"I-I dunno…" Atlas considered for a few seconds, trying to figure out what he wanted. He wasn't used to being able to make his own decisions, after all, so he wasn't entirely sure how to decide what he wanted or didn't want.
"I suppose not?" He said after a while of thinking. "I… I dunno… it seems nice to be more… functional, and helpful to you guys. I don't want to be a problem or anything, though…"
Claire stayed silent for a moment, thinking. She turned to Magnolia.
“A child is more expensive than a cat,” she said.
Magnolia bit her lip. “Yeah… is that a problem?”
“Well, you might have to get a job as well as working as an intern, or I could work full time.”
“Ooh, I could work at the cafe.”
Claire nodded. “That could work.”
Magnolia glanced at Atlas. “You’re not a problem, it’s just that being human comes with… complications.”
Atlas looked between them while they talked, seeming pretty confused. He didn't really have any concept of money, after all, so expenses weren't on his mind at all. "Should I do something to help?" He asked. "Since I'm your familiar, it's my job and all… I'm just not sure how exactly is the best way to assist in this form."
Magnolia pursed her lips. “Me neither, if I’m being honest.”
Claire had pulled out her phone and started typing in her notes app. “Well, if you’re going to stay human that means we’ll have to throw out the kitty litter, the cat food, and the cat toys. Maybe you could do that.”
“Claire, he doesn’t need to do that. We can just put those things in the storage closet until we know what do with them.” Magnolia crossed her arms over her chest.
“Actually, we could probably sell the cat toys…”
“True…”
There was a pause in the conversation.
Atlas' eyes widened a bit as he watched, struggling to process everything that was going on. Now they were throwing out all his things, which he supposed made sense, but it was still odd to think about all he'd ever known being thrown out just like that. "Um… s-so… is there something I should do…?" He asked awkwardly. "Uh… anything? This is all pretty surreal…"
(i'm suddenly regretting having Claire say that djdfjdfsj idk what to say now)
(Adfgjjkl idk lol)
Magnolia looked between them, biting her nail. Somehow she found the courage to speak up.
“Actually… maybe let’s not do anything right now. It’s too soon to do anything drastic, right? We can’t adjust our lives to something that hasn’t happened yet.”
Claire glanced at her lovingly, a chuckle coming from her. “Maybe you’re right. Just wanted to be prepared, I guess.” Turning to Atlas, “Sorry, I’m getting ahead of myself like I usually do.” She leaned back, putting her arm around Magnolia’s shoulder. “Guess I’m still in work mode, hehe.”
Magnolia reached out her hand to Atlas after putting her arm around her partner’s waist. “Yeah. Let’s just calm down for a second.”
Atlas nodded a bit and sighed shakily, seeming to relax more at the new conclusion. Even if he didn't use all his things any more, he'd still feel better to have them around instead of throwing everything out. When Magnolia offered her hand to him, he took it and came closer, huddling up against Magnolia's side with his eyes closed.
She put her arm around Atlas when he snuggled close, a little sad he wasn't a warm ball of fur anymore, but still appreciating his closeness.
"Mag…"
She glanced at Claire, the look in her eyes giving her a strange sense of regret.
"I know it was an accident and he seems to want to stay this way, " Claire whispered quietly in case Atlas could hear. "but I don't know if I want to do this. It's so jarring, and I don't know if I can wait. Either you turn him back, or we make immediate plans to adjust to this."
Magnolia furrowed her brow. "Trust me, waiting is best," she whispered. "He doesn't know what he wants, and until he does, we can't make any plans. If we do, it might end up being for no reason."
"And we'll end up being unprepared for something else," Claire added with a sigh. "Fine, I try to wait."
Magnolia gave her a small smile and kissed her cheek. "I'm getting sleepy," she chuckled softly.
"Me too," Claire yawned. She leaned closer to the other woman.
Atlas yawned, not seeming to notice the two women quietly whispering to each other. He was exhausted from the transformation, and still pretty sore as well. His mind was all muddled and it was hard to process everything, honestly. Being human was definitely very different from being a cat. He thought that it might be better in time, but he'd have to wait until he woke up to see if he felt any better than now. He curled up a bit, tucking his arms and legs close to his chest to feel warmer as he slowly drifted off to sleep beside Magnolia.
She must've had a long day, even if she got out early, Magnolia thought as she looked at Claire, who was now dozing on her shoulder. Looking back at Atlas, it struck her how much he still resembled his feline appearance despite being human. She stroked the hair behind his ear, her eyes getting heavy. Magnolia didn't remember falling asleep, but eventually, her eyes closed, and sleep invaded her mind.
(kinda wanna have Atlas wake up first if that's alright with you?)
(Yep yep)
Atlas stirred fairly late in the night, while Magnolia and Claire were still sleeping. He carefully freed himself and climbed off the couch, starting to wander around the house aimlessly to see how it looked different from his new perspective. He eventually found himself in the kitchen and climbed onto a counter to rummage around for food.
(Gonna have finals soon, just a heads up)
(Also wdym by morning? I just thought that since Claire had just gotten home from work before this point it wouldn’t have been that late)
(Np, and I just thought it was later aha. I can make it late evening or something if you'd rather)
(Yeah, if you don’t mind. Ig that’s just where my train of thought went haha)
(Should be fixed aha)
(Cool cool haha)
(We should probably think about some long term plot stuff too lol)
(Ooo yeah haha)
(I did have the idea that the next day was the weekend and Magnolia works as an intern for a funeral home on the weekends and she usually takes Atlas with her cuz ghosts usually calm down after they see a cat, y’know haha)
(Interesting! I'm fine with that aha)
(Cool cool ^^)
(👌)
Claire woke not long after Atlas did, as she was usually a light sleeper. She slowly got up, careful not to jostle Magnolia too much. Taking the blanket resting on the couch, she covered Magnolia with it and was about to go change out of her work clothes when she heard sounds coming from the kitchen. Claire made her way there.
"Atlas?" she whispered. "What are you doing?"
"Hmm?" Atlas looked over his shoulder from where he was standing on the counter, a cabinet open in front of him. "Oh. I was hungry, and this is where the food comes from, right?" He pulled out a bag of chips and examined it curiously, trying to figure out what it was. "What's this called?"
Claire had to do a double-take when she heard Atlas's voice and saw a human on the counter instead of a cat. The fact that he was human now still hadn't quite settled in yet.
"U-um, yeah. Those are chips. You can have them, just be careful not to fall, okay? Humans can't easily land on their feet like cats can. Just tell me or Mag if you're hungry."
She stayed leaning on the doorway, watching him in case something happened.
"Okay!" Atlas held the chips close to his chest and closed the cabinet before jumping off of the counter. He stumbled a bit, not used to having worse balance, but managed not to fall over anyway. He wandered over to Claire's side and held the bag up to her politely as a way of silently asking for her assistance in opening it.
Claire jerked a little when Atlas stumbled, but relaxed when she saw he wasn't falling. She took the bag of chips with a sigh and easily opened it. Handing it back to him, she said, "Make sure to be quiet, Mag's still asleep. I'm going to go change and take a shower."
She leaned off the doorway and went to the bedroom.
"Mmkay, miss Claire. Thank you!" He accepted the bag and wandered off elsewhere, sitting on the floor so he could quietly eat the chips. He seemed to like them, even if they confused him a bit. He hadn't eaten anything quite like them before.