You take a look a the brown fur of the costume that's landed inexplicably in your hands. At first you're slightly confused as to what it could be, but as you look up you see the mask falling closely after the rest of it, narrowly avoiding striking you on the head. It rests there with the rest of the costume, a fixed growl on it's frozen expression. Ah...it's a bear costume, you conclude. You rest the costume on a bench behind you and begin walking away before a strange thought strikes you. You grin slightly to yourself as you pick up the two glove pieces to the costume and slide them over your hands to find that they come up to your forearms. You walk back out to where the young lady stood by the cash register.
"Hey, girl, look...I have a right to bear arms!" you say with a goofy grin on your face. The woman raises an eyebrow slightly and gives a confused grin before beginning to laugh at your goofball joke.
"Sweetie, I've seen people land themselves in trouble with those costumes, but never over a joke." she says through her laughter.
"What, is there a 'you wear it you bought it' policy or something like that?" you ask.
"Something like that. The costumes don't cost you any money, but..." she says before her grin changes to something slightly more mischievous. "...well just try and take those gloves off." she suggests. Confused by her behavior you look at the gloves you just put on. At first they were fairly loose, as to be expected of a costume. Now, however the fabric of the costume is taught against your skin. You try to push them off your paws but your thick pads and stubby fingers just slide over them. Panic rises as you realize that the brown fur now blends seamlessly to your skin, and while you once could feel your human fingers beneath the gloves, all you can feel is thick paws ending in slightly hooked white claws.
"Hey...hey hey what's going on?" you ask as you continue trying fruitlessly to remove the gloves.
"Bear arms, baby." she says with a smile. You start to hyperventilate but she walks over to you with a calming gesture and places her hands on your shoulders.
"Okay okay, just relax, I'm here to help. But you have to do exactly as I say." she says. It takes something of a herculean effort but you manage to calm yourself enough listen to her. She pushes you slightly, guiding you back into the room with the costumes, telling you to sit on the bench as she closes a curtain behind you. You follow her instructions kneels on one knee to untie the laces of your sneakers.
"What are you doing?" you ask, as she pulls each shoe off and places it on the floor.
"Well in order for this to work, you're going to have to be naked." she say "Trust me if there was a better way I wouldn't be doing this." she says and pulls off your socks. She wrinkles her nose as she holds them by the tips of her fingers. You blush slightly
"Hey, I've been walking around a lot today, don't judge." you tell her. She shrugs as she assists you in pulling off your pants and underwear, grinning as she looks upon your naked form.
"Are you sure you're not enjoying this?" she asks with a smirk.
"This is nervousness, lady, it happens. Look are you going to help me here?" you ask.
"You're in such a hurry." she says "Pity." The next step is difficult as the sleeves of your shirt and undershirt don't fit over your bulky bear paws. Much as you loath to loose a perfectly good shirt you consent to have her cut the sleeves off of you and soon you stand naked before the clerk. She smiles at you again and giggles slightly before sliding the legs of the costume over your feet.
"Hey...what are you-" you begin but raises one finger and gives you a stern look.
"Remember what I said. If you want my help you need to do exactly as I say. Otherwise you're going have bear claws instead of just scarfing them down at the doughnut shop." she say. You reluctantly allow her to pull the rest of the costume over your legs and hips. The costume reacts much quicker than you expected, pulling itself tight around your body as it goes. You can feel your muscles and bones shifting to conform to your new body. She slides your arms through the sleeves of the costume, sleeves build to fit over the bear claws, and you watch as the fur of the sleeves bonds with the fur on your forearms. As she zips up the chest you can feel your body taking on a decidedly ursine shape, and you watch nervously as the zipper dissolves beneath the fur leaving you a bear everywhere except for your head. You find holding a bipedal stance to be manageable, but much more difficult. She picks up the head of the costume in her hands but you stop her.
"Hold on...how does this help make me human again?" you ask.
"Human?" she wrinkles her nose again "I'm helping you finish changing." she says. She laughs and slips the head of the costume over your face. Your muffled protestations are cut off as the mask merges with the rest of your body, plunging you in darkness. You try to escape by the second you move you fall and land on your front paws. Your face swells into its new shape and your vision clears. You try to speak, but only manage the growling sounds of a bear. The clerk stands in front of you with a sly smile on her face.
"There now. Much better." she says and gently rubs her fingers through your fur. "Now you may not like that I tricked you, but that's just something you'll have to bear with., huh? Get it?" she says. When you don't respond she frowns "Not laughing? Ursa, you're a major downer." she says.