The Kitchen
Ivan turns to you and says gravely, "We should get the worst option out of the way. There's no way she could have left this place without outside assistance, and judging by her sunny disposition, I do not think there is any worry in her making any new friends at this point. So since that is the case, the worst place she could go would be the Kitchen."
Jim and Steve interrupt Ivan.
"Hey can you let us out? We'll stay in the room we promise!"
Ivan glares at them, "No! Absolutely not!" Then turns back to you.
"What's so bad about the kitchen?" you ask.
Ivan rolls his eyes skyward and sighs. "I have told you already. Everything here is magic. That plant, that broken vase, all of us are magical entities now. This is the plane of MAGIC."
"Is that why everyone here is an animal?" You ask innocently.
Ivan looks at you and states, "Animal is a slur in this place. Everyone here is a mostly intelligent being. Some more so than others, however no one here is an.... animal. Got it?"
You nod, not completely understanding, before Ivan continues. "It didn't used to be that way, of course, and you would have no way of knowing. All of this kind of started a few hundred years ago as a joke amongst colleagues. A rabbit nose here, a little bit of snake skin there, and then poof all of a sudden we were all more different than we were the same. Eventually it became the norm as people grew comfortable in their new forms. Sure there was some adjustment here and there, but for the most part everyone seemed to like the freedom much better. No longer were we beholden to the judgement of others. Our physical forms were our own choice."
You shift on your pads, not quite sure where Ivan was going with this or if the history lesson would wrap up any time soon.
"... we could be anything we wanted, some went in a very different and strange direction, others preferred a more domestic aesthetic."
You cough, reminding Ivan of the task at hand.
"...which is why I chose a rabbit of course. Oh, right, what's her name. Let's go to the kitchen and find Tiffany."
"Jessica." You correct him.
"Whatever." He says over his shoulder as he walks to the gold encrusted white enameled door, throwing it open without a care for its opulence. He strolls to the elevator and punches in a few buttons. You follow behind him, your pale figure appearing as a ghostly form behind him. Your feet spreading out on the elevator floor sinking in quietly. You realize what Ivan meant about watching your form as your old butt knocks into the side of the elevator. You would have to definitely watch it closely when you get into a more crowded area.
As the elevator clinks down the numbers you stand in silence with Ivan, fear creeping in for the delicate dance you were about to have to do around people and objects so your true nature would not be discovered. Ivan's nose crinkled and his ears switched above his folded over hat. None of you had had time to change outfits in the room.
"Ivan?" You ask,
"Hmm?" The reply.
"I don't suppose I can get some clothes? Walking around under just fur is fine as it covers everything well, it's just..."
"Oh right," Ivan said, far removed from human concerns like modesty or timidity. "It would help the disguise, good thinking he says to you."
A dark green shirt and brown pants shift their way into existence on your form, leaving you illusorily clothed. You sigh but are content enough with the change so as not to complain.
The elevator clinks for the final time and the doors slide open on a curtain of air. Hotel staff buzz and sometimes run past the door. You can hear something different in the air, like a buzz or hum of commotion.
Ivan noticed it as well, his ears twitching in concern. "Hopefully that is all for you and not your wayward companion."
You step around a few hotel staff watching your back half and position yourself along the wall. Ivan looks around for a sign and spotting one leads you down a hallway then another before stopping short of a crowd of furred beings outside the doors to what you guess lead into the kitchens.
They all seem to be watching something on display inside of the kitchen, and discussing it with great intensity. You keep catching snippets of conversation and hope against hope that it is not what you think it is.
"...Not immune to..."
"Eating all of..."
"Affected by..."
"...Keeps changing..."
"...Looks like a human..."
You gulp hard as Ivan pushes his way through the crowd. You step on more than a few toes with your front and back paws. A crowd like this was sure to give away your disguise. You hazard a glance back, each person trying to get the best vantage point to see the situation going on in the kitchen.
Ivan pushes through the throng and into the kitchen. You gasp at the scene before you. You had found Jennifer.
Her form was a mixture of a hundred different parts. The illusion had dropped from her and her formerly tan skin was now a bright pink. She was hunched over a tray of sweets greedily shoving her face into the tray gobbling up dessert after dessert. You could only recognize Jennifer by strands of her hair hanging loosely from her scalp while the rest of her shifted around. You could see that one form was winning out over the others. Her hands and feet shifted into trotters and as her fingers stiffed she lost her grip on the pan which clattered loudly to the ground. A pigs tail sprouted from her generously growing posterior and her nose upturned into a snout as you looked on.
"Alright! Nothing to see here." Ivan exclaimed loudly. "We have a run away human which I will deal with."
You could hear a hush fall over the crowd as Ivan, now the resident expert and the others not wanting to have to deal with resolving this situation backed away. Jennifer looked up at Ivan recognizing him, a look of sheer terror shooting across her face. She tried to bolt, her trotters skidding on the slick and smooth surface. Jennifer sent pants and pots flying as Ivan stepped into the room, she squealed loudly. Ivan huffed in exasperation, intoned a cantrip and lifted her up into the air with ropes of magic.
You could feel someone bumping into your back half and reflexively you stamp on his foot. Someone behind you groans in pain as your tail angrily twists back and forth hitting him in the face. You look behind you to see a reptilian type man in hotel livery looking around angrily, before pushing the panda next to him. He hissed at the Panda who took offense to that and pushed him back. Soon there was a scuffle breaking out, and people started to scatter in all directions, not wanting to be a part of anything.
One of the senior managers, you surmise by the tassels, steps in and starts yelling to break it up.
Ivan lays his furred hand on your shoulder, and whispers "Let's get out of here before they realize what happened to the human in their midst." He pushes you through the crowd and back down the hallway. "Where's Jennifer?" You ask.
"She's with us, I have her in my pocket, now keep moving." Ivan says his face not betraying anything.
Putting two and two together quickly you say to Ivan. "You didn't tell me that humans were illegal here."
"Illegal? No. Breaking the rules. Definitely. Which is why I need to get the two of you back to the room as soon as possible, to avoid any more... questions."
The two of you duck into the elevator again and punch in your floor. The elevator rises faithfully clanging out the floors as you pass them.
"Can I see Jennifer?" You ask, "I want to see her and make sure she's safe."
Ivan groans. "She's right here," patting his breast pocket.
"I don't believe you." You say angrily.
"Fine!" Ivan gingerly reaches in to his breast pocked and pulls something out with a closed hand. He cups it with his other hand and opens it for you to see.
Inside you can see about the size of a small toy car, a tiny pig, it's skin bright pink with some long brown hairs still attached to its head.
"Jennifer?" You ask, thinking you must sound like a giant to her.
She looks up and you and squeals again, sitting down in Ivan's hand, and in a very human gesture crying and squealing loudly.
"Why is she so small?" You ask.
Ivan rolls his eyes and says, "I had to get her out of there without people noticing or wanting to involve the authorities. It was a good thing those two chose to pick a fight right then. Otherwise I was not sure how I was going to get her out of there.
"Oh that was me, sorry about that." You say.
"You? You started that fight?"
"Yeah the guy kept backing into my... tail, and I got tired of it, so I stomped on his foot." Thinking quickly you say, "I also thought you might need a distraction."
Ivan laughed his eyes twinkling. "Hah, a smart move. Hopefully when we get back to the room we can get back to some sort of normalcy before the show tonight."
The pit of your stomach dropped, you had forgotten that you were going to be on display again later on tonight. The elevator chimed again halting at your floor.
"Now then, I trust there wont be any more distrac..." Ivan say but was cut off as he walked into the room. Inside he saw..
Written by crunchynachoes on 21 November 2018
The end (for now)