Prompt of the Week - Week 12 (Patreon)

 “Honey, you are just far too kind! Imagine bringing a second date to somewhere so fancy, I don’t even know what to say!”

The cougar was smiling so widely it almost stretched belief, her cheeks bright red and her eyes perpetually closed, so giggly that it seemed to infect everyone around her with a kind of joy that only someone like her could ever produce. Her date, a younger leopard who was thinking of himself as the luckiest guy on the planet, couldn’t help but act in much the same way; the two had met just a month prior via a dating app, and against all odds, hit it off in a major way. Despite the age difference, the two found a mutual love in the form of exquisitely written erotica novels, and quickly found that their collections contained much of the same volumes, with them even sharing the exact same favourite author! It was just one thing among many, of course, but it served as a solid, if odd foundation for them to build their relationship on. There had only been one date, but given how that one ended up, there was no doubt the two would be enjoying one another’s presence for quite a long time.

“Nonsense, Cynthia, how could I not bring you here? After last time as well!” the leopard giggled back at her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

“Goodness, don’t you bring that up in public~” she whispered back, “wouldn’t want to get kicked out before we even started, now would we, young man?”

“Stop calling me that!” he hissed under his breath, smiling even wider than before, “I’m an adult!”

“And yet you still called me mommy in the bedroom, darling.”

That was true. That was so true, in fact, that the younger feline felt his cheeks heat up so much he could probably prepare his dinner on them if he could find the room. Defeated for the time being, he chose to ignore the last quip and keep on walking, hoping maybe that if he pretended to have his cool for long enough then he could claim to have won the engagement. The act wasn’t fooling anyone, but it was either that or openly fawn over the (literal) cougar in full view of everyone. Given where they were, that last one wasn’t the best of choices.

William chose that restaurant for two reasons: the food and the view. It was built on a steep incline overlooking the city, with a large outdoor area meant to cater to more private liaisons. Once sat there, the two would have a full view of everything for miles around them, and given that it was nighttime, this equated to a spectacle of lights that very few people in the concrete jungle down below ever even thought about, much less experienced. Of course, one didn’t pay out the nose for a spot at a table like that just for what they could see; the restaurant was famous for its ability to blend traditional cuisine with more high-class elements, an odd fusion that resulted in what could only be described as the distilled essence of heaven itself in culinary form. Bill had only been there once before, a couple of years prior, but the experience left such a deep impression on him that he had been desperately looking for any excuse to shill out the money required for a single night there.

As soon as the two sat down, everything was… perfect. The cougar in her cocktail dress, haloed by the lights of the city, her warm smile promising him a night not of carnal intimacy, but familial one; the two weren’t there to fulfill their lustful desires, but to simply enjoy one another’s presence and have a good meal, probably exchange a couple of quips about their preference in wine while still getting slowly trashed on it, and then end it all by making complete asses of themselves before being forcefully evicted from the premises. It was a testament to how in-tune they were with one another that they both had the exact same sequence of thoughts independently of one another, all while holding the same warm smile, one hand in the other’s.

“Cynthia, I literally cannot imagine a more perfect way to spend time with you,” William spoke up, his eyes fixated on hers, “and ever since we met, I th-”

“Bill. Please,” the cougar interrupted, “I’m fifteen years your senior and a single mother. If you can think it, I’ve heard it” - her comment wasn’t meant as a way to shut him up. If anything, she was simply stating a fact - “I really don’t want to be swooned, since… it’s really not necessary. You really don’t have to,” she added, squeezing his hand tighter, “I’m already here for you. Just like you are for me. Let’s please not make this more complicated than it has to be.”

The leopard smiled, bringing his free hand over to squeeze hers. The two held their gaze for what seemed like a small eternity, perfectly content in simply being, before a small cough and a clearing of a throat next to them reminded the couple that they were still technically in a restaurant. The waiter stood next to their table, looking quite unimpressed by the display of physical proximity, but nonetheless a consummate professional when it came to letting them know what their options were. Picking something to eat was simple, though they were both left with the impression that their choices did not impress the young man taking their order, who left to get their drinks without so much as an extra word. Perhaps it was their “feel”; neither of them looked nearly as stuffy as the other high-class snobs appreciating their fine wines with the kind of pseudo-intellectual analysis that even the most pretentious of sommeliers would find excessive. Something that both of them noticed and began giggling at, only quieting down when several of the patrons stared at them quite openly and unashamedly.

“You know Cynthia, I was meaning to ask you,” William spoke up in a hushed tone, “what’s with that necklace you’re wearing? I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like that before.”

The adornment wasn’t unique so much as it was gaudy and of unusual size; pearls weren’t typically that large, nor clicked that loudly whenever she moved her head around, and yet somehow the cougar wore it so naturally that it did genuinely compliment her overall figure. Nevertheless, she seemed very reticent in discussing it, to the point where a random quip William made on their first date was quite conspicuously dismissed in a way that made it clear it was an oddly touchy subject. Now that the two had become more closely acquainted to one another, the leopard felt safer in posing the question. Oddly enough, the older woman appeared to look upwards into the cloudy sky before answering, and even then her jovial tone gave way to a deeper one that contrasted so heavily with her usual self that it took William by complete surprise.

“I don’t like talking about it. It’s… quite personal…” she ended up saying, looking away from her date and into the middle distance.

“Oh, I’m… I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to offend,” Bill quickly rectified.

“No, no, it’s just… urgh, never mind, I’ll tell you later. Let’s just focus on something better for the moment, yeah? Like our wines, look!”

The sudden reappearance of their waiter made for the best possible distraction from the momentary awkwardness, especially given he seemed to be a lot more open and talkative than before; certainly not anything to do with the very upset-looking manager near the entrance to the main dining room. He informed the two of a great number of things that neither the cougar nor the leopard particularly cared regarding the vintage, before leaving them with their grown-up juice to wait until their dinner was ready. Bill, for his part, was just happy the night wouldn’t be ruined by an uncooperative staff member, while Cynthia still looked less than enthused, her fingers twirling around her pearls. Her date for the night knew better than to try and poke that subject again… but that was a very long period of silence they were having. He was just about to say something when the other cat suddenly flinched, her eyes opening wide as she looked upwards towards the sky, right before she started frantically digging through the contents of her handbag, looking extremely panicked for no apparent reason.

“Cynthia?” William stuttered, “Cynthia, are yo-”

“What day is it?” she demanded of him, “Day of the month, what day is it?!”

The suddenness of her change in behaviour, as well as the apparently nonsensical question, left Bill so flabbergasted that he didn’t even know how to reply to it. Should he just say it? He could, if only he weren’t so confused that he had literally forgotten which day it was supposed to be; Cynthia herself appeared to have misplaced this crucial information as well, at least until she produced her phone and scrolled through it, her eyes growing increasingly wider as she got closer to what he assumed was her calendar, until finally her face went stony, her fingers limp, and the phone itself fell back onto her lap. The cougar’s eyes looked up, expressionless, just as the night sky cleared up enough to reveal the full moon, bathing the restaurant’s balcony in reflected light, and causing Cynthia to start spasming uncontrollably.

The sound of chairs being dragged quickly followed, with the leopard practically jumping over the table to get close to his companion, before she pushed him away with a well-timed strike to his chest. The amount of force packed behind that simple gesture was enormous, so much so that William was left unable to breathe properly for several seconds… after he picked himself up from the ruins of another table he was thrown onto. Cynthia was doubled over on the ground, her hair having come loose and covering her face, arms crossed over her chest with her hands digging into her back. She was rocking back and forth, mumbling incomprehensibly, and though Bill knew he had to do something, he was terrified that he might just get hurt if he approached her again.

Whether it was fortunate or not would be a question for the ages, but everything changed after just a few more moments. The moonlight seemed to dim and focus itself, a quasi-spotlight shining over the cougar’s quivering body, drawing everyone’s eyes to where she lay kneeling on the wooden floor. The spasms grew both stronger yet more infrequent, until eventually stopping altogether; while this would’ve been a fantastic sign in any other circumstances, in that situation it instead heralded something completely unexpected: her clothes beginning to tear. She wasn’t removing them herself, nor were they just magically falling off; no, instead, her whole body seemed to be growing, expanding outwards in every direction and filling her cocktail dress to the point where it was quite literally bursting at the seams. The cougar’s arms went from delicate to ripped, her shoes practically exploding as the paws within turned into colossal, clawed stompers, the transformation firing up her legs and leaving her with the kind of physique one might expect from a competitive cyclist. Her upper body was no slouch either, with rippling muscle mass appearing from seemingly nowhere and depositing itself all over her form, the cougar’s hands too developing a set of slashing implements that dug themselves deep into the floorboards underneath her, gashes cut into the varnished surface while her back arched in impossible angles.

What were merely mumbles and grumbles before turned into low growling and what seemed like half-pleasurable groaning, with a few choice words escaping from her lips and letting everyone around her know she was at least trying to fight whatever was happening to her. Cynthia begged for it to stop, for the transformation to go back and keep everyone safe, a choice of vocabulary that handily informed everyone around her that it might be a good idea to start running. Not Bill though; the leopard instead lunged forwards towards his companion, knowing that even if he was risking another slap to the sternum, he had to be there to help her through whatever was going on. To her credit, Cynthia managed to contain herself that time, still taking a swipe at him but stopping herself just before her hand made contact, instead sinking its claws into the ground once more.

“Cynthia?” he called out to her, still not courageous enough to actually bring his hand any closer than punching range, “Cynthia, what’s happening?!”

The response? The cougar looked up, revealing her face for the first time since the sudden shift in attitude and very nearly scaring the very soul out of William’s body. Far from the soft features that he remembered her having, the constant smile, the soft blue of her eyes and pleasantly warm cream colour of her inviting fur, who he saw was someone who he did not recognize: deep, sunken eyes whose irises glowed a bright yellow, the pupil narrowed akin to that of a cat about to pounce on its prey. A far more prominent brow protruding above those shining yellow lamps, a covering of fur that was both far darker and significantly coarser. Canines that grew downwards from her upper jaw, giving her a sabertooth quality that William couldn’t even begin to explain, along with a tongue that lolled freely from her open mouth, revealing a hefty dose of salivation dripping onto the floor below. He saw all this in the one second he got before she hid her face again, before her body underwent another growth spurt that left her entirely nude, with the tattered remnants of her dress strewn all about the floor.

Rather than alluring, however, whatever it was that had left Cynthia in that state made her look far more threatening and animalistic than anything else. Perhaps it was the obvious strength packed away inside of a bodybuilder’s frame, looking honed enough that it could pick up a car and bend it in half; maybe it was the elongated hair and thickened fur, looking more akin to some dangerous, prehistoric beast than anything resembling the motherly cougar she used to be. Or mayhaps it was the look of hunger stamped upon her face, the bright yellow eyes looking to be a portent of doom more than anything used to see the world through. When she rose to her feet, finally free of any shaking or uncontrollable tics, she loomed over everyone present, at least nine feet tall and with shoulders wide enough to rip through any doorframe she might want to use. Her body was bare, breasts covered by thankfully-placed curtains of hair flowing down from her shoulders and head. Most curiously however, the pearl necklace she’d been so skittish about had vanished, replaced by what looked to be a choker… riddled with spikes. It was so unnecessarily excessive that William felt a pressing need to laugh, if it weren’t for how utterly terrified he was at that moment.

Things didn’t get better when Cynthia took a few steps forward, enough to practically force herself onto her date for that night. The size difference was enough to make Bill think he was about to get cracked in half over a knee, and indeed he flinched when he saw her bend down to approach him. Rather than physical assault, though, he instead received… a smooch to the forehead. It was quite oddly placed, seeing as the cougar had to work around a pair of teeth that made using her mouth slightly awkward, but it was still obviously a kiss, followed by a very friendly, if overblown, lick on the side of the head. Before he knew it, two powerful hands had scooped him up and carried him upwards into the air, right before his whole body was thrown into the tight embrace of a creature so vast that he didn’t have words to describe it; the fact that his face was stuffed into a cleavage of rather large proportions probably helped with his lack of a decent response. He could hear the muffled mumbling of people around him, but mostly existence was mostly reduced to feeling the warmth and surprising softness of what he assumed to be an aggressively rough fur coating, the transformed cougar sounding like a small kitten that had just been rubbed and petted in all the right ways. It was enough to make him wriggle under her grasp, trying to understand what was going on, only for Cynthia to relinquish her hold on him and bring him up so they could be eye-level to one another.

Despite the complete shift in expression and facial structure, he could still see the cougar in there, hidden beneath so many layers and yet still so perfectly visible. The tenderness in those lantern-like eyes, the slight smile at the edges of her lips, the promise of carnal enjoyment should the two survive the night and make it back home… though wrapped up in a bundle of savage, animalistic power, this was still Cynthia, even if she didn’t look like it. She appeared unable to speak as well, but words weren’t really necessary when she gave him that kind of look. William barely even noticed when she took off for the exit, accidentally bumping into several people and knocking them onto the ground before literally breaking through a wall, covering her partner’s body with her arms for protection. The restaurant-goers and staff all screamed in terror at the sight of her, taking cover behind upturned tables and chairs, only to react with mounting confusion when the beast ignored them all, planting an endless series of kisses and licks on the leopard’s face… who, for his part, was already blushing furiously.

It’d take a while before they got home. But he couldn’t wait to see what she had in store.