Mary worried that someone would call animal control or label her something the rules forbade from entry into the mall annoyed her. However, she forged on. Now wasen't the time to let fear control her.
Hallways seemed far larger and even a little imposing with her new stature. People that she'd once been almost eye to eye with were now giants to her. She'd be lying if she'd said that she didn't feel nervous.
As she walked, the floor seemed a lot dirtier and cold even with her padded feet.
Her lack of clothing, while not indecent per say because of her fur was still a source of some anxiety for Mary. She wasn't used to everyone that saw her getting a full view of her body, even if the vials had altered it. This *was* still her body even if it looked strange.
As she walked through the crowd, several people gave Mary looks ranging from confusion to fear. Mary swore she saw envy in the eyes one or two people. Some people even complained about the escaped 'ferret'. The looks were more then a little unnerving. It annoyed Mary that they judged her based solely on her appearance instead of thinking to talk to her. It wasen't as though her eye glowed or something else sinister.
At least the mall goers were nice enough not to step on her.
Mary felt a pang of hunger when she walked by the food court. She wasn't sure what her body could digest. All of the food smelled appealing enough but she didn't want to make herself ill.
"What can an ottsel eat?" Mary said aloud.
Mary looked back and forth before settling on a fish and chips place. Eating fish was perhaps a little too predictable to her but she didn't want to risk anything else at the moment. She walked toward the place only to hear a familiar voice at a nearby table. When she ran over to the table, she saw her friend Eric eating and talking on his cellphone. Somehow, seeing Eric made Mary feel a lot better. If anyone could help her out, it was Eric.
She sprinted to Eric's table, jumped on one of the chairs across from him and then onto the table. Eric's eyes went wide, he dropped his hamburger and told the person he was talking to that he'd need to call them back.
"Who -- what are you?" Eric asked.
"Eric, it's me, Mary!"
Eric took his glasses off and cleaned them with his shirt.
"Great, now I'm seeing a talking ottsel wearing a backpack," Eric said. "They say this is junk food, is bad for my heart and can make me fat. I don't remember them saying anything about making me hallucinate people I know turning into creatures from games."
Mary shook her head. "Eric, you're not hallucinating. I really turned into an ottsel. Don't worry, I did it to myself. Now, I need to get some clothes." She walked over to Eric and rubbed his chin. "Unless you want me to naked."
Eric swallowed, looked at Mary and chuckled the most awkward chuckle Mary had ever heard. "Well, you sound like Mary but no, this is too weird. Ottsels aren't real! I can't be seeing what I think I'm seeing."
"Believe me Eric, it's me. I can prove it if you'd like," Mary said.
Eric looked back and forth. "Maybe we should go somewhere private to discuss this?"
Mary chuckled. "Where? The bathroom?"
"Seriously, someone is going to see us," Eric said.
Mary put her hands on her hips. "People have already seen me. They can still see me. Seriously Eric, if I was worried about that then I wouldn't have gone to the mall."
"Okay, okay, true enough."
"You want me to prove that I'm Mary?"
Eric nodded. Mary looked back and close and leaned up to Eric's right ear.
"Remember that birthmark on your right butt cheek? You know, the one shaped like..."
Eric gulped and pulled back only to see Mary grinning.
"Okay, you convinced me," Eric said. "So, how did you become an ottsel?"
Mary removed her backpack like purse and pulled out the case of vials. She took the time to explain what she'd done and even offered Eric the chance to become an ottsel as well.
"Maybe later," Eric said. "Seriously, it might be interesting to try if we can reverse it."
"Okay, but first, I'm hungry. Second, I need to get some clothes," Mary said. "I was gonna get something from the fish and chip place. I know, I know, not original. But, I don't know what else to get."
"Well, what do you have a craving for?" Eric asked.
Mary looked toward the taco place. "A bean burrito or two sounds good."
"You know what beans do right?" Eric asked.
"Very funny," Mary said. "Seriously, if I give you some money, can you get me a combo? I'll keep an eye on your food. Don't worry, I won't eat it."
"Well..."
Mary smiled the cutest smile she could muster.
"Sure, why not?" Eric asked.
After Mary handed Eric some money from her purse, Eric was off.