“Gyaah! What’s that?” You heard a familiar voice shout as you fell backwards into the sink. Looking up as you recover, your eyes slowly adjusting to the light, you see the face of your friend Larry the kid that had introduced you to D&D in the first place. He’s standing, arched back in the doorway, eyeing you and the sink carefully, arms raised defensively.
Just like how you’d lashed out physically on instinct moments ago, you now verbally lash out with the first relevant words to enter your head; “Hey, you ever heard of knocking? Can’t you see I’m changing in here?”
Larry, presumably also acting on instinct, immediately proceeds to shut the bathroom door, with a yelp of “SORRY!” After about ten awkward seconds, his voice comes from behind it again. “Wait… You can talk? Who are you? What are you?”
“It’s me, Mia,” you say, though as the words come out of your mouth, it dawns on you that your voice sounds a bit higher-pitched than usual.
“Mia?” He cracked the door open, his brown eye peering in at you. “Uh… no offense, but you don’t exactly look or sound like her…”
That’s fair. You scratch your little kobold chin, trying to think of some way to convince him you are who you say you are.
“...Maybe stop getting distracted by the ‘sand croomies,’ and think about how else a little kobold would wind up in your best friend’s bathroom?”
Even through the narrow opening, Larry’s shift from confused curiosity to irritation and embarrassment is clearly visible. “Look,” he says, throwing the door open, “I flubbed the reading one time! ONE! TIME! It was during a practice session, for crying out loud!”
“So, how would I know about it, then, if I’m not Mia?”
“I… Guess you might be her…” He looks down and carefully examines you. “Woah… You look like the real deal… How’d you end up like this?”
“I…” You pause, thinking about how to tell the story in a believable way, before realizing that you’re already a creature that has never existed in your world, that ship sailed long ago, just about anything would sound plausible, so there was no reason not to be honest. You tell him about the dream, the book, and testing it on yourself.
“Heh, you WOULD pick being a kobold as your first test, wouldn’t you?”
“...I picked it because the Lesser Monster Shift spell was easier than most. And I didn’t want to try summing in case I couldn’t control whatever I brought in.”
“Sure.” He nods. “So, what’s your plan from here?”
“Well, I was getting myself all dressed up for the cosplay party at the Planet Comics shop tonight. What do you think of it?”
“Oh, it’s pretty nice,” he nods. “You’ll be a big hit-” He blinks a few times. “Wait… you just got given a magical book by someone from a dying world, who begged you to find six more magic books, and after testing the book to see if it's real, the first thing you think of is to go to a costume party?”
You purse your lips, and awkwardly look back at your tail, purely to avoid eye contact. “Okay… maybe I got a LITTLE distracted when I suddenly found out I could make myself a scaly little cutie.” You turn back to him, raising a claw. “But in my defense, where would I even START to look for lost magic books? You can’t exactly google that!”
“And you get after me flubbing a line while distracted.” He shakes his head.
“Seriously, Larry,” you hiss, “Look, it’s kinda stupid, but this kinda thing doesn’t happen everyday. I wasn’t thinking. Besides, these books could be ANYWHERE. For all we know, there could even be one at the party. Is it so wrong for me to want to have a little fun when I find out MAGIC IS REAL, and I CAN DO IT?”
He can’t help but chuckle at your little pouts. “Sorry, sorry. That’s fine, I get you.” He paused for a moment. “Mind if I come with?”
“Huh?” You tilt your head, surprised to see him turn around so fast.
“Like you said, this could be a chance to have some fun. And, the books COULD be anywhere. And if you need help getting one, I wanna be there to lend a hand. It’ll be an adventure!”
You smile slightly. “You know what? I like that idea!”
“Great!” He said, turning toward the door. “Let’s get going, then!”
Your grin grows wider, fangs exposed, and you jump down in front of him, waggling your claw. “Ah-ah-ah! Not so fast! This is a cosplay party, remember? And I don’t see you wearing a costume.”
He looked over himself, frowning. “Ahg, right… What a pain…”
“Don’t worry,” you say, your right hand glowing as you lift it up toward him. “I’ve got a perfect costume for you right here!”
His eyes become as wide as dinner plates. “Now hang on a minute, I-”
You don’t give him the chance to finish before you cast Lesser Monster Shift on him.