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Personal Needs & Punished Good Deeds

Commissioned Story for Medkit

By Jakealope

The store had the outside appearance of a rundown, beat-up place squatting in the town's main street, if you could call it a main street; there was a collection of drab-looking shops, each squeezed between their neighbors, and the shop they were interested in fit right in perfectly. Plain and boring, almost deceitfully so.

“That's the place?" James asked. He was obviously unimpressed. The possum's face had skepticism written all over it.

Medley, on the other hand, was not so quick to write off the storefront. In fact, it made sense to the skunk. This was supposed to be some mysterious thrift shop that dabbled in the supernatural, from what it heard. Seems like something that would be good to keep to word of mouth only. A blank, uninteresting place that went by the name of Rusty's Thrifts and Finds seemed ideal cover from unwanted attention.

“Oh yeah, this is it." Medley answered its boyfriend confidently. James shrugged a whatever, and they both hopped out of their car, stretching a bit from the several hour-long trip.

“If you say so… this better be worth every bit of the gas it took to get here, cause so far it ain't looking like anything but a scam to me."

“It'll be worth it… I think. I hope so."

The last part was merely a whisper on Medley's tongue. A soft-spoken wish that the rumors it'd heard were true: that this strange little hole-in-the-wall shop was a source of transformative magic, something that'd fulfill the skunk's desperate cravings.

An automated chime rang out in answer to the door opening to the two newcomers—seemingly the only newcomers of this day. No clerk stood behind the front counter, and the place seemed oddly still. Even stepping in the room was like a disturbance to the very air that stagnated the place. All over were shelves of knickknacks with some resemblance of what could be called order, toys mostly, and all of it what James and Medley both would consider as junk. But the two had very different reactions to that realization. While James glanced over the mediocre selection with a scowl etched across his lips, Medley's heart leapt at perverse thoughts about joining the collection.

That was of course why Medley dragged its partner along for the state-hopping ride to this rather unimpressive town. It was an ambitious attempt to realize its dream of being something. A particular, mundane something—and stuck that way forever, from a dusty store shelf to the unfamiliar hands of whatever buyer thereon, not to mention the eventual trash bin its fate would be destined for…

Yes. Medley's dreams were of being reduced from a living, breathing thinking creature, to an object that was nothing but a vessel for its soul. The idea was certainly insane. Forfeiting a life to whatever inanimate shell you get forced into?

It was ridiculous to sound out. Yet Medley thought of that very idea day in and day out, and the idea never faded or soured in its mind. It only grew incessantly stronger and deeply rooted, drawing the skunk finally to a shop where it wished to never exit from—at least, not in its same form. Medley swore it could see and feel the presence of such like-minded souls all around it just as soon as it'd stepped in. The two lovers weren't alone in the shop, even if they were the only ones walking through the place. On every shelf was a different someone, at one point in time, now a simple item painted with their previous life across its surface.

Only two aisles into browsing the odd assortment of goods—very odd in some cases. It was truly a hodgepodge of goods that played on Medley's fantasies so tantalizingly—James got fed up with the lack of hospitality. “Is there anyone even running this store?" James asked aloud, and before Medley could shush him, began speaking louder, “Hellooo! We'd got a few questions about the crap you're selling!... Anyone here?"

“Well of course I'll help you two out. Why else would I be here otherwise?"

The voice startled them both, coming from directly behind. Taking up a vast majority of the aisle's width was a raccoon. No, not quite raccoon, something more mystical, but for the life of Medley, couldn't be recalled. Most of the man's plump belly slumped out the bottom of a stained, far too small shirt, and the athletic shorts straddling his brown-furred waist were equally struggling to hold their threads together. Even so, the man snuck up without the slightest of sounds to give his entrance away.

A cigar was picked out from between his beefy lips, glowing an odd blue haze from its smoking tip. “Name's Rusty. Yup, that Rusty—" Rusty exhaled slowly, some blue smoke curling out and above them. “Just me, my old shop, and… well, my unique assortment of wares."

The store owner shuffled the long and slender box stuck under his sweaty armpit. It looked like a boardgame of some sort, but none that Medley had ever seen. And then realization struck. It was a unique boardgame, just as it had been a unique, free-thinking person beforehand. That used to be someone… now, it was only a cardboard box with a smiling feline plastered across the face, complete with the muffled sounds of game tokens rattling around inside, ready to be played with and eventually forgotten in the dark confines of an attic or drawer.

Medley's black and white coat stood on end, and the green striped tail equally on alert behind it. The shiver down its spine was nothing of fear or anxiousness. No, what Medley felt was an irresistible urge to be the next one tossed onto a shelf!

Rusty took notice of Medley's overly attentive gaze. Too quickly and easily did his eyes pin down the vulnerable skunk. “Heh, yeah. I know why yer here. Something about my newest piece that catches the eye?"

Rusty tucked the cigar back into the corner of his maw to allow freedom of both hands, presenting the board game in full view under the store's fluorescent lighting. The cartoonish face on the cardboard top had more detail than expected from a game mascot. The smile, however, was very on point with what you'd typically find on any marketable product—bright and boisterous, like they were enjoying every bit of their featured part on the box. Frayed corners and smudged portions made it out like the game had already seen plenty of use, even though they'd been transformed only a short time ago, judging from how Rusty spoke of it. A ring of the man's sweat added another stain across a corner of the cardboard surface.

“This young lady came to me confessing her lifelong passion for board games. Told me how she collected 'em, kept 'em all tidy and new. I thought that a shame—keeping all those toys stowed away with no one to play with 'em. She'll learn to love the feeling of being worn in by the hands of those who play with 'er now. A game is meant for playing after all… 'til it can't even do that any longer. Then it's to the trash heap with all the other broken toys." Rusty shuffled the board game into an available spot on the middlemost shelving, sliding a few things out of the way to make room. “But she'll get plenty of good use before then, enough to satisfy her life's passion. I'm sure of it."

“Alright. Come on—are we really supposed to believe that boardgame used to be someone?" James interjected, looking partly irritated and disturbed by the store owner's words. When Rusty did not take the bait, he looked towards Medley for backup. “I mean, what part of that makes sense? And who's gonna buy them anyways?"

“Don't have to worry about that. Each of 'em will find their way. This one'll be sold by the end of the week, to who I couldn't tell ya, and it hardly matters anyway; I simply see 'em on out the door, and get my fair payment for doing so." He slipped out a roll of something, ripping off a piece at the end. “Everything's got a price here! The cost for my customers is money, and for my merchandise… a sacrifice of who they were, so they can become what they are. Ain't that why you come to my establishment here?" Rusty finished, half-lidded glowing azure eyes returning Medley's gaze.

Medley, cheeks fluffed from the embarrassment of the man's forthright accusation, watched as something was quickly scribbled on the slip of paper before being peeled apart into two pieces, one thrown aside and the other slapped sticky side down on the board's face. A price tag that sealed the feline woman's new fate. “Y-Yes. That's why I'm h-here," Medley anxiously professed. The skunk's hazel eyes trailed to its partner.

“And the possum?" Rusty asked, also eyeing James but with a frown creasing his bloated cheeks.

“He's my partner. He came to support my… my interests?"

“Then he won't be needed around for what's next."

“What's that supposed to mean?" growled James.

The scrunched fists at his sides were a cause of concern for Medley. “I can handle this," the skunk whispered, trying to talk some sense into its hotheaded lover with gentle words and a squeeze of his palm, but James' aggression was laser-focused on the store owner.

Rusty hardly batted an eye.

Instead of a straightforward answer, the obese man took a lengthy puff from his cigar. The end glowed a fantastic shade of bright blue—the same blue that glowed faintly in the whites of his eyes—burning down the end as he gulped in more and more, only stopping when his lungs were crowded with the odd smoke. Releasing the cigar from the grip of his teeth, he leaned into the couple, billowing out a cloud of the blue substance into both their faces.

Coughing on the second-hand smoke of the store owner, James was surprised by the affronting act. That idiot was looking for a fight pulling that kinda shit. He was pissed… or, no… he was relaxed, actually. Yeahj—yeah! He was completely fine, no problems at all! It was a silky blanket of ease that fell over him. Any of the worries or fears he held upon his shoulders before seemed to slip away unnoticed. The choking cloud cut off any feelings of animosity towards Rusty, replaced by simple longing to go with the flow of the moment. In the span of a few seconds, James was completely and utterly neutralized by the smoke's magic, marked by the placid grin that spread across the possum's muzzle.

Medley put up no opposition against the tendrils of smoke passing its nostrils, and there was little difference in how the skunk acted under the charm's influence. It'd already come willingly to this establishment for the purpose of forfeiting itself to an unknowing future. It knew this and made its decision without any hesitation; this was what it wanted, what it had wanted for a very, very long time!

“There we are, much better. Why don't you take a look around while I have a little chat with your partner," Rusty said to James, and as if the thought had birthed in his own mind, James nodded in agreement to Rusty's words, stepping away to sweep his now glassy-blue eyes over the other wares in the store, wholly oblivious to the charged exchange between them less than a minute before.

Medley spoke up first, its voice timid yet steady, getting straight to the point, “Is there no going back, once it's done?"

“Mmm. There is one way: I have a sort of… trial period alternative. But it'll cost ya. I'm here to do business, not run a hotel for weirdos like yourself. Let's see…" Rusty made his way to the front counter, grunting a bit as he reached over the other end and plucked something out of sight. His fat fingers encircled a small vial with a similar blue-hued liquid. “This'll be your only ticket back, and it's a one-time deal, so you best choose wisely."

“And the price?"

Rusty flipped over the tag on the elixir, and Medley frowned at the amount. It was outside their price range by a wide margin. There was no way to afford this. Which meant…

“Judging by yer look, this ain't in your ballpark. Sorry about your luck, but I'm no charity case. Come back when you have the cash—"

“I don't need it."

Rusty choked down some mucus in a throaty rumble. “Hrmm? What was that you said?"

“I-I said that… I don't need it—won't need to buy it, I mean. I don't even want a chance to go back."

“…Is that so?" Rusty replied, arching an eyebrow as he read the skunk more thoroughly, exhaling a pair of plums of azure smoke from his leathery nostrils.

“Yeah… Yes. I don't want to wait any longer. This is what I want—what I've always wanted without a doubt!"

“Hmph. Overeager, aren't we?" Rusty stated, chewing on the end of his cigar. His eyes picked apart Medley; the things it wanted, the things it needed, all so easy for Rusty to compartmentalize into tidy, simple notes. His smile grew wider while doing so. “You're not the only one to roll in here with that kinda enthusiasm for my work. Suppose I ought to be flattered, but it feels flat coming from someone that pathetically desperate to be a thing. Not that I look down on folks like yourself; after all, freaks like yourself keep me in business, and business is very good, hehe!" Rusty's squat thumb rubbed against the top cork of the elixir. Back and forth his greasy digit went. “I won't stop ya, and if there's any regrets… let's just say they'll fall on deaf ears. Picking up what I'm putting down?"

“I do—I think I do at least…" Medley gulped, eyes following Rusty's handpaw as they tucked the antidote behind the counterspace.

“Fair enough. All that matters to me is that you know what you've signed up for," he said. The cigar in his mouth, hardly more than a nub now, was ground into an ashtray, all while another one was retrieved from beside the register. He cut the end off in one smooth motion, and a blue flame produced from no visible lighter was held against the end. A few puffs curled the glowing blue embers into the virgin leaf. Satisfied with the fresh smoke filling his lungs, Rusty continued, “What's your name boy?"

“Medley."

“So, Medley, what might I do for you?"

Medley practically choked on its next words. The immensity of what the skunk knew it would be giving up, the intensity of the weight of the decision, bore down on the lithe and fluffy-furred skunk's humanoid shoulders as they contemplated what they'd prefer to spend the rest of their existence as. Many ideas had come and gone, but one remained steadfast and true, like some deep aspect of itself that yearned to breach the surface, to become reality. The skunk's tail shuddered as they found the courage to speak. “Ahh, a pool toy… an inflatable pool ring of myself? A skunk, I mean. Filled with air, all bright and shiny and squeaky. It looks like me—it is me. I've uhh, been dreaming of this for a long time now…" the skunk said, bashfully staring at the floor.

One-half of the store owner's mouth, the side free from sucking down the cigar, curved into a toothy grin. “Got this all figured out, don't ya? Always love to see it; so eager and bright… not for long. How long this been a dream of yours, eh?"

“As long as I can remember." Medley replied, thinking back to the earliest time it could recall fantasizing about being reduced to a living pool toy. It was one of the first dreams the skunk had ever had about transformation. Floating on a wave, drifting back to shore on a blindingly bright and sunny day at the beach.

“Mmm. I get a lot of folks in here who say that exact same phrase. I hear it damn near every week. However…" Rusty's smirk grew into a toothy grin. “Unlike them, I actually believe you."

And with that, a gust of blue smoke, even larger and thicker than before, blew out from Rusty's parted lips and enveloped the skunk in a suffocating, cloudy embrace. It raked at its throat. It stuck like glue to its fur. It stung like sand in its eyes.

And as swiftly as the unpleasant sensations developed, they dissolved away—overshadowed by wholly alien sensations. It began with the stickiness of its fur. Not sticky… clingy and malleable, like plastic. Pinching its fingers together, the skin of its pads gave way too easily. Peeling its fingers apart was altogether a tough ask. The once slender digits were now awkward to use at all. Fatter and perfectly round, no trace of the bone and tissue within, and the fur was… gone. The black shading of its hand was a flat, glossy texture. The skunk trembled in anticipation, arousal and euphoria growing more insatiable by the second.

Medley watched in stunned silence as the fur faded from its wrist. It literally melding into its now shiny skin. The other hand followed the first, quickly crinkling up its arm, simplifying the structure of its wrist into a featureless and hollowed tube—because that was what this had to be. A plastic tube filled with air.

Just like a real pool toy.

“Shoulda warned y'ought to get yer clothes off; ain't gonna feel so good in a minute if ya don't!" Rusty teased, snickering to himself as he crossed his chubby arms in wait.

Medley, eyes laser focused on the steady progression of the material up its arms, forced itself to heed Rusty's words. Panicking to rip off the t-shirt from its torso, the skunk failed to notice the first spotting of plastic on the tip of its nose. It was slow going to wriggle out the clingy fabric. Air-filled arms didn't offer much assistance, and so it resorted to twisting, biting, and finally sitting down to make use of its feet to peel the thing off.

With its shirt hastily flung to the side, Medley kicked its shoes off, then stepped one paw atop the other to worm its way out each sock. By then, the changes were past the elbow, straightening out the joints into a shape that aligned with the rest of its inflatable arms. The changes spreading across its face were no longer capable of being ignored. Medley hardly got a chance to think about its last words before it was too late! In the heat of the moment, it had trouble even recalling what the last words it'd spoken were.

The skunk's snout rounded out, inflating to keep position at the front of its face, with its button nose swelling to an exaggerated size. The black, featureless nose was accompanied by a cartoony smile that stretched far beyond the normal limits of its mouth. Errant thoughts crossed its mind of what might happen to its sight, its hearing, senses it had grown very accustomed to having, yet the waves of lethargy made worrying increasingly difficult.

The time spent examining its redefined facial features was valuable time lost. Fingers fused into mittens, forming a pair of bulbous, creaky resemblance of hands, a thick seam running around the sides, no longer providing any help with unlooping the belt stuck around its waist.

“Lemme help ya with that," chimed in Rusty, noticing Medley's silent panic. The man worked his fat digits into the belt hook, released the zipper, and gave one quick jerk on the denim. It gave way with a clatter to the floor. The white undies it wore underneath were easy enough to work out of on its own, with some ingenuity. Medley now stood completely naked in front of the stranger, save for one final piece at the middle of its crotch. A chastity device that it'd forgotten about until this very moment; no surprise with how normalized the skunk was to wearing the thing. If Rusty noticed the black plastic cage—which there was no way he didn't—he chose to show no reaction to it.

Medley's face burned partly from the shame of its public exposure and even more from the ongoing transformation. Further it climbed up and around the curve of its face. Cheeks rounded out, jaw line smoothed into a less-defined curve, and the wetness of its eyes dried out against the new plastic surface. Its vision didn't so much as blur during the process. It still saw everything, with newfound limitations; no longer could it look around at its surroundings, not without moving its head, which it did so in disbelief.

The feeling of such a restriction was so unbelievably pleasant for the skunk to experience. Things that were partially or completely lost—breathing, speaking, expressiveness in general… Medley struggled to miss them at all. Not when the bliss of newly stretched plastic became the skunk's everything. More than anything, the transition to these strange new limitations felt oddly… natural. Befitting of their new role as an inflatable novelty. Euphoric excitement sent shivers up the still-changing skunk's spine

Even thinking of the changes to come sent waves of euphoria through the shiny new parts of its body. Its chest and upper back were consumed by the slow-moving wave of black gloss. Hands experimentally touched the topmost of its head; hair no longer bent in the same way, turned into an air-filled cartoony recreation. Like a vinyl pompadour. Round ears, still capable of hearing the world around them, were similarly consumed by the sleek material. Medley's head was entirely hollow plastic now. With nothing but air between its ears, it could still think, which was a great relief. It would still be there in mind, enjoying a fulfilling life as a pool toy. What a sight that would be: floating aimlessly in a pool, only knowing one purpose… what a deeply gratifying thought that was!

“Care to take a look at yourself?" Rusty asked. He pointed a fat digit towards the back of the store. “Over there, down that far aisle, you'll come up to the bathroom door. Better hurry 'fore it's too late. Oh, and don't let your boyfriend see; I ain't trying to make this any more complicated than it needs to be."

The inanimate, smiling skunk head shook in a nod that was done from the waist. Scooting quietly away to the back of the shop, the skunk caught a fleeting glance of his lover through the shelving that separated the two. Still busy with the orders given to him, James went oblivious to the half-changed skunk that walked by, missing his last chance to ever see the Medley they knew ever again.

The bathroom mirror was such a perfect idea. Medley could clearly see the changes progress now, already spread down to its hips. That meant the next to change would be its genitalia, it deduced excitedly. It was fascinating to watch flesh and blood transition to inorganic matter, compressing black and white fur in a thin sheet of black and white polymer, smooth and entirely flawless.

The changes reached to the base of its painfully erect, caged penis, and as it travelled up the length, its erection began to shrink in on itself, as did the scrotum hanging underneath. The newly shiny skin wasn't the same black and white, but translucent in appearance. More and more its size was reduced and shriveled away into some far better. The chastity slipped an inch, tipped forward, and slipped some more, finally falling off what remained of its private parts to clatter against the tiled floor below. The noise drew the attention of James from the nearby aisle, which was then quickly redirected by Rusty to another product in the store.

Medley was much relieved by the outcome of its genitalia—or now lack thereof. Having no way to remove the locked cage in time, the shrinking was really the best scenario to happen, and the more it continued to reduce in size, Medley only became more at peace with the loss. Shivers of gender euphoria spread through the skunk's air-filled head, only further acclimatizing to its new form. There was no need for genitalia anyways. A pool toy would never make use of sexual organs—but it would most certainly need a valve to inflate with more air! Kicking the plastic chastity cage out of the way with one foot, it watched the tip of the valve fully take shape at its groin, lastly pushing into its body to lay flat with everything else.

With that done, the plastic texture continued to spread down its legs and around its backside. Sadly it could not fully watch the change of its tail; the best it could do was a slight angling of its head away from the mirror, catching the changes out the corner of its painted-on eyes. Long tufts of fur bent into place and became little more than a hollow vinyl facsimile of the real thing. The green stripe along the top of its tail, its one true moniker, was even more vibrant as shiny plastic. The tail's size became exaggerated as most everything else was in its new toy form. It realized just how large it's tail was in comparison to the rest when turning back to face the mirror; the silhouette of its body was eclipsed from behind by the fat, air-filled pocket.

“Getting' close now…" spoke the raccoon dog—oh! A raccoon dog! That's what Rusty was. Medley realized the fact too late to ever voice it, but was nevertheless still happy with the realization. And Rusty was right: the pace of its transformation was startlingly quick. The skunk had fantasized about all sorts of transformations before, but was struck by how quickly it was being fast reduced, both in size and in importance. Before long, the skunk would be nothing but a living toy.

Their plastic-y neck squeaked against the surface of itself as they cast a fleeting glance in Jame's direction. A pang of guilt was immediately dashed by a resplendent realization that before long, they would only know each other distantly. It's life with their partner would be like a dream. Perhaps the pool toy version of Medley might fondly look back at their relationship, with the time between recollections growing more and more vast until it finally could no longer piece together the puzzle of its previous life.

But all things must come to a mundane end at Rusty's store. For the skunk, if it could be called that anymore by now, it'd hardly be a mundane end! Yes, it may lack the ability to embrace ambitions or emotions or opinions. But those things never mattered to Medley. What mattered was the experiences to come: To be an object, to be so full of air, to experience deflation and deformation from the air within, inevitably experiencing what it's like to be pierced, painlessly popped and emptied of the air inside. Its air-filled mind began to run wild with perverse thoughts of what it's life post-transformation would be like. If Medley could laugh, cry, or even scream its joy to the world right now, it would.

Of course, the only thing Medley was capable of doing right now was holding itself upright, and even that was beginning to be an impossibility! Every inch of lost muscle in its thighs was another inch of airy, hollowed-structured body. Leaning into the sink helped for a few seconds, but there was no stopping the inevitable collapse onto itself. The left leg gave way first, bending at an impossible angle that tilted it's body sideways and downwards, giving one last glimpse of itself in the mirror before it was out of sight.

It fell without even so much as a thud, only a faint shifting sound of vinyl against the sink, before it painlessly bounced against the toilet and slumped to the floor of the unkempt bathroom. Its buoyant body bounced a little, then tilted face down, air pocket nose pressed into the icy-cold tiles. Medley only would get to see the uncleanliness of the bathroom scenery as the final bits of itself shaped into place. At least, it thought, it'd get to feel every bit of the final alterations.

The definition of its kneecaps vanished. What little bit of muscle in its calves were smoothed out as well. And finally its feet were touched with the tickle of cool plastic. Just as quickly as the hands had been reshaped into useless oval mittens, Medley's hindpaws were dealt the same fate, inflating with the last bit of air able to fit inside its new body.

But it wasn't finished, not quite yet.

Medley was overjoyed by the lack of autonomy already, but for a few seconds, found itself filled with anticipation for what would come next. Strikingly, nothing appeared to happen for a little bit, and for that minute of waiting, Medley was offered no reward for its patience. The tile floor cooled its vinyl skin to a chill. In its ears were the heavy breaths of the raccoon dog. It's former life would be over soon enough. The store owner's hands would be upon it, and then it would be off to a shelf, soon to be sold at whatever price that Rusty thought fair.

Finally it happened!

A strange, deeply hollow sensation ate at Medley's chest. It grew almost to the point of suffocating, all whilst air swelled and spread into any space it could escape to. A hole, Medley figured, was being formed out of its center, reshaping into the inflatable tube shape necessary of a classic pool toy. At the same time, its arms and legs moved on their own, reshaping, shrinking, becoming something with far less usefulness. Medley's eyesight shifted just slightly by another shift of its glossy skin. Then everything went startlingly still and quiet.

“Hmm. Yer looking all done, Medley—or should I say, pool toy, hehe!"

Something squeezed in on its sides. The ground rushed away, the world shifting upright once again, and Medley once again was back at the mirror. So was Rusty, holding it at chest level; a skunk-themed pool ring, black and white, with the green streak down the poofy tail. Unknowingly, other stems had popped up at its head and tail, other sections to be filled up when in use. Its arms and legs were simply nonexistent. The two white handles at each side of the ring might've been its hands before the very end. The same wide grin was permanently settled on its face, with a squishy bump of hair on top and painted on ears at each side. Medley really was nothing but an inflatable pool toy now. Several simple sheets of vinyl seamed together in a cute shape. If it wasn't for how much Medley reflected a cartoonish mimicry of itself, one might assume it was an ordinary, mundane inflatable.

It was a mesmerizing and strangely euphoric sight to see, one that it'd never forget or grow tired of seeing in a pool's reflection on a sunny day. Just the beginning of everything it dreamed to be…

And to complete the rites of passage of another one of Rusty's thrifted goods, one more thing had to happen. Stuck under the raccoon dog's sweat-soaked arm, just as the gameboard before it, it was brought out to the front of the store. It watched shelves and displays fly by and wondered exactly which one it would be dropped off at.

It took a little bit of walking to get there, but eventually Rusty stopped, flipping the pool toy out from under his arm. They were on the far side of the shop now. Medley looked at its available spot on the shelf with a vibrating giddiness. This was its spot. It would be sold from right here.

“There ya are. Hmm. Doubt you'll sell for much, but hey, this is what you wanted, right?" Rusty picked out the roll of tags, scribbling down a price outside of Medley's view. He slapped the price tag down with some momentum on his tube, rubbing the sticky side thoroughly onto the vinyl. “And this marks you an official merchandise of Rusty's thrifts and finds. No backing out now—not like you could've before, hehe! Better enjoy every little bit of your new look for as long as you last; made you as cheap as any ol' vinyl toy, for immersion's sake of course."

The store owner didn't spare a second glance back. The newly priced pool toy stared straight ahead, unable to even see over the entire store, only placed on the middle shelf. It didn't move or complain. It didn't do anything at all, like the countless others around it. It was just a toy waiting to be purchased. The price tag fluttered in a breeze from a nearby orange standing fan; showing off a price less than what it'd cost for lunch at a fast-food place. Soon enough, someone would come in here and cough up the necessary change for the toy, ready to go break it in on a hot summer day at the pool.

It could hardly wait…

James grew tired of scanning the odds and ends on display. The blue in his eyes had nearly completely faded—not that he was aware of it. And as the charm's effects faded, so did his interest. The only thing James was left wondering was why he was still there, standing around in the middle of an uninteresting thrift store.

Why was he even here to begin with?

There was something nagging him to stay, but it was like a pesky fly he couldn't quite catch. And he tried over and over again to remember while passing down the same aisles. There must be a reason for being here…

James spotted that annoying, bloated store owner shuffling his way back to the front counter. Maybe pestering him would jog the possum's memory. On the way around the aisles, James did spot something new and different. It was a pool toy ring, one shaped like a skunk. While it wasn't exactly as mundane as most of the crap here, it wasn't anything over-the-top spectacular either. So why were Jame's eyes drawn to it?

James squished on the bubbly black nose of the skunk-toy, giggling to himself as he did so. Yeah, it was kinda cute, in a goofy way. There was something familiar about it, James realized. He knew a skunk. There were memories that, if he tried hard enough to recall, murkily involved a skunk that looked exactly like this one—green stripe and all. The feeling washed over him like nostalgia, but was dissipated the moment the racoon dog shopkeeper cleared his throat.

“Can I help you?" Rusty asked in a raspy voice.

The gruff inquiry from Rusty snapped James from his thoughts. “What?"

“I asked if I could help you with somethin'. Yer here to buy somethin', right?"

“No, I don't think so…" James told the man, his voice unsure of that. “Not really finding anything that suits me."

Rusty took a long and hard drag from his cigar before replying. “Hmm. Nothing at all? I saw you lookin' at that pool toy awful funny. Must have some interest in buyin' it?"

“Nah, no thanks. I don't play with cheap toys like that anymore." James looked again to the pool toy, still feeling an odd connection to the thing. He chose to shrug it off, assuming it was some distant memory of owning one just like it as a kid.

“Cheap toy; what's that supposed to mean?" Rusty said, eyes narrowing dangerously.

“Well, not to be a dick, but all the stuff I've seen on your shelves is hardly worth the price tag on 'em." James stepped towards the front counter and the raccoon dog behind it. “And it's mostly junk anyways! I can't believe you'd sell anything out of here."

“Hmph. Well I do and I will continue to do so, even with your concerns for my business' wellbeing. But I'm inclined to ask you again—surely there's gotta be something worth payin' up for. Something that spoke out to you, begging for your purchase?"

“Uhh… I don't—"

“Or I can do you one better! How about… this." Rusty placed a small vial of blue liquid on the counter. “Buy this and bring it back to me within the week, and you'd be saving someone very near and dear to your heart." When James made a face of confusion, Rusty pressed further, “Does the name Medley ring a bell?"

James mulled the name over. Then some more. Medley…?

“…I think I met someone named Medley in school? I dunno. Is that supposed to be a name that means something special to me?"

“Well, shit," answered the store owner. He chewed some more on his cigar. “Must've been a little too strong handed this time… Ah well. Not gon' change your mind on buyin' anything, am I?"

“Dude, I'm already strapped for cash as it is!"

“Well then…" Rusty took another drag of his cigar, but this time exhaled it straight into the possum's face! “Get the hell out my store, and forget ever coming here again. I'm no tourist for pompous folks like yourself!"

“Alright fine, fine," James said, unknowingly under the effects of another charm placed on him. He quickly made his way out the door of the shabby place. Returning to his car, he either didn't notice the two drinks in his cup holders, or perhaps thought they were simply both his. The possum drove off without a thought of ever returning again to the town. The partner-turned-pool toy, overhearing the conversation, knew the same would be true.

To say Brink was worried for his best friend was an understatement. Several unanswered phone calls. No returned texts that everything was alright and not to worry. And at the peak of his concern, when he was desperate enough to bother Medley's boyfriend for answers, James only produced a frown at the mention of his skunk lover. Now that was plenty room for the alarm bells to start ringing in Brink's head!

“What do you mean you don't remember Medley—your boyfriend Medley?"

“What are you on about? I think I'd know if I was dating a dude right now. Are you sure you're not thinking about that guy I hooked up with in school? That was only for a week man, it didn't mean anything—"

“No, no! I'm talking about MEDLEY! Ugh!" Brink was really trying not to completely blow up on the possum who, in all honesty, seemed pretty genuine with his responses. “…You guys went out somewhere last weekend. I remember him talking all about it to me, someplace out of state."

“Oh yeah. I went there," James said, his face scrunching a bit as he recalled his trip. “Turned out to be a bust, not ever worth going back there again. Trust me."

“And the name?"

“Something dumb and forgettable. Which is why I've forgotten it already."

Brink combed a hand through his long, brown hair, breathing slowly in and out. He tried desperately to remember what Medley had told him; it'd been so excited about the trip… “Some type of thrift shop. It had a name—"

“All stores have names, doofus."

“No, like there was a name in the name of the store. Like… Ricks… No. Ru—Rusty! Rusty's thrift shop?"

“Rusty's thrifts and finds," the possum corrected.

“Why didn't you say it if you knew it!"

“Must've jogged my memory—not that it was worth jogging. Seriously, that place was a joke. I wouldn't waste my time or gas money going back there ever again."

Brink thought about that last statement on his long drive out of state. James had said the same exact thing twice, with such certainty: never going back there again. Why would he be so against a place he couldn't even recall the name of? And why did it seem so closely tied to the equally distressing fact that he couldn't recall his boyfriend whatsoever?

When Brink parked at the front of the weathered building, his suspicions felt only more justified. It was a nothing of a place, completely uninteresting to look at, just as James had said… yet Medley had been so elated about going.

Brink had a hunch as to why that was.

He tried to keep his entrance into the store silent, in the off chance that there was something more nefarious going on here, only to be forced to a cringing halt at the chime of the doorbell. Luck seemed to be on his side though; the noise died away and quiet settled once more across the fluorescent-lit aisles.

Even so, a deeply unsettling sensation couldn't be shaken off his shoulders. Nothing moved apart from himself, yet the human felt the prick of eyes boring him down from every angle. That really concerned him. It seemed to be more and more the truth that his friend came here with the intention of never coming back, just like it always dreamt about. Medley confided with only two people about its wish—himself, and his boyfriend. If it got what it truly wanted most… somewhere in here was a pool toy in the shape of a skunk.

“There you are!"

Luck continued to be on Brink's side; Medley sat out in the open atop the storefront counter. Brink tiptoed up to the pool toy version of his friend. This was the right skunk, there was no doubt about that. The green-striped tail alone was a dead giveaway. Truthfully, without that to convince him otherwise, Brink might've been deceived into thinking this was an ordinary, skunk-shaped pool toy. The cartoony design was perfectly matching to its inflated form, and its smile was certainly disarming. No signs of life could be found behind those wide, vinyl eyes.

Brink had no way of knowing whether or not his friend was still in there, but he'd figure that part after getting out of here. He went to grab the handles at the pool toy's sides, noticing the “sold" sticker as he did so—another reason to get him out of here now. He also spotted a peculiar looking blue liquid sitting beside the pool toy with its own sticker, and after a second's hesitation, he snatched that up too.

It was fortunate that the pool toy version of Medley was much lighter compared to real Medley, but its unwieldy size made it so that the human never noticed the nearby figure that watched him snatch up the merchandise. His luck had run out.

Brink's hand didn't quite meet the door handle before he was surprised by a cloud of blue smoke enveloping his face. He hacked and coughed on the acrid stuff, missing his opportunity to escape—not that he had any chance of escaping anyways—as his waved around his free arm in an attempt to break up the thick cloud. Something forcefully stripped the blue vial from his other hand, and Medley was unceremoniously dropped to the floor amidst the chaos.

“Stupid thief. Don't you know how to read?"

Brink spotted a bulky man through the haze, wondering how he hadn't noticed him before. He might've also wondered how he would talk his way out of the situation he'd found himself in… if not for the frightening realization that he couldn't speak, his mouth failing to utter so much as a gasp. Then came the dreadful awareness that he couldn't move whatsoever, his arms and legs entirely unresponsive to his commands. All Brink could do was watch as his worldview shrunk down rapidly to the floor, his body crafting itself into a perfectly round and lightweight shape.

“I got new owners for these here products in another hour, and I ain't gonna be caught empty-handed when they arrive. Last thing I want is to be made a fool of in front of payin' customers." The heavy steps of the raccoon dog dropped next to Brink, and his body was lifted away from the floor. “Even so… I ain't one to hold a grudge, 'specially towards a beach ball."

Brink felt his new skin compress under the weight and heat of the man's armpit. The slick sheen of sweat that stuck to him was oddly satisfying as it was disgusting. Medley was scooped up and forced underneath the other arm, and the store owner waddled back to the front counter. The pool toy was put back first, with Brink being placed snug in the center ring of his friend, and the elixir was set aside them both.

“Hmph—tell ya what. I'll let ya spend some time with the skunk-toy you were fixin' to save, then when it's out the door, back to the shelf with ya. I'd suggest enjoying the last bit of time together; ain't gonna last much longer…"

The raccoon dog wandered off after that, leaving the two friends alone with one another as company—hardly good company anymore, the two unable to interact whatsoever. While Brink distressed over this horrible predicament, Medley continued to be a silent observer, save for the few squeaks that emanated from his toy form.

A newcomer entered the store just short of an hour later, a kangaroo-rat that would've stood a few feet short of Brink's height a short time ago. They immediately made for Medley and Brink, though their attention only seemed to be on the elixir beside them.

Before Rusty saw them off with a satisfactory sale, Brink was destroyed to hear that the blue elixir being sold was exactly what they needed to change back. Their only hope hopped back out the front door, leaving them to bask once again in an eerie silence, waiting for something or someone to interfere with their inert existence.

Another equally small kobold entered the shop next. His vibrant-red eyes lit up as soon as they landed upon the skunk-toy, and while Rusty checked out the customer, he gushed on and on about how much fun he'd have this summer at the pool, all while pawing and squeezing at the skunk-toy's stretchy material. The delightful squeaks only seemed to spur the kobold's excitement for his new pool toy purchase.

“If ya want, since yer so keen on this pool stuff, I might be convinced to throw in the beach ball at a discount," Rusty said to the kobold.

“Oh. Hmm… I dunno. How much?"

“Whatever you see on the—humph." The raccoon dog groaned a bit as he leaned over the countertop to slap the forgotten price tag on the front of the beach ball. “There we are. Whaddya say, interested?"

Come on, please say yes! Brink begged. He wanted to stay with his friend, to make sure he was safe, to make sure that he was not alone…

The kobold pondered over the price, a bargain-bin value for a bargain-bin-style beach ball, before shaking his head. “Ehh. Not so much. I've got a dozen beach balls back home… but not a skunk floatie like this one!"

The raccoon dog simply gave a shrug as an answer, accepting the money from his customer without another word. And so the kobold hop-skipped out the store with a skunk-shaped pool toy in tow, leaving Brink behind to be stuck in a bargain bin near the back of the store, not wanted, hardly considered worth anything at all. Never would he see his friend again, though that became the last worry on Brink's mind after a good long while in that bin. But perhaps one day he'd escape this hellish place, even if it meant being sold off as a cheap pool party decoration.

He dreaded the wait…