Theresa stood in the middle of Bix's Master Bathroom as she nervously traced her fingers along the red leather collar. Its singular jingle bell chimed softly as she turned it over in her hands before she unclasped it. The inside was a dark brown leather with a suede finish, and when she looked closely she saw small runic carvings along the stitching.
She looked at herself in the mirror, feeling a bit foolish as she stood naked, her clothes folded neatly on the counter by the sink. The absurdity of the situation hit her: she was standing in the bathroom of a house in Santa's Village in the North Pole that was owned by a reindeer man, who had magically adopted her youngest son (who was now also a reindeer), and she was about to turn into a reindeer. She shook her head and sighed before affixing the collar to her neck.
The bell on the collar began to ring of its own accord as electric tingles shot from her neck to her extremities, following her nervous and respiratory systems. She felt like she had been punched in the stomach, though instead of pain, her muscles began to contract as she doubled over, breathing deeply and worrying that something had gone terribly wrong.
The electric sensations intensified outward-in as she felt her feet begin to shift, glancing down. She watched as her two middle toes (the II and III phalanges) began to push forward, their toenails turning dark and thick as the rest began to pull back. She found herself subconsciously labeling each bone as she watched it change: even now she couldn't help but be a bit clinical. Old habits die hard. Her outermost toes (IV and V) went numb as they pushed together, fusing as her Big Toe (I) settled next to where the pad of her foot had been, though she found her heels pulling up naturally as she soon stood on a pair of cloven hooves, her other foot having followed suit.
The changes continued upward as an itching tingle began to bloom across her body before the vellus hairs began to push out into a light auburn fur as it thickened and spread. The fur was a similar color to the color of Eric's fur, she mused, though a bit lighter and a bit more tan. She lost her train of thought, however, as she felt the changes reach her vulva as it began to tingle and shift. All the while she felt the uncomfortable movement as her internal organs readjusted. Her coccyx uncurled and stretched out into a small tail, which immediately puffed out with auburn and cream fur.
Up, up the changes spread as they raced the fur that continued to blossom as she felt her breasts begin to tighten and become more muscular. A naturally busty woman, she was disappointed to see as they shrank a bit, but the tradeoff resulted in a perkier shape as the natural droop that came with age seemed to reverse. The fur on her breasts finished with a flourish as it spiraled towards her pert nipples, just visible through the fur.
She held her hands out curiously as the pins and needles continued. She watched in fascination as her index and middle fingers knit together, her ring and pinky fingers following suit and leaving her with 2 thick fingers and a thumb on each hand, which swelled as their fingernails overtook the shape resulting in matching hooved hands.
She lost sight of the changes as they continued up her neck, and felt an uncomfortable pressure as her nose and mouth began to push forward into a muzzle that split her vision. Her ears pulled, stretched, and slid up the side of her skull. Finally, with a deep dull throb, she looked up to watch a pair of antlers form on her head. She realized that she must've grown taller based on the position of the counter relative to her waist.
She walked forward and stared at her reflection with interest, surprised that it had actually worked as she flicked her tail, which was a new sensation. Rotating and craning her neck, she tried to take stock of all of the changes and made a face. She wasn't a good gauge of reindeer attractiveness, but she didn't look half-bad! She'd have to ask Bix his opinion.
Her hooves clicked on the wood floor as she opened the door, peeking through before stepping into Bix's room, her folded clothing momentarily forgotten.
She didn't have to wait long as Bix soon entered carrying a green dress, which he had draped over his arm. "I don't know if this will fit but..." The reindeer stopped when he saw her standing in the middle of the room.
She held back a gasp. Her eyesight must've changed, because she could swear that Bix's fur was more vibrant and varied than she'd ever realized, as it traced and highlighted his thick muscled frame. Even through the shorts he wore for her sake, she could tell he was fit, and she felt a heat rising through her, unbidden, as the fur on her neck stood on end. She took in the newfound depth of his gorgeous amber brown eyes as they danced across her new appearance. His nostrils flared and he had the most adorable expression of surprise.
He seemed to realize he was gawking at her as he blinked and snorted before clearing his throat, ears flicking before quickly shifting the garment he carried in front of the clear tent that had grown in his shorts. She could sense his blush as she remembered she was still naked, her ears burning as she reflexively hugged herself with her arms in an attempt to regain her modesty.
----
Eric woke to a continuous, rhythmic sound as he stirred and looked up. Clyde sat in the chair next to him with his hooves propped up on the side of the bed as he whittled at a block of wood--the source of the sound--occasionally holding it out before working on it again.
He rolled over to rest an arm on the reindeer's leg. He was feeling a lot stronger today, though he'd been given instructions from Otso to sleep as much as he could. "More rest equals faster healing equals a faster return to flying" the wolf had chided to the impatient buck.
"What are you working on?" He asked sleepily as the Clyde quickly put his project out of view. He smiled, clearly caught red handed, before reconsidering and pulling it out again.
"Well, when I saw how distraught you were looking in the mirror, I figured I might be able to help a bit." He held out the wood, which was currently roughly shaped in the approximation of an antler. "You don't need it by any means, but I figured this was something I could do for you if you wanted. See?" He held it up to the broken antler, though Eric kept his eyes on Clyde's bashful expression. When Eric didn't respond, his reindeer pulled out the actual piece that had broken off, which he'd apparently been using to measure as he held them up together. "...what do you think? It's not done yet and like I said, you don't need it I just thought..."
Eric stopped him with a squeeze and tug on his thigh. "I love it, Clyde. Thank you. C'mere you adorable spaz." The reindeer's eyes lit up with a smile as he put everything down and climbed onto the bed next to him, nipping at his muzzle affectionately.