Released (Preview) (Patreon)

Patreon preview of the next story I'm working on. Bit of a longer intro than usual, but I think this one deserved it. Shows a bit of the softer side of Zyanya as well.

"Walking into the strange little shop Jordan was in awe. It was almost like out of an anime, with all the assorted little oddities lining the shelves. Some even looked otherworldly they way they seemed to move in their containers. Despite it all though the shelves didn’t hold his attention long, as the dark haired boy caught sight of something fantastic.
With a grumble, a tall inhuman woman was mopping the floor. He could only barely make her out from behind, but she was wearing what looked like a lab coat. Long thin braids adorned with beads and feathers rattled with each motion she made, drowning out her complaints. He could see her feet, tiny and furred, wet around the pads from her busy work, as well at the tip of a tail peeking out from the hem. Atop her head a pair of pointed brown ears, tinged with the grey of age, remained forward, having not noticed him yet.
“Wow,” he gasped in disbelief, making the vulpine perk up and turn.
Her eyes met his, creased in their corners and around the sides of her muzzle. She didn’t have any time to address him though as he was soon on top of her. His arms wrapped around her waist, startling her and making her knock over her bucket, dirty water spilling out across the floor.
“Duh?” she wrangled her frustration as he began to spout off.
His fingers were brushing through her coarse fur where they'd snuck into her open top, “That’s an amazing fursuit,” he exclaimed, “What’s your fursona? I'm KittyK9 on the forums.”
She turned her muzzled face to him, dark eyes displaying her desire to strangle him. She only took his arms though, peeling the invader of her space away, “I just cleaned this floor,” she growled, bearing her canine teeth at him.
Another look told him all he needed to know. His eyes went wide and he stumbled back a couple steps, “Y-you’re real?” he stammered.
The aging vulpine took in a breath to calm herself, the monotony of having to explain things to people for the umpteenth time always agitated her. “Yes,” she answered him, bending down to pick up her bucket and squeezing her mop out so she could start over.
“I-I'm sorry,” the boy apologized, “I thought you were a fursuiter,” he explained to the non-human.
She paused in her work, looking at him confused, “A what?” she asked him.
His shoulders arched up defensively, “A fursuiter,” he reiterated, “A furry who dresses as their fursona.”
She blinked her old eyes at him, the terms flying over her head. “I think this warrants proper explanation,” she mused, getting back to work. “Go sit down,” she instructed him, pointing to the counter, “I’ll be with you when I finish here.”
The dark haired boy nodded promptly, “Y-yes ma'am,” he replied, scurrying over to the seat as she cleaned up the mess he'd caused.
Seeing her properly he wondered how he ever could have mistaken her for anything but genuine. Her body was perfect, her curves under her open lab coat a treat for the eyes. A real fursuit wouldn’t have that perfect tuck in under her perky bust. Not to mention the colouring. Her brown fur was peppered with white hairs, the signs of age that came from experience, not produced in a factory for a pattern.
It all weighed heavily on him, as he looked down at himself. He wasn’t unattractive by any means. Not overly tall, just a little under five foot nine, and lean with the lightest bit of fat that kept him soft. He just never felt it was who he was though. He looked in the mirror and the man that looked back at him felt wrong. He just wasn’t who she really was.
After a few minutes the vulpine finished up, wringing out her mop one last time before hoisting it all away. Jorden watched her leave, disappearing into the back and returning with a small pad and a pen in her furred hands.
“Alright,” she mused, hoisting herself up onto the desk and crossing her digitigrade legs over to protect her modesty. Not that an open lab coat with nothing underneath left much to protect, “Start me off from the beginning of this,” she ordered.
Swallowing nervously the boy twiddled his thumbs, “Right,” he replied, trying to sort it all out in his head. He'd had the time to ponder up a few questions while he waited, which were currently buzzing about in his head. “Would it be okay if I asked some questions first?” he asked.
She was mid unwrapping a sucker she'd retrieved from inside her coat, popping the orange piece of candy between her lips. “Sure,” she offered, rolling the treat over to the corner of her mouth.
His nerves boiled up at her lax behavior. “Um, well,” he tried, turning his brown eyes down to the floor, “W-what are you?” he asked, “You look like a brown fox,” he pointed out.
The vulpine rolled her eyes. Back to the normal questions. At least he was being polite about it unlike most of the slack jawed people who walked in here. “Who is the more appropriate question,” she advised him, “The answer to both though, I'm Zyanya. I’m a doctor,” she explained, of course being a bit of a smartass, “In terms of species, I'm a type of coyote. One of the last of my kind in my world,” she told him.
His eyes were once again wide, “So you’re some sort of alien?” he followed up.
“No,” she answered him simply, quelling a bit of his excitement. “I mean it as a synonym for universe, not planet,” she explained.
That perked him right back up, “Wow, so then you're from a different reality?”
Zyanya gave a nod, “Exactly,” she confirmed.
Jordan was on the edge of his seat, “So in your world you’re basically one of the last of your kind. Are there other people like you though?” his questions continued.
The doctor rolled her sucker across her muzzle, countering with her own question, “How do you mean?”
“Like, are there other furries?” he asked.
“I’m not familiar with the term,” she told him, tapping her pen to her pad, “Part of what I wanted to ask you about.”
He blushed a bit at that, “Right, sorry,” he replied quickly, trying to think of the most accurate way to describe the fandom he was a part of. “In my world,” he clarified to start, “people who are into anthropomorphic art,” he gestured at her body to accentuate his words, “are referred to as furries.”
The doctor nodded, scribbling some of that down, “So I'm your fetish then?” she asked.
“What?” he stammered, red filling his face. She was certainly hot but, “No, no. It’s not a sex thing. That’s just like, a fraction of the fandom,” he defended.
She hummed with genuine interest, adding to her notes. “So then what brings you here then?” she went on.
Cooling his jets he looked about the strange store, “I dunno,” he answered, “I still don’t even know what this place is. I was walking to pick up the new manga issue of Monster Girl Harem when I just saw this place filling one of the alleys in,” he explained.
She couldn’t help giving him an incredulous look, “Monster Girl Harem?” she called him out, “And this isn’t a sex thing?” she challenged.
Caught his shoulders arched up a bit, “It’s not, I just like the series. It’s unrelated to my being a furry,” he once again replied on the defensive. He pulled out his phone, tapping the screen to get his wallpaper to show up, “See, this is my fursona,” he said, turning it to her, “my furry persona,” he clarified.
Carefully she took it, examining the picture. An overly busty… Cat? Dog? It was difficult to tell, seemingly having traits of both. Neon pink fur covered the hybrid from head to toe, and all she appeared to wear was a tight fitting sweater, with an oversized hole in the front that showed off way too much cleavage, and a pair of jeans.
“Biology’s more of a guideline than a hard law of nature I take it?” she asked, turning the phone back to him. There was a more pressing question on her mind though, “That character is a woman,” she stated without going further.
Jordan sank a little at that, “Yeah,” he answered her.
She recognized that kind of body language, setting her pad down on the counter. “You’re not happy with who you are?” she asked, though it was a statement more than anything.
He shook his head, the beginnings of tears appearing in the corners of his brown eyes. He shook it off though, sitting up and putting on a smile to hide his pain, “Anyway,” he changed the topic, “what is this place?” he asked.
Zyanya was getting up already, walking over to the shelves as she answered slightly monotonously, “This is Madam Materia’s Magical Menagerie. We specialize in supplying people with what real life fails to provide, generally an answer to their problems. Results may vary,” she chimed off, pulling some things from the wall and reading them over.
He just watched, listening to her explanation, “Magical?” he asked. “So then…” he didn’t finish, afraid of what she might say if he actually said what he was thinking.
“Yes,” she answered him, putting one little vial aside while she bit the lids off a few others, mixing their contents in a fresh container.
She finally returned with two vials, one with a handwritten label she appeared to have stuck on when she finished her pharmaceutical mixing. Carefully she set them on the counter along with an eyedropper and pushed them over to her guest.
Jordan drew them up, giving them a look over as the doctor went about explaining, “Those have the power to change you into something else,” she described, “The first will make you more feminine,” she told him, counting it off on her finger, “the second will alter you more towards that fursona of yours in other ways.”
His face lit up, and his immediate reaction was to go for the cap. She reached out to stop him, “I’m not done,” she told him, pausing him in his tracks. “These are both extremely potent. No more than two drops from either at a time,” she warned, “The changes are permanent, and there is no going back. Be absolutely sure that this is what you want before you take either.”
She was serious, and it put a halt to rash enthusiasm. “O-okay doctor Zyanya,” he replied, setting the vials down on the counter and going for his wallet, “How much are they?” he asked.
The doctor waved a hand, “Even if this place took money, I wouldn’t charge you,” she told him. “Just be careful is all I ask.”
He nodded, getting up and closing the distance between them to give her another hug. “Thank you,” he told her.
Her arms were up wide, not touching him or encouraging his blatant disregard for her personal space yet again. “You’re welcome,” she replied, “Now get out of here so I can get back to work.”
Again he gave her a nod, collecting his acquisitions and rushing out. Once again she was alone to clean up the place, but she couldn’t help but worry. She could only hope the poor kid didn’t make the mistakes she knew he would. " - "Released" by Madam Materia