There's no guarantee that the dates arranged at the bachelor/bachelorette auctions would be more than one-time thing. Not everyone was certain to meet their true love like Jill met Beauregard. It isn't a requirement since the money made during the auction would be going to charity. Still, sometimes there will be genuine chemistry and people will hit it off.
Sherry Corax was pleasantly surprised that Monty was such a great conversationalist. Their Spookyville date had mostly been them discussing various Halloween movies and the older legends that were used in those movies. Sherry enjoyed herself so much that at the end of the date, she gave Monty her number and told him to call her. Monty lived far enough away to discourage frequent trips to Lyre, but they chatted via Discord very often. Their discussions revealed they had many shared interests in books and TV shows. Sherry wasn't as much of a gamer as Monty was, but he was introducing her to more stuff.
Eventually, the conversations turned towards more personal matters, like where they grew up and what their childhoods were like. Eventually, Monty asked something he had been wondering since he first met her. "What made you want to become a raven Animalian?" he asked.
Sherry sighed. She had been expecting that question for some time and had been preparing for it. The question itself wasn't so bad, but it reminded her of a darker part of her life. "Well, as you might guess, I was a goth before I converted," she said.
"Yeah, the Edgar Allen Poe collection was a big hint," said Monty, "Were you a particular type of goth? Eco-goth? Punk goth? You weren't one of those lolita-gothica girls, were you?"
"Not a chance," said Sherry with disgust, "I outgrew that kind of tea partying when I was 10. No, I was a gloomy goth. Actually, I was gloomier than I should have been. Much gloomier."
"Clinical depression?" asked Monty with concern.
"I didn't think it was at first," said Sherry, "But over the years, things kept adding to the gloom. Like American electing an obvious hatemonger for president, the COVID pandemic. I had family I wasn't able to spend enough time with before they passed because of the quarantines. Then there were the wars in Ukraine and Israel. There's...other stuff I can't bring up just yet. But I hit my lowest point when the same demagogue got convicted for several felonies and not only didn't get any jail time but still had the support of half the country."
"So I bet it hit you hard when he got re-elected," said Monty.
"Yeah, fortunately I was already an Animalian by then and getting therapy," said Sherry, "Having you around to talk with helped a lot. I really appreciate that."
"I'm glad I could help," said Monty, "You know, I didn't think conversion cured depression. I mean, it's a mental disease, isn't it? I thought becoming an Animalian didn't affect your mind except for loosening you up or if you have memory problems."
"I don't really understand it, but I think if you get depressed enough, your brain starts producing a chemical feedback loop that makes it harder for you to break out of it. I don't know, but conversion helped me break out of the loop," said Sherry.
"So can I see what you looked like before that?" asked Monty.
Sherry sighed and said, "I knew that was coming. Ok, lucky for you, I recorded myself as I changed."
"Why would you do that? We hadn't even met," said Monty.
"Introspection? Maybe I wanted to show off to my eventual boyfriend?" Sherry shrugged. Sometimes she liked teasing Monty, probably her Animalian hormones making her more flirty than normal. She sent Monty her video. It started with a human Sherry sitting in a chair in an empty changing room. She had a morose expression on her face, accentuated by her dark eyeshadow and lipstick, her black hair, her very pale skin. Though that didn't take away from the fact that she was just sitting their in her underwear. "Yes, I know, I was a 'big tiddy goth' even before I converted," said Sherry, "Which didn't help my morale back then. Still, it's nice to not need to wear makeup so much now."
"Uh, sure," said Monty, a bit distracted, "I'm assuming you're in your underwear to reduce clothing damage."
"The bra almost didn't make it," said Sherry, "Having wings can make it hard to put straps around."
Monty clicked the play button and watched it unfold. He watched black feathers spread across that white skin like trails of ink. He noticed the fingernails (painted black, of course) growing sharper before they merged with the rest of the finger to form talons. While not nearly as sharp as raptor talons, raven talons can be rather sharp. The video had a good enough view of her feet to let Monty see them change. The formation of her back-facing talon looked rather painful. Sherry's posture improved as she changed, looking less morose. Of course, her expression became harder to read as her teeth extended out to form her beak. Her breasts looked like they were straining her bra a lot, especially as feathered stumps were extending out of her back. The video came to a sudden stop as her wings fully extended. Monty was left wondering if Sherry's bra actually survived the transformation.
"I know it's not as sexy as other people's conversion videos, but I hope you liked it," said Sherry.
"Yeah, maybe you can show me the director's cut someday," said Monty.
"Are you suggesting there's cut content here?" asked Sherry in a tone of faux-affront.
"There probably has to be to get past the moderators," said Monty.
"Hmm, such content would have to be viewed in person," said Sherry. As much as she liked Monty, she wanted to be sure he was ready for the next step. She wasn't sure if he would move in with her, but she didn't see much issue with potentially moving in with him.