FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

All characters in this story are figments of my imagination. Any resemblance to real persons or other fictional characters not owned by me is purely coincidence. Trust me... I'm really not all that well read.

The only exception, so far, is "Chris". He is a part of my multifaceted Fursona.

Also, all business names and brand names used in the story are there for purely immersion purposes! No sponsorship or product placement is going on here. PLEASE don't sue me for writing this... I don't have anything to pay you with anyway...

This story is set in a fictional depiction of the real world. Real locations are used.

For a vague description of the past, and how the world evolved to it's current state, please read the Intro and Prelude chapter...

Chapter 3

Sometimes you wake up to wonderful things. Life smiles upon you, or karma decided to cash in your positive balance at the right time and let you enjoy yourself a little more. When his eyes opened to the familiar dull glow of his heavily blinded window, a very warm, very pleasant figure cuddled into him. Beautiful green eyes greeted him, inches away from his face. Corsi's lips were curled into a playful grin, her paws holding down his shoulders, her hips sitting on his legs. Everything felt a little dull, but he didn't care.

She didn't speak, but she didn't need to. The way she arched herself into him, her silken fur brushing against his, was all he needed to see. One cast of her head to the side to flick the hair out of her face and she pressed in eagerly for a kiss. The sound that slipped from Chris's throat was one of surprise and delight, but it was wrong. It was... feminine. He moaned like a girl. Startled by this, he jerked himself up, throwing her back on the bed, with a sudden mrowl!

"C'mon, Kit! I was just trying to make you wake up happy... You don't wanna' be grumpy at work do you?" she whined softly, pawing up at Chris, though... she called him something else. He took a moment, sitting up now, to peer down at himself. A brief wave of shock rolled over his poor little mind. Instead of his usual fluffy body (brought to you by eating unhealthily and being a shut-in geek for years), he was fit, sleek, and far more womanly than he had been the night before. His paws, or as he was slowly coming to realize, her paws, slid up his stomach and cupped the modest breasts that had grown overnight. Playing idly with one sensitive nipple, one paw dropped quickly between his thighs to feel for other strange developments. Finding a shocking lack of outside parts, he delighted in the sudden surprise sensation of his own pawpads sliding along the soft lips of his newly acquired inside parts.

A glance sidelong to the mirror on his door that usually wasn't there, and he saw something he wished was truly real. He was a woman. Sparkling green eyes. Hair a bit wild but soft and thick. An athlete's figure, at about 'his' former height, but with feminine curves in places that made him blush under his fur. The image in the mirror of this strange girl pawing at her breast and between her sleek runner's thighs made him purr.

A moment of clarity washed over her sleepy mind. This had to be a dream. There was no way around that. This didn't just happen overnight, and Corsi didn't seem like someone who would enjoy a random lesbian romp with a girl she just got involved with a few days ago. Chris's mind clicked back into overdrive now. She accepted that she was a girl now, and that her name was 'Kit', or whatever Corsi had said it was.

Slumping forward, she pressed herself against the waiting black feline laying on the bed infront of her. One sly grin greeted another now as their breasts squished together softly. Just as she leaned in for another kiss, hips already grinding her thigh between Corsi's legs, the door burst wide open. Karina barged in, eyes wide open, seeming like they were going to erupt with jealous rage. With sneering lips, she opened her mouth wide and started letting out an unholy noise!

" EEEENH! EEEENH! EEEENH! EEEENH! EEEENH! EEEENH!" she screamed, sounding way too much like his alarm clock for her own good. Oh... shit. His alarm clock. Things started to go black, and he let out a soft, girly whimper, pouting about what he was going to miss.

* * *

When he jerked himself back wake (for real this time), everything was just... different. He had a feeling of freedom. Something so much more natural. Despite the oddity, he felt energized. Which, of course, was important considering he had work in two hours. He needed to get ready and find a ride!

After getting out of bed and throwing his shirt across the room, he casually stepped across the hall and claimed the bathroom. There wasn't even any deep thought involved as he started to shower. The hot water soaked his fur. The heat sinking in deeply, dissolving the double-stress of having a strange night and only getting a couple of hours of sleep. Letting the water pour down his back and along his tail, he stretched his arms above his head, groaning out softly in relief.

Something wasn't right. His voice felt a little high pitched. Too soft. A sudden gulp of surprise, and he let out a thick cough to clear his throat, paws falling down to rub at his neck to keep it from getting too sore. As his paws slipped down the front of his body, they encountered something he really didn't expect.

_ Breasts_.

A somewhat girly cry of shock slipped from his throat, and he quickly snapped back the shower curtain to peer at the mirror on the door. Through the haze of steam and his lack of vision, he seemed much too feminine in the mirror for his own good. Quickly, not bothering to turn off the shower, he climbed out and got a closer look, rubbing a towel against the mirror to wipe away the steam.

Thankfully, after a minute of wiping at the mirror and rubbing his eyes, trying to focus through his own half-sleeping haze, the image in the mirror was... blurry... but his own. He let out a sigh of relief. Dreams didn't come true that quickly. As much as he would have loved to try out life as an attractive young woman for a while, it wasn't something he wanted to rush himself into that quickly.

"Gonna' miss that figure..." he mumbled, turning to the side to cast a glance as his fluffy butt. A little grimace at his less-than-thin profile, and he quickly climbed back into the shower to finish up.

* * *

It didn't take long for him to finish, and within a half hour of getting up he was ready and hammering on Karina's door. Hopefully she was up and ready too, because if she wasn't he'd have to scramble around trying to find another way to get to work.

"Go awaaaayy! I don't feel good..." she whined from the other side of the door.

"Seriously? You couldn't have told me this an hour ago?" he sniped out in frustration. He let out a light sigh, and shook his head. "Whatever. Sleep well." was all he said, and took a quick look around the room, trying to think of a way to get to work.

Plan B wasn't really an option at this point. B usually meant 'Beg for a ride'. He knew Corsi wouldn't be able to get here in time to get him to work without being late. He might actually have to resort to plan C. Plan C meant to 'Cab'. Paying money to get to work seemed a little pointless to Chris, but was unfortunately a necessity. One paw fished his phone from his pocket, and he called a cab. After giving his address he was pleased to hear it would only be about ten minutes before the cab got there. Plenty enough time to get him to work around the right time.

* * *

Traffic was a bitch. He only managed to get there five minutes late. Oh well, at least that was a common thing for him, considering he lived on the opposite side of the city. After paying the cabbie he slipped inside the store, meaning to make his way out back quickly to avoid any 'first day back' trouble.

There were a few things you could expect when coming back to work after a few days off at Chris's Walmart. Firstly, the greeter. They pretty much all had the same friendly attitude, and joked with the employees when they greeted them on the way in. Today's greeter was no exception. An older ferret lady with short messy hair and far too much energy. She had a doped out look on her face most times, and formerly had a person accompanying her around the store when she first got hired due to her perceived 'special requirements', but proved she didn't truly need it.

"Jeez', Chris! Everyone said you were fired!" she said in her overly cheery tone as Chris walked through the door. "I almost thought I had a chance at getting' -your- job!" she chirruped at him. He couldn't help but laugh at the comment. There were a few reasons for his amusement, but none of them would make the nice old lady happy, so he just shook his head and continued on his way.

Secondly, the manager. He had learned that there were different expectations for each manager as he arrived. Kimie, a squirrel who was still rather beautiful for her age, always greeted him with sarcasm and detached humor. She was one of his favorites. Jaffa, the otter that had accompanied him to the hospital after he was discovered in the bathroom after his 'incident', always gave this purposely creepy grin, and they shared a strange spanish greeting while passing by each-other. He liked Jaffa, too.

Today's manager, as he quickly discovered, was Randal. As an older raccoon with a good sense of humor, he always seemed to find a way to spit out some sort of dry wit about his age and 'life experience'. The man stepped out of the security office by the main door as Chris walked by, joining at his side.

"Glad to see you could make it. We were wondering if you would come back." the raccoon said quietly, jotting a few things down on some sort of list he had attached to a clipboard in his left hand.

"Nah'. I'd miss this place too much. Aside from Karina, and people in different countries I associate with online, I don't really have any friends outside of work." replied Chris with a care-free tone. He was in a relatively good mood despite being late. The fact that Randal didn't seem to care about that little fact helped a lot, too.

"Ah, yes. The dreadful fate of the intellectual electronics associate. I know it well." joked Randal, chuckling lightly as they passed by Chris' department. Candie was there, a snow white bunny maybe 20 years old, with bright innocent blue eyes and soft long brown hair. She was tending to someone at the register near the big glass door display cases for the gaming consoles and related games. As she noticed him walking by, she spared a shy glance, lifting her hand to wave at him quickly before going back to her customer. He smiled back, giving a wave of his own, and turned to Randal as they walked.

"I wasn't actually expecting to be back so soon. Glad I am though... Hard to pay rent when I can't work." Chris said casually as they passed the toy department.

"Yes, a valid concern. But your last three days off have been with pay. I arranged that with Sue. Did we not discuss that on Monday?" replied Randal quite curiously.

"Oh... Well, you mentioned it briefly, but I didn't think I'd get all three."

"Ah, yes, well... I am just that good, I guess." the manager said with a chuckle. "It's good to have you back. Brennan nearly resorted to homicide last night working with Mikael." As Randal explained, Chris simply nodded. It was no surprise. Mikael was about as useful as tits on a bull, which was somewhat funny to think about, considering Mikael was actually a bull.

"Good to be back." was the last thing Chris said, before letting out a little sigh and grabbing his vest from his locker. Strangely, he missed it, and when he put it on, he felt... at home, so to speak. This was his territory. For some reason he felt in charge of himself here. It didn't make any sense at all to him, considering how many managers there were around here, but he felt that way none the less.

"If you need anything.." Randal started offering, lifting a few pages up on his clipboard to see under them. "... Or feel any inappropriate urges to be heroic out there, I've got one of the mobiles. Just give me a ring."

"Will do." Chris said with a laugh, before heading on out.

* * *

The first few hours were almost mindless. Just the way Chris liked it. Very little to do but 'zone up' and tidy things while putting products on the shelf that the night crew was too lazy to finish. Helena was there for the first hour he was, which made him quite happy. She was his favorite person to work with in his department. An older gray wolf, Helena was just demanding enough to keep Chris busy, and also respected him for doing what he was told to do very well. She was the only person to ever really thank him for doing things. Of course, after that first hour, Jasmine was there with him 'till his lunch time. The pretty middle aged husky lady wasn't half as fun to work with, but at least she left him lots of her work to do after she left.

When lunch time finally came around, Brennan showed up to start his shift. As a golden retriever one expected him to be tall, but Brennan was tall at six feet and four inches, thickly built, too. The best part about him was that he happened to be just about as much of a geek as Chris, so the conversations they were sure to have during the rest of the day were going to be great.

"I'm off to lunch, man." said Chris, casually tossing the huge set of keys to Brennan. Easily catching them, the canine just nodded as he stepped behind the cash to read the notes on what they were supposed to do for the rest of the night.

"Just freight and zoning? Great. Sounds fun." he barked sarcasticly.

"I know, right? At least it's a bunch of freight. We won't be idle..." Chris replied lightly, giving his fellow associate a casually dismissive wave. "I'm off to lunch." he finished, and started off toward the back room. Maybe three or four steps later he heard his name called over the PA system.

_ "Can I have Chris from Electronics call one-oh-seven pleeease? Chris, one-oh-seven! Thank youuu!" _

He knew the voice. Ami. One of the only people he hung out with enough here to actually call a real friend. Luckily, the phone she wanted him to call was two aisles down in the toy department, between the Barbies and Littlest PetShop dolls. He quietly shuffled around to the other end of the aisle, the oppose of the main path people usually took, and slinked up behind her as she was leaning on one of the phone/support poles, a sly grin plastered upon his face. When he was inches away, he took a slow but deep breath.

"One Zero Seven!" he yelled behind her!

" AUAHH...!" she cried! Her body jerked half around and stumbled into the cart of toys she was no doubt abandoning in a few moments. The fluffy panda scrunched up her face in frustration, pain, and amusement as she glared up at him. He couldn't help but laugh, and a few aisles back where he came from he heard Brennan doing the exact same thing. Her cries of terror apparently carried quite far!

"I hate you! Don't scare me!" she whined, letting out a little laugh before girlishly 'punching' him in the stomach.

"Ow, hey! No abuse. You're not allowed to hate me. Wha'dya' want?" he asked, still chuckling away in amusement at his own antics.

"Going on lunch. Heard you were here like four hours ago and didn't get a break yet."

"Good. I heard that too when I got here about four hours ago, and still haven't had a break... Let's go. Any preference?" he asked as he wandered back out into the main path to head toward the break room. Just as he'd silently predicted, she abandoned the heaping cart of toys and followed along with him.

"I don't care. I'm not getting much. If we go to McDonald's I can get an ice-cream."

"True... Sounds good to me." he conceded easily, just a few seconds before they were stopped by Randal just outside the doors leading to the back room.

"Ah, there you are..." he said, nodding to both Chris and Ami. "I was hoping to get at least one of you, or both if you'd prefer, to go up front and help tidy up the seasonal section."

"Sure, I don't mind. Just gotta' tell Brennan where I'm going after I get off lunch." Chris was the first to reply, but Ami did quickly after.

"Sure! Sounds good."

"Great. I'll go tell Brennan now. Just head on over there after your lunch."

They both nodded obediently, and stepped out back. It only took about two minutes for them to clock out and stash their vests. He noted something a little different about her today. She seemed fairly talkative, which wasn't strange, just more-so than usual.

"It's been boring around here without you. I had to deal with Lex being lazy again yesterday..." It was comfortable for him to just listen to her for a while. He wasn't quite sure what she said for about a minute of it, though. His primary attention was taken away by another associate walking by. Lana, a strange ferret girl who made no secret of the fact that she was a lesbian. Quite often talking about her girlfriend, or them doing things together. Nothing graphic, of course. She wasn't that sort of crude. Today she seemed -quite- distressed. Her usually brightly smiling face was more somber and thoughtful, like something was troubling her mind. While normally she'd be looking around and waving greetings to people, her head was dipped and looking at the floor trying to avoid attention. It wasn't like her.

"... and when I told Krista about it? Guess what she did?!" Ami asked, dragging Chris back to his senses, looking at her with somewhat wider eyes. Deer-in-headlights face and everything.

"... You weren't even paying attention, were you?" she asked, hands resting on her hips, giving him 'the look'. Not serious, obviously. But still. "What was I talking about?" she asked with that 'testing' tone.

"Uh'... Lex passing on carts of returns even though there were too many behind the Courtesy desk. When you talked to Krista she said you better pick up his slack?" He answered with a bright grin, hoping his guess was the right one!

"... Oh... Well, yeah. She's such a bitch..."

"Mmhmm." he answered in relief. In his mind, he silently did a fist-pump in celebration at not being caught while not paying attention. Not that he really cared, but it was an achievement to get away with it.

"And don't think I didn't see you staring at Lana. Pretty obvious. You're not the most subtle person, y'know." Ami snapped him back on his heels with that one. She -did- notice, but she kept talking anyway? She must be used to his short attention span, then.

"She looked like she needed someone to talk to..." he said with a shrug.

"She's a lesbian, you know that riiight?" Her tone sounded like she was trying to teach a first grade student. He chuckles lightly then, and nodded.

"Yeah, I know. Doesn't mean I can't be a good guy..." he answered with another shrug. Finally, his turn in the line at McDonald's had come up. Inwardly he marveled at the fact that they talked and zoned out long enough to get them here and to the front of the line in such a seemingly short time. Normally this line was around twenty minutes long. He didn't complain, and ordered his usual.

"Double quarter-pounder combo, extra cheese, add bacon twice. Large coke and fries, and a six pack chicken nuggets on the side."

The person behind the counter hammered on the little screen trying to keep up with him, but eventually had to have him repeat what he wanted. In the end, he added Ami's ice-cream (which he made a large) to his order, and shooshed her by squeezing the end of her muzzle shut so she couldn't protest. His eyes cast a sarcastic glare in her direction, silently shooshing her until they reached the random table he decided they were sitting at.

"That's good. No complaining about gifts or being generous. You're learning how I think." One paw lifted to tap the side of his forehead with a fingertip, his lips curling into a grin as he did.

"Oh shut up.." she mumbled in defeat, grabbing her ice-cream and taking a savoring lick of the delicious treat. "This is probably the only nice -manly- thing you've done for me all week. Bring me treats." she teased, peering at him with a playfully mocking look in her eyes.

He leaned back in his chair, lifting one paw to press rather femininely against his chest in shock!

"How -dare- you!" he whined with a soft sniffle, his face twisting to look like he was about to cry. "After all the nice things I do, and help you with..." The charade went on, his voice rising a few octaves to try to sound more 'girly'. Surprisingly, he pulled it off. Ami just eyed him for several moments, watching his little drama play out, before laughing quietly behind her delicious cone of ice-cream.

"You're way too good at that. Are you sure you're a guy? I know I've asked this before, but... damn. You drama like a woman!" She let out another cute laugh before he could reply.

"Well, if you think I'm such a girl..." He had a rather sudden idea. It was a terrible, quite possibly manipulative and immoral idea, but that didn't register in his mind right now. He simply had it, and wanted to follow through.

"... Let's put a wager on it. But nothing expensive because we both work at Walmart and can't afford shit..." He tapped his chin, grinning almost wickedly at her new curiously hesitant expression.

"What kind of wager...?" she asked, pensive about the topic now. She knew what happened to him, and had heard rumors about what the end result had done to him, mentally. Rumors of him going crazy and attacking someone. Rumors of him sleeping around. Rumors really liked to get around this store.

"Well..." he started, leaning in so he could speak a bit quieter. "... I know your last man didn't pan out, so you've been a month or two without any... -release-." This was starting out somewhat sketchy, and he could tell she was already in a bit of disbelief at what he was saying. Regardless of that, he continued.

"If I can manage to convince Lana to come home with me, within one week, then you have to do whatever I say, for one full night. No questions. No refusals. No new-found modesty."

Beneath that pretty fur of hers she was blushing furiously. Despite the attraction she may have had for him before, this was an entirely new bold move for him that she couldn't have possibly predicted. Nothing he had done or said before that moment prepared herself for this kind of shock coming from him.

"What's in it for me if you can't...?" she asked quietly, immediately regretting the question when his grin widened even further.

"Well, naturally... The reverse of that role. I'm your bitch for a night. No questions. No refusals. No new-found modesty." He answered quite seriously. After leaning forward again, he started to gobble down his meal. He didn't bother with any sort of tact in the matter. She was used to him by now. Between two chicken nuggets, after politely swallowing the one he just ate, he licked his lips.

"So, yes or no?" he asked, staring at her with a very serious look on his face. "If I'm such a girl, I should be able to pull this off, right...?"

"... If you were a girl, yes." She paused, considering both sides of this. One one side, she might be able to get some fun out of him. Something she wanted before, but never got, mostly due to what she suspected at the time was a massive infatuation on his part for that Karina girl. Without thinking any further, she quickly nodded her head.

"Fine, you're on. But I hope you like being a girl, because you won't win this and you will be my bitch." A challenging arch of her brow was sent in his direction before she sat back to enjoy her ice-cream.

"Great. See you after work for a progress report." he said quickly, before gobbling down the last of his burger. Pushing to stand, he tossed out half of his unfinished meal, and gave a wave to the once again stunned Ami as he left.

* * *

Getting to the break room was a chore. He had to weave between aisles to keep away from customers that would would recognize him at a glance. Sadly, there were more than a few regulars in his Electronics department that would know him at a glance if they saw him in the street. It's one of the dangers of working somewhere for two years, where he could be chatty and social with his customers about games and such. He managed to get to the break room without a time-consuming incident. As he suspected, Lana was sitting at a table, poking and prodding at her lunch in a way that showed she'd rather sit there and think, than eat and get back to work. Before attempting anything, he stopped by one of the room's vending machines to grab himself a can of Pepsi.

"Hola señorita." he said, adding a playful purr to his his voice as part of his silly common greeting, as he sat down in the chair next to her.

"Hi..." she mumbled in reply. No reaction.

"Wow... Everything okay...? You usually laugh at me for pretending to flirt like that." It was true. She started working here only a couple of months after he did. It didn't take long for people to figure out that he was a care-free joker of a guy. People usually just laughed it off. Made it easy to tell how people were feeling.

"... Bad day... week... month... whatever." she replied softly, seeming to force the words out as she lowered her head to rest on her arms. He simply nodded for a moment, considering a few things. To go on with the wager, or not? She didn't deserve to be made into a bet, that was for sure, especially if this mood of hers has been building over a month or more. His mind switched back into caring friend mode. Bet be damned for now.

"I'm the only one here, and nobody ever listens to me seriously anyway. I think it'd be safe if you wanted to tell me what's bugging you?" The offer was sincere, the cheetah leaning on the table a little as well, taking a more casual and passive posture.

"... It's a girl thing... a lesbian thing..." she mumbled lightly into her arms.

"Ah..." He temporarily conceded with a shrug, taking a long sip of his pepsi.

"Kinda' funny... Some people around here keep telling me that I'm not much of a guy anyway. Might as well be a girl..." He slouched back in his chair, chuckling softly, though not noticing that she was sitting back up and eyeing him in frustration.

"I _ hate _ when people say stuff like that to people!" the ferret suddenly snapped at him. Her tone unforgiving, but didn't feel like it was aimed at him.

"It's so demeaning! Schools are so stupid! Nobody there cared about anyone else's feelings. Why can't people just let us be who we want to be...?" Her short-lived fury trickled away into a little bit of embarassment. He looked at her with sympathetic eyes, and shrugged once more.

"It's just the way it is... Everyone wants to fit in. Anybody who stands out, either for not being quite as ' __dude' as the other guys, or... for maybe not liking guys at all... gets singled out and made an example of." He finished there, taking another sip of pepsi.

"... You had a hard time in school...?" she asked, finally turning to look at him in curiosity.

"My stories about school leave small children in tears, begging their parents to never make them endure the same hell that I did." An exaggeration of course, but it got the point across.

"Ouch..." she mumbled again, leaning against her chair, seemingly in thought for a few minutes at least. More than long enough for Chris to finish his Pepsi.

"Yeah. But it goes away. Not entirely, but when you realise that their opinion doesn't matter anymore, it all sorta' bounces off of you like little raindrops on a windshield." He glanced at her for a moment, noticing that she was actually looking at him, paying attention. A strange feeling, to be respected for his opinion like this, but he rolled with it.

"... People at school have been telling me I'm not really a lesbian." she started, before he could continue on with his encouragement.

"They say that until I get with a guy, I'll never be a real lesbian. The straight people are saying I'm just trying to be cool, while even the gay crowd is saying I'm a poser... I'm starting to even think they're right..."

He winced at her last statement, and shook his head.

"Nope. Don't think about that. You are who you feel you are, regardless of anybody else..." He peered at her, almost as if scolding her. His expression softened quickly as he continued in a joking tone. "But if you're really struggling with self-identity like this, you could always find a guy you trust, and get a little bi-curious." In a small way he was serious about his suggestion. It would definitely solve her problem. There wasn't much chance of her taking him seriously, though.

"You mean someone like you?" she asked with a smirk, shaking her head as she looked back down to the empty plastic dish her food used to be in. There was some deep thinking going on in her head. The expression on her face told Chris quite a bit about just how serious this issue was for her, and how badly it was bothering her.

"Hah... Well, if you're asking if I could be trusted? Absolutely, but I wouldn't be so boldly rude as to just come right out and ask a lesbian if she wants to sleep with me... Contrary to popular belief I do have more respect than that." He finished with a soft chuckle, glancing over at her during a sip of Pepsi.

After almost a minute, she spoke again. This time she sounded a little bit more determined. A process had gone on in her head. Thoughts and feelings were sorted out enough to think a bit more clearly, thanks to the Cheetah's brief dose of sarcastic therapy.

"... Maybe you're right... Maybe that's what I need to do to be sure..." she said thoughtfully, before looking at him with a much more timid expression. "If I asked, would you help me...?"

"Everyone deserved to have a friend to help them through their biggest issues. Absolutely." He finished with another sip of Pepsi, can now sadly empty. A softer smile was given her way, showing he wasn't just being a troll with his supportive answer.

"... Your place, or mine?" he asked with a chuckle and a wiggle of his eyebrows in a theatrically flirtatious manner, nearly shattering his supportive image in one swing.

Instead of seeming offended, she simply laughed. That shy, nervous sort of laugh that he hadn't heard in a long time. A virgin's laugh.

"Well... Yours. I still live with my mother, and... she would freak out..." She raised one paw to tug down on one of her ears, grooming it softly as she spoke. "... How about tonight...? Unless you have plans already or something..."

"Uhhm... Nope, not that I'm aware of." This was actually happening. He wasn't sure whether he should scream in joy, or creep away slowly to avoid any troubling circumstances that may arise from all of this. The joy was winning out. Corsi was his first partner in over eight years, and while she was probably the most amazing combo-breaker he could ever think of, he was just asked to take Lana's virginity. A young virgin...

"... I have to ask, though... How old are you...? I mean, not that it really matters. Just curious." he asked casually.

"I turned nineteen two months ago." she answered with a little smile. "Don't worry, you're not breaking the law or anything..."

"I wouldn't be worried about that. I mean... you're over fourteen and technically, you asked me." he said with a grin of his own, looking over at her. "Tonight then. You can ride home with me and we'll do whatever you want."

"Dinner first. I never eat big at work, so I might be hungry... if the nervous doesn't get to my stomach first." she finished, shifting a little nervously in her chair already. This was actually happening. Chris wasn't a girl, but she felt this strange desire to give him a chance, and to see if his offer actually helped her figure herself out. Figuring it probably would, one way or another, she didn't have a reason to refuse. Though she felt a little strange, making such an obvious arrangement with him to take her virginity. It would probably turn out okay though... He had an aura about himself that made her unable to feel anything but secure near him. Her thoughts were cut short by him sitting back up.

"I gotta' go. Only had a half-hour left. I'm actually gonna' try to clock back in on time for once." Chuckling, he pushed to stand. Quickly, she reached out to grab his hand, sending him a little off balance, forced to take a few steps toward her to keep himself upright. Grabbing his hand with both of hers, she smiled up at him with a shy radiance that made him feel both great things, and a sinking feeling somewhere inside that he didn't pay much attention to.

"Thank you..." she said, before letting his hand go. She tried to, rather, but he took a grip and gave a reassuring squeeze.

"My pleasure. Everyone deserves a chance to know themselves, right?" he asked, not really expecting an answer. She didn't look like she was prepared to give one anyway, as he turned and made his way back out to the floor to work.

_ * * * _

By the time he got out there, the electronics department was actually rather busy. At least a dozen customers looking for help here and there, with only Candie to sort things out. Chris learned from her that Brennan had been dragged up to the seasonal section to help fix things up down there, about a half an hour ago.

Between the customers and random deliveries of returned products that they had to put away, Chris and Candie were fairly busy for the next few hours.

"This is _ insane _! Who comes to Walmart in swarms like this in the middle of the week?!" the bunny ranted, taking a moment to have a sip of water when they both happened to be near the same cash register.

"People who have nothing better to do than snipe at new releases so nobody else can have them." replied Chris. He was mostly right, too. There were two kinds of people who swarmed the electronics department like this during the week. The gamers who were desperate for new games, and the people who waited for big trucks full of merchandise to show up so they could get one or two of whatever they wanted. One couple he recognized specifically for buying a new TV every two or three weeks. He never understood why, but he figured they were fencing them or something since they always went for the ones on the cheapest sales.

"Thanks for not going up front..." she started to say, before taking another sip from her water bottle. "... I don't think Brennan would have been this fast with things." she commented with a small smile. Candie was always a fairly tame bunny. She never cursed, was never overtly rude, always dressed well - today in a nice thin eggshell white top with a subtle floral print and somewhat more of a dipping neckline than usual, over a pair of black work slacks and her usual nice shoes - and always had her hair done - today it was left to hang around her shoulders, but crimped and softly wavy all around, kept out of her eyes by a thin black hairband - quite nicely. He suspected it was because of her 'proper' church upbringing. Always look your best when you're out. That was something his grandmother always stressed over, and he never understood.

"My pleasure. Always happy to help a pretty bunny as much as I can. God knows it's the only reason I still do work around here..." he said with a chuckling grin. "... they don't pay me enough to actually _ want _ to work more..." His words brought a smile to her face. As sometimes strange as he could be, he always seemed to be so nice to her and help whenever she needed it. Sometimes to the point of skipping his lunch so she could get hers. It all sometimes made her wonder.

"So... the only reason you do any work around here, is to help me? What about when you run off to help Ami?" she asked, raising one brow curiously as she looked at him.

"Usually only when she's swamped with stuff. Even then, I usually come back around to make sure you're not busy over here, right?" he answered easily, before being cut off by another customer. As he stepped away to go help, Candie stayed where they were.

Thoughts started swirling in her head about this strange cheetah, as they had done many times before. Why was she so happy when he was around? Why did his compliments make her face feel so warm? In different circumstances, she might even consider dating him. He filled almost every requirement that her parents had set down for her, where boyfriends were concerned. He was polite, helpful, had a job, kept himself at least relatively tidy. The only thing he didn't do was go to church. At one time, she expected him to belittle her for it. So many people already did. He didn't, and she couldn't figure out why.

It took all her remaining effort to keep herself quiet for the rest of the shift, choosing not to question him right now. It just wouldn't be fair, after what he'd gone through recently. He seemed to be preoccupied with other things anyway. It could wait.

_ * * * _

After work, at the lockers, Chris spotted Lana between two rows, stripping off her vest. Meandering up behind her, he made sure to be very casual and quick about flicking out one paw to lightly prod her in the side while her arms were up high to take off her vest. The resulting squeal of shock and near-terror was so satisfying! So many others peeked over to see what had happened, only to see Lana leaning back against her locker, glaring at Chris. He could only grin, dangling his own vest from one paw, waiting.

"You're in the way. I need to get into my locker..."

"You didn't have to scare the life outta' me!" she whined, pouting a little.

"Yes I did." he said with finality, slipping around her to crouch by his own locker. Quickly, he shoved his vest inside, and locked the door. "Ready?" he asked, just as his phone vibrated in his pocket. Tugging it out, he read the message, and rolled his eyes. "Seriously?"

"I'm think I'm ready..." she mumbled to his first question, but gave him an odd look as he stuffed his phone back into his pocket. "What's wrong?" she asked, half-turning to start heading out.

"Karina bailed on me again. Guess we'll have to call a cab." He flashed a worry-free smile to her, before guiding her along and outside. They were both quiet the entire way through the store, oblivious to how Ami was staring at them in some small amount of shock as they passed by. When they got outside, Lana grabbed Chris' hand and quickly started leading him out into the parking lot.

"Uh'... Hey. What are you doing? We have to call a cab..." he said curiously, watching where she was going. As she pulled a set of keys from her pocket, he just laughed. "Right then! Color me stupid for not asking in advance."

She pushed a button on the little remote-starter thing she had, and he heard the car nearby go beep-beep! Nothing fancy, just some little white car that looked cheap on gas.

"What color would stupid be, anyway?" she asked with a giggle as she got in, leaning over to pop the lock so he could get in, too.

"I... don't know." he answered as he climbed in and buckled up. The car was small on the outside, but had quite a bit of leg room. This made him very happy.

"Hmm... Maybe purple. 'Purp' kinda' sounds like 'derp', so that might work. Derple."

He laughed again, nodding slowly. "Yeah, that works. Okay then, color me derple!" he finished jokingly, leaning back as she started to drive. A minute or two into the ride she turned on the radio. The station it was set to by default was playing some electronic club music that he recognized. Probably a Deadmau5 remix.

"Even if Karina's home when we get there, we can just hide in my room for a while. I have a TV and sound system to entertain us until you're ready." he offered, foot tapping to the remix on the radio.

"Sure. Though I think I wanna' get this over with as fast as possible... I don't know how I'm going to feel about it, so..." She pauses, and starts to nibble on her bottom lip nervously. Watching her, he couldn't help but think it was rather cute.

"Fair enough... Let's just see what happens, eh'?" he offered, this time with a more supportive tone. The rest of the ride was relatively quiet, aside from him giving brief directions on how to get to his apartment building.

_ * * * _

In spite of the fairly quiet ride home, it didn't feel like it took very long at all. Though she did complain briefly about the obscene number of stairs they had to climb to get to his apartment. He was on the third floor, which meant five flights of stairs to get to where they needed to go. By the time they got there, she was ready to lay down. Or so she said.

"I think I'm ready for a nap, after those stupid stairs." she mumbled as he fished in his pocket for keys. From what he remembered, Karina had a morning shift tomorrow so she'd likely be in bed already. As he opened the door, it was a completely different story. The smell of something foul assaulted his nose immediately, and he pushed inside to see what it was. He was pretty sure he actually knew, based on what it smelled like, but he didn't want to believe that was brought into his living space without plenty of discussion first.

When he saw the living room, he openly scowled. A couple of pizza boxes with a few slices in each, one torn in half, with the top half way across the room on the floor. Cans of Pepsi and beer bottles all over the coffee table and floor around it. Most important of all, Karina on the couch, leaning on her most recent ex-boyfriend, both of them sharing a half-smoked joint.

_ "Having fun...?" he asked, his voice a bit more tense than it was on the ride home. Understandably so._

"Mmmh... You should try this stuff, Chris... It'll calm you down, y'know? You seem so stiff..." Karina answered with just as much of a haze to the sound of her voice as he could see on her face. One look at the quickly deteriorating mood on Chris' face and the ex, Shane, knew he probably should keep quiet.

"Yeah, I'm sure it would, but we had a discussion about this stuff, remember? None of this shit in the apartment unless we specifically agree on it first. I don't remember doing that. Nor do I really want you to explain right now, since I brought a friend home. Great example." His words took on a faintly growling tone as he scolded the two smoking on the couch. Even as Karina opened her mouth to reply, he just raised a hand dismissively, giving her a 'not now' sort of look, before turning back to Lana.

"Let's go to my room... Can't stand this smell." he mumbled when he got closer to her. Before heading off to his room, he grabbed the last two cans of Pepsi from the fridge, idly remembering there was almost a full case when he left for work. With a sigh, one hand came to rest against the small of her back - which made her tense and jump slightly, not expecting to be touched... yet - as he guided her down the hall and into his room. A comfortable if small space, with a large bed, clothes dresser, and a laptop hooked up to a thirty-two inch TV. As he handed her one of the cans of Pepsi, he slowly shook his head.

"Never expected to see that guy around here..." he said softly, glancing at the door for a moment. At least it didn't smell like weed in his room. That was a bonus.

"W-we don't have to do this... tonight... If you need to do something... About them, I mean." she stumbled over her words a little bit as she simply tried to be polite about it. There was stuff going on for him, and she didn't want to be a bother.

"Nah'... It can wait. I have to give her a few strikes, right? Can't just change the rules on a whim." He took a deep breath, steadying himself before taking a step toward her. "Are you ready...?"

_ "I think so..." she mumbled, eyes wide and staring at him, her entire body stiff and trembling with a sudden timid fear that she couldn't identify or push away. It only took a few seconds of watching him unbutton his shirt to know what she had to do. Fast, or forget about it. Her paws fumbled behind her for a few seconds first, fidgeting from outside of her shirt to unfasten the strap of her bra. She closed her eyes, almost a little tightly, and reached down to grip the bottom of her shirt. In one quick motion, she pulled it up above her head, fingers catching and bringing the bra with it, and just took it right off. Without thinking, she threw the garments across the room, to the base of the door. Immediately she regretted that decision._

For the brief few seconds it took her to realize how exposed she was to him, Chris got quite a nice view of the ferret's upper body. She wasn't as curvy as Corsi, but he maintained that she was a once-in-a-lifetime gift, to cash in his karma. However, she was still quite lovely. A few curves here and there, with soft short tan colored fur covering her body in various shades. Darker around her eyes and along her back, but lighter along her belly to the point of almost being a creamy white. Her breasts were quite a hand-full, possibly a bit bigger than Corsi's but not quite as perky. Quick observations were made, before she swiftly lifted her arms to timidly cover her body. Turning slightly, she slumped to sit on the edge of his bed.

"I can't believe I did that..." she mumbled through her embarrassed haze, not sure what to think or do next. He took the initiative, tugging off his own shirt to show off his intricate and somewhat uncommon 'king' cheetah pattern. She peeked up at him, inspecting curiously. She'd never seen anything like it before. Cheetahs weren't as common in Canada as they were in the south. Managing a tiny smile, she swallowed her fear and managed to speak to him.

"I like your fur... The pattern is nice..." she politely commented, bringing a chuckle to his lips. He sat down next to her, leaning in to peck a little kiss to her bare shoulder. One paw came to rest behind her on the bed, bracing himself, as the other trailed a few fingers up the top of her thigh and over her belly. He could feel how tense she felt, and shook his head.

"Thank you. You're too nervous... Maybe I can help." With the offer in play, he didn't really wait for her to accept or refuse. Climbing further onto the bed, he settled behind her, knees spread wide to get as close to her as possible and give her tail somewhere to go. His paws reached for her back, making her jump a little, but she didn't move away. Slowly, he started to knead his fingers into her very tense muscles, starting at her shoulders and slowly working down along her back. Her fur was soft under his pads, pleasing to the touch. As his fingers worked her stress away, she had some time to think.

Thinking, of course, about why she was here. The situation she was in. The deal she made. He seemed to understand her fears and worries, and didn't rush her into anything. She just couldn't untie the knot in her stomach that made all of this just too uncomfortable to go through with. It wasn't that she didn't even find him attractive. He was just fluffy enough to be kinda' cute in her eyes. His tail was playful, his fur was soft. His face had that gentle sort of quality when he was being serious. She wanted to give this a chance, but... something inside of her just kept holding her back. As she let her mind pull away from itself, imagination starting to wander around and flirt with her subconscious, she started to figure out why. Images of him rolled around in the back of her mind, but at the same time they weren't quite him. He was feminine, sleek, sexy. He was a woman, and that was the only thing different. She wanted him to be a woman.

Her eyes popped open again as she felt his paws cup under and grope softly at her breasts. His hands were skilled for a guy who once claimed to be single for almost a decade. The stress in her body was nearly gone, his paws worked the magic he intended, and without any refusals he started pushing things forward. Quickly, her paws jerked up to grab at his, holding them still, and in a way using them to cover herself. She half-turned toward him, an apologetic look on her face. As she started to speak, he chuckled, and pulled one paw away, pressing one finger to her lips.

"I see that look... You don't wanna' go through with it..." He pulled away, sitting back and licking his lips slightly as he sometimes did when he was trying to hold himself back. "It's fine."

"I... I do... I just... can't." she mumbled, looking down into her lap as her arms shifted to cover her chest. One deep breath was all she needed to center herself and continue speaking. "I like you... as a person. I just... don't want to be with you like this... as a man."

"Well, we can say one thing about tonight, at least. We managed to reaffirm that you are, indeed, a lesbian." His words came with a playful chuckle as he pushed himself more toward the head of the bed. He flopped down on his side, holding his head up with one paw, watching her from behind, waiting to see what she wanted to do.

"Can we watch TV...? I still wanna' stay over, if that's okay with you..." She didn't even wait for him to respond. Standing up, she fumbled with the edge of the TV, knowing there was a touch-button to turn it one somewhere around there. He just watched, amused at the little look of frustration on her face until she managed to find it and turn the damn thing on. Much to her surprise, all she saw was a computer desktop screen. She looked back at him with a slightly puzzled look.

"I have it hooked into my laptop. It's beside the TV. Just open it and pick a movie or two if you want." He shrugged, letting himself roll onto his back and relax. Arms fold up and behind the pillow beneath his head as he watched her pick something out. He was a little surprised as she flipped up the side of the blanket and slid beneath it. Her body wriggled in toward him, and back against him as he shifting onto his side to face her.

"Cuddling is okay, then?" he asked jokingly before wiggling himself under the blankets as well. One arm curled around her waist, but rested lightly over her belly. She actually managed to feel comfortable like that, trusting him enough to not do anything to her without her permission.

"As long as you're a good boy and don't do anything funny." she teased, slowly growing more comfortable with him.

"But I'm a funny person. It's what I do." He stretched his paw out, fingers teasing her fur and claws threatening to tickle, but he didn't. Just a teasing taunt.

"Nnh! Hey! Don't..." She pouted quietly, peering up at the TV as the movie Wall-E started.

"Fine, fine... but I just have to point out how weird it might be for you to be so suddenly comfortable with me, even though you're topless and cuddling with me, expecting me to not do anything to you."

"... I know. It's weird, but I feel safe." Her answer was good enough for her. Her motivations were a mystery to both him and herself. She went quiet then, and he accepted her answer as good enough. He simply layed back, and enjoyed the movie. Eventually, they both fell asleep...

_ * * * _

Several hours later, while Chris was in that heavy dead-sleep state, Lana stirred with a startle. Something didn't feel right. She turned around slowly, not wanting to wake him up. One paw reached down to move the arm around her waist, only to find another oddity. It was slimmer. She tensed, wondering what was going on. Her first instinct told her to flee, but she found herself curious.

Blinking her eyes open, she waited a few seconds for her eyes to adjust to the darker ambiance of the room, dimly lit by the TV's bouncing screen-saver box. Taking great care to be subtle, she twisted in place, turning to face the cheetah so restfully cuddled into her back. When she finally turned and got a good look, her heart nearly stopped. What she saw was not Chris.

She did not see a man who so understandingly offered to solve the biggest identity crisis in her life. She did not see a cheetah who, while a bit fluffy, was admittedly one of the first men she'd actually been a tiny bit attracted to. She did not see a geeky guy who dripped of sarcasm and wasn't afraid to splash it around on anyone he met. What she saw was something completely different, yet somehow... made sense.

The arm around her waist belonged to a young woman. Her hair like dark liquid fire spilling down over her shoulders. Her body like an athlete, toned by daily running and good food. Curved like the lover Lana wished she had, with soft hips, long legs, delicate shoulders and breasts big enough to fill a pair of paws just right. Her face is what threw things off a little. Distinctly feminine, but still so similar to Chris. The coy little smirk while she slept. The pattern around her eyes and curling to either side of her muzzle. The spots on her cheeks. Aside from the obvious change, she could swear she was laying next to the same person.

"She was right..." was all the ferret could whisper to herself. The mysterious words hanging heavily in the air. Slowly, she turned back around, cuddling back into the feminine figure sleeping so beautifully behind her. She let out a sweet sigh as she felt the female cheetah cuddle up a bit tighter, her arm curling back around Lana's waist. All she could do was blush and smile a little. Her mind racing far too fast to let herself fall asleep. Situations like these were why she could never have sleepovers with her friends during middle school. However, she was an adult now, and she could make adult decisions.

One paw moved to guide the cheetah's fingers down her belly. The brave maneuver executed slowly, carefully, making sure not to wake the slumbering feline. She didn't want to take advantage like this, but with how warm her body had become since the strange discovery behind her, she couldn't help herself. Instinct was winning against integrity. Guiding that soft paw between her thighs, she curled her own fingers to press the cheetah's against her covered treasure. The feeling made her groan softly under her breath.

Much to her surprise, the cheetah started to softly purr against her back. Thinking she'd been caught, the ferret turned her head to slowly look back over her shoulder, expecting to see Chris again, staring at her with his goofy grin. She didn't. Still the female cheetah slumbering peacefully. She breathed a soft sigh of relief before slowly tugging that hand back up and nudging it under the waist of her panties.

With fingers half-concealed by the undergarment, she suddenly realized that she didn't have her pants on anymore. She must have kicked them off while she was sleeping. An easy enough conclusion to come to considering she felt them tickling against the pads of her foot-paws.

Distractions pushed aside, she nudged the hand further between her legs. Her lips part, sucking in a quick breath as she pushed the cheetah's finger-pads against her needfully moist nether-lips. She started to work the cheetah's paw against her folds, moving slow enough that she wouldn't stir the sleeping beauty, but firmly enough that she could get the pleasure she so wanted. It took almost an hour of subtle movements teasing to build what she was sure would be one of her best orgasms she's ever had. What set her off was something entirely unexpected. The cheetah simply snuggled closer. When she did, her paw curled of it's own will, arm tightening around the ferret's trembling body. As her paw moved, so too did the fingers and paw-pads teasing those glistening folds. Dragging the paw back a little, the underside of one finger rubbed firmly along Lana's clit, sending a shock of pleasure to tip her over the edge.

She tried to remain still as the sudden release of bliss took hold of her body, but she just squirmed a bit too much. With the body in her grip moving so much, it was hard for the cheetah to fully remain comfortable snuggled like that. With a little blink, she woke up.

"What's wrong...?" she asked, sleepiness adding a little groan to her voice. The second her brain caught up to the rest of her, she realized she was hearing the ferret whimpering and trembling. That flicked a switch in her mind, and she jerked awake, sitting upright with a paw reaching for Lana's shoulder to gently grip and... wait, why were her fingers moist? Looking down at her paws, she gave a curious look at her finger-pads.

"Did you... use my hand...?" she started to ask with a grin, but then something else hit her. She sounded like a girl. Eyes popped open wide, cast side-long to the door once again. Was it a dream this time? It had to be. There were no mirrors. The TV was still on. Lana shifted in place, looking up at the cheetah with wide eyes. She'd been discovered, and now it seemed like Chris was confused and in shock about him... or rather herself.

"It's okay, Chris... she told me. I know what happened." Lana tried to reach out and comfort the panicking cheetah, but her hand was pushed away with a bit of a scowl.

"No! It's not okay. Or, it could be... This is a dream. A dream caused by my desire to have sex with you on an instinctual level, causing me to have a fantasy about being a girl so you'd want to, and..." She paused. Eyes cast around the room, reading words on the bouncy screen-saver box on the TV, the numbers on the alarm clock. You can't read when you're asleep. It's against the rules of dreaming. Nothing is supposed to make sense. Nothing _ did _ make sense right now, but this definitely wasn't a dream.

"... Why am I a girl?" she whined, bright green eyes so wide and reflecting the dim light they almost seemed to glow. Lana couldn't help but appreciate the beauty in those eyes, her own gaze softening as she stared into them.

"... Because I think it's what you were meant to be. Something or someone wanted you to be something else..." she said softly, leaning forward to rest a paw on the cheetah's trembling knee. Her effort to comfort the cheetah didn't last long, as Chris's female form jerked violently against the wall. A pained growl pulled from her throat, paws jerking up to grip at the sides of her head wildly. She threw herself down onto the bed, curling up as tightly as possible as strange changes happened.

Ripples of sickly grey-green mist washed over the cheetah's body, changing everything it touched. Within a minute or two, the lovely young cheetah woman was once again Chris. He almost immediately relaxed. Something clicked in his head that just made everything okay. In a way, he might consider it a psychosis. This situation he'd found himself in was quite strange, and needed further exploration, but for now... he was okay with it.

"... Why aren't you freaking out? How did you expect this?" he asked the ferret. His sudden change of tone from supportive to interrogative startling her and putting her on the defensive.

"I... I can't say, I promised I wouldn't! She could get into a lot of trouble if I told anybody." Her paws jerked up to clamp over her mouth. His brows furrowed in frustration. He needed to know, but he wasn't about to lessen himself to the point of forcing it out of her.

"... Did you at least enjoy yourself...?" he asked, before letting out a little sigh. Slowly, he pushed himself toward the edge of the bed, meaning to get up.

"... I did..." she mumbled, watching him cautiously.

"... Good. I need a shower." He paused, glancing at the window to see a trickle of light starting to peek from around the heavy blinds. "... It's almost dawn. Probably safe to get dressed and head out if you want." The hinting push in the back of his voice was enough to tell her that this was his polite way of saying he didn't want her here when he was finished.

He didn't. He knew she was hiding something from him. He just woke up in a woman's body, and had no idea how, or why it had happened. To top it all off, she had the brilliant idea of using him while he was sleeping and strangely transformed, to get off. He didn't want someone like her in his home right now.

The stress of the last few moments was too much. He felt something building inside of himself that he didn't want to feel. Anger. Stepping out of his room, he entered the bathroom, and started the water for a shower. Maybe the hot water would wash away the filth of this morning's discoveries. Hopefully it would help clear his mind enough for him to figure out what he had to do today to get to the bottom of this.

_ * * * _

Lana didn't waste any time. She had gotten dressed in under a minute, and fled his room to put on her shoes. A bit of shock hit her as she caught a little glance of Karina on the couch with that guy, already awake and... enjoying themselves in a strange, lazy high sort of way. She didn't stick around long enough to be repulsed by it. Quickly leaving, she scampered down the apartment stairs and out the front door, making a quick straight dash for her car.

The safety of her own vehicle. She slumped against the seat, and let out a somewhat relieved sigh. One paw grabbed at her phone, tapping the screen to call a certain contact on her list. Several rings later and a tired voice greeted her on the other side.

"Hello...? Who's this...? Why are you calling so early..?"

"Candie. It's Lana. I saw him change, and he woke up during it. He knows something's wrong. Whatever you did. It didn't work."

"... Oh no. Did you say my name? Tell me you didn't!" the bunny's voice sounded panicked already.

"I didn't say anything about you... But I think he knows that I know someone who knows something..."

"Oh, well, that's not confusing at all... Thanks. Just don't tell him anything! We need to figure out how to resolve this."

"There is no resolving this, Candie!" Lana said with anger in her voice. "You didn't see him like I did just now! The panic, the anger, the confusion. It's torture! We need to end this! You need to take back whatever you did so he can be normal!"

"No... Not yet. We'll talk about this at lunch. Talk to you later." Click.

Lana sat back in her seat, frustrated beyond belief, and more than a little scared. What was going to happen now?