Mary was still searching through the box when she heard her front door open. Faye, she thought with frustration. She told me she was going out of town this weekend. Faye was Mary's roommate, a petite tomboy sprite with a penchant for gothic fashion. She was a little rough around the edges, but she never gave Mary a hard time and she always paid her rent. Her personal style varied with unpredictable patterns - currently she was into the punk rock movement, with a Mohawk, spiked collar and clothing with lots of leather. She unceremoniously dropped her backpack in the living room, and yelled, "Hey Mary, I'm back. The dudes bailed on me, so I had to come back here. What's up with you -----"
As she turned the corner and saw Mary and her tail, her jaw dropped. "What the f#$@k happened to you?" She said.
"Its a long story," said Mary. Her legs felt odd - they itched, but also felt tight, lik after a vigorous workout session. She was afraid the changes had not yet stopped.
"I've got time, said Faye, as she dropped down on the couch next to Mary's tail. Mary continued to search through vials.
"Let me finish what I'm doing here and I'll explain everything, "said Mary with exasperation.
"Is this thing real, " said Faye as she stroked Mary's spiked tail. The sensation felt good, and caused Mary to loose her concentration for a moment as she closed he eyes lost in the pleasure. Faye stared at her with a mixture of awe and mischief. "I guess so, " said Fay with a smile. Mary was really worried now. Before the tail had felt like a dead weight, but now it felt like a part of her.
"Please let me finish, "said Mary," I don't have much time." Mary's legs were on fire now, and she bent over in pain. Faye watched as scales spread across Mary's thighs, which thickened to monstrous size as the scales spread over them. A tearing sound was heard as the scales spread to Mary feet, which elongated and tore through her shoes. Claws erupted from her toes, and her big toe receded into a dew claw. The entire painful process lasted just a few minutes.
"Woah "said Faye, amazed. "That was awesome."
"No, said Mary, "It is not awesome. Please leave me alone!" Mary retuned to searching through the vials in the box. Faye jumped from the coach and grabbed the box away from Mary.
"Hey! Give that back to me!" yelled Mary.
"Not until you tell what happened? " said Faye. Mary tried to stand and retrieve the vials, but her new legs still felt foreign to her, and she feel with a thud. Faye stifled a laugh. "Come on, tell me. Maybe I can help, "said Faye, with a sly smile.
Mary's abdomen was now beginning to feel strange. Worried that she was running out of time, she quickly explained the situation to Faye. "So, " said Faye, "you drank this vial, and you are turning into a small dragon? And the vials refill when you place them in the box?" said Faye, placing the dragon vial back in the box. It quickly refilled.
"Yes, "said Mary, as she felt the familiar pain building in her abdomen. "Please help me find the human vial before its too late. You have no idea what this feels like"
"But I will, "said Faye with a smile, as she quickly drank the entire contents of the dragon vial.
"Stop, you don't know what you're doing" said Mary. She tried to stand again, but the pain of the next stage of her transformation caused her to bend over in pain.
"Of course I do. You get a once in a lifetime chance to try something cool - being a dragon - and you want to wuss out. This is going to be awesome! Stop being such a coward. We can always change back later. But I don't want to be some wimpy little dragon like you. I wanna be a big ass dragon, a real monster, "said Faye. She replaced the dragon vial in the box. As soon as it refilled, she drank the entire contents on the vial a second time.
Mary watched with horror, unable to communicate due to the pain. Faye, she thought, you have no idea what you've done.