She frowned at him. "Okay. If you insist. But you need to stay still until you've fully settled into that body."
Her gaze drifted as she covered her mouth with her hand. "I mean, yeah…" she spoke through her fingers, "it just feels more complicated in my head, I suppose. I mean, this hasn't really happened before, I don't how she'll react."
"Mm…" Atlas looked up at Magnolia from the couch, his yellow eyes flicking around to take everything in. It definitely felt very different, and he could tell that he'd be achy for a while at least. "Well… she cares about you, right? I'm sure she wouldn't do anything too bad. She might be happy! Who knows?" He shrugged a bit and winced.
Magnolia's dark eyes flitted back to him. Taking her hand away and smiling softly, she ruffled his hair, like she would when he was still a cat. "Still fluffy and cute," she muttered. Then she took a breath. "Of course she cares about me, Atlas. And no, she wouldn't. Maybe she'll find it funny as I did. But you know how she is. Very practical, always talking about the realistic implications of things." She shrugged. "Maybe she'll find a problem with it I haven't even thought of yet."
Atlas closed his eyes and smiled at the petting, trilling softly in a way that was similar to a purr, but not quite the same. "Well… technically this is pretty practical, isn't it? I-I mean, if I'm a familiar, I'm supposed to help you… and I have hands now, so that's probably helpful, right?"
"Well, you're not wrong," she chuckled. "Having opposable thumbs is pretty practical."
She went back to grab the spellbook and flipped through it. "Still, it's not what was supposed to happen. I said the right words… I had the…" she vaguely pointed her finger at Atlas, mimicking the position it had made when she cast the spell. Then she dropped it. "I did everything right. Then how are you human, and not a dog? Maybe there's some fine print in here that I missed…"
Atlas shrugged a bit. "I can't read, so I don't know whether you said it right or not." He fidgeted a bit with his hands, trying to get used to them. He tried to keep quiet, not wanting to be annoying, but he couldn't help but be curious about what Magnolia was doing. "When will miss Claire be here?" He asked.
The realization that he couldn't read caused Magnolia to chuckle a bit. "Right, I was just hoping you'd have some ideas. It's alright if you can't read the spellbook."
She flipped to the front of the book, then to the back. After studying it for a second, she said, glancing at the clock again, "About thirty minutes." She studied the book a bit more, searching for something, then closed it in defeat. "All it says is that the effects of each spell aren't guaranteed. Ah well. There's always the Internet."
"Mm… well, if we can't find a way to turn me back, that's alright. I'm sure I can live as a human." Atlas shrugged again and yawned, laying back down on the couch. "Humans age a lot slower than cats, though. How old would you say I am as a person?" He asked curiously, looking down at himself again.
“Well, if it’s alright with you.” Magnolia shrugged back. “I should be able to turn you back though, once you feel better.”
She moved to pet Atlas again, looking him over. “Hmm, 7, 8 years old? A child, certainly. Basically the human equivalent of a 5 month old kitten. Kinda cool how that works.”
"Interesting…" Atlas closed his eyes when he was pet, leaning into Magnolia's gentle touch. "I'm sure I won't mind being human once I stop being so achy. Body's not used to being so big… the magic was pretty significant, too."
Magnolia nodded, smiling as he closed his eyes. “Are you hungry? Maybe eating something will help you feel better.”
She had to admit, despite the spell not going as she planned, she was rather proud of herself. It was really cool to understand what her familiar was thinking, and he still had the same basic personality as when he was in feline form.
"Hmm? Food?" Atlas tilted his head to the side a bit, his eyes growing wide and curious. "What kind of food? Do I get people food now that I'm a person?" He asked eagerly. "You don't normally let me have people food! Is it good? It always smells really good…"
“We never let you have people food because it could make you sick,” she chuckled. “It’s only good for you when you’re a human. And now since you are one, I don’t think the cat food is going to cut it.”
Magnolia stood, walking over to the kitchen. “What would you like? If you’re still used to a meat-based diet, I think I could find something.”
Claire was vegetarian, so there wasn’t usually a lot meat to be found, but Magnolia liked to get herself chicken or beef and store it in a sort of secret stash in the fridge. Claire always nagged at her about where to buy her meat though, but that was just one of the many things Magnolia liked about her.
Atlas sat up and watched over the back of the couch, eyes still wide with curiosity. "Well, I don't exactly know anything about food. I've only had cat food." He shrugged a bit, humming softly to himself. "I'm pretty sure I'm mostly supposed to eat… uh… meat stuff. I tried to eat a vegetable once and then I didn't feel very good."
“Ah sorry, I’m probably going to forget that you don’t know about a lot of things,” Magnolia said, a little embarrassed. “But yeah, I think I have something.”
She pulled out a container of chicken from the fridge and set it on the counter, then opened it up and took a portion of the chicken and started cutting it with a knife. When she was done cutting, she frowned, then took her phone from her pocket and pulled up a recipe. Then she pressed her finger to the chicken and murmured an incantation. She did the same with a pan from the cabinet, a spatula, and one of the nobs on the stove. Then everything began to move on its own, preparing the chicken with nothing but Magnolia’s mind to guide it.
“There we go,” she said, turning to Atlas. “Should be ready soon. You don’t want to eat it while it’s frozen.”
Atlas nodded eagerly, watching as the food essentially prepared itself. He pushed himself up onto his knees, still struggling with his balance, but trying his best. Although much bigger than he was as a cat, he was still a very small person. "How long do you think?" He asked after a bit, resting his head against the back of the couch with a contented hum.
“Not long.” Magnolia smirked slightly at him. “And you do know you can eat with those hands, right? Not eating it face-first?”
"Ah…" Atlas looked down at his hands, tilting his head again. "I'm sure I can figure it out. How hard could it be?" He shrugged a bit, watching Magnolia closely from the couch. "How long is 'not long'? Is that like, a specific amount of time, or…?"
“Alright.” She chuckled again. “And no, not really. I just never know exactly how long it takes me to do these things, but I know that’s a brief period of time to me.” She shrugged. “If that makes sense.”
On the stove, the pan hissed as the chicken was stirred around by the spatula, the small blue flames beneath it.
"Okay…" Atlas sighed softly and pouted a bit while he waited for the food to be done. He seemed antsy, and he clearly didn't want to sit still, but Magnolia had told him to stay where he was on the couch. He didn't want to move until he was allowed, as frustrating as it was to have to keep still.
Seeing his restlessness, Magnolia gave him a sympathetic glance and went over to pet him. After a minute she checked to see that the chicken had thawed, then the fire turned itself down, and the spatula continued stirring and flipping the small blocks of chicken. Magnolia added some seasoning, mostly out of habit, she didn't know if Atlas would want seasoning. After a few minutes, the chicken was done. She took out a plate and the chicken floated onto it. Pointing her finger at it and murmuring a few words to deactivate the spell, she brought the plate over to Atlas.
"Here you go," she smiled. "I hope my cooking doesn't turn out to be another disaster, haha."
Atlas relaxed a bit when Magnolia came over to accompany him, but he was still distracted and wanted to move around. He perked up when the food was finally done, smiling a bit and sitting up straighter. "Thanks! So… how do I eat with my hands?" He asked, looking between his hands and the chicken a couple of time before turning his gaze up to Magnolia for guidance.
She snickered. "I thought you said you could figure it out!" She held out her hand. "Okay, you mainly use your fingers, not your whole hand. Use can your thumb–" she curled in her other fingers and held out her thumb so Atlas knew which finger she meant, "and any other finger you're comfortable with. I just use my pointer finger." She uncurled her other fingers and tapped her pointer finger and thumb together. "Now watch."
Using the fingers she mentioned, she picked up one of the pieces of chicken and popped it in her mouth.
Atlas stuck his tongue out a bit when Magnolia teased him, huffing indignantly. He watched her closely and mimicked the movements she was making with her fingers so that he could get used to it. He didn't feel like his hands were particularly strong, but hopefully that wouldn't really be a problem with eating. After watching and copying Magnolia, he carefully picked up a piece of chicken and stuck it clumsily into his mouth.
Magnolia giggled as she watched Atlas mimic her. She swallowed the chicken and said, “That’s good! How do you like it?”