or…” Jack began. “I COULD carry you around all day. Right? That’s entirely an option.” He offered.
“Mro…” Sally moaned. “nnnn… Sounds… nice… Do that…”
Jack smiled lightly. “Okay… not right now, but soon…”
“Mrrr…” Sally whined. “Why not now..? You tease…”
Jack cuddled her tighter. “Because I’m too busy giving you attention, silly.” He whispered.
Sally’s jagged smile intensified, finding his answer reasonable.
So, she stayed silent, and let her cuddle session continue.
 
 
Jack would eventually get up, a very clingy Sally in his arms.
Whatever he chose to do, didn’t really matter. As time would move on, and the next day would come.
Sally would twitch and fidget with herself, fighting the urge to put on her perfectly wearable mask, waiting for the possibility of leaving the house so she had an excuse to put it on.
Meanwhile, Jack did a lot of vacuuming, the house littered with patches and strands of fur of all sorts of varying sizes.
Sally mentally added yet another restaurant to her ‘will not return to’ list.
Jack also had to examine the damage done to his bed.
Lastly, Sally’s fur turned back to its normal softness after exactly two days. Jack was neutral about this, as he was getting concerned by how much it intruded on his mind, when before it was just a passing thought.
 
 
And, finally, life moved on.
But, elsewhere in the world, something else was surely to happen, or maybe already has happened.
Perhaps, just as crazy as this experience.
Or, maybe it’ll just be something quick and simple.
Guess we’ll just wait and see…