Home was just a short walk away, near the center of town. Faust, the woman I'd known as Sally since were children had, apparently, unbeknownst to anyone, played a major role in the founding of Morningwood, one of the most successful Mamono settlements I'd ever heard of. It was the sort of thing that would have gotten her killed when we were still human, but here, in that same town, she was a celebrity, 'the Human Founder', and the home she was awarded for her role reflected that.
A beautifully constructed single story home, ornate amongst even the ornate, set apart from the other residences with a small fence, it was perhaps three times the size of my simple home back in the village.
There were several architectural artists arguing on the street side nearby. It seemed my home was one of the next buildings to be redone. In Morningwood, Mamono housing, and buildings in general, were usually only structural facades. The front door led to another, magical-created space, bound to the door, rather than leading inside the actual building, so it was common practice to tear down whole buildings and re-imagine them, since it didn't affect the occupants. The town was essentially a lifesized diorama. Morningwood was, at its core, a city of artists.
Queen Twinkle Star, the ruler of Morningwood, was a type of Mamono that fed on art, rather than… the traditional fare, and the other founders were all serious artists themselves. Every Mamono that passionately pursued her artistic dreams was strengthening the Queen, and so the city. It was an elegant system. I hadn't had a chance to meet the Queen yet, but that was changing later today. She was insisting both that I have that chance to meet her, and that Faust get out of the house.
The latter was a surprise, in that Faust had barely even fussed about it. Being a Lich, she was predisposed to spending large swaths of time 'doing science' in her lab/bedroom, but she'd basically been like that even before her transformation, back when she was still Sally Franks, rather than 'Faust von Frankenstein'. A name which, in dramatic and serious situations, still sometimes nearly had me in tears laughing from the sheer… 'Sally-ness' of it when juxtaposed against the circumstances, but I'd made an effort to respect her choice. I still called her Sally sometimes, but I got the sense I was allowed to. There were only a few who were.
Anyway, she'd been like that all along, and while I could coax her out, there was often a sort of forlornness to her for a few minutes, I might be her favorite, but science was her first love. That Queen Twinkle Star could simply call her out without complaint said something about their relationship. Sure, seeing the Queen was rarer, and maybe that was enough to explain it, but I knew they'd been talking in secret practically all of Faust's life. That I'd only just found out about it, while there were statues built here in Sally's honor… It felt like a large part of her life I'd been shut out of. She'd had good reason to keep it secret, but… I was jealous.
Shaking my head, I opened the door, and walked inside the house. Going out on my own had been… a huge step. I'd been offered escort, but the truth was the city simply wasn't dangerous to me anymore. I had to face that fact head on, so I'd declined.
That didn't mean there wasn't someone waiting for me to get back though, nor did it mean I wasn't relieved to see them.
Our living room was essentially just a very large two-story space, designed to hold all the doorways to the other rooms. It was mostly square, though a little wider than it was deep, and filled with cloned furniture that Mamono artisans had designed to be both incredibly comfortable, and to fit the needs of non-humanoid Mamono.
Amy, one of my wives, and a Holstaur, a type of cow-like Mamono with bovine ears, horns, and legs, was making use of one of the couches, one which was extra fluffy so she wouldn't hurt herself if she sat on her tail.
The furniture was masterfully made, incredibly comfy, always warm, and inviting.
I hated it.
I suppressed the urge to beg her to sit on me instead, to shift my body to cradle her exactly, to become a chair so lovely she'd never sit anywhere else, and forego these inferior-
Ahem.
"Lyle… How did it go?" She asked, gently. Her voice was deep, but she generally spoke almost at a whisper to compensate, to keep from stimulating her chest with the sheer presence of her voice, and now was no different.
"It went…" I said, trailing off, "Well, I'm still alive."
"Uh…? At least that's a star- *snerk*" Amy looked almost surprised as the snort overtook her.
"What?" I asked, spinning, around, trying to look at myself. "Is there something stuck in me again?"
I'd picked up bits of detritus off and on as I learned how to control my new body. It had things it liked to eat, and sometimes it didn't ask me first.
"No, it's just…" Amy said, smiling slightly, "I was just thinking how disappointed Faust must be that you can say that. That you're still alive, I mean."
Oh yeah. Heh.
"Yeah," I put my arm behind my head. I felt my fingers and hair join where they touched. Still weird. "Well, I'm sure she'll figure out a way to kill me sooner or later. She's not one to give up just because she got handed almost everything she wanted."
We shared a smile at the thought, and I sat down on the stupid, useless, one-trick couch with her, laying my head in her lap.
"No one really wanted to talk," I said, after a moment of settling in just right. "Honestly, I think I drove them away."
"Lyle…" She was stroking my hair. It was an effort to stay solid enough for her to do so, being here with her was so relaxing, I just wanted to collapse into a sexy little puddle, tangle myself up in her furry legs, get all the dirt and grime out that a shower never really cleaned away. Maybe even get in between her hoof and… uh… the fleshy bit? The frog? I bet there was all sorts of stuff trapped up in there. Cleaning it out sounded wonderful right now.
Ugh, I really need to stop fantasizing about eating people's dead skin and stuff. It's gross. Even if it's really kinda intimate and it's not like it hurts anybody and I can keep them that clean so they don't have to worry and aaaaaaaaaaa!
No no no.
"I'm sorry," I said, "did you say something? I missed it."
"I asked if it was really that bad?" She said, lightly brushing against my stomach with her other hand, as she continued to comb her fingers through my hair.
I smiled up at her, wryly. "Unfortunately." I let out a sigh. "I'm pretty much directly responsible for convincing one of them to embrace being a monster. She was halfway there, a Holstaur, and I tried to bond with her a bit over the time I spent in your body, but…"
"But…?" Amy prodded, lightly.
"But I really just convinced her to give into the mooing and she fell all over herself to masturbate the last of her resistance away, if what we could hear as she tried to leave was any indicator."
"Oh."
"Pretty bad, right?"
"Well," she hedged, "It isn't… it's not a great start, no."
"I also told them about Faust."
"Ah. I guess you'd have to, wouldn't you?"
"Yeah. I sort of forget sometimes how she looks when you haven't had years to get used to her and understand the nuance."
"Well… That's-"
"Also, I think I might be teacher's pet?"
Amy just sighed.
"And given she seems to be on the 'submit and fuck a dude' side of things, I'm really not sure how to feel about that…?"
Amy was silent for a minute. I felt very judged.
"Well, Lyle… I still love you, even if they all decide differently. You're mine, and I'm yours, and they can't change that."
"Yeah, that… that helps." I cuddled into her a little more, closing my eyes. It was a really nice sentiment, and I'd had something of a rough day. I was laying on my back, now, and I think my neck had deformed somewhat to make the position possible. I could feel myself pooling in her fur a little.
I laid there, eyes closed, just enjoying it. Amy was a habitual runner, and there were all sorts of things caught in her windswept fur as she sprinted through the city, the surrounding fields, and even the nearby forest, on occasion. Besides her sweat, and stray splashes of milk here and there, I recognized a fair bit of it as plant matter, of various strokes. …I was pretty sure I like the taste of the pine trees the best, but I hadn't worked up the nerve to ask her to bring home some needles for me to try, so that I could confirm it. I wasn't sure how to explain what I was doing to anybody without making them deeply uncomfortable.
Around the time I was starting to consider broaching the subject so that I could move away from the area I'd already cleaned, I heard footsteps, picking up pace, nearly a run. There were actually only two people with traditional feet in this house, and I had trouble imagining Akubra running for any reason ever, so the name was no surprise to me when Amy spoke, confused.
"Faust, what are you-?"
It was, however, a surprise to me when I spoke.
"Ooof!"
I opened my eyes to find that Faust had leapt atop of me, which explained the crushing sensation I was feeling across my stomach. I didn't keep anything important in there anymore, but it was still a shock.
"Lyle, darling." The look on her face made my heart flutter. Or it would have, anyway. She'd perked up considerably in these past few days. Once the initial shock of my transformation had worn off, she'd taken to the situation by far the best. Not because the others were being difficult, or even seemed too troubled, but because…
Well…
"Hi Faust." I said, "Are we almost ready to go?"
"Go? Go where?" She leaned down, cuddling up against me. Her face was pressed into my chest, my breasts, really. Voice muffled, she continued. "There is nowhere on this planet more enticing than the here and now, my love. I am home."
I love her dearly, but I think she might be something of a pervert.
I looked up at Amy, for sympathy, but that was my mistake. She was blushing up a storm, and looked vaguely jealous. I reached up with one hand, letting it settle on her chest so she didn't feel left out.
"Aren't we going to see the queen?" I asked.
"Ugh," Faust groaned. The rumbling was quite pleasant at the moment, head all but sandwiched into my chest. She might be a little harder to understand with her voice muffled like this, but… I think I can handle it. She continued, "I suppose we must. You will allow me to sit on your lap, of course."
Finally, someone wants to use me as a chair!
…Er, I mean.
"Maybe…" I hedged, doing my best not to sound utterly enthralled with the idea.
She peeled herself up and away from me, the slight distaste for our parting that I felt also echoed on her face. That soothed things, a little. I, in turn, carefully flowed up off of Amy, and we were off.
