Chapter Text
The door slowly closed behind Felix as he stumbled his way into his apartment. A night out with his friends had turned into a night of drinking, one that he regretted quite a bit as he held his head in one of his hands. “Last time I’m drinkin’ that much, I swear,” he mumbled as he made his way over to his kitchen table to take a seat.
To call Felix’s apartment humble would be an understatement. Cramped would be a better word, at least in his opinion. A simple bedroom, bathroom, living room, and kitchen were all that there was for him. It did the job, of course, and he was glad to have an apartment to call his own, but he couldn’t help but lament how small it was. Around his blossoming headache, of course.
“I should probably drink something other than just alcohol. The last thing I need is a splitting headache before I head to work again.” A smart idea, but what to drink? Water was always the best choice, but then again, he wanted something with a taste to it. He didn’t have much other than tea, none of which sounded too appetizing to follow up a night of drinking with, until he noticed the box on his counter. “Wait, is that the…” He reached out and grabbed it.
Indeed, it was the mystery ‘floor tea’ he had grabbed from Julie’s store. Still as odd and as not in English as ever. Popping it open, he was hit with a wonderful scent, sending a tingle down his spine at just how potent it smelled. It smelled minty and fresh, with a hint of something sour inside. It smelled perfect. “Guess I’m havin’ tea after all,” he chuckled as he began preparing the water.
It took a few minutes for the water to boil, making him wait patiently until then. It gave him more opportunities to savor the scent of the tea bags, especially when he plunked… wait, how many bags were right?
“Uh.” He hesitated for a moment. “The pot’s thirdy-two ounces… bags are usually eight, so…” His brain struggled to do the basic math. “...Eight bags?” Close enough, probably.
He threw eight bags of tea into the kettle and waited for them to steep. A wonderful aroma wafted out of the spout, like lemon and mint, one that seemed to make him jolt to attention. “Whoa, strong stuff!” he mumbled to himself as he finally poured out a cup for himself. He lifted it to his mouth and blew for just a moment before taking a sip.
It was as if he had tripped and fallen face-first in a field of mint, with the scent of lemon not too far away. Despite such biting flavors, he could already feel his energy returning to him. “Mmh!” The flavor isn’t any less intense on his second sip, though it feels to have mellowed out just a bit. It’s now as though he’s simply lying in a field of mint… though something was just barely missing from it.
“Could use something… ooh!” He puts his mug down and grabs something from his spice rack, that being honey and nutmeg. He was a little bit gratuitous with both, almost making his mug overflow, before going back in for another sip. The field had transformed into something more akin to a thick forest, still with the scent of mint and lemon, though now only boosted with the nutmeg and honey, along with the tea being almost thick in his mouth thanks to how many bags he put in. It was delicious. Almost intoxicating. He needed to have more. He quickly added some honey and nutmeg to the pot before pouring himself another cup.
His second cup wasn’t any less dull. He drained it just as quickly, completely missing both his ears growing outwards and his spine lengthening within his pants. It was like getting under a shower for his mind, dispelling what bad his night of drinking with his friends had done to him. His ears and newfound tail continued to grow outwards and down his pants leg, respectively, as he bounced on his feet a bit. “This is incredible! I’m never drinking anything else again.
He doesn’t hesitate with the third cup. The changes progress further, lengthening his canines and turning his nose darker. Those changes only went further as he simply set the cup down and drank straight from the pot. His nose darkened further, his teeth grew sharper, and he even grew whiskers. Unfortunately for him, though, it ran out just as quickly as he had started drinking.
“Out already? Guess I should make more, then!” He felt almost manic as he got right to filling his electric kettle. “Not enough! Not NEARLY enough!” He also got himself a kettle for his stove top, filled it with water, and set it on one of the burners. All he could do now was wait. Something that felt like it was eating him from the inside out. It felt like time itself was slowing as his bounces soon turned into proper jumps. Felix was never an athletic person, but he felt like he could run a mile in a minute. He happily tested it by running around his apartment.
Everything felt like a blur as he dashed from room to room, trying his best to burn time and avoid looking at the ever-slowing clock. “I’ve never felt better! I’ve really gotta drink more of this stuff now! Yea-heaaAUGH!” His dashing was interrupted by his pants slipping down just a little bit. “Whuf… must’ve tripped on something. That, or I’m losing weight. Does tea make you do that?” He briefly thought about it, but his thoughts were interrupted when he noticed steam finally billowing out of the kettles. “No time for that! More tea!!”
He tossed another… eight-ish bags in the pot and got to pouring, noticing how much heavier the kettle was now. “Did I overfill this thing or something? No time to think!” He put in a gratuitous amount of nutmeg and honey. Along with a few more bags. “More is better, after all.” This wasn’t how tea worked in the slightest, and he didn’t care. He thought just as quickly as he could move by grabbing a few ice cubes from the freezer and tossing them right in the tea before simply chugging straight from the pot.
It felt like electricity was coursing through his entire body as his changes went further. Slowly, his entire body shrank a bit as some of his lost height went to other parts of his body. His chest swelled out with every gulp of tea, along with his now quickly growing thighs and ass. It was as if he were now lost in the metaphorical forest, deep within its darkest shadows and surrounded by its scents. Slowly but surely, he finished the entire bot, dropping it back in its resting place as he staggered backward. He could now feel his new assets.
“Woaaahh… when’d my chest get so bouncy?” He cupped his newfound breasts with his hands and giggled to himself when he felt them. “Squishy, too! Squishsquishsquishsquish…” For just a moment, his true quest was forgotten as he appreciated his new form, as if not even able to notice how his pants had fallen, now covered by his shirt. He slowly spun around, feeling how his body now reacted to his movements, and finally noticed the kettle on the stove. “Right! More tea!!” He was back on the move.
He disregarded how it felt like the whole world had grown a bit, knowing that thinking about it wouldn’t get him any more tea. He grabbed the kettle using some pot holders and slowly stumbled back to the table, now starting to grow as well. “C’mon! Just… a little… further!” He hoisted the kettle up and onto the table. His chest now barely poked over it. “You’ve got this, Felix. Just a bit more and you can have more tea.”
The final part. He lifted as hard as he could, straining muscles that felt so much more limp thanks to how much he was working already. His entire body trembled as he struggled to hold the kettle. Barely any of the water was getting into the teapot. “More! Need more!!” His weight shifted as he tried to adjust himself, making him stumble back further and further, watching the table almost disappear over the horizon. He did his best to correct himself, now tipping forward. The kettle fell onto the table as his body rammed into it.
The sound of his mug shattering felt so much sharper in his ears as he struggled to get up, wondering why his shirt sleeves felt so much longer now. A lot of stuff had fallen off the table. His mug, the kettle now, and the teapot as well. For the first time in a while, he finally felt aware of his surroundings… his still-growing surroundings. And his new body. “Wh… why is my chest growing? Am I shrinking?!”
He stumbled backward a bit, letting himself fall out of his pants, as he finally noticed the changes that had been happening this whole time. One hand moved up to his fluffy ears and the other to his long, curling tail. His voice felt shaky, no thanks to the tea still working its magic. He could feel his throat change ever so gently, and when He dared to speak… “What’s going on with my voice?!” It felt lighter and airier than before, more… feminine. His last stumble caught his feet on his shirt, making him fall over and partially bury himself in it.
His vision was now obscured and seemingly unable to move - whether thanks to whatever was happening to him or the shock of knowing he was changing - all he could do was feel the changes happening to his body. Slowly shrinking more and more, feeling something grow all over his body until it was finally done. He felt like he could move again. He slowly made his way out of his shirt, wincing a bit at how bright the lights of his apartment seemed to have become, and finally got a good look at himself.
He was different. Different from when he got here. His body was covered in silver, almost blue-looking fur. His hands felt slimmer - no, his entire body felt slimmer, apart from a few new areas. One of his hands almost reached for his newfound breasts, the other kept him on his knees, but stopped when he noticed the faint claws at the tips and the dark skin at the end of his fingers where his fingertips would be. “Why do I have…” he wasn’t quite sure what to end that sentence with, whether it be ‘fur’ or ‘claws’ or ‘breasts’.
Standing up felt like a whole new challenge, not helped by his newfound tail swaying back and forth. “I have a tail. Why do I have a tail?” he mumbled as it finally dawned on him. He used a finger to run along his sharpened teeth. Another grabbed at his tail as if trying to stop it from swaying. “I’m… I’m a…” He struggled to get the words out before they exploded from his mouth. “I’M A CAT?!”
He looked around his kitchen in a vain attempt to keep himself stable. Furnishings that once were just the right height seemed far too tall for him now. His head barely missed the top of his kitchen table while standing on two legs, which still felt just as natural to him. “At least I’m bipedal,” he thought to himself in a vain attempt to keep himself from panicking. It wasn’t working in the slightest.
“A-alright, Felix, just… calm down. This is probably normal. You just turned into a cat after drinking some tea. This has probably happened to somebody in the world, so you’re surely not alone. Maybe…” He could call someone? “Oh! My phone!” What was once such a simple thing to do, to grab his phone from his pocket, was now so much harder thanks to his newfound size. Unlocking it wasn’t much of a struggle, though, and neither was navigating to his contacts list, even if it felt more like he was using a tablet now. There, right at the top, was the person he trusted the most with this. “Julie… I hope you’re still up.” He almost tapped on her number…
But something about the tea began to slowly drag him back in. He looked over at the puddle of tea now on the ground, surrounded by ceramic shards. His mind felt fuzzy as he unconsciously took a step towards it. “One more sip wouldn’t hurt, right?” his mind tried to convince him.
“We have to call Julie! She’s the best person we can trust with this,” replied the more sane part of his mind. Despite his pleas, he took another step forward.
“But it was so good! Don’t you feel good right now? Don’t you want to feel better?” The scent of lemon and mint surrounded him once more.
“N… no! We’ll lose ourselves! What if we can’t go back?!” He tried to struggle. His body jolted back just a bit before taking another step, his foot/paw now just an inch away from the tea.
“We don’t need to care about that. All we need is more tea. That’ll fix everything, I promise.” He slowly bent down and stuck out a tongue, ready to lap up the puddle…
“NO!!” His entire body jolted back, finally back in control from whatever the tea was doing. With not another thought in his mind, his hand finally slammed down on Julie’s number.
One ring. Anxiety coursed through her veins.
Two rings. Doubt began to creep in.
Three rings. Maybe she wasn’t awake. Maybe Felix was alone.
Four rings. Maybe he was stuck as some weird cat creature for good now.
Five rings. He’d never go back to normal, never do the things he loved again. He was doomed to the whims of the tea. Never to go back to normal, or to be human ever again-
“Heeeey, Felix!” came Julie’s voice from his phone. “What’s up? Did you miss me that much?” He wanted to speak, but something locked up inside of him as he realized how much this all was. “Felix? Helloooooo?” Could he even do this? Would this be weird to think about? “Felix, I’m gonna hang up if you don’t-”
“No, wait, please don’t!” He finally found his voice. Guess the cat was out of the bag. “Julie, it’s me, Felix. I… I don’t know what happened! I drank that tea from your shop, and I couldn’t stop drinking it, and then it turned me into a cat, and now I don’t know what to do!” He couldn’t care less about run-on sentences right now. The silence from the other end was long and agonizing, but Julie’s voice soon filled it.
“...You’re… a cat. And you’re claiming to be Felix.” He could sense the sarcasm dripping from her voice.
“Yes? Because I AM Felix!” He certainly didn’t sound like him right now, he had to admit. Though he couldn’t quite say that his voice sounded bad.
“Listen, I dunno what buddy Felix suddenly has over or how you might’ve found his phone, but I’ve heard funnier jokes.”
“It’s the truth, Julie! The tea turned me into a cat!” Julie paused for a moment, giving Felix a moment to breathe before continuing. “N-not that I’m implying that you deliberately turned me into a cat, but-
“Alright, ‘Felix’,” her voice now somewhat stained with curiosity, “no need to convince me. I’ll come over and see what I can do about… this. Just sit tight, alright? Try to ride out whatever high that ‘tea’ that ‘I’ gave you until I get there, alright?”
“R-right. Thanks, Julie.”
“Mmmhm.” And with that, Julie hung up. Felix let out a sigh of relief as he sat down on the floor.
“At least she’s coming over, even if she doesn’t exactly believe me. Better than nothing.” All he could do now was wait. His mind turned to the tea once more, though whatever effect it had over him was now long gone. Now that he was back down on Earth, he could see the mess that he had made. “Jeez, I made quite the mess. Might as well try to do something to keep this place tidy.” Cleaning up, even if he could only do a little, would be a good start.
There wasn’t a whole lot he could do apart from depositing some of the bigger chunks of ceramic from his shattered teapot into the somewhat intact bottom of it. Each chunk hitting the bottom of it made quite the satisfying *tink*, making his ears flick just a bit. The floor was as clean as it was going to get after a few minutes, leaving him to wait and think. That was quickly interrupted as he heard his door’s lock click.
“Feeeliiiiix?” came Julie’s familiar voice. “Just here to check on you… and whatever wackjob guest you might have here… I’m just a friend, alright?” Felix froze in place. One part of him told him to run away and hide, while another, far scarier part of him told him something else. His claws extended for just a moment before he realized what he was thinking, making them go away as Julie finally rounded the corner.
She towered over him now while still being the same height as she was before. Her bewildered expression met his far more scared one, one which quickly turned to sorrow as it all came crashing down on him yet again. “I don’t know what happened” was all that he was able to get out before the tears came running as he started sobbing.
“Oh god, you weren’t lying,” Julie mumbled as she looked at the crying and naked catperson in front of her. “D-don’t worry, don’t worry. We can fix this. I’m here… is that what people usually say?” Julie wasn’t the best at comforting people, but Felix didn’t care in the slightest. He stood there for a moment as she scrambled around a bit before handing him a hand towel. “Here, use this to cover yourself up for now.”
It felt almost dehumanizing, but Felix agreed. He wrapped the hand towel around himself to the best of his ability, trying to ignore just how much his chest now squished into it. “Thanks, I… I don’t know what came over me. Well, I do, but-”
“Hey, don’t sweat it. What else is a friend for?” Julie chuckled, making Felix laugh along as well. At the very least, he had Julie’s somewhat infectious positivity. “So run this from the top for me. The most I got from you was that you drank some of this tea,” Julie gestured to the top of the table, which Felix couldn’t see over anymore. He could only guess she was pointing at the bag of tea. It took her a moment to realize how empty it was. “How many bags did you use?!”
“I don’t remember. Somewhere around… sixteen? Maybe more? Eight at a time, at least.”
“So not only did you drink that weird floor tea, but you drank almost… guessing from what you said, eight cups? You barely even look like you can handle eight cups!”
“I know! I just… I had to keep on drinking. Something told me to just keep on drinking more tea, so I did.” He shied away as Julie took a whiff of one of the tea bags and recoiled a bit. “If I hadn’t pulled myself away from it, I probably would’ve drunk more. Then I’d probably be… who knows.” He deflates a bit. “I’m sorry.”
“Felix, hey. I didn’t say I was mad at you. C’mere.” She crouched down and held her hands out, inviting Felix in. When he got close enough, she scooped him up and hugged him. “I don’t know exactly what that tea did to you or how it got in my shop, but one thing’s clear - you’re not to blame here. If anything, uh… I am.”
“Julie…”
“So here’s the plan.” She set him down on the table and took a seat, finally letting him be eye to eye with her. “I’m going to take you to my place. I’ll work on what exactly is so special about that tea, and you’ll get to just relax like you deserve. No thinking about your job or worries or anything like that. Alright?”
“And what about you? You have your own life to take care of. I can just… just…” He shied away again.
“Felix, please. It’s the least I can do. I didn’t know the tea would do this, but it’s still somewhat my fault. I should have never given you that tea.” Julie took Felix’s hands into her own. “Please. Let me help you for as long as it takes. Alright?”
“I…” Felix wanted to argue or say that he could simply adjust and try to go on, but he knew she had a point. “...Alright. I’ll admit that I need help.”
“Alrighty!” Julie lit up as she stood back up. “Let’s get you back to my place. I’ll carry you down to my van in my laptop bag, and you can get out once we’re inside. Alright?” Felix simply nodded. Julie opened her bag and invited Felix in, who dutifully hopped right in and got as comfy as he could. For just a moment, everything seemed so far away.
He wasn’t sure why he was turned into a cat by the tea, or why a cat specifically… or a girl cat, for that matter. Questions that would have to be answered in the future, he supposed. For now, he simply let his consciousness fade away as he slipped into a deep sleep, thankful for his friend.