Ginny's Magic

Evelyn's chest pounded with bass, disco lights, and the pluck of her heart when the edible kicked in. Her mind gave in to the pulse of pop and the scent of sweat that permeated the club. She closed her eyes and rode the music like a wave; bodies on bodies, swaying in perfect time under the canopy of hazy, sweat-induced weather patterns that clung to the roof of the club.

Soft arms wrapped around her waist and she leaned into them, letting them explore her too-bony hips, the soft curve of her belly, the slight brush of fur against her chest. A classy lady with a taste for furs, she guessed. So wed to fashion that she'd wear fur. To a club. In the heat of summer.

A... something not quite like a hand, fuzzy, but with fingers and fur and -- uh, a paw? -- enveloped her fingers. It took the lead, lifting her arm to the air and spinning her for a good long twirl that made her skirt bloom out in that just right way. Then, with a tug, she found herself pulled tight to a sleek black body and a toothy smile.

She was not quite human. Close, in many ways; beautiful cheeks, red dress that showed her every curve, sleek legs, big smile that brightened the air around her. But the ears, the eyes, the thin layer of black fur that lay over her body in glossy sheets?

"You're a cat," Evelyn said.

"And you're a good dancer," she said, giggling. "Do you want to keep saying facts? I know I could do a whole lecture on your body without a lick of prep. Or there could be licking, I'm not picky."

The cat licked her chops and winked at Evelyn. Her eyes darted; not to anywhere in particular, but just anywhere else. The ceiling. The boys in leather vests grinding at the front of the room. The bar, slick with spilled vodka tonics and Fireball. The air was thick with the smell of sweat, artificial fog, and the sweet musk of cat fur that now enveloped her vision.

She felt the cat's nose nuzzle her ear. It was cold, a little wet. Sensual, weird as that sounded.

"It's been a while for you, hasn't it?"

Evelyn didn't answer that. Not that she had to; it was the way she couldn't focus on dancing, the way her voice caught in her throat, the heat of her blushing cheeks.

"Your costume is great," she managed at last. "Bold choice for Market Days but I'm here for it."

The cat pulled away from her and rolled her eyes. "Oh come now! I didn't call your dress a costume. Have some respect for your fellow outliers."

The dance floor crushed around them. Boys and girls and everyone who had declined the form entirely crowded in, their eyes half open and bodies swinging in time to some diva house banger. Some even took time to dance with the cat and she obliged them, her arms stretched to the sky and tracing lazy patterns with outstretched claws. Her tail brushed Evelyn's back as she danced, as if to say "all this can be yours if you want it."

And that's what broke Evelyn. She let her hand brush over the fur on the cat's long tail and it responded by wrapping around her.

When she leaned in to ask the cat another question she could hear her purring.

"This isn't just the edibles, is it?"

The cat sauntered into Evelyn's arms, turned, and swayed her hips against Evelyn. She took her hands and pulled them to her hips. They moved as one, big spoon and little spoon, swaying to the 4/4 thump of house.

"I don't know why you're still trying to make sense of this," the cat said.

"So you're real?"

The cat considered her response for a moment before shrugging and leaning closer into Evelyn's arms.

"I'm Ginny."

"Evelyn," she said, smiling.

"Want to get lost?"

Ginny took Evelyn by the arm and tugged, hard; it wasn't so much a question as it was a statement of intent. They wormed their way through the crowd packed into the bar, onto the yellow-tinged light of Boystown where the street festival unfolded.

It was Market Days, pride part two for Chicagoans. The smell of fried fair food filled the air; and the sound of a nearby outdoor circuit party filled their chests with buzzy vibrations. The hazy yellow sodium lights above gave the world the look of permanent twilight; a party that'd run until the sun came up.

In this light Evelyn could see a bit more of Ginny's splendor. On top, a cute flannel buttoned loose over a white tank. Below, weathered jeans that just so happened to rip in the right place for her tail. A pair of sunglasses tucked into her mid-length bob and framed ears that flicked this way and that.

Ginny was athletic, in a way that Evelyn's twiggish body couldn't hope to match. Strong shoulders, toned biceps, legs that went for days. And over every inch of her body was this shimmering, satiny cover of black fur, shining like obsidian under candlelight. Her face read as human, mostly. If you could get past the pink nose and the W-like wriggle of her lips and, well, the fur again, she registered somewhere between lumberjack lez and power femme.

She had this "move, I'm gay" energy to her; a woman who was used to getting exactly what she wanted, and what she wanted in that single moment was the waifish little girl whose hand she wouldn't dare let go.

Old feelings stirred within Evelyn but she pushed them down. They were... different now, thanks to the hormones. There was warmth in her belly, butterflies in her chest, and an overwhelming desire to be close and be touched and just... get lost in Ginny's scent, if that made any sense? As they walked down the middle of Halsted she moved to hold the cat closer, her head tucked into the curve of Ginny's shoulder, just breathing her in.

She had to enjoy it while it lasted, after all. This wasn't going to happen. Soon as this cool cat heard the whole story it'd just... just end. Just like everyone else.

"Where do you live?" she asked Ginny.

"Hard to say." she scanned the sky for a moment. "It, well, it doesn't translate well if you're not in the know. But it's another world, at the very least. I slide into Chicago here and there."

"Slide in?"

"You know. Visit! See the sights. Take in the architecture. And when the moon is right and the bars fill up, I head out to meet people like you."

Her arms enveloped Evelyn, pulling her deep into the sweet, sweet scent of her chest. The butterflies gave way to heat, heat to a stirring in a place that had been dormant for so long that she barely recognized it for what it was.

Ginny, however, didn't miss a thing. "We should grab a bite; we're both going to need our strength tonight, I'm guessing."

Evelyn's head spun and her heart raced. "Probably a good idea," she managed. Then she took the cat's paw in one hand and pulled her through the warm Chicago night.

----

They waited for grilled cheese at a patio table on the sidewalk. Above, CTA trains rumbled and drowned out all speech. Below, a dance club kicked into a big Eurobeat drop. The sidewalk filled with folks of all genders and all outfits, smoking jazz cigarettes and sipping gin and tonics that glowed bright under black light floods that brought the party from the club and onto the street.

Through all of this nobody noticed Ginny at all. She busied herself while they waited for their food by smoothing her hair over her ear with the back of her paw. It was... not quite human, not quite discomforting, but cute, in its own way? Yeah. Cute.

Evelyn focused on that thought. It was sure easier than considering the pressure building down below.

Ginny picked at a plate of fries as they waited for their sandwiches. "I've never been to Cheesie's before. Portillo's? Sure. Everybody goes to Portillo's. Gino's East, Lou Malnati's, Al's. But Cheesie's? That's a real gay institution."

She pointed with a fry to the boys outside Berlin and licked her chops.

"I have a question."

Ginny leaned her head onto her paws. "Yes?"

"How is it that nobody else seems to care that you're... well. You're you?"

"Take a look at your watch."

She did.

"It's two. What's that to you?"

"The 2AM bars just closed. Folks out here? They're smashed and moving to their 4AM bars. Nobody's paying attention. And besides, even if they were I'd just be a weirdo wearing cat ears and a tail. A passing thought as they tried their best not to puke in the CTA stairwells."

"Huh."

"Not that I've done that before, of course," Ginny said with a chuckle. "More of an edible girl. Like you, I guess.

"...If I come home with you, you'll smoke me up, right? You seem like the kind that has a stash, given the scent on your breath."

Evelyn wanted to answer. Really, truly she did. But the words wouldn't come.

Ginny's grin softened. "No answer. No assumption. Look at me, evolving."

Another train rolled overhead. The boys in leather outside of Berlin caught her eye, waved, pointed to the catgirl, and flashed a thumbs-up. "Yaaas queen!" they screamed in unison, and then disappeared back into the club.

"See? Nobody gives a damn."

"Are there more... erm, catgirls like you? Back where you're from?"

"Oh, of course! Gosh, but back home it's sort of a revolving door of sorts. Anything you want to be, you can be. Personally, a Witch uplifted me from a housecat a few years back. I played around with some different forms: human, not human, even a dragon at one point. But this makes sense for me so I kept it."

"You chose?"

"I mean, didn't you choose too?"

She laughed long and hard. Evelyn hid her face in her elbow.

Ginny took her by both elbows and drew her back out. "Gosh, I'm sorry. Didn't mean to offend. I just figured, well. You weren't this way when you were born, were you? Figured you'd be proud of that."

Evelyn looked down. "It's different here."

"Oh, I'm so sorry. Back where I'm from, we celebrate when someone chooses to take control of their own body. I just assumed that translated."

Evelyn scratched her head. "It's... sort of? I mean, in my community there's a whole mess about having pride and taking control of your own narrative and all that but there's so few of us out there. There's lots of folks out there who wish people like me didn't exist, and they try to make it hard for us to do that. But it's, uh, always from this place of concern and pity, I guess? Like we're confused and sad and in need of saving or something.

"I don't know. It's weird to think about."

Ginny considered this for a moment before nodding in agreement. "Okay, that one resonates. Lots of Churched folk get angry about uplifts like me. Something about meddling with the strings of fate or something. But they're loonies, and nobody really gives a shit what they think. Hard to tell someone they shouldn't exist when there's a whole bunch of catgirls and catboys in the next neighborhood over."

She reached across the table and took Evelyn's hands into hers.

"I know it's probably hard for you. But you should be proud of what you've done with your body. No matter what they say."

Evelyn froze like a mouse. Ginny's eyes locked with hers. There was warmth, support, kindness in these hands, and she wasn't letting go. Most people went for the hands and let go the second things got awkward. Everyone took the smallest excuse to back out of being sincere. But Ginny refused to let her off the hook.

"I need to know you'll work to find that pride. Maybe not now. Maybe not tomorrow. Someday, though."

Her heart swelled. "I'll try," she said.

It was the first thing in months that felt like anything resembling truth.

"And —" the word came out before she could plan it. "I'm still waiting for the trick. While we're being honest."

Ginny didn't let go of her hands.

"There's no trick."

"There's always a trick."

"Mm. Then I'll wait with you. See if one shows up."

Ginny blinked this slow, long blink to her. "Your hands are lovely, by the way."

Evelyn didn't want to pull away from this anymore.

"Pianist," she said, her voice flooding with confidence. "Small time, but I get a few gigs as an accompanist here and there, and when I'm lucky one of the piano bars has me ring in. Kind of a hard sell, the woman who sounds like a man when she sings."

"Nonsense. You have a great voice that people would be privileged to listen to. And I'm sure you're great with these fingers to boot."

She ran an idle claw over the back of Evelyn's hand. Her mind raced to naughtier thoughts and then short-circuited. Her? With a beautiful... uh, catgirl? No. Of course not. This cat wouldn't go for a putz of a trans girl like her.

"Do you write your own music? Just want to know if there's a playlist I can listen to when I'm thinking of you."

"House electro on some albums. Jazz singer on the others. I can give you copies of my records if you want 'em. I... uh. I ordered way too many when I did my tour a few years back."

Ginny laughed. "I'd like that. Any reason they didn't sell?"

Evelyn shrugged. "I told you, people don't much appreciate folks like me in their lives. It's why I had to move here in the first place: no jobs for trans women out where I grew up. Pianists usually make their money as an accompanist for high school choirs and such, and people don't take kindly to someone like me being around their children. So I packed up and moved here and... well."

"You got gigs again?"

"Not quite. Lots of dive bar gigs. Few gigs as high school accompanists. I got... I got scared off 'em. Figure it's the best for all of us if I find my living somewhere else."

Ginny folded her hands over the bridge of her pink nose and took a deep breath. She seemed lost for words for a moment, trying to get the words to fit. When she spoke it came out soft, almost apologetic for its firmness and tone:

"You gotta stop giving those people so much power."

"I wish I could change that."

"You can," Ginny tapped Evelyn's nose with a paw. "Maybe not the whole world, sure. But that voice in your head, the one that keeps letting those folks in? That one you can stop."

"I don't know."

A lady dressed in red flannel, ripped jeans, and a snapback stepped out of the restaurant with their sandwiches in hand. "One O.G. and one Edgar. Sorry for the wait, ladies!"

Ginny flashed a quick smile to the waitress. "No problem at all! You gave us plenty of time to talk."

"Great. Happy to help, I guess." She turned to head back inside. "Oh! No business of mine, but you two make a cute couple."

"Can you believe we just met?"

"Oh my gosh, no way! I'd have guessed third date at the very least. She seems like a keeper. I'll leave you to it, girls!"

The lady walked away and Evelyn's jaw hit the floor. Ginny laughed.

"I told you, hon. It's damn near three in Boystown and Market Days is winding down. Nobody cares that I look like a cat!"

"I... okay, okay. You win. I'm on a date with a catgirl and that's totally fine."

"Oh? It's a date now?"

Evelyn flushed. "...oh. Oh! Uh, now that you mention it, huh. Gosh. I'm... I'm sorry. Between this edible and a five-year dry spell I'm just... well."

"Don't be sorry. Just be. Here." She picked up her sandwich and took a too-big bite. She struggled to talk around it. "There: wow we're awkward together. Even footing. Ask me a question."

"You didn't order meat?"

Ginny shrugged. "I'm a purist. Cheese, toast, tomato soup. I cut back on meat a few years back when I met a deer girl in a rock band. Hard to enjoy a stew when you've been tongue deep in what could have become the meat, you know?"

"I just figured, uh. Well. You being part cat and all I figured you'd want meat on yours."

"You're obsessed with how things should be that you forget to just be. Anybody ever tell you that?"

"I, uh. Well. No? ...Gosh. I'm sorry. It's just been a while."

"Someone as pretty as you being left to wither on the vine? That has to be a crime here. Just a travesty, really. But you're so goddamn cute."

Evelyn blushed.

"You still having fun at least?"

She nodded so hard she could swear she pulled a muscle.

----

"So there's magic where you're from?"

They walked through a side street of Boystown. Porchlight amber bathed them both. For Evelyn, it washed out her features. For Ginny, it made her fur shine like a sunrise. They passed quiet two-flats and tiny warrens of rabbits getting up for their pre-morning grazing.

"Where I'm from it's just, well, work? Like home improvement. We can change our bodies at will but oh wow, do we ever suck at computers."

"Sounds wild."

They turned down another hazy row of three-flats, dark and quiet. Silence filled the space between them. Ginny coughed. Then she took Evelyn by the hand and squeezed, hard. Step by step they walked in the quiet before the dawn.

Finally Evelyn spoke in a tinny voice. "...so you can change anything about yourself?"

"Yeah, pretty much. Oh!" her hand snapped to her mouth. "Gosh, I'm so sorry. I didn't think about how that'd come off."

She stepped out in front of Evelyn and took both of her hands into her paws. Her paws were warm, slightly moist with anxiety. Her eyes locked with Evelyn's and she squeezed, hard.

"I can't do it here. Not without materials. But I can, given time to prep. Better yet, I could take you home with me sometime and you could pick out your own body."

"Really?"

She nodded. "They have stores for that where I'm from, you know."

Evelyn froze. She felt like she could die.

"Someday. I promise. Even if... uh, even if we don't work out. If you still want it, I'll make something happen."

She let go and Evelyn did her best to not faint on the spot. Magic? Sure. Would be nice to have a body that fit. But this lady, this cat, this goddess being into her? That was another thing entirely.

"Well? What do you think?"

Evelyn shook off the nerves. "I think I'd like that very much! And, well," She flipped a lock of hair from her eye and flushed bright red. "I think we're going to be extremely okay. Better than okay."

"Yeah." Ginny chuckled, sighed, and looked to the ground. "Sorry. It's just so weird, you being into me. Back where I'm from cats are just... kind of garden variety? They expect you to date witches, or start a litter with one of your own kind, or work in a brothel, and you're just available for consumption. But you've been so kind."

Evelyn put a hand on her cheek and smiled even wider. "Sorry. It's just... uh. It's been a while. People like me don't get a lot of callbacks."

"I'm a catgirl. Believe me, I know. You get one date, maybe a girl wanting to walk on the wild side, and then you're taking that walk of shame back down the lane, knowing that girl will never call again."

Evelyn found herself laughing. "I don't even get that far! Like last month, I'm on this date with a lady. She finds out I'm trans and just, like, gets up right there and then! Stuck me with the check and everything."

Ginny's jaw dropped. "That's horrible."

"Yeah." Evelyn slowed. Tried something different. "Earlier you said I was obsessed with how things should be. That I forget to just be."

Ginny waited.

"I'm trying. Right now. Out here on a side street with you. Trying to just be here. Walking. Not running the tape for once."

Ginny squeezed her hand and didn't say anything for a long beat.

"Sorry if that's a lot. I, well. Gosh. It's not like--"

Ginny stopped on the sidewalk. For the first time all night, the flirt dropped out of her face.

"Real question. You took an edible hours ago. You still choosing this, or do we get you water and a cab?"

Evelyn blinked. The offer landed harder than the flirt had.

"I'm choosing."

"Good. Then keep choosing. Change your mind whenever. I won't be mad."

It happened in a flash. One second Evelyn was standing in the middle of Reta Ave., the answer still on her lips. The next she was enveloped in black fur, sweet sweat, eyes that glowed in the night light. They kissed; when she pulled away Ginny smiled at the little lady in her arms.

"Invite me home and I'll prove it to you."

"I'd love that."

The words left her mouth before her brain could stop the impulse. Then the catgirl scooped her up in strong arms.

"Tell me the way," Ginny said, and the world gave way to hyperfocus, the strength of her arms, and body heat that wrapped her in safety and lust.

The world smeared. She directed the cat through the back streets of Chicago. At some point the cat put her paw to an alarm panel to punch in a door code, and then they found themselves in the dim, streetlight-tinged interior of Evelyn's bedroom. Ginny snapped her fingers and candles on Evelyn's dresser sparked to life.

Ginny glowed in the candlelight and for the first time looked completely, totally natural in Evelyn's world.

"You're beautiful," she said.

"You're unbelievable."

She slinked onto the bed and ran a finger along Evelyn's leg. "Come on now. It was at least a little cute."

"It..." Evelyn pulled back. Just an inch.

"Don't go before I wake up. Be here. Be on the couch. Be a text. Just — be here."

"I'll do my best."

"I've been with dozens of people now. Maybe even a hundred. Every shape and size and combination of tools to work with. I know a keeper when I meet one. And I want to prove it to you, if you'll have me."

She slid herself atop Evelyn. Her fur felt warm and comforting; her lips sweet and soft. Their hands entwined. For a fleeting moment Evelyn let her body do the talking. Her eyes fluttered; cheeks flushed; toes pointed; hips rolled. She could feel Ginny smiling through the kiss.

It was around that moment that she realized the brush of Ginny's fur touched her bare skin. With a gasp she pulled away from the kiss.

"Did you...?"

Ginny chuckled. "A witch taught me that. Here's a girl who never knew the magic of, well — you called it magic, right? Might as well show you."

Evelyn took a deep breath, tried to get her head back on her shoulders. Her brain betrayed her with a haze and a need.

"I can stop, if you want."

Evelyn's breath caught in her throat. "Oh gosh, no! Don't ever stop."

"Figured as much," Ginny said. "Lie back, relax, and enjoy the ride. Kitty's gonna take good care of you."

----

The morning came on too bright, too fast. An ambulance screeched outside Evelyn's open window. Her legs tangled in sweat-stained bedsheets. She took in the scent of Ginny on her pillow, Ginny on her clothes, and recently snuffed candles trailing blue-gray smoke toward the ceiling.

But Ginny wasn't there.

Her heart raced. Of course this is how it'd end. Some crazy-nice girl from another world rocks her world, then runs away before —

No.

She caught the thought before it could finish itself. She'd asked Ginny to be here. Ginny had said I'll do my best.

So either Ginny was a liar, or I'll do my best hadn't been a yes.

She sat up. She wasn't sure which was worse.

It was about that time she heard a cat chirping under her bed. The sound shocked her at first but in two shakes of a cat's tail the sleek, black body of a Burmese cat slinked onto the bed. In its mouth, a rolled up bit of parchment tied in a bright red bow. It rubbed against her elbow, wrapped its tail against her shoulder, and met her eyes with a slow, steady blink.

The cat dropped the scroll in Evelyn's hand, meowed once, and then darted out of the window.

Evelyn's world collapsed onto the scroll as she untied the ribbon and unraveled the parchment. A key slid from the middle and struck her sternum with a tiny, impossible weight.

She started to read:

"Dearest Evelyn:

"Stop apologizing for being you. I told you I'd do my best — this form just takes a while to slide into, and you were too cute asleep to wake. So you get the cat and the note instead.

"The key opens a door home with me. Come find out.

"I want this to last for the long haul. <3"

Her heart kicked hard against her ribs as she read the note again.

She pulled herself from the bed and wrapped herself in the sheets that still carried Ginny's scent. Leaning out the window she caught a brief glimpse of the black cat, staring back to her with bright, shining eyes.

"Saturday?" Evelyn said. "If you'll have me?"

The cat chirped, flashed what could only be understood to be a smile, and slipped away, leaving Evelyn to think about what to get a cat on the second date. Bells, maybe. Or a nice ribbon. Something red. Something that said I believed you'd come back.