clone – deep future

the looking glass (commission)

A commission for Ehksidian!

“UGHHH.”

The drakkai was bored. Bored. BORED. Rain poured down outside, shrouding the world beyond her window in a gray pallor – even the birds were silent, sheltering from the driving storm just as she was.

Her phone was still and quiet – evidently everyone else was either still asleep or busy, as even the usual haunts were quiet as she flopped back on her bed, staring at the ceiling.

Or, at least, she was – until she noticed her mirror.

Usually just used to inspect outfits or even to throw clothes over if the chair or bed weren’t close enough, the standing mirror had been in the corner of her room for years, at least – reflecting just enough of the room to see the window, and little else.

Today, though, the view had… changed.

Instead of the perfect reflection of her room, a new room existed on the other side of the mirror – garbed in finery and flowing cloth, white curtains and crimson plush carpeting. It drew Xena in like a moth, her gaze unable to pull away even as she stood, crossing the room to stare inwards.

Nevermind the fact there was no reflection of her in this mirror – it was as if it was a window into a world beyond her own, tantalizingly close yet just out of reach.

Slowly, carefully, she reached out a claw to touch the glass.

The instant contact was made, the mirror’s surface rippled as if a rock had been lobbed into a pool of water, her claw sinking in slightly.

This only made the drakkai more curious.

Glancing over her shoulder, Xena considered simply laying back down and forgetting whatever strangeness awaited her – but boredom won out, yet again. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, right?

She pushed her paw through, meeting resistance as if she was trying to push her way through gelatin. It fought, pushing back with surprising strength, but she was simply stronger – slipping through the barrier out of her room and into… wherever this was.

The room was warm, a scent not unlike cloves filling the space – large cushions and comfortable furniture were scattered here and there, a small portrait high above containing a framed face of some sort of rabbit, peering down at her.

Huh. She pinched herself, closing her eyes.

Nope. Still here.

Whoever this room belonged to was clearly of some importance, as she snooped through their belongings. Finery and objects she had no name for, jewelry of metals unimagined and household devices not yet conceived.

Again, though, she turned her attention to the mirror.

Her room was still there, true, but… hazier. A slight reflection of the room she was in had fallen over it, almost as if the image has been double exposed.

Oh, well. She’d head back soon enough, right?

As she continued to look through the room, she… suddenly found herself experiencing a strange deja vu. She’s been here before, hadn’t she? No. Yes?

Xena stopped, rubbing her head with a shockingly soft paw for a moment before she realized what was different about that, tugging it away to take a closer look. Her claws were gone, replaced by soft cream and wheat-colored fur – finely manicured and shampooed to be soft and shiny.

She stared at her paw for a moment, before shrugging. It seemed odd, but if she didn’t have claws why had she assumed that would’ve hurt?

Her ears, gently tugging upwards as she lounged in the grand, soft bed that occupied the large corner of the room, didn’t draw her attention either – nor did the reddish-brown hair, spilling down her back and over her face, sprouting small holite flowers that bloomed and blossomed in the afternoon sun.

She grew more at-home, house clothes becoming the nightwear of nobility – fine pseudosilks and linens, cradling the increasingly leporine drakkai in dream-like comfort. Her eyes gained flecks of gold, spreading through the iris like wildfire, until with a few blinks, their eyes had stopped itching. Perhaps they’d been more tired than they thought?

Kye sat up, horns dwindling away, as something caught their attention. Their mirror had cracked?

“Hm.”

The Prince swung their paws out of their bed, gently padding over to take a closer look. Sure enough, a crack ran from the bottom frame to the middle, perfectly down the center line of the mirror – and, for a moment, Kye swore they saw something else in the reflection, but a blink later it was just… themself, and their room.

For good measure, they turned the mirror away.

“A nap might be in order,” The bunny said aloud to no one in particular, drawing the curtains.

“It certainly beats being bored.”

Poolbunny (commission)

A commission for @poutine_sheep!

It was a cold, cold January day – and, naturally, Emmy was spending it as he usually did. Bundled up beneath a blanket or two, alternating between playing games and watching the occasional movie that caught his eye as he scrolled through the seemingly endless list of cable channels.

The world outside was blanketed in snow and ice – which, maybe, was why the sheep was so surprised when their doorbell rang, and soon enough Cai had joined them on their couch, snowed in and content.

The movie the two had been watching finally drew to an end, credits being cut off by a commercial – one of a pair of beachgoers enjoying the sun, some sort of inflatable flamingo toy being tossed around further down the beach.

“Ugh, winter’s just too cold,” Cai said aloud, tugging their own blanket a little tighter. “Summer’s more my season, even if you guys don’t really get it up here.”

“Winter’s fine,” Emmy rebutted, shrugging. “Get to stay warm and cozy, even if the snow and ice isn’t great.”

“What, not a fan of the beach?”

“I like it! Just… haven’t been, much.”

“Really?” Cai blinked.

“Not exactly the closest thing to visit,” Emmy shrugged.

The conversation dragged for a moment, before, absently, the sheep mentioned… inflatables. The flamingo was back on screen, grinning as it bounced around in the waves. It looked… inviting. Nice, even.

“Probably… nice, you know? All floaty.”

“What, being an inflatable?” Cai asked, a curious look on their face as they snuggled a bit closer, leaning on the sheep.

“Yeah, like… I don’t know. Hard to explain.”

“…Given the chance,” Cai began, eyes twinkling. “Would you?”

“Oh…” Emmy trailed off, thinking. Would he?

“…Yeah, I think so.”

The next thing Emmy knew, they’d been gently pulled to the side – and the bunny had pressed their nose to his, meeting the sheep’s gaze.

“Let’s see, eh?”

The next thing Emmy knew, the bunny had kissed him – completely bewildering the sheep, until, after a moment, their cheeks suddenly… filled with air.

Huh?

Cai took a deep, deep breath, puffing into Emmy with all the care of someone inflating a raft for a day on the waves, and to the sheep’s amazement (and concern) they felt their tummy begin to rise, displacing the blanket as beneath his clothing the sheep’s wool began to smooth over, gently squeaking and squirking as it swelled.

Emmy didn’t know it, but as puff after puff was forced in through the sheep’s soft, pliable snout, he began to get… bigger. Slowly, at first, as puff after puff rounded the sheep, but soon noticeably enough that the blanket wasn’t exactly covering much of him anymore…

..revealing, to Emmy’s surprise, off-yellows and creams, his tummy no longer held beneath the shirt he’d been relaxing in, swollen as it was. Cai, taking a break from filling their friend, grabbed the tummy between their paws, giving it a long, squeaky rub.

“Everything you hoped for?” The bunny asked, grinning up at Emmy in a bucktoothed beam.

“Y-Yeah…” The sheep breathed, giving his swollen, off-color tummy a prod. It gave beneath his hoof like… an inflatable, would. The colors weren’t his, but… if anything, that made him excited.

“Keep going?” Cai offered.

Emmy merely nodded, enjoying the sensation as the bunny scooted over, climbing onto his swollen tummy and lay on him like an airbed, snouts pressed together.

Cai, again, took a deep breath – and pushed more warm, comforting air into the sheep, bursting the buttons on Emmy’s pants and shortening his legs somewhat – hooves beginning to slowly, methodically puff up into inflatable bunny paws, if a few sizes too large.

The bunny guided the transformation, sometimes slow, sometimes quicker, rubbing and squeaking and squeezing at Emmy as more and more of him began to become an inflatable copy – wool shrinking away as it was replaced with painted plastic, internals dwindling away into so much warm, comforting bunny air.

Emmy grew – twice, three times their original size as the bunny puffed, and puffed, the poor couch starting to run out of space as the changes crawled ever higher. A valve, the hallmark of a toy, began to sprout as Cai sprawled across the toy’s huge chest – then a barcode, dotting Emmy’s thigh.

The sheep’s ears stretched, towering, overinflated shapes reminiscent of the bunny filling him – and then came the hair, a molded, bright blond mess of seamed plastic and air. Emmy could barely focus, so lost in the bliss of being so light, and full, and… bunny! They weren’t round by any stretch of the imagination, merely… big! Soft. Squeaky.

Just like he’d wanted.

“Ready?” Cai said, finally, looking the sheep in the face.

“Hm?” Emmy replied, dreamily.

Cai didn’t wait – grabbing the sheep’s cheeks gently but firmly, and beginning to rub – rubbing and massaging and gently squeaking the remaining wool as it, too began to soften and yellow, inflating beneath their paws into the soft, pliable cheeks of an inflatable bunny. Emmy’s eyes began to change, square pupils first lightening to a bright blue – and then changing entirely, rounding out and flattening into the printed decals of an inflatable Cai.

His snout, too, didn’t escape unscathed – gaining a brand new printed-on pink nose and a little plastic bucktooth, shortening considerably!

Lightheaded from the change, the two giggled at each other – and, with a squeeze, Cai hugged… themself.

“Well,” Cai said after a moment, poking Emmy’s nose.

“How is it?”

The sheep-turned-toybunny thought for a moment, resting a cushion-sized pooltoy paw on the bunny.

“…Different.”

Hula, Me? (commission)

A commission I wrote for @AlkaliGnoll on twitter!

“…Wow.”

Alkali blinked, glancing into the closet they’d just managed to wrench open – and taking a step back as several years worth of box contents and decorations spilled forth, coating the floor in a fine layer of christmas cheer – and halloween cheer, and… easter decorations?

When had they even decorated for Easter?

Shrugging to themself, the deer stepped inside; if they didn’t manage to clean even a little of this up today, it’d bug them for weeks – why not get a head start while they were thinking about it?

So, it began – dusting, sorting, unpacking of old boxes and general reorganization, not even the shelves above escaped the deer’s mood for cleaning, being thoroughly reordered and scrubbed until they looked practically brand new!

It took them almost all afternoon, but soon enough the closet was nearly spotless, clutter reduced to a rough memory and a few stray spots of piled-up items with nowhere to go!

“Phew!” Alkali chuckled to themself, tugging their shirt down from its spot as an impromptu dust mask and glancing around. Perfect! Not a thing out of order, aside from…

The deer frowned, taking a step deeper into the closet. Leaned up against the far wall of the walk-in closet was a curiously bright and out of place… hula hoop, winged with contrasting stripes of yellow and white. It didn’t fit in with the surrounding items at all, standing out among scattered decorative stocking holders and a small inflatable porch santa like a sore thumb!

Tugging it free of the pile of items it had been largely submerged within, the deer made their way out of the closet to take a closer look – it was… well. A hula hoop?

An adult sized, unfamiliar hula hoop they didn’t remember buying in the slightest. In fact, Alkali couldn’t even remember the last time they’d used one – maybe it’d been a gift they’d forgotten about?

But, then again, who’d gift them a hula hoop?

The longer the deer held it, the more the urge to at the very least try it out grew – after all, that’s what hoops were for, right? Hula hooping?

Quickly, the deer peeked out into the hallway – first left, then right, just in case.

Assured that the coast was clear, they let the hula hoop drop to the floor and stepped inside – and, instantly, were struck by the strangest sensation they’d ever felt. It was as if the bottoms of their hooves had fallen asleep – though, just as easily, it could’ve been the carpet. Right? Right.

Bending down, Alkali grabbed the sides of the hula hoop and tugged it upwards towards their waist – and instantly regretted it, dizziness striking them out of nowhere as their height quite literally halved!

The hoop fell to the floor as they let go of it, Alkali blinking away the dizziness and glancing down at themself – and seeing their usual deer self, and the hoop denting the soft carpet below.

“…Huh?” They wondered aloud, before, cautiously, grabbing the hula hoop and tugging it slowly upwards, wondering if maybe skipping lunch to keep cleaning had been a bad idea.

To their chagrin, the higher the hoop traveled the worse the odd falling-asleep sensation grew – finally drawing their gaze downwards as the hoop reached their waist. Below the hoop’s plastic boundary, was… someone else.

Alkali blinked, wondering for a moment if he’d fallen asleep.

Two little yellow and white paws were denting the carpet – clearly made of felt and stuffed, stitching running up the sides of the two proportionally tiny legs to a waist the ring hadn’t revealed – and back, to a small, un-cervine like tail, a little plush tag with a star on it jutting out from one of their thighs.

“…UH.”

Normally, they would’ve dropped the ring right then and there – but, something about it was captivating. After all, when they’d passed back through it before they’d changed back, right?

Surely they would this time, too?

Gripping the hula hoop’s sides, Alkali tugged upwards – the ring passing over their tummy, their chest, and up their arms – until, with a little clack, it wedged against the deer’s antlers, brand new plush rabbit ears flopping free of the ring as the transformation passed above them. Their clothes collapsed to the floor, many sizes too large and not even close to the right shape, anymore.

“Oh, come on!” Alkali complained in a voice that wasn’t theirs, brand new inklings of a lisp tickling at their voice as they began to adjust to the little plastic bucktooth now cutely wedged into their soft, felt muzzle.

They rattled the hoop, trying to push it just an inch higher – before, with a rather unsatisfying pop, it came free – and the plushie rabbit plopped to the floor, barely three and a half feet tall and oh so soft.

“W-Wow!” Alkali exclaimed in delight, feeling themself over with brand new soft plushie paws – and brushing their new mop of bright blond hair out of their eyes, squinting down at the tag.

In a tiny, looping bright blue font, it read the name “Cai” – along with, naturally, “machine washable”, and “100% cotton”.

“H-Hi!” Alkali practiced, bringing themself up to their full height and puffing their tiny plushie chest out.

“I’m…” They squinted at the tag.

“Cai!”