Shedding Your Doubt (Lamia TG TF)

Sophi threw open the door to her apartment, then slammed it shut, not even flinching as she kicked off her shoes in the entranceway. She tossed a school bag over her desk chair before promptly flopping down on her bed. Her long hair spilled underneath her as she dug her head into the pillow, staring up at the ceiling, the room lit only by the dim rays of afternoon sun that slipped in through her blinds.

“Ah, what a fuckin’ drag!” she groaned, kicking her feet on the bed in a way that was too childish for the high school aged body she was using. “All those jerks ever want to talk about anymore are ‘quotas’ and shit like that! I mean, I get it, they’re footing the bill for all of us staying around the city and shit like that, and they’ve really been busting their asses covering our tracks with MON sniffing around, so they want us to at least be doing some work, but, still, what a freakin’ pain!” 

Sophi let out an exasperated sigh and rolled her head to the side, looking out at the rather large, well-furnished apartment her organization had set up for her. “Shit, it’s not like I’m not trying. But I’m trying to do actual art here! Some of the other girls just have to change people into extraspecies and leave it at that, but the higher ups don’t get it takes more time to imprint a personality like they’ve got me doing. Heck, even centaurs are trickier to get right than I thought they’d be, and now they want me to try other species, like MON’s gonna care if there’s a bunch more centaurs around than any other type of extraspecies. They’re all the same problem to those stuffy suits.”

The girl rolled over onto her other side, drawing her slender, caramel legs up towards her stomach as she faced the wall. “Fuck. No point in whining about it, I guess. I’ve gotta get the ball rolling to get them off my back. I wonder if Emi has any ideas…” she mumbled, digging a flashy, pink smartphone out of her pocket and unlocking it with fingers that were tipped with equally flashy, pink nails. “Let’s see…”

Hiya, Emi! How’s it goin’, babe~?

Sophi, I’ve told you not to call me that!

She snickered to herself, vividly imagining Emiri’s kobold ears drooping slightly from the friendly nickname she was definitely not going to stop using.

And it’s going alright. I’m a little busy casing someone, though.

Oooh, wow! What a hard worker you are! Someone going for a bonus?

Come on, Sophi, you and I both know we’re getting harped on to meet the quota.

You’re preaching to the choir, babe! Those bigwigs chewed me out fierce today! That’s actually why I texted to you. And because I can’t get that soft, fluffy body of yours out of my mind~ ❤

Sophi watched the screen, eager for Emiri’s reply, wondering if she’d fumble her phone before answering and just how deep the blush under her furry cheeks would be. Finally after about a minute, her response came in.

Jeez, I’ve told you not to tease me like that, too!

Hahaha, sorry babe! You know me, I just can’t resist!

So, what, you want to talk about your next job?

Yeah…the higher ups nixed any more centaurs, at least for a bit. Say folks will get suspicious if there’s too many of them running around, prattling about “duty” and “honor” and all that.

Well, they’re definitely a handful, they’re right about that. What are you thinking of doing next? Something on the other end of the scale, like a pixie or a gnome?

Nah, a pipsqueak like that wouldn’t be fun at all! Hardly even big enough to be a tasty treat, and, besides, acting to imprint that personality on them would be a super drag!

Have you ever tried not acting like that and seeing what happens?

Huh? What do you mean?

I mean, there’s a lot you can do as a shapeshifter. You made a couple centaurs by acting like a knight and princess and all that, playing off of stereotypes, but what if you just acted however you wanted without trying for a certain type of extraspecies?

You think they’d go for that? They’re testing this drug to see how well imprinting works, wouldn’t it kinda defeat the purpose and all that if I just did whatever?

Hmmm…I think as long as you record what you do, that should still be fine. Data’s data, right?

Oooh, babe, you’re so smart! I love it! What happened to the sap you were casing, though?

He turned out to be a bust. He’d been hanging around the park for a while, but he was just waiting for a late date.

Damn, sorry about that, hun. You’ll get someone soon, I know it!

I hope so, not that a certain someone will leave me alone long enough to find a good mark. But what about you? You sound like you know what you’re going to do.

Sophi rolled onto her back, looking at the ceiling once more, a devious smile spreading on her face.

Yeah, babe. I think so. Hell, if I pull this off, I might not even need to bother you like this anymore!

Sounds ambitious! I’ll definitely be rooting for you, then.

Oh, you’d better! Means next time you get a message from me, you’ll know it’ll be for a booty call~ ❤

She cackled to herself, knowing it would be a while before Emiri responded to that, if it all. She kicked her legs up, using the momentum of them falling down to bounce her way out of bed, feeling delightfully ambitious after her chat. She tossed her bag from the chair to the bed and sat down at her desk, fishing out a piece of paper and a large, black marker.

“This’ll be perfect,” she murmured to herself, the sound of the marker squeaking against the paper filling the room. “They want to complain about quotas so much, well, I’ll just make someone to help me out, then!” After a few snips with a pair of scissors, she was done, smiling happily to herself as she skipped out the door, ready to set her plan in motion.

—

Isamu plodded down the sidewalk, his shoulders slumped and a frown on his face. A plastic bag slung over his arm crinkled as it bounced against his side, filled with premade meals from the convenience store and a couple of guilty-pleasure snacks. A few months ago, the idea of going to a convenience store in the big city would have filled with him with glee. As silly as it sounds, for a country boy like him, the amenities the city provided were properly wonderous, and even the meals from any corner mart were, in his mind, second only to his mother’s cooking.

As his time in the city had dragged on, though, he’d become increasingly disillusioned with both it and the opportunities he’d thought it would have provided him. He felt small and meaningless, pushing through the crowd as he made his way back to his meager apartment, it’s lack of anything more than a microwave necessitating frequent trips to the convenience store just to eat. Each time he went out for a meal, surrounded by men and women in suits and trendy clothes, it just further cemented that he didn’t belong, that he probably never would, and that he was likely making a huge mistake.

His parents had been supportive, or at least as supportive as they could, when he’d told them that he wanted to move to the city to be an actor. They’d even offered to help with rent, but he’d stubbornly refused, instead falling back on the money he’d saved from various part-time jobs over the summer. Maybe his head had just gotten too big from all the praise that was heaped upon him in his small, rural town, but he was absolutely certain that he’d be able to make it big, that he’d quickly be discovered and be able to provide for his whole family once he’d made it big. Those aspirations had shrunk significantly, Isamu now just hoping he’d be able to make it through to the next week.

Try as he might, he hadn’t even managed to get a part at a local theatre, let alone anything more substantial. He’d gotten desperate, auditioning and applying for anything he could find as his bank account continued to dwindle. At this point, though, he was reaching his limit. If he couldn’t swallow his pride or land a decent, paying job soon, he’d hardly have the money for a train ticket home.

His thoughts were as gloomy as the overcast sky above as he rounded the block his apartment was on, his head hung in defeat. He didn’t even see the person he bumped into, who simply grunted and brushed him aside like a piece of trash, all before Isamu could raise his head and mutter an apology. Instead, he found himself looking at a lamp post, staring at a crude, hastily made flier.

CALLING ALL ASPIRING ACTORS!
WORLD CLASS ACTING LESSONS AVAILABLE NOW!
FREE TRAINING AND CONSULTATION FROM THE BEST IN THE BUSINESS!
TAKE ONE

Isamu stared at the paper, noticing several tears at the bottom where tickets with contact information used to be. There was one lone slip hanging there now, flapping in the breeze. To say it didn’t inspire confidence was an understatement, but, still, someone had to have taken the information before. He grabbed the slip that was barely hanging on, seeing that it listed a phone number and an address.

“Heh… Christ, I’d really have to be at the end of my rope to try this…”

He was, and so he tore the ticket from the paper, staring at it for a moment longer before pulling off the whole flier and tossing it into the bag. He slipped the information into his pocket and trudged onwards to his apartment, admitting to himself that he could hardly imagine how calling the number could make anything worse than it already was.

As desperate as his situation was, though, he was in no rush to call the number, telling himself that he should eat dinner first. Once he got in, he picked out the meal he figured he felt the most like eating out of the bag and then stuffed the rest of the bag into the barren, rumbling refrigerator that had come with the apartment. He fished a pair of disposable chopsticks from out of the sink and flopped down on the couch, which was currently being held level with a phonebook. He flipped through TV channels while eating his dinner, trying not to dwell on the fact that this had, sadly, become his nightly ritual.

He tossed the meal down on the empty cushion next to him, leaning back and continuing to stare absentmindedly at the glow of the TV while he fished in his pocket for the little slip of paper he’d taken. He pulled it out and looked at it, in much the same way as he looked at the bills that had been steadily piling up, feeling repulsed by it, but even more so at his own desperation.

“I dunno…just calling up some stranger like this…” he said, mulling over whether he should actually take the plunge or not while he held his phone in his other hand, its weight suddenly heavy and oppressive.

“And it is kind of late…” Isamu continued to procrastinate, looking down at the display and seeing that it was only half past five.

“It’s not like this is for a job or anything, either. This is just some consultation, just acting lessons…but…what if it does help?  …Shit, I don’t know…” He brought a hand up past his forehead, running it through his hair and grabbing it, crumpling up the little slip as he did. 

Finally, shaking his head slowly, he brought his hand back down, unlocked his phone, and started tapping in the number. “Alright…fine. I don’t…I don’t really have any other choice,” he told himself, looking at the number on the slip and the number he’d dialed several times, making sure he’d absolutely entered the right number, before finally calling. He could feel a hard lump in his throat as he brought the phone up to his face, listening to it connect and ring, his heartbeat growing louder and louder with each passing second.

Just when he thought the suspense of it all would kill him, the nerve-wracking ringing was broken by someone picking up.

“Yeah? Who is it?” Isamu’s body tensed up at the irritated younger woman’s voice.

“U-uhm…I’m, uh…” he started, suddenly terrified that he had, somehow, gotten the wrong number or fallen for some elaborate prank.

“Come on, if you’re trying to sell me something, just get on with it!”

“I-is this…I’m calling about the…the acting lessons…”

“Eh? Oh! OH! Uhm…” He heard the woman pulling the phone away from her face, and then some light coughing. “Of course, sir, so sorry about the confusion! Please hold while I transfer you to our acting expert!” the voice chirped, suddenly endlessly polite and cheerful.

Isamu didn’t even hear any sort of hold music before the call resumed.

“Hello there, darling~! What can I do for you?” Again, Isamu found himself in disbelief at the voice on the other end, taken aback by how dramatic and theatrical it sounded, the woman’s smokey voice drawing out every word in a way that certainly seemed important, but also incredibly antiquated.

“Uh…h-hi. I’m, uh, interested in the act-?”

“Of course! My acting lessons are world class, you know? But I’m sure you do, you saw the flier, after all! Oooh, and lucky you…” The voice trailed off for a second, replaced by the sound of pages very loudly fanning against each other. “I happen to have just a single opening left!”

“P-perfect,” Isamu responded, waiting for the woman on the other end to say when that opening was until he finally took the initiative himself. “Uh…what time…?”

“Oh! W-well, what time are you available, dear?” she answered, a slight hint of panic slipping into her voice that went completely unnoticed by Isamu, who was too floored by the sheer awkwardness of the conversation so far.

“I…I mean, don’t you just have the one slot?”

“We do, yes, but I simply mean that I can only take one more applicant, dear. I do have many clients, but I am certainly more than capable of working around their often busy schedules. My clients do often go on to very lucrative careers, you know, even while still retaining my services,” the woman continued, finding her pace once again.

“Uhm…t-tomorrow, then? At…I guess ten?”

“Tomorrow at ten it is, just let me pencil you in, dear. Perfect! You’ll find our studio’s address on the same ticket you got our number from and we’ll see you bright and early for your date with destiny! Ta-ta, darling~!”

Isamu was certain he heard a wet kissing sound right before the line disconnected.

Still full of reservations, Isamu pushed himself to keep the appointment he’d made, waking up early the following morning to ensure he had enough time to shower, groom himself, eat, and actually find the address he was meant to go to. His doubt only compounded as he realized the address was taking him to a more run-down part of the city, and he had to check the slip of paper against the faded imprint of the address labeling that had long since fallen off to make sure that, yes, the dilapidated warehouse he stood in front of was the place.

“W-world class, huh…” he murmured, wondering how he was even supposed to get in, considering there was only a loading area facing the street. He apprehensively approached the heavy metal shutter and went to knock. Before his hand could even make contact, though, the shutter flew open, and he felt an arm wrap around him and pull him inside, all of it happening so fast that he was hardly able to let out as much as a yelp of surprise.

The sound of the shutter slamming against the asphalt rang in his ears as he blinked, frantically trying to adjust his eyes to the darkness inside.

“Wh-what’s going on?! What’s happening?!” he yelled out, lashing his arms out around him, but feeling nothing. All his flailing was answered by a loud click as the warehouse suddenly lit up, the heat from several spotlights suddenly beating down on Isamu.

“Welcome, darling~! So nice of you to show up! And prompt, too! Love it!”

Isamu spun around to face the familiar voice, unsure of if he should feel relieved or not to recognize the woman from the call last night. For better or worse, though, she was there, standing with one hand up to her mouth and another on her hip, which was jutting out, emphasizing an hourglass figure that Isamu couldn’t help but notice. She was taller than he was, her slender body confined in a tight, form-fitting evening gown. It’s velvety red sheen contrasted sharply with her pale her skin, which seemed far too delicate to withstand even the spotlights lighting the room. Light, blonde hair flowed down past her shoulders, and her deep green eyes seemed to see right through to the core of him as she looked him over, essentially sizing him up.

“Hmmm…yes, I think you’ll do quite nicely!”

“I-I’ll d-do? D-do what?” Isamu stuttered out.

“As an understudy, darling! Come on, it IS what you came here for after all, isn’t it?” she asked, slowly and deliberately walking towards him with long strides that sent her hips rocking side to side. She slipped a couple slender fingers under his chin and pulled his gaze up to hers, while a gentle, flowery scent filled his nose.

“Y-yes, ma’am…” he responded, letting out a relieved sigh as the woman pulled away from him.

“Let me guess,” she started, sitting down in a folding chair and slowly crossing her legs, her gaze still pointed at him, “small town boy come to the big city to make a name for himself, right? But it’s not working out, is it? Everything’s just so new and sparkly until it’s all strange and different, and none of those roles you were just sooo sure you were going to land panned out.”

“Yeah! H-how’d you know?!”

“Well, darling, there are few stories as timeless as that one. But, rest assured, I know more than well how to turn it into a happy ending. You see,” she uncrossed and crossed her legs once more, “the real problem is confidence, dear.”

“Confidence?” he asked, the word sticking heavily to the roof of his mouth, only now realizing that he had indeed lost his some time ago.

“Absolutely! It’s like they say, darling, ‘dress for the job you want?’ Well, you need to act for the role you want, too! If you go in there all meek and meager, a lamb before lions, it’s no wonder that they’d pass over you for someone with enough gusto to carry a scene!”

“Wh-what can I do, then…” Isamu cast his gaze down towards his shoes, realizing that, as much as it stung to hear, everything the woman was saying was completely true.

“First, lose the stutter, hun! You need your words to land with impact, stumbling on them just makes everything you say weak! Go on, chin up, eyes forward, voice clear.”

“Y-yes, ma’am!” he barked out, suddenly feeling like he was in the military.

“Again! And without a stutter this time!”

“YES, MA’AM!”

“Better. But still not there. You’re talking the talk, but it’s hard to buy when you’re sweating bullets over there. Darling, you can’t muster up even a little bit of confidence, can you?” she asked, standing up once again and walking towards him as Isamu did his best to not flinch away.

“I…I can’t! I can’t at all!”

“Well…honesty’s a good next step, I suppose,” she sighed, stopping her advance and instead walking towards a table off to the side, just outside of the spotlight. The woman poured a glass of water, then tore open a small pill she’d left on the table, tossing the foil pack into the trash can where it rested against several other tickets, just like the one in Isamu’s pocket, before quickly kicking it under the table. When she turned around, she was holding the glass and clenching her other hand. “If you can’t manage it yourself, then, maybe something to take the edge off would help.”

“Wh-what do you mean?” Isamu asked, feeling the bottom drop out of his stomach.

“I’d tell you to relax, but I suppose that’s the point of all this, isn’t it, dear? It’s nothing major, just a little pill, see?” she asked, holding out a little, white pill between her thumb and index finger. “Small little thing, but after just a couple minutes, you’ll start to feel all that confidence you’ve beaten down rising back up inside of you. An excellent tool to help beginners realize just what their true potential is, and quite effective for stage fright in general.”

“And…and that’s safe…?”

“No complaints so far, darling! And I’ve been using them all of my career! It’s nothing addictive, I assure you. Just a boost. The boost you need,” she said, dropping her voice to a heavy whisper as she pushed off the glass and pill onto Isamu.

He stared at them for a moment, weighing the voice screaming inside of his head, one saying that this was, bar none, the stupidest thing he could possibly do, and the other saying that he had to, absolutely needed to, do this or he’d crash and burn out. Isamu looked back up at the woman, whose emerald green eyes were shining at him expectantly, sending their own message, the same she’d just said: That he needed this.

Isamu closed his eyes as he slammed the pill into his mouth, then threw his head back and downed the glass of water, finishing it in one go. As he caught his breath, the woman took the glass from him and placed it back on the table. “Wonderful, darling,” she purred. “You’re going to feel like a new you, a confident, determined you, in no time at all,” she continued, her voice full of a mirth that was more than a little unsettling.

“Y-yeah?” Isamu asked, feeling the heat of the spotlights on him intensify. Instead of sweating, though, he instead felt calm and relaxed, even as they seemed to shine brighter, making the warehouse around him almost shimmer as the colors suddenly got more vivid. Even the sound of his own breathing and his heart thumping steadily in his chest were louder as every sense of his cranked themselves up far beyond what he was used to.

“But of course, my dear! You should already be feeling it, after all. All that hidden potential coming to a boil, just ready to spill out and drown that old, weaker you that always worried, that always held yourself back.”

“You’re…you’re right!” Isamu cried out. “I can feel it… I was so scared before, so weak, so unable to anything… I was so scared that I ruined any chance of success that came my way before, but no more! Aha…ahahaha…I’m tired of being so weak and useless!” Isamu was practically shaking now, full of an anger he’d never really felt before. Self-loathing, of course, was something that he’d gotten quite used to feeling over the past couple of months. But what he felt now, coursing through every vein in his body as the drug ran its course, was a deep, seething contempt. “Just a sniveling wimp who had to work up the nerve to even make a phone call!”

“Oooh, you’re getting kinda fired up, hun,” the woman said, her voice suddenly shifting to a much airier, younger tone. “I like it! Keep riding that fire, let’s see where it gets us!” Isamu was too caught up in his own head to notice the shift, or as the elegant woman changed even more. Her body lost several inches as her skin darkened to a deep caramel, her hair shifted to a golden blonde, and her dress seemed to melt and recolor itself until she was wearing what looked like a high school girl’s uniform.

Sophi walked over to him, the elaborate, sexy saunter she was using before replace by a more carefree skip, and she wrapped her arms around his stomach. “Not gonna be that little twerp anymore, though, are ya, baby?” she whispered up into his ear.

“No!” Isamu yelled back, not even turning around. “It’s going to be different…all of it… I’m going to get what I deserve! All the fame, all the glory, all the attention! Even if I have to take it myself!” He shouted loudly and clearly, his owns words echoing back at him as they bounced around the empty warehouse, feeling his chest rise and fall heavily with each breath he took. As Sophi spun her way off of him, giggling to herself, he noticed that his pants had started to feel tighter, almost unbearably so, biting tightly into his legs.

“Hahaha, I love it!” Sophi laughed. “God, it took so long, I didn’t think anyone would actually respond to that ad! I’d even started taking those little tickets off of it myself every time I passed by, hoping that it might lure in some sap, make ‘em think it was on the up and up! It’s been weeks! But I guess you and I both get to have our moment, huh, baby? Everything’s gonna work out for the both of us!”

While Sophi was busy gloating, Isamu was hurriedly taking off his pants. He found he had little issue unbuttoning them, but he started running into problems once he got them rolled down to his thighs. More irritated than shocked at how swollen they seemed to be, he kept trying to push his pants down over them, ignoring the feeling of them biting into his legs as the constriction he felt soon spread to his calves. Eventually, no doubt aided by his burgeoning legs, he yanked hard at the sides of his pants, splitting one leg and then the other, until they were finally off of him. With little regard for his present company, he slid off his underwear, too, having a much easier time working them down his legs than he did with his pants, the elastic stretching just enough to get them over his thighs before he slid them off around his ankles, his shoes and socks effortless sliding off as he did.

“Oooh, has that pill given you such a confidence boost that you’ve decided to become a stripper, baby?” Sophi jeered, as Isamu watched his legs getting even larger and thicker, until his thighs were pressing tightly against each other.

“If I did, you’d certainly not be getting a show for free!” Isamu barked back, glaring Sophi square in the eyes, causing the gal to cackle even louder. He suddenly felt his legs go numb, though he only wobbled slightly, still maintaining his balance. Looking down, he saw that his legs had started to fuse together now. The skin on the front of his thighs had swelled, segmenting itself in long, horizontal bands that sloped up, taking on a faint purplish gray that deepened to a deep, rich purple on the sides, where the skin seemed crack and fracture, like dry, parched earth. More curious than scared, he reached down to touch them, finding that the pale section was addictingly soft and smooth, while the darker parts behind him were actually scales that felt sturdy and every bit as smooth as his front, not at all dry like he’d expected. The scales spread all over his legs, until they were completely coated, spreading up as high as his groin in the front and going even further on the side, climbing up his hips and curling into a pointed wave. He saw his calves starting to get as big as his thighs before they too melded together, all before his feet spread out wide and flattened until they were almost indistinguishable from his ankles. His feet fell out from underneath him, almost literally, and he felt the cool concrete of the warehouse floor far more vividly through his scales than he had through his feet, wobbling again as he tried to adjust to the feeling of resting on whatever part of him it was touching the floor.

It didn’t stop there, though. The bottom of his body continued to push outwards behind him, growing so long that he was able to see a pointy, magenta ridge spiking its way along the backside of his body as it continued to grow and coiled around him. It wrapped around itself several times over, piling up around him as he came to rest on the coils, until it finally started to taper off, thinning into a pointed end for his remarkably long tail.

Isamu brought the tip of his tail around in front of him, looking at it curiously before a smile spread on his face, nodding approvingly as he waved the end around and flexed his coils, getting a feel for how all his new muscles moved.

“Been kinda quiet the whole time, haven’t ya?” Sophi said, breaking the silence and attracting Isamu’s gaze. She was sitting in the chair now, her legs spread so that her skirt was just barely covering her underwear, leaning forward with her hands on her knees. “ I’d have expected a dork like you to be crying the whole time, especially changing into something as different as a lamia. ‘Oh no! What’s this! What’s happening to me! Why are my legs changing!’” The shapeshifter changed her voice to a perfect match for Isamu’s own as she tossed out more cries of distress. “Buuut,” she started to say, shifting her voice back into her own, “maybe you’re fine cause nothing’s happened to that little snakey up there, huh?” 

Sophi suddenly jerked her head back as Isamu thrust his tail out at her, her eyes going wide as the tip stopped just in front of her face. It had all happened in an instance, so fast that Sophi could hardly believe it, looking up to see Isamu glaring at her, having uncoiled with remarkable swiftness.

“I’d watch it, if I were you,” Isamu said, his voice warbling and changing with each word, though, if the tickling and scratching feelings in his throat bothered him, he gave no indication. “It’s so easy to tease when you feel like you have nothing to lose.” Its pitch rose higher, though its tone was icy and chilling, laced with a self-important haughtiness, changing until it was flat-out extravagant, exaggerated, and overwhelming feminine despite its huskiness. “It would be better for you to know your place and hold your tongue.” He licked his lips with a long, thick, forked tongue as he finished his sentence, the tip flapping for just a second before pulling back into his mouth. Narrowing his gaze for extra emphasis, he pulled his tail away, his body shifting up a little as it coiled back underneath him.

The gal sat there for a moment before bursting out in laughter. “Oooh, you’re fun, baby! I’ve never seen anyone change quite as interestingly as you are!”

“You’ve done this a fair bit, then?” Isamu asked, as a bright, vivid purple swept through his hair, completely drowning out his usual dusty brown.

“Oh, tons! Gotta earn my keep and all that, but it’s fun as hell, too! Knowing that I’m giving a bunch of hapless losers a better life as wonderful monster girls? It’s the best! Isn’t a job out there half as satisfying!”

“I see…so that’s what’s transpiring…” Isamu murmured, his forked tongue flicking out again for a moment. “Your design was not merely to fill me with confidence, but to make me in an image such that I couldn’t possibly help but believe in my own magnificence… Brilliant. Crude, of course, but brilliant…” 

As he trailed off, his scalp bagan to tingle, just before his hair grew, quickly spilling down from the top of his head. The rich, luxurious sheen of his hair became apparent as it flowed down, shooting down past his back and only coming to stopping once it rest against the scales that framed the top of his butt. Even his bangs had grown impressively long, thick locks of purple hair brushing down near his tummy, kept parted only by hanging over his shoulders and, perhaps, by some kind of magic. He reached and grabbed a handful of hair, bringing it up to his eyes for closer exception. Once again, his face lit up with pride, his tail slithering beneath him in excitement before he tossed the hair back over his shoulder.

“I am to be an extraspecies, then? Or, as you so coarsely put it, a ‘monster girl?’” he asked, looking back at Sophi as his eyebrows were painted with the same rich purple as the rest of his hair. They grew longer, stretching across his face before they thinned out into elegant lines, their subtle arches all but hidden under his thick bangs.

“You got it, baby! And there’s no turning back at this point! But I’m sure you wouldn’t want that at all, would you?” she said, her voice dropping to heavy, teasing purr.

“Perish the thought,” Isamu said with a smirk. Her confident expression shifted as her face began to change, a numbness spreading over it as her mouth grew just a touch longer, her lips plumping and taking on a juicy pink hue, the tips curling up to make her jeering even more effective. A deep, captivating garnet painted over her dirty blue irises, while her pupils pushed in at the sides, shifting into long slits. Her eyes grew rounder, though the tips became more pointed, accentuating her sharpness and elegance even more as thick, luxurious lashes filled in on her eyelids. Her cheeks grew just a touch softer, while her chin slimmed, becoming a pronounced point at the bottom of her face. 

Isamu’s nose shrunk slightly, though it still kept an angled, intense slope, and her hearing shifted as her eyes began to grow outwards, their shape changing until the tips were sharp and pointed. They jutted out from her head at a harsh angle, sticking out almost as far as her shoulders. Purple scales, as vibrant and resplendent as the ones that coated her tail, spread over the tips of her ears, completely coating them, then traveled down even further, two triangular points edging up on her fuller cheeks. There was a sudden tenderness at the side of her head, above her ears, just before two hard, gray protrusions started growing up out of her head, two pointed horns reaching up towards the sky. They got thicker as they traveled, curving in slightly towards each other, until they were as big around as hand could grip and about as tall as her head.

“Girl, a mirror,” Isamu commanded, Sophi’s face looking almost repulsed once she realized who she was talking to.

“Excuse me?!”

“Oh? Did you not hear? I wasn’t aware tanning beds made you deaf,” Isamu responded, turning her icy glare on the gal once more.

“LIsten here, you bitch, this tan’s all natural!” Sophi yelled back, before seeing Isamu’s coils tense, primed and ready to strike. “Alright, alright! Fine, let me go get you a mirror,” she grumbled, heading over to a small bag she’d set down by the table.

“Good. I was getting quite worried I was with some second-rate gal who didn’t even carry a mirror,” Isamu quipped, reaching out a hand and catching the compact that Sophi threw at her. She quickly flipped it over and then began inspecting her face. Her lips curled into a smug smile as she admired her visage from every angle, tilting and shifting the mirror until she was finally satisfied, closing and tossing it back to the woman.

“Jeez, looks like you really took the confidence thing a bit far, baby. You’ve crossed over into full-blown vanity,” Sophi chided, pocketing the compact.

“My dear, you say that as though vanity were a bad thing. Besides, I have plenty to be proud of. This body is rather magnificent, is it not?”

Isamu spread out her arms as she boasted, just in time for her shoulders to push in, shrinking her frame and reducing how wide her outstretched arms were, while also making her neck look exceedingly slim and slender. “Oh my!” she exclaimed, holding her arms out in front of her. “And it looks like it’s getting even more magnificent by the second!” she said, her mouth spreading into a wide smile. Her arms slimmed down, all traces of hair on them disappearing entirely, until they were long, slender and lithe. Her fingers cracked as they grew longer and daintier, their elegance accentuated by her shrinking palms. She turned them over, looking at the back of her hands, watching as the tips started to turn purple and little, scalloped scales spread down her hand, covering the outside of her forearm and creeping a bit past her elbow before fading away. She watched curiously as her nails changed color to a dark, shiny black and grew out, extending well past her fingers into sharp points that could only be called claws. Isamu snickered at the realization, flexing and unflexing her hand to get used to the feeling with satisfaction.

“Well, now, they’re not covered with rhinestones, or whatever it is you gals use,” she said, dismissively, “but I’d say they’re quite nice, wouldn’t you?”

Still wary of her temper, Sophi approached carefully to get a better look at Isamu’s hands. “Hmmm…not bad, baby. A little too ‘supervillain’ for my tastes, but nobody else is perfect, after all,” she quipped, holding her nails up against Isamu’s claws for comparison. They weren’t quite bedazzled, but Sophi’s nails were a shiny, glitter-flecked pink, adorned with white polka dots, that stood in stark contrast to the lamia’s.

Isamu pulled her hand away in a huff. “Pink isn’t everyone’s color, dear,” she said defensively, looking down at her nails as though she suddenly doubted her first assessment. Sophi was barely able to suppress a giggle at how pouty she was getting over her bruised ego.

“Aww, don’t get like that, baby. They’re great, really,” she purred. “It’s just hard to compete against a shapeshifter, ya know? I can change these babies however I want, whenever I want!” she said, holding up her nails to Isamu and cycling them through various shades, designs, and lengths, almost creating a light show with her hands alone, while she beamed at Isamu.

“I see… Shapeshifters are quite impressive, then?”

“Oh, you know it, baby! Hell, you saw the proof of that earlier, didn’tchya? That’s just a small taste, too!” Sophi boasted, resting her hands on her hips, her nails having settled back to a sparkly pink.

Isamu looked at the gal again, as though she were actually seeing her for the first time, viewing her as more of an equal. As she focused on her slender midsection, she suddenly felt a stitch in her side, pushing a shocked gasp out of her mouth as her waist started to pinch in. She looked down at herself to see her stomach flattening, and the rest of her body hair completely falling away, replaced instead with skin that looked far healthier, a light, peachy color painting over the rest of Isamu’s body, or, at least, the parts of her that weren’t covered with scales. Once her waist had squeezed in, making her look even more slender than before, she felt her hips spreading out, becoming wider and fuller, and giving her an hourglass figure that seemed especially curvy considering how thick her tail was, causing her pride to swell once more, a cocky grin curling her mouth. She even chuckled as she noticed deep lines tracing her pelvic bones, trailing down from her navel and framing her crotch.

“Oooh, damn, baby, look at that core! Gosh, you’re getting the whole package here, aren’tchya?” Sophi squealed, running over and feeling Isamu’s body Isamu couldn’t help herself from doing the same, but, while Sophi was running her hands over the lamia’s body, her own touch far more refined, almost scientifical. Or, at least, that’s what she told herself as she admired and appreciated her body in her own.

“But of course,” Isamu said, loving how smooth every part of her was, “there’s no way I’d be anything less than perfect.”

Sophi just chuckled as she suddenly broke off from Isamu, grinning mischievously. “Just wait, baby,” she purred, “the real show’s just about to start.”

“Oh?” Isamu questioned, her curiosity almost instantly answered by a warm, fluttering feeling rising up from her chest. 

The gal laughed even louder at the wide-eyed expression on the lamia’s face. “Yeah, baby, that’s it. I can’t wait to see this! I bet you’re gonna be stacked!”

Isamu went to fire off a reply, suddenly felt a shock of pleasure spread through her body, traveling even to the tip of her tail. Instead, she simply bit on her lip, looking down to see her areolae lightening drastically until they were a soft, delicate pink, her nipples stiffening as the warmth in her chest soon became a tightness. She bit her lip tighter against the soreness, a little shocked at just how good it felt despite the pain. Isamu stifled a gasp, her shoulders tensing as her chest began to grow. Her nipples rose up with what started as little buds, but soon they blossomed into perky, petite breasts. 

The soreness faded just a little as they continued to grow, as though the initial spurt was the worst of it, though, as they continued to fill more and more, quickly rising through cup sizes, Isamu started to feel the pull of them on her shoulders, and the arousal they brought her hadn’t lessened in the least. She tried to push the pleasure out of her mind the best she could, but she could see her nipples growing larger and harder with her breasts, tingling and crying out for release, and could feel a similar stiffening in her crotch. It didn’t take long for her to be at a solid handful, but they continued to grow, pushing out even further, her areolae spreading just a bit as they became rounder and fuller. Isamu’s face was flushed and she was panting as they started growing faster, soon becoming so large that they were wider than her frame. Finally, the tightness she’d felt faded, and the warmth in her chest left her, though it took every bit of effort she could muster to ignore the lust flowing through her from everything that had happened.

“Oooh, looks like pink is someone’s color!” Sophi teased, just before her hands wrapped around Isamu’s breasts, squeezing into them as she let out a loud moan. Isamu whipped her head around, surprised to find that, at some point, the woman had gotten behind her, sitting on her coiled tail as she fondled her new chest. “Damn, baby, I thought you’d be stacked, but you’re absolutely huge! Sensitive, too, huh?” she added, forcing another moan out of Isamu as she squeezed her way up her breasts, pinching her nipples with her fingers.

“I-impressive, is it not?” Isamu panted, pushing away Sophi’s hands with her own as she loveling cupped her chest. She lifted them slightly, appreciating how heavy and full they were. “Absolutely magnificent. Huhuhu…compared to me, you’re practically a flatty,” she mused, her own vanity overcoming even the arousal she was feeling from her new chest.

“I told you already, baby,” Sophi grumbled, “I’m a shapeshifter. I can make my tits as large as I want!” she boasted, doing exactly that before she pressed two huge, soft mounds into Isamu’s back.

“Hah…not bad…but I’d imagine a better shapeshifter could make them not sag as much,” she shot back, while she lovingly traced her areolae with her fingers.

“Eeeh? What was that, snake girl?!” Sophi yelled back. “I couldn’t hear that over all those slutty moans!” More than fed up with Isamu’s vanity, Sophi struck, shooting her hand out in front of the lamia and wrapping her fingers tightly around her penis. Isamu let out a shocked moan, the lamia’s whole body stiffening in surprise.

“Wh-what are you-nnnh!”

“Oooh, not so high and mighty now, are we?” Sophi teased, squeezing harder and giggling with delight. She leaned her head up towards the lamia’s long ear and whispered, “This little fella might not be with us much longer, but don’t worry…I’ll make sure you never forget it,” she teased, right before starting to stroke her, relishing every moment of it as she slowly worked her hand up and down.

Sophi continued to tease her, nibbling lightly on her ears as she writhed around. She slipped a hand down her supple back and rubbed her hand over her butt before letting out a soft giggle. “Oh my, looks like I might have jumped the gun, baby. Looks like there’s still a bit of you left to change,” she said, snickering to herself as she gave Isamu’s butt a small slap, laughing louder at how even that sent the proud, vain lamia into a moaning fit.

The gal continued to rub at her butt while playing with her, her enthusiasm increasing greatly once she started to feel it plumping up under her palm. Isamu felt it too, or at least recognized the change in how her touch felt and how much better it was suddenly making her feel as it continued to swell outwards. Her body jolted upright again as Sophi grabbed at one of her cheeks, her fingers now finding plenty of soft, supple flesh to squeeze into.

“Wooow, I’ve never been with a lamia before, this is kinda neat! You’ve got such a plump, fat ass here,” Sophi said, stopping to slap Isamu again, this time harder, causing a solid smacking sound to echo across the empty warehouse; “but, none of it sticks out past these scales of yours, baby. There’s plenty of meat, and gosh, what a crack, but it’s like they’re not even cheeks at all. Still hella sexy, though.” To prove her point to Isamu, who was now panting too heavily to care, she ran her hand down further, past her flushed cheeks and over the scales that covered her especially round butt. Isamu’s body tensed once more, and Sophi laughed even harder as she felt her swell in her hand.

“Th-that part’s very-ahn!”

“Oooh, I thought it was only the tips of your tails that were sensitive. Who knew the butt was too? Don’t worry, baby, I’ll leave those scales of yours be. There’s plenty more of you to play with anyway, making such a sticky mess of my hand,” she teased. Sophi started stroking Isamu even faster now, who jerked back hard against her, smushing Sophi’s considerably upgraded chest against her back. “Hahaha, you’re a blast, baby! But try and hold back the REAL blast, okay? I still wanna have more fun~”

Isamu wasn’t able to muster up any kind of response, her head swimming with pleasure that was more intense than anything she’d ever felt before, either because of the shapeshifter’s technique or because of her new body. It was all she could to stay aware of herself as the gal continued to play with her, her hand feeling incredibly soft and smooth against her penis, though she supposed Sophi could have made it feel however she wanted. It was almost too much for her to bear, regardless of what the gal requested from her, the pleasure and heat she felt spreading so far up into her stomach now that it felt practically scorching to her now cold-blooded body. To make things worse, her hand now felt even bigger, squeezing even harder around her.

“Haha, looks like time’s almost up! I can feel you just fading away, melting in my palm!” Sophi snickered, suddenly increasing her pace until it was unbearable. Isamu’s head fell back against her shoulder, her unfocused eyes lazily looking up at Sophi as she grinned ear to ear. “Don’t worry, baby! I won’t let you go without getting off. I may be cruel, but I’m not evil,” she said with a wink. Isamu hardly registered what she had said, though, finding herself too preoccupied with the fire raging in her belly, the warm, sticky fluids she could feel sliding down her belly, and the odd sensation of something quivering below the penis that Sophi was so enthusiastically stroking, having now switched to her thumb and index finger instead of her whole hand. Isamu wasn’t sure why she’d switched, but she knew that it felt so, so good.

The lamia saw the shapeshifter’s mouth moving, but couldn’t make out the words she was saying over her own moans. Her face was beat red, not just from the arousal, but from the embarrassment of it all, the feeling compounded by her inability to stifle back any of the deep, throaty moans that were echoing in her ears. She could tell, though, that Sophi was more than pleased from the expression on her face. Her toothy grin was the last thing she saw before her vision flashed white. She felt the fire inside of her loins flare up, something strong and intense shooting through her body, the “blast” Sophi was talking about. Her body, woman and snake both, tensed and convulsed, her head lolling to the side as the gal was knocked off of her. It was so much to deal with. So many parts of her were writhing, pleasure was spreading from the tip of her tail to the points of her ears. She desperately uncoiled herself, her long tail shooting out as more muscles started quivering, as she fell to the floor, her stiff nipples hitting the cold concrete first.

Isamu felt her body twitching there for what felt like a blissful eternity., not even minding the feeling of the juices cooling against her crotch and belly.  When she was finally able to open her eyes again, she found herself resting against warm, soft, caramel thighs, and looked up to see Sophi, her chest having changed back to normal, smiling down at her.

“Wow, baby! Just wow! That was a hell of a show! It’d be a wonder if you could even speak after something like that, huh?”

“Wh-what happened…?” Isamu asked groggily.

“Just the last bit of the change is all. I’ve never seen one THAT intense before, though I’m usually a bit less ‘hands-on’ than this.”

“I see,” Isamu replied, pushing herself up off of Sophi’s lap and pulling in her tail slightly. She took a moment to see what the shapeshifter had meant, pushing herself out on her tail until she had a clearer view of her crotch, seeing that, sure enough, her penis was now gone, replaced with soft, pink lips that traveled down right to the start of her scaly belly. Isamu smirked to herself as she pulled herself straight and coiled her tail tightly underneath her once more, more than pleased by the sight. Pushing some loose strands away and straightening her hair, she turned to look at the gal once more. “Well, then, I suppose it’s more than appropriate to wonder what you’ve planned for me now. Surely you don’t just change people like this and leave them to their own devices, no matter how resplendent you may make them.”

“Usually!” Sophi chirped, not at all thrown off by Isamu’s accusation. “It’s not as bad as all of that, though. MON typically shows up not too long after someone’s been changed, take’s ‘em in, arranges a homestay, all that boring paperwork shit.”

“And THAT’s what you intend for me? To leave me for some paper-pusher to deal with?”

“Ahahaha, not at all, baby! I was actually hoping to get someone as amaaazing as you,” she explained, laying her praise on thick, “ to work with me instead.”

“Work with you? Doing…this?” Isamu asked, gesturing down to her body.

Sophi simply nodded in response.

“How marvelous,” Isamu purred, licking her lips with her long tongue.

“Oh, definitely! It’s a pretty cushy setup! Pay’s good, rent’s comped, and you get to make poor schmucks into super hotties!”

“Is that so? And that’s all this job of yours entails? Simply changing whoever into an extraspecies?”

“Mostly! There’s a bit more to it than that, like making sure you’re changing someone who won’t really be missed or noticed, since they’re generally pretty down and receptive to the whole change, but that’s nothing a bit of simple casing can’t fix. Or a setup that only the most desperate losers would fall for.”

Isamu bristled at Sophi’s comment, the ridge on her tail spiking up as her face tightened into another glare. “You make it sound as if it’s charity work, a mercy you’re enacting upon a these ‘losers,’” she spat, putting as much emphasis on the word as she could.

“Well, you tell me, baby. When’s the last time you felt as good as you do now?”

The lamia stood there in silence for a moment, entirely unable to refute the shapeshifter’s claim. The only objection she could think to raise was that she didn’t just feel good; she felt amazing. She felt powerful, her long tail packed with tight muscles, a fact made all the more apparent during the throws of her passion, and she was undoubtedly gorgeous, so pleased with her appearance that she was standing in front of the shapeshifter naked, unabashedly putting all of her body on display without batting a, seductively thick, eyelash. “Perhaps you do have a point, darling,” she finally conceded.

“Hahaha! Damn, I really lucked out! A mega hottie and real riot all in one! MUSU’s just gonna love you, baby, and, if they don’t, I sure will!”

“MUSU?”

“The Monster Unification Support Unit. There’s some big, flowery spiel about how we’re an underground group aiming to advance human and extraspecies relations by expanding integration and changing the hearts and minds of the people, but I never bought into that shit.”

Isamu clearly felt differently. “Oh my…that sounds marvelous! A subversive group struggling against government and convention both to enact their own order, forcing their will upon any and all who stand in their way…” The lamia chuckled to herself, her pitch rising as she did, make her sound like an overblown villain from a children’s show.

“Sure thing, baby! I mean, I just have fun making people cute, but whatever gets ya going gets me going,” Sophi replied, grinning and suppressing a laugh.

“Very well! I shall accompany you, then. A task as daunting as MUSU’s should be greatly aided by my talent!” Isamu declared.

Sophi was too busy digging through a large plastic bag by the table to hear her boasting though, until she found what she wanted and threw it at Isamu. She deftly caught it, unfolding the balled-up item and finding it be a rather large, ratty sweater.

“Alright, baby, I’m sold. Go ahead and put that on, though. As hot as that body of yours is, we’d cause a real uproar if you just came slithering outta here without covering up.”

Isamu glared down at the sweater with contempt and then back at Sophi. “You acknowledge my brilliance, then expect me to wear this?!”

“Relax, baby! I didn’t know how things were gonna shake out here, so I kinda just grabbed whatever sizes I could find at the thrift store. It’s just till we get back to my place, then I can size you up,” she said, her voice dropping to a low purr, “and get you some clothes that will fit!”

The lamia was practically pouting as she slipped the sweater, feeling it’s rough, scratchy fabric already irritating her perfect skin. “As a shapeshifter,” she remarked, pulling down the sweater until it covered her crotch, “couldn’t you simply turn into me and procure clothes that fit you?”

“Duh! But where’s the fun in that, baby?” Sophi answered with a wink, before walking back to an exit at the back of the warehouse. Isamu crawled behind her, the motions she needed to move seeming as natural to her as walking once was. “Oh, and if anyone asks, just say your name’s Iormu, got it?” the shapeshifter added, before opening the door out to the back alley.

“Iormu…” she said, mulling over the name, repeating it to herself a few times, only stopping once they’d made it out onto the main street. “Magnificent,” she murmured to herself, chuckling softly.

—

Iormu lounged around Sophi’s apartment, using her absence as an excuse to stretch her tail out, spreading it nearly along the whole perimeter of the living room as she waited for her to return. The last couple of days had been busy, with Sophi bringing back all kinds of outfits for the lamia to try on, but they were all flatly rejected, their fashion tastes not lining up in the slightest. In the end, Sophi had to change herself into Iormu, swallowing her pride as the lamia instructed her on what clothes she wanted to wear and forcing her to change into them. After a few hours, she finally settled on an outfit for Sophi to buy, as well as dozens of accessories that were, in fact, absolutely essential to the look, or so she insisted after Sophi’s endless grumbling.

Today, though, Sophi had left especially early, quickly saying something about a meeting for work before dashing out the door and leaving Iormu to her own devices. Unfortunately, that left her with maddeningly little to do. Sophi didn’t keep much by the way of books, and Iormu found the programming on TV especially boring. As the morning passed into the afternoon, she was practically out of her mind with boredom, and just a hint of worry for her partner. She’d almost drifted into a second nap by the time she finally heard Sophi’s footsteps outside, catching her scent with just enough time to pull herself up off of the bed and straighten her hair before the door opened.

“Darling! It’s been ages! Whatever could have taken you so long?” she asked, spreading her arms as a greeting to Sophi while she closed the door, the tip of Iormu’s tail waving at her in kind.

“Sorry, baby! Those big wigs really gave me an earful today, hahaha!”

“Oh dear…is something amiss? Do I need to go down there myself and give them a piece of my rather splendid mind?”

“Nah, not at all, baby! Everything worked out in the end! Took some convincing, since it’s apparently a real headache to get our in at MON to mess with their records, but I got the higher ups at MUSU to see things my way about you joining up.”

“You mean…?”

“Yup! You’re in!” she said, tossing a box at Iormu with a grin. “Bit hard for us to give out bags or anything good like that, but at least ya get a cellphone out of it!”

“We’ll be free to work together, then?”

“Definitely! Got special permission and everything!”

“And…and living together?”

“You know it! Hell, they were happy when I mentioned it, saves them from leasing another place!”

“Darling, you’re wonderful!” Iormu cried, slithering over to Sophi and wrapping her arms in a big hug, before starting to wrap her tail around her as well. “Ah… But, darling, wouldn’t it be a bit problematic for someone like me?”

“Oh? Wow, baby, it’s not like you to have doubts like that!”

“I simply mean…you, as a shapeshifter, can change yourself however you wish and no one is the wiser. Other members may be able to bundle themselves up or otherwise shield their visage. But no one is going to miss a lamia, darling, especially not one as resplendent as me.”

“Haha, funny thing about all that. I actually brought that up to them, after it was all said and done, cause I was sure they’d bring that up as a reason to just leave you for MON to deal with. Turns out, at least with the assignment they’ve got me on, folks don’t really remember much about the person that’s changed them anyway! They say the personalities that are imprinted on them are so vivid, that, after all the sensory overload from the change, they can’t give an accurate description at all! Hell, they said the person we’ve got at MON loves reading the reports for the girls I change.”

“So they’ve no worries about me being remembered?”

“Nope! The way they see it, if they two of us are handling it, it’ll be a wonder if they can even describe what happened to them in the first place! Besides, worst case, they’ll just mention a lamia, give the vaguest of description, and MON’ll spend months trying to figure out who it is while turning up nothing. We could try and come up with something for you to wear if you’re that worried, but you’ve got the villain look down pretty good, baby, I think that’d work great!”

“Villain?!” Iormu bristled, immediately offended at Sophi’s assessment before relaxing. “Well, I suppose it does leave quite a powerful impression,” she conceded, chuckling to herself. “So, then, when do we start improving the lives of those poor, pitiful souls?”

“Wow, you sure are eager! We can start casing a mark tomorrow. First thing in the morning, if you want. I know you got your hopes up and all, but it’s kinda late now. Besides, I thought it might be nice to celebrate you getting hired with a nice night out. How’s dinner at the swankiest joint in town sound?”

“Precisely befitting the occasion and the guest of honor,” Iormu beamed, a smug smile spreading across her face. “But, darling, do you really think we’ll be able to get a table if this place is indeed as luxurious as you claim it to be?”

“Oh, baby, don’t you worry about that! You’ll be shocked what people’ll do to try and please a shapeshifter that they just so happen to think is one of the biggest celebrities in the world,” Sophi answered, already holding the door open for Iormu as she crawled out. She was nearly to the elevator by the time her tail cleared the door. “Just one of the many perks of living with me.”

“Oooh…I can’t wait to see the others,” Iormu purred, the two of them filling up the elevator and heading down for an amazing night on the town.