“So have you messed around with your shapeshifting at all?”

  I looked up from my bowl of sad, blinking at Luna’s curious stare. “Uh, no – I’ve been kinda busy; I had another interview yesterday.”

  She nodded, swallowing a sip of her water. “Cool, did it go well?”

  I’d been asking myself that question since I left the office of the unreadable Mrs. Willow. “I guess – she seemed interested in hiring me at least.”

  “And where was this?”

  “Oh,” I let out, “I applied to be a waitre– a waiter at a… a steakhouse.”

  Luna nodded, “Neat – so back to your superpowers… I never asked you how it felt being in a feminine body when you were getting Snuffles back – thanks again – how was it? Did you get crazy dysphoria?”

  I nodded, thinking about the way I struggled to act composed while being Sarah, the way my mind darted around, constantly surprised by new sensations. “Definitely, it’s– it was distracting.”

  She continued nodding, “Yea, kinda sucks you can’t get up to like gender bender hijinks with it cuz here in the real world you have to deal with the consequences of brains n stuff… But you really haven’t messed around with it, even a little?” She leaned in to inspect my features, trying to find pces I’d used my powers to clear up my acne or neaten my hair.

  I had been using it to shave – just shapeshifting to an already-shaved version of my face each morning, but other than that, I hadn’t used my powers on my normal body at all. “Nope, I’m perfectly okay with how my body looks. Especially if I’m trying to get a job, the unfortunate reality of the world we live in is that it's beneficial to be a man.” I shrugged.

  And that was true – if I was trying to get a job, I should present as an attractive man. But I wasn’t just trying to get a job, I was trying to get one I might actually keep – and Sarah seemed to like the work she was getting into in a way that I wouldn’t – and that was more important to me than the patriarchy – at least I hoped so.

  “So what’ve you been up to?” I asked during the lull in conversation when Luna was staring off in the distance.

  She refocused. “Work sucks – yadda yadda – but yesterday, I was browsing this new discord server I found and they were talking about this card game–”

  I stiffened.

  She waved her hands in front of her pcatingly, “No no no, it’s not that bad. So you have three decks in the middle – or is it four? – and one is the war deck, and another is the resource deck, and then… wait, what was it again?” She shook her head, “Anyways it seemed really cool, and I’d be down to try it if you were too…” she tilted her chin down and fluttered her eyeshes at me, adopting a pout when I didn’t immediately give in.

  I finally cracked after a couple of silent breaths, grinning and nodding. “Of course I’ll py it with you.” Luna got extremely invested in card and board games, and generally, even when she was dating, I was the one that got roped into her hobby. I only minded the most complicated games, the ones with rule-books and seven different win conditions, but I did wish we had more people to py with sometimes.

  I got up and pced my bowl in the sink, gncing back at Luna as I washed. “How about a movie tonight?” I didn’t have much to do, already having spent the day applying for jobs and pnning my next solo shoot.

  She grinned, standing and walking over. “Sure! Who’s turn is it to pick?” She bumped her hip into mine from the side, nudging me out of the way of the sink and taking over the dish-washing while sticking out her tongue at me.

  “It’s technically mine, since the st movie we watched was after your breakup…” I walked to the couch, hiding a smile.

  “Hey! You made me watch that stupid anime though!” she protested.

  “Not a movie, so it doesn't count!”

  She grumbled, finishing up the dishes and plopping herself on the sofa beside me, but not touching. “Alright fine I’ll let that logic slide, but–” she paused, holding up a finger, “Only if you use your shapeshifting to turn into a squishy cuddle monster and hug me for the whole movie.” She grinned, staring at my face with evil in her eyes that said that no matter the choice I made, she’d be winning.

  I froze. I did not want to show off my powers to Luna any more. Being anything that differed significantly from my normal was overwhelming and distracting, and even Sarah’s body, which I was sort of getting used to, was completely off the table, given what I’d been using her for – not to mention the way Sarah felt about Luna.

  But… On the other hand, I could feel Sarah inside me, begging to embrace Luna, to feel her arms wrap around me, feel how tall and soft and cute she was. I entertained it for a moment, considered what it would actually require. I would either have to have a very awkward conversation with Luna – one that I wasn’t ready to have with myself – or I could… blindfold her?

  There really wasn’t a good solution, unfortunately for Sarah, meaning I would have to hold back.

  When I didn’t immediately agree, Luna backpedalled, waving her hands in criss-cross motions in front of her. “I’m sorry, I was just kidding. Don’t do any body stuff you aren’t comfortable with!”

  “Uh,” I let out, “It’s fine… I was just thinking about stuff.”

  “Sorry again.” Her eyes turned down. “I’ve been kinda lonely since Candice dumped me and I let my hug starvation get the better of me – especially since you’re the only person I know that I’m comfortable hugging.”

  I ughed, wrapping my arms around her and pulling her in without hesitation. “Just ask me for a hug then, silly. What else are besties for?”

  “For making me dinner, and giving me a bed to sleep in and an apartment to live in,” she mumbled, face against my ft chest and arms loosely around my back.

  I let go, scooting back before Sarah could get any stupid ideas. “I guess I’m just your housewife then…”

  She giggled, “If only…”

  I resisted the urge to agree more seriously, finally grabbing the remote and focusing on the television.

  You’d think that after all of the attention Sarah had been getting, it would make her shyer – as she became closer and closer to a complete, real person she should start to feel the embarrassment of people knowing her – but instead deep inside me I felt a desire to break free, to subsume my life as her own, and that was terrifying.

  I shook my head and started the movie, eager to clear my thoughts and rex.

  Luna had other ideas, speaking up before the opening credits had finished. “What about a cat?”

  “A what?” I turned to her.

  “Like could you shapeshift into something non-human, like a cat? It’d probably suck cuz of body stuff, but you could py with Snuffles,” she said, gesturing at the feline in question as she eyed us suspiciously before darting out of the room.

  I stared at her, baffled, ignoring the start of the movie.

  “Oh what about a catgirl?!” That’d be so cute!” Her eyes darted to the top of my head.

  I brushed my hand over my smooth hair, relieved to find I hadn’t accidently become catgirl Sarah. “Don’t you mean a catboy?” I protested.

  She froze. “Oh, yeah, I totally forgot people could use shapeshifting to not turn girly…” her hair whipped behind her as her head shook back and forth, “Sorry, I keep forgetting there’s people who actually like being a man – even if I know that’s the case, sometimes it doesn’t feel like it to me, because, y’know…”

  Like being a man? What is she talking about? I tolerate being a man. If changing my body to be more feminine wasn’t so distracting, I would’ve been doing it all the time. I would’ve gotten rid of my dick ages ago if I thought I could’ve – who wants a dumb floppy thing getting in the way of your clothes and legs and getting hurt if it gets bumped? It’s inconvenient, and I doubt other men like it either, but that’s just the cost of living, like paying rent or cleaning the toilet.

  We finally turned our focus to the movie, my mind still thinking about catgirls – who knows what she was thinking about – silence cushioning between us.

  Dang, I bet if Sarah made a video as a catgirl, it would get a lot of attention… Why did I never think of that?

  —

  It was the next day when I finally got my call from Mx. Willow. I was in the kitchen, wiping down the countertops, when my phone buzzed, and I picked up. “Hello?”

  “Hello, I’m looking for Sarah Campbell?” they answered. Their voice was soft and airy, like it should be hard to hear, but it somehow wasn’t, filling my ears easily.

  “Oh… yeah, let me hand the phone over to her.” I set the phone down, shapeshifted, and picked it back up. “Hello? This is Sarah.”

  “Hello, Sarah, this is Mx. Willow – they/them – calling you back about your interview. Are you still interested in moving forward with us?”

  I paused for a brief moment, partly to tamp down on the embarrassment of answering the phone in the wrong body, and partly to make my final decision. However, it wasn’t my decision to make – it was Sarah’s, and I’d designed her to be a pervert, so…

  “Of course, I’m excited to move forwards in the hiring process,” Sarah responded.

  “Great,” they said, “We have an opening for a shoot on Monday. If everything goes decently well, you’ll be offered full-time employment. Does that sound alright?”

  “Yes,” I said, trying not to sound too excited.

  “Well alright, we’ll be sending you the details over email, you should get it before the end of today, let us know if you don’t.”

  I nodded along to all of her words, holding in my fist-pump until I’d finally hung up.

  Hell yes! Sarah got a fucking job!