Lyre's Meat Market had grown a lot from what it had been before the rise of Animalia. It had started as a local slaughterhouse to allow Lyre's residents access to fresh meat without having to go long ways to get it, which had been big when it was first built. But the building had already fallen into a sort of gray area even before Animalia. Advancement in things like refrigeration and transportation made it easier to bring things into Lyre and preserve meats for longer, which then made it easier and cheaper to do business with bigger slaughterhouses elsewhere rather than the Meat Market.
The birth of Animalia served as a rebirth for the building. While carnivorous Animalians needed meat, the rebirth had been more related to other things that Animalians were known for. For while they did keep themselves covered when in public, there was the sense that because Animalians had a higher libido than Humans and generally had well built bodies that things related to more adult entertainment would work, and a surprising number of Animalians had picked up the offer which had made money for the club and enabled it to beyond just a strip club. It competed well with the couple of bars that were in Lyre and attracted both Animalians and Humans to enjoy the entertainment or specialized parties that were put up for holidays, and began to include areas for short comedy shows and musical introductions that were background that brought in more people still.
Among them was a man named Lunn. He'd lived in Lyre for years and seen Animalia grow, and he honestly had little problem with the humanoid animal-people. They weren't Human and they did stand out, but aside from one or two individual incidents over instinctual issues, with the "Heather Wilcox attack" being the worst of them, Animalians had all worked hard and didn't interfere with people in their daily lives. Lunn saw all that as a good thing, and it wasn't as if he was entirely opposed to some of the other fun that the Meat Market offered, though he tended to stay more around the bar than the area where people went to watch the Meat Market's dancers strip.
"It always surprises me that you hang around the bar," the bartender, a female Jaguar Animalian, commented as she passed him a mug of his favorite beer, "I mean... there are other things the Meat Market offers..."
"I don't really come in for the strippers," Lunn answered, "they look find... and I'm sure plenty of people are interested in a cheap show... but I'm a bit more interested in the conversation."
"Yeah... I'm sure," the bartender gave a small smile.
Lunn nodded. He often did talk with the bartender, whoever the bartender may be, and this even included the couple of bars that he'd frequented before Animalia. They were good, but the old bars generally didn't make for much great conversation, usually because there were some times when people got a bit too tipsy and combative when drunk. The same thing happened at the Meat Market occasionally, but their staff could deal with a drunken Human fairly easily and most Animalians didn't drink all that often. This generally made for more open and easy conversation for Lunn with whoever was there. In the first year or two, it was a young male Tiger Animalian, though he'd learned that Animalian was only able to get work there as a bartender because he was double dosed and with supervision, as he was also a High School student. By now, that bartender was in college, as was his bond mate with him. Not that the regular staff were bad conversationalists, though.
"It beats sitting in an empty apartment with no one to talk to after a hard day's work," Lunn commented, "and you've made for a fairly friendly company."
The bartender straightened her name tag, which read "Jackie," for a moment and then looked to him with a teasing smile, "You'd make that sound as if you were here for a dating service..."
"Well... talking with you..." Lunn began slowly, "would get closer to that... though, I'll admit, while I've always been good at making friends... I've been more shy with regard to any sort of romantic adventures... You must find that funny..."
"Not really," Jackie admitted, "In some ways I can understand. The zoo had an odd number of Jaguars when the outbreak happened and I was actually due to be shipped to another zoo to leave a breeding pair in Lyre... but then the outbreak happened and I was uplifted and had no mate."
"And no one wanted to be with someone as friendly as you?" Lunn asked as Jackie took an order from a waitress and went about getting the drink together.
"Most Humans that have converted to big cats have tended to turn to Lions or Tigers... occasionally Leopards and Snow Leopards," Jackie answered, "I suppose us Jaguars are just too short and stocky."
Lunn had to laugh at that. Jackie might not be as tall as the Lion or Tiger Animalians, but that didn't make her short. She was in fact taller than him and well balanced between her well curved bust and hips and had the muscle mass to be quite competitive with some of the athletic events that Animalia undertook. He'd also found her to have a pleasant disposition, which a part of him felt was worth more than what she'd just said. Privately, a part of him actually liked her as a bit more than a friend, but he was a bit nervous to say that, as the Meat Market did have to deal with some issues where occasionally a Human with a bit of a "furry fetish" got a bit too handsy with the dancers or one of the dancers was found to be one of those who had been older before their conversion and developed Regressive Hypersexuality Disorder and got a bit too forward with customers that didn't want that.
The result was that the Meat Market had some firm policies in place. Signs were posted that read that any unwanted sexual advances could be grounds for at least removal from the club. Bigger penalties could include arrest and legal penalties that would include seeing Doctor Jones' clinic for help regarding Regressive Hypersexuality Disorder. Employees that showed signs of that had to see Doctor Jones if they wanted to keep their jobs at the Meat Market. Lunn had seen them plenty of times.
"I'm sure there's plenty of people that have given you plenty of attention," Lunn commented.
"Not always wanted attention," Jackie answered, "In that we may be similar... I'm not into the sort that just think because I'm an Animalian that I'm always sexually aroused working here... and granted the Meat Market may carry that vibe, that doesn't mean I am."
"A shame," Lunn commented, "as smart a person as you seem to be..."
"A shame... yes," Jackie spoke before she turned to walk down the bar while handling her responsibilities, "also a shame that the guy that has been the most interesting won't convert..."
It might have been the beer in his system talking, but Lunn got some idea that Jackie might be into him, and that stayed with him...
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
That last line stuck with Lunn a bit and it wasn't something he expected. He'd talked with Jackie plenty over the years since Animalia's birth, and sometimes it seemed as though they rehashed over old territory or shared things with newcomers that didn't know. Of course, Lunn could also reason that there may have been some times where he'd had a bit too much to drink and didn't always remember everything they'd tackled about, but he'd always tried to be respectful and Jackie never seemed uncomfortable around him.
But the last line she'd only further made him wonder on things, as he'd often said he didn't want to convert because he saw no reason to. Did that mean she actually liked him and was a bit hurt by the fact that he said he didn't want to convert? When his mind wondered over that question, another part of his mind then asked him why not admit that he'd actually developed some interest in her that went beyond buying drinks, for there were times where she wasn't behind the bar where he turned and left because she wasn't there. It left him all puzzled, but he eventually did make a decision.
That decision brought him to Horizon and go through the processes related to the conversion process. When Animalia was first founded, things had ultimately been fairly open with how that was handled. Humans wanting to become Animalian had to at least have some general knowledge on the animal in question and could go to an Animalian of that species for the conversion and would only go to Horizon if a particular species or breed wasn't present in Animalia. However after the incident Heather Wilcox though, things tightened. Understanding of the animal and its instincts had to be more extensive and the conversions were largely conducted at Horizon to provide greater security and to make sure that every Animalian was vaccinated so that way it wasn't at risk for spreading the Animalia Virus by accident.
Lunn had been supportive of that, as while Animalians had tended to be careful, that didn't mean that accidents couldn't happen. Thus the more controlled atmosphere that things were under now made things better and took some of the heat that people who were against Animalia wanted to apply, and that support made Lunn perfectly comfortable with filling out Horizon's paperwork. Once done with the paperwork and having turned it in, Lunn was left to wait in one of the waiting rooms for whichever member of Horizon's staff would carry out the injection.
"Lunn?" came a female voice from one side and making him look away from the screen that Horizon had set up in the waiting room, which was presently showing some Sports Center highlights. He looked up to see Judy standing there and with the secure box in her lab coat's pocket.
"Yes... did you need me?" Lunn asked as he stood up.
"Your conversion room is ready," Judy answered.
Lunn nodded and then followed after her and he was lead to one of the conversion rooms, which did its best to be both comfortable and sanitary at the same time. Which probably meant that these rooms were probably at the very least inspected for anything that might need to be cleaned. For Lunn did know that there were occasional cases where couples came to Horizon to be converted, or there were situations where one partner already was an Animalian and they would either use sex as the means of conversion or would have sex while transforming. There were also the occasional reports that the transformation was also arousing for even those that had their conversions alone and they engaged in some masturbation to relieve that kind of rising libido excitement at the transformation, though the last bit, Lunn had to admit privately he didn't pay that much attention to, as his focus was mostly on carrying out his idea on responding to what he'd gotten from what Jackie had said the night before.
And that part didn't go too badly for him. The shots and the transformation didn't hurt. In fact, if it weren't for the fact that by end of his transformation where his clothes were rather tight he might have seen some truth in the more pleasurable side of becoming an Animalian. But by that point his growing muscle mass and changing anatomy, namely the lengthening tail, digitigrade feet, and increasing muscle mass mad his clothes too tight around him. He managed to get out of them before things got too painful, and was rather relieved at that, though Lunn also found that he'd need new clothes to fit the new him comfortably.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
After his own transformation, Lunn got a small sample of clothing from Horizon and then made his way to the Meat Market. Not to get a job or look for entertainment. For he already had a job and more often when he'd gone, he gone there for a drink. What he was looking for was to see if Jackie was there, and he found his luck was with him and she was just checking the register as he came in. She noted him as he approached the bar.
"I know the first show of the afternoon will be starting soon... but the bar won't open till five PM," Jackie spoke calmly to Lunn and gave a dismissive wave of her hand, essentially treating him like any other customer.
"I'm actually not here for the show," Lunn spoke to her in a soft tone, finding it a bit deeper now than it was before with a bit more natural volume, which Lunn expected. After all, Jaguars were big cats like Lions and Tigers. He could roar just as they could, even if Jaguars weren't as big as Lions and Tigers. "I'm not even here for a drink... at least not right now."
"Lunn?!" Jackie spoke with her hears perking up and alert for a moment with her tail flipping up for a moment once. After a moment her tail came back down and she seemed to recover, "You converted..."
"Yes... well..." Lunn found some of his shyness with romance come forward again, "I've liked talking with you... and well... I... well... I think I've liked you a bit too and I didn't want to come off as too forward... so..."
"You converted for me," Jackie said with a bit more ease.
"Just so you're not lonely," Lunn answered, "even if you're not interested... well... at least we could be friends."
"More than friends," Jackie gave a toothy smile, "I've been dropping enough hints that you seemed to miss that I didn't think you had any interest beyond your beer."
"No... I've been interested," Lunn answered, "Just not wanting to be offensive and thinking you already had someone... But after the other day... I figured... well..."
"Well... converting to prove it was a big step," Jackie smiled, "though... I can't say I'm not touched. And even happy even... for we've talked so much... there is a lot I've come to like about you too."
Lunn couldn't but smile with some happiness.
"Though my shift tonight is only just starting right now," Jackie spoke, "if you're looking for a formal date... that have to wait until tomorrow."
"I can wait," Lunn offered as he sat at the bar, "we could even... uh... talk on where you'd like to go..."