Making Amends - Part 2 (Patreon)

=:= Sean =:=

"Why aren't you at work?!" mom demanded the second he stepped in the front door.

Sean rolled his eyes, "Hi mom, nice to see you too."

She glared, "Answer the question!"

"I quit," he shrugged as he walked past her towards the stairs.

"You what?!" she almost shouted. "Sean you know the rules. If you aren't working, then you aren't going to be staying here."

He just shrugged and ignored her as he made his way up the stairs and into his room. He closed the door behind him then looked around at the mess. 

After a minute or two, he dug an old backpack out of his closet and started loading up the important stuff first. His laptop, phone charger, that sort of thing. He stared at the dresser for a few moments, but he wasn't sure about the clothes. He was still thinking about Cindy's other offer. If he took that, then he'd probably need new clothes.

He packed a few things he really liked, his favourite hoodie and a few t-shirts he was fond of, then set the backpack down next to the bed for now. Finally he flopped onto the bed and just stared at the ceiling. He really needed to make a decision, but it was a tough one.

About an hour later Sean was still laying there on the bed, when Cindy suddenly appeared in the room with him. She wasn't alone either, there was another girl with her. She looked about nineteen or twenty, and was slightly taller than the shrimp but still kind of small. Sean didn't know her, but he couldn't help staring. She had short purple hair, purple cat ears, and a purple tail.

For a second he thought they were props or something, like a costume. But her tail was slowly swishing back and forth, and her ears moved and twitched.

"Hey Sean," Cindy said. "This is my girlfriend, Zoe. Zoe, this is Sean."

Zoe smiled, "Hello Sean."

He stared for a few more seconds, and finally sat up. "Those are real? Your ears and tail?"

She grinned, "Yeah. I'm a real live catgirl."

"How...?" he was dumbfounded as he kept staring at her.

"Magic, of course!" she giggled.

"So, have you made a decision about the other stuff we talked about?" Cindy asked.

Sean sighed deeply, "It's tough. Really tough..." He felt a blush coming on as he admitted, "I've been thinking about it pretty much nonstop since lunch, and I can't decide. I mean, there's stuff I liked about being a girl. There's stuff I like about being who I am now. It's hard to pick one or the other, you know?"

Cindy shrugged, "You don't hafta pick one or the other. Mix and match, you can be whatever you want. We're talking about magic here, Sean."

He blinked at her then glanced at Zoe again, with her real live cat ears and tail. He looked back at the shrimp as her words sank in.

"Holy shit..." his eyes widened as his mind started racing. Suddenly all sorts of new possibilities opened up that he'd never thought of before.

He was still sitting on his bed, Cindy and Zoe were standing in the middle of the room watching him. He felt himself start to blush slightly as he said "Ok... I'm getting a better idea now what I think I'd like. Like I didn't actually hate being a girl, it was all the stuff my folks forced on me that drove me nuts. And I really like being taller and stronger like I am now. If I could keep the height and strength, and be like, a really butch -"

The bedroom door swung open as his mom demanded "Sean where did you get that car? Did you steal it from work?!"

She blinked and stared at Cindy and Zoe for a second, then demanded "Who are you? What are you doing in my home?"

Cindy just smiled politely, "Hello Mrs. Hodges. I'm Cindy, I'm a friend of Sean's, from back in high-school. This is my girlfriend Zoe."

Sean sighed as his mom's eyes narrowed when the shrimp said 'girlfriend'.

"I didn't let you people into my home," she stated, glaring at the two young women. "Now get out."

Cindy sighed and turned back towards Sean. "Are you all packed? If you're ready, we can just go now."

"I guess I should pack some clothes..."

The shrimp nodded, "Want us to wait here? Or out by the car?"

Before he could answer, his mom demanded "I told you to get out. Now leave!"

Sean looked from his mom to the two girls. Mom looked like she was about to blow a gasket, and he was tempted to make it worse, just to see what happened.

"Hey mom? They're my guests ok, so just chill."

His mom glared at him, "This is my house young man, and you do not take that attitude with me."

Sean just rolled his eyes as he finally stood up. He grabbed the backpack and started shoving some more clothes into it. Underwear, socks, a couple pairs of pants, some more t-shirts. He sighed, "I'm not gonna be able to bring much stuff right now." 

He looked at his mom, "Once I move out, are you gonna throw everything out right away? Or will you give me a few days to come back and finish packing?"

"And where do you think you're going?" she demanded, still looking and sounding angry.

He glanced at Cindy, giving her a questioning look.

Cindy nodded, "I've found a place for you in Guelph. It's a good spot, I think you'll like it." She hesitated as she glanced at his mom. She looked back to him and added, "We still need to figure out some details first though. Like, what name should go on the lease."

Mom looked back and forth between him and Cindy. She looked like she didn't know whether to be angry or confused. Finally she demanded "Just what in the world are you up to, Sean? I want some answers!"

Sean was staring at the shrimp now, and he felt some fear start to bubble up. Was she really going to tell his mom about magic, and the stuff that happened at high-school back in grade eleven?

Cindy shrugged at him, "You were telling me and Zoe what you wanted, when your mom interrupted. Part of that conversation was always gonna be, what do you wanna tell your folks. If you want, I can help them remember the old stuff."

Sean shook his head, "I don't know that's a good idea Cindy."

"That's it," mom stated angrily. "You two, out now! Last warning or I'm calling the police." She looked at him "And you better start explaining what in the world's going on young man, or there'll be hell to pay when your father gets home."

He sighed, exasperated. "Mom just shut the hell up a minute and let us talk ok? This is important!"

That earned him a slap across the face. He knew it was coming, but didn't bother trying to stop her. 

Cindy and Zoe looked upset by this, and Cindy said, "If you're done packing let's just go."

"You two are leaving!" mom pointed at Cindy and Zoe. Then glared at him "You're not going anywhere!"

Sean sighed and ran a hand through his hair, then said "You know what, fuck it. Mom, I'm leaving. I might call or email or something later, we'll see." 

He looked at Cindy and Zoe and said, "Let's get outta here."

He expected the three of them to head down the stairs and out to the driveway. Cindy looked at him and nodded. Then her eyes lit up with a faint purple glow. Mom was just starting to yell at him again, when everything sort of faded and spun for a second.

Sean blinked, "What the fuck?"

Him and Cindy and Zoe were now standing in a big empty room, in what looked like some kind of log cabin. There was a big fire burning in the middle of the room, in a large round fireplace. There was a sofa facing the fire, but no other furniture. He couldn't see any doors around either. There were a couple windows, but he couldn't see anything outside but black.

The only other things in the large empty space were two weird statues. One looked like a greek soldier guy, he was standing off in a corner. Another one was a woman. She looked like some kind of soldier or warrior too. She was by the wall, but not in a corner, and she was facing the fire.

Cindy sighed "Sorry your mom's a bitch. Was she always like that?"

Zoe moved to sit on the arm of the sofa for now, with her tail hanging down and resting on the cushion behind her. The catgirl stayed quiet for now as she watched him and the shrimp.

"Yeah, pretty much." Sean shrugged. "She got worse when I changed. Like she was always a stuck up bitch, but after I became a guy she got kind of nasty about it."

"I'm sorry," Cindy sighed again. "I've been thinking about what you said at lunch, how your folks wouldn't help with university and stuff anymore? I have a feeling that's part of what changed for you, when all that other stuff happened. When she changed reality, she probably fucked with your parents a bit to make them treat you like that."

Sean frowned, "You mean that the goth chick you had come and help us?"

"Yeah," she nodded. "Anyways, I'm sorry things turned out like that. But we can start fixing stuff going forward. So we were talking about how you wanted to be changed. I can do that right now if you want. Just have a seat on the sofa and relax."

He glanced at the sofa then asked, "About that? Where are we? How'd we get here?"

Cindy shrugged, "It's somewhere safe, and private. Since we couldn't talk at your place anymore. I teleported all three of us here."

Sean frowned, "Right in front of my mom. That's kind of fucked up."

Still, at least he didn't have to listen to his mom bitching at him now. He moved to the sofa and sat down. 

"So what's gonna happen? Do I have to tell you all that stuff again? Like all the details and stuff?"

The shrimp shook her head, "Nope. Just close your eyes and picture it. Imagine how you want to look, what your ideal self will be." She added, "And like I said before, you can mix and match, use your imagination, be what you want."

Zoe grinned and twitched her tail, "Doesn't even have to be entirely human, you know?"

Sean grimaced, "Yeah I don't think I want to go that far. And it'd be a little too weird, studying to be a veterinarian while being like, part cat or whatever."

The catgirl giggled, "I don't know, that actually sounds like it might be kind of funny."

He just rolled his eyes and looked at Cindy. "So I just close my eyes and imagine what I want?"

"Yeah," she nodded.

Sean took a deep breath then closed his eyes. He let himself relax as he pictured what the perfect body would be for him. He kept his eyes closed as he said, "Ok, ready."

It was only a couple seconds later when the shrimp said "All done."

She added, "Are you gonna keep calling yourself Sean?"

"Yeah, Sean still works." he replied as he opened his eyes. He grinned at his voice. It had moved up to an alto or maybe a contralto range.

He looked down at himself and asked "Hey do you have a mirror here?"

Cindy pointed at spot on the empty wall, and a full length mirror faded into existence. 

She looked at Zoe and said, "We'll hafta put that in the bathroom, once there's a bathroom."

"Holy shit," Sean stared at the mirror, then got up and walked over to have a look.

He grinned as he looked at his reflection. He was the same height, about five-foot-eight or five-foot-nine. He was slimmer now, he'd lost a lot of the bulk, and his waist was narrower. His hips were wider though, and his butt was larger, more rounded. He still had some muscle, but it was all smoothed out. The facial hair and body hair was gone too. His hair was different, almost reaching his shoulder on his left side. On the right, he had a side-shave.

His face was different too. It was softer, slightly more rounded, the hard angles were gone. He was still recognizable as Sean, but it had changed enough that there was no doubt something significant had happened.

He still had the same t-shirt on, and his shoes looked the same. His jeans were slightly different though. They'd changed to a women's style, to accommodate his smaller waist and wider hips and ass. His t-shirt was tighter across the chest now, showing off a pair of modest-sized boobs.

There was no make-up on his face of course, and no jewelry. Though he figured he might get one or both of his ears pierced again at some point. Maybe his nose too.

He nodded, and smiled at his reflection. This was good, he still felt strong, he liked the height. He could still look tough like this. On the other hand, he could look soft if he wanted. He could even put on a skirt once in a while, or some lipstick maybe, and go femme when he felt like it.

As he was staring at himself, Zoe asked "Sean? What pronouns should we use for you now?"

He turned to look at Zoe and Cindy. He was still smiling as he shrugged, "He/him still works for today. Maybe tomorrow I'll go with she/her."

Zoe grinned, "Cool."

There was a pause, then Cindy said "I've updated your ID, and everything else is ready for you now too."

"What did you do to my ID?" he asked, frowning. He fished his wallet out of his pocket and had a look, then grinned again. His drivers license picture now depicted his new appearance. And the gender marker had been changed to X for non-binary or gender-fluid.

"Sweet. Thanks Cindy."

She just smiled back at him. "This is for you." She was holding a file-folder, which she offered to him.

Sean took it and opened it up. Inside he found a pair of keys, and a bunch of letters and stuff. There was an updated birth certificate with the non-binary marker. A copy of a lease for his new apartment, with the address and suite number. A letter of acceptance for the university at Guelph, with student ID card and associated information. A bank statement and a bank card, and a bunch of other related stuff. Basically everything he needed to go start his new life.

He stared at the bank statement for a few seconds, eyes wide. "Holy shit Cindy, is this a typo or something?"

She shrugged, "I figured you'd need some money to get yourself set up and stuff. Tuition is paid for, and the apartment's paid for till the end of the year. But like, I know you need some time to find a part-time job or whatever. If your studies take too much time and you can't work, let me know. I can help some more, since your folks aren't gonna. Oh and there's a card in there with my email and phone number."

Sean shook his head "I don't know what to say, Cindy. This is... Like damn. Why're you being so nice to me?"

Cindy sighed and a sad look came over her face. "Like I said before, it's my fault. I messed up your and Becky's lives. I can't go back and fix what happened back then, but I wanted to make things right for you now."

He watched her for a few seconds then said "Cindy, it wasn't your fault. I was a complete bitch. Becky was an asshole. How many times did I trip you or knock you over? I even pushed you down the fucking stairs! Seriously... We got what we deserved." 

He hesitated, then asked "How come you never told any teachers or the principal or whatever? I mean, you and Tanya could have got me and Becky in all kinds of trouble back then. I've always wondered why you just stayed quiet and took all our bullshit for so long."

She gave him a sad smile and a little shrug, "I was a bully once. I was a lot like Becky used to be... Actually no, I was a lot worse. I figured since I used to dish it out, it was my turn to take it."

"Huh?" Sean asked, frowning. "How were you a bully? You're tiny."

Cindy shrugged again, "I wasn't always a shrimp, Sean. A few months before you met me, I was a university jock. Third-year at Brock. I did something awful to the wrong person, and got myself cursed. Poof, I was a scrawny shrimpy sixteen-year-old girl."

"Holy fuck," he stared at her.

"Anyways, that was like more than three years ago or whatever." She took a breath, and asked "So I guess you're all set? You still have the key to the Rio right?"

He blinked a few times then nodded, "Yeah, here." He fished it out of his pocket, holding the key-fob out.

"Keep it," she smiled. "I'll put you back outside the house, by the driveway. There's a GPS in the car, you can punch in your new address and find your way to your new home."

He frowned, "Are you going to come to Guelph later and get your car?"

She shook her head, "No I mean, keep the car. I haven't used it in over a year, it was just taking up space at our friend's house."

Sean couldn't believe it. "Holy shit... Thanks Cindy!" He asked, "What are you driving now?"

Zoe grinned, "We teleport. Or we take public transportation."

"Or hitchhike now and then," Cindy smiled. "But yeah, mostly we just teleport where we wanna go."

"Wow." He didn't know what else to say about that. 

Cindy asked, "Ready?"

Sean picked up his backpack and carefully put the file-folder inside. He nodded, "I guess so. Thanks Cindy. For everything. This is... There's no way I can ever repay you for all this."

The shrimp gave him a sort of wistful smile as she said, "Just do your best. Live a good life. That's how you can repay me."

He nodded slowly, "I'll let you know how stuff goes."

Cindy nodded, "Take care, and drive safe."

Zoe added, "Bye Sean. It was nice to meet you."

Before he could say anything else, things spun and faded again and he found himself standing on the driveway outside his parents' place. Cindy's car was beside him, where he'd parked it after lunch.

"Damn," he shook his head, smiling. He unlocked the doors and got in. He dumped his backpack on the passenger seat and a minute or two later he had the address in the GPS. It would be about a ninety minute drive, and he'd be in Guelph.

He took one last look at his parents' house, then pulled out and set off on the way to his new life.

End