Christine was meticulous in cleaning up after herself. By the time she was done, she felt that she had left both Bronwyn's apartment and her body in a better condition than she'd found them. But it was time to hold up her end of the bargain. Reluctantly, she reached around to her back and found the zipper. It felt... unnerving when she brushed against its cold metal teeth with her fingers. The way it was sewn so neatly into her flesh, providing the only outward hint that Bronwyn's body was currently nothing more than an article of clothing.
But Christine couldn't keep her that way any longer - it felt wrong to use another person's body this way, even though she no longer had any moral high ground over Bronwyn in that regard. Anyway, she'd gained an intimate understanding of the girl in the last few hours, and had grown to suspect that she'd enjoy having someone do this to her - which was all the more reason to stop and let her have her body back. Most importantly, she knew that Bronwyn had good intentions, even if her judgment wasn't always the best. She could trust the girl to try to make things right again, however long that might take.
Christine made sure to get down on her hands and knees before trying to open the zipper. She was about to suddenly become quadrupedal again, after all - she didn't want to fall over and broke something. She took a deep breath, dreading the loss of her opposable thumbs. Then she closed her eyes tightly and used Bronwyn's lithe fingers one last time to grab the zipper's pull. In an instant, the human skin was falling away around her, revealing the animal inside. The leopard carefully stepped out of the pile of skin that surrounded it, then puzzled for a moment over the open zipper seam. How was she supposed to pull it closed again without any hands? After a few tries, she managed to get the thing hooked on one of her long, sharp fangs, and then it was just a matter of pulling her head backward until the opening was completely sealed up.
---
Bronwyn had been standing inside the zoo exhibit when she closed her eyes and pulled the zipper open on herself. A second later, she opened them again, thinking that it might not have worked properly. There was no sensation of feeling her body hollow out - nothing that felt out of the ordinary. So she was quite surprised to open her eyes and find the familiar sights of her own bedroom surrounding her. Bronwyn would have started to think that it had all been just a dream, if it weren't for the giant spotted cat that was leaning over her.
There was an instinctual fear that came with encountering a fearsome predator like that, and Bronwyn hadn't fully gotten over that feeling yet, despite her own brief experience of being a leopard. She quickly jumped up from the floor that she'd suddenly found herself lying on. The leopard in front of her had been holding the zipper on her back in its teeth, and when Bronwyn got up, it peeled away from her skin and fell to the ground in between them. The leopard, which clearly couldn't do much with the zipper on its own, instead looked up at her expectantly.
"Christine..." Bronwyn responded to the animal, not knowing what to say to her. She would have to find the words as she went along. "Thank you so much... You actually got both of us back here without any trouble? I didn't think... Oh my god. I completely forgot to give you any instructions on what to do or where to go, before I unzipped myself! But... you figured it all out anyway! That's amazing! I don't know if I could have done that myself!" The leopard seemed to smile at that, or the closest equivalent to a smile. Christine looked so cute like that. Bronwyn was tempted to start petting her like any other cat, maybe even give her a belly rub, but that probably wouldn't be well received.
It was just then that Bronwyn noticed a faint smell that was hanging in the air. It was a scent she knew very well, that lingering mixture of sweat and cum that took several minutes to fully disperse after a feverish masturbation session. But she hadn't done that since this morning, and she hadn't even been in control of her own body for the past hour--
She looked back at Christine's feline face, knowing that anything her human nose could pick up, a leopard would certainly detect much more strongly. She had to know that Bronwyn knew what had just happened. "I guess you got to know me pretty well," Bronwyn said, trying not to make the realization any more awkward than it already was. "Inside and out?" The leopard's previously pleased look soured as the two held their eye contact, though Bronwyn couldn't easily read Christine's expressions. Was that a look of sadness? Frustration? Shame? Judgment?
Bronwyn sighed, sitting down on the foot of her bed. "Well, if you got that far, I guess you probably know that I wasn't giving you the full story earlier. I'm really, really sorry about this. I should've never taken your body just for my own... pleasure." Her voice was starting to get choked up, as she felt warm tears rolling onto her cheeks. Although she knew that Christine literally couldn't respond right now, it felt as though she was getting the silent treatment from the leopard. And there was nothing to stop Bronwyn's words from flowing out along with the tears. "I should've just used some inanimate object. But that's what I was trying to do in the first place, and then I screwed it up, and I got you caught up in all of this, and..."
She only stopped when she felt something on her feet. She looked up to see Christine gently placing her paws on top of her toes. What was that gesture supposed to mean? Was it meant to be reassuring, or did she just want Bronwyn to stop talking? It was going to be incredibly frustrating for both of them if they couldn't communicate while they were trying to work this out - and while they were, inevitably, going to keep getting to know each other. If only there was some way Christine could speak to her... but the magic shop was definitely not open this late. Then her eyes glanced down a little further. The zipper was still lying on the carpet, in between Bronwyn's feet and Christine's paws. Maybe she could find something else to put Christine in for the time being... Would that work? Would it make her into something that could speak? There was only one way to find out. But what, of the various things lying around Bronwyn's apartment, would be the best choice?