Gloria watched as Rosa moved a little distance away and started cleaning himself. Gloria had always thought of cockroaches as being dirty animals (then why did you choose to become one, weirdo, nagged her conscience). But right now, watching Rosa, she was surprised by how elegant and tidy the little insect was. Rosa inspected each antenna and each of his legs, passing them through his mouthparts, licking them down, wiping off every speck of dust, making sure they were immaculately clean. The roach's fastidious cleaning was almost feline, and mesmerizing to watch.
Then, once Rosa was done, he ran right back to Gloria and touched her antennae.
*So, how was it for you?* he said. Gloria almost jumped when the former cleaning woman's voice - now set to a pleasant deep baritone - came through out of nowhere.
*Whoa! I-I can hear you!* she gasped, realizing she could speak back as well. Kind of. *Is this telepathy?*
*Kind of*, said Rosa, tapping Gloria's thorax. *The hotel hasn't resort hasn't perfected true universal telepathy as part of its transformation protocols, but people who have transformed into the same animal can communicate with each other easily.*
*So I'm talking Roach then. Wild.*
*Haha, yes.* Gloria noticed that emotion was harder to convey in, er, Roach, so Rosa literally said "Haha" to convey his amusement. He gently ran his antennae down to Gloria's abdomen. *Oh, and you're pregnant. I wouldn't worry about it, you'll lay eggs in 44 days, but you'll likely be human before the end of the day and any fertilized roach eggs will just get re-absorbed.*
*Aw, shame, I was looking forward to it too*, said Gloria, only half joking. Then she paused. *You weren't really going to eat me as a frog, right?*
*Why not? I've done it before.*
*You can eat guests?*
*Haha.* Rosa scoffed. *Some of them specifically requested it too. And I know what you're thinking. It is absolutely impossible for anyone to get hurt in this resort. Any situation that would put a guest or employee in lethal danger results in immediate teleportation and reformation at the Regeneration Spa.*
*Oh.* The thought had never occurred to Gloria.
*There are loads of failsafes in the resort. Anyway.* Rosa tapped out a little beat on Gloria's antennae. *Since I'm here already, want me to show you around?*
Before Gloria could answer, the door opened and another maid walked in. She was Rosa's opposite in many ways. Where Rosa was a full-figured woman in her forties, this one was slim and looked to be in her twenties. Her curly black hair was tied back, and her blue eyes stood out on her pale skin. Rosa had been wearing a functional black dress, but this new arrival could only be described as a French maid. Was this a standard issue outfit? Or was she dressed for the benefit of the guests? Gloria wouldn't have been surprised. The name tag read Veronique, next to the tastefully-unfastened upper buttons that revealed her modest cleavage.
Both Gloria and Rosa scurried out of danger as Veronique walked in and stopped, seeing Rosa's cleaning trolley. "Oh, sorry, I didn't know there was someone here already", she said out loud with a slight but unmistakeable French accent. "Hello?"
Gloria was uncertain what to do, but Rosa quickly scuttled back and started running in circles to get Veronique's attention, and Gloria followed his example. "Oh!" said Veronique, smiling broadly and getting down on her knees to inspect the two cockroaches. Like Rosa before her, she was a giantess, a vast mountain compared to the insects on the floor. Gloria tried not to look up Veronique's dress as the younger maid spoke in a booming voice. "Let me guess, one of you is a guest and one of you isn't, yes?" She got up and grabbed the room list, then noticed Rosa's clothes. "I see! One of you is... Gloria, and one is Rosa, yes?" At the mention of his name, Rosa waved as well as a cockroach could, and Veronique giggled. "Naughty, you should be cleaning the room, not having fun with the guests!" she said in a teasingly disapproving tone.