John’s miniature break room costume shop was open for business… but people were still mostly just going in there to get their coffee refilled. He kept waiting for someone to start browsing the display. He was giddy for his first customer. It was hard to focus on just sitting there and checking work emails.
Finally someone set down their coffee mug and started browsing the costume racks. Ah ha, John should have known Shane would look for an excuse to take a break from work! He threw his robe on and quickly shuffled into the break room.
“Anything I can help you find?” John beamed.
“Oh hey-“ Shane squinted and looked at John’s name tag, “Jack?”
“Uncle Jack, at your service,” John bowed, “Now then, can I help you find-“
“Do you have any black cats?” Shane asked, holding up an orange tabby cat outfit.
John blinked. That was rather direct. Usually people beat around the bush.
“Ah, a special request?” John grinned. “What’s the occasion?”
Shane started looking sheepish, “Well, umm… You know Sara usually dresses as a witch, right?”
John’s eyes lit up, “Ah, a couple’s costume! Wonderful!”
“Shhhhh!” Shane’s eyes bugged out, “I haven’t talked to her yet…!”
Right. Shane was really awkward about his crush on Sara. Half the office knew at this point, but he hadn’t quite managed to ask her out yet. Office romances were always so messy.
“Yeah, I uh- I was just thinking of showing up to the party as a cat? And maybe she’d do the witch thing again this year? I don’t know, maybe it’d bring us closer?” Shane’s face went flush, “Forget I said anything.”
“Nonsense! I think I’ve got the perfect costume for you!” John was in full on sales pitch mode right now. It was a little exhilarating, and a little spooky. He wasn’t sure he could fully un-flip this switch in himself in the heat of the moment.
In truth, John hadn’t brought a black cat costume. But it was simple enough to change the color of the tabby cat’s fur when Shane wasn’t looking. He plucked the outfit off the rack, “How’s this?”
“Oh wow, it’s perfect!” Shane ran over. He ran his fingers through the costume’s fur curiously, “Wow, this feels incredible. How hot do these costumes get?”
“They’re surprisingly cool!” John held out the hanger to Shane, “Why don’t you go get changed?”
“What, now?” Shane glanced back over at his desk, “Uh- I should probably start working.”
“Nonsense!” John grinned, “Your first meeting’s not for an hour. You can at least try it on!”
He thrust the hanger into Shane’s hand and nudged him towards the nearby single-occupant bathroom.
“Fine fine,” Shane made his way towards the bathroom, “You’re getting way too into this Jack.”
The bathroom’s door slid shut with a click. Sure he was getting into this way too much… but come on, how could he not!? He was finally getting to flex his shopkeeper muscles! It felt like he was finally getting an itch scratched after all studying. He was excited to finally get some real hands on experience!
The door finally slid back open. A black cat head poked out of the bathroom to check if the coast was clear. It had large triangle ears at the top of its head, a short pointed muzzle, and a pair of flustered-looking human eyes poking out from behind the mask.
“I feel really unlucky right now,” Shane finally slipped out.
The black fur had clung entirely to his body. He still had a proper human proportion and was clearly just wearing a costume. He must not have zipped it up all the way?
Oh man, what was John going to do when Shane turned into a cat?
“Stupendous! Wow, just look at you!” John ran over. He spun around Shane and took in his outfit.
“Thanks? I uh- I feel like I should be wearing pants truth be told,” he awkwardly put his paw-gloves between his legs. “This costume’s really tight.”
“Hmm, cats aren’t much in the way of clothing. Let’s start with a collar and go from there,” John gestured Shane back over to his costume accessories. “I think I’ve got just the one.”
Shane blinked, “Uh- Is that really necessary?”
“You want to get Sara’s attention, right?” he reached into a bin and pulled out a bright red collar. It was a little thinner than Spot’s, but it also sported a large golden bell around the neck.
“Oh wow, it’s perfect,” Shane picked it up. He turned it over in his hands curiously, noticing a tag dangling beside the bell, “Shadow ‘eh?”
John shrugged, “You’re a black cat.”
“Well uh… this all looks really nice,” Shane started fiddling with the clasp, “How much does it cost?”
“For you my feline friend? Let’s say… one hundred dollars?” John wasn’t entirely sure where to peg his prices just yet.
“Really? This costume feels like it’s cost more than that to make!” Shane ran back over to his discarded clothes, “It’s a deal.”
“Whoo! Let’s just say I gave you a first sale discount,” John got out his phone’s card reader. He was definitely going to have to up his prices.
Shane handed over his card. John swiped the plastic as the wand in his shirt pocketed glowed ever so slightly. It was a lot of work making sure money that belonged to a former-human didn’t vanish along with the rest of them.
John’s phone dinged happily. Then a different sort of jingle rang out. Shane had managed to fully clip the collar around his neck.
“How do I look? Can you take a picture for me?” Shane asked.
“Sure thing,” John fumbled with his phone. He was about to line up his picture when he leaned forward. “Looks like your zipper’s loose.”
“What? Oh, I can”- Shane started to look for the zipper.
“Please, allow me,” John ran his fingers through Shane’s fur, “Enjoy being a cat. I’m sure this will bring you two together.”
He pulled the zipper fully up Shane’s chest. It clicked softly into place… and then the cat’s collar started to glow. On the reverse side of the tags, some new text started to appear.
If found, please return to Sara Gold. (555)-555 9270.
John ran his hand down Shane’s stomach one last time…before he casually made the zipper vanish.
Shane looked up at John quizzically. He let out a soft, “Meow?”
John lined up the camera on his phone and took a quick snapshot. He spun it around for Shane.
Behind his mask, his human eyes were becoming slit. They shifted into a bright reflective yellow as the edges of the mask started to blend away.
“Nyao? Meow!” Shadow lost his balance. He fell forward and caught himself on his… paws?
He tried to lift himself back up. Something kept pulling him to the floor though! The tile pattern was starting to look larger and larger as he scrambled about the break room floor.
A box of kitty litter appeared in the corner. On the counter beside it, a sealed jar of cat treats appeared. Someone had set up a small whiteboard to keep track of the last time Shadow had been fed so no one in the office would accidentally do the chore twice.
“Shouldn’t you be working John?” A familiar voice spoke up from the doorway.
“Oh, Sara, hey!” John nodded and hung up his robe, “Yeah, sorry, just getting the finishing touches done on my pop-up.”
“I won’t rat you out,” she laughed.
Sara started to cross the break room floor. She grabbed a coffee mug from the cabinet as a bundle of black fur darted across the room. Shadow ran up to her ankles and started to purr as he rubbed against her.
Sara laughed and finished getting her coffee ready, “This little guy does this every day. I grab my first cup of coffee, and he won’t get off my lap until I finish my emails.”
“Come here my precious little kitty,” she bent down and picked up Shadow. The cat melted into a bundle in her arms. She passed by John’s display on the way out of the room, “I like the wizard getup, and Scott’s outfit last week was near, but it’s hard to bear a witch with her own black cat.”
She gave John a playful wink as she left the room with Shadow. Holy shit holy shit holy shit. He just turned his coworker into the office cat!
This wasn’t a toying-with-Scott transformation. He made the cat’s zipper vanish! Shane… He was Shadow now!
John felt a little lightheaded. Why had he taken things that far that quickly!? He could probably go over and make the zipper re-appear. He was pretty sure he knew how to do that.
But… Shane got what he wanted. He and Sara were way closer now! Rather than wistfully staring at her from across the office, he got to curl up on her lap every morning! He was the center of her attention, and even when he wasn’t, all he had to do was ring his bell.
A snort of amusement escaped John’s nose. Oh man, he… he had enjoyed that.
John wasn’t oblivious. He knew there must be something up with his robe. He had felt it when he kept wanting to turn Scott into his dog. Sure Shane was a pet now too, but this was different. Finding the right way of ironically twisting Shane’s desires was… fun.
He liked corrupting wishes? Was this robe making him into some weird costume genie? He really should be setting the wand aside at this point. Hell, he should be turning Shadow back! But… he had a shop to run. And uh- Halloween was only a few weeks away. He could undo all of the tricks he played on people after the holidays were over. Right?