The Very Thirsty Horse (King)

Lonan frowned at the endless shelves of dull non-fiction books. He didn't care about the lives of dead people. This assignment would be far more interesting if he got to write an essay about how someone died rather than how they lived.

He begrudgingly grabbed a book with a foreign-sounding name, and added it to the pile in his other arm. He walked down the next aisle, and grabbed a few more random books. They were getting hard to balance now. It was probably time to find a table. He wandered back through the aisles to look for one.

Lonan stopped when he came to a wall of children's books. He stared at it for a moment, feeling very confused. Did he just walk across the whole library? He was certain he had been in the college section. Why was the Poky Little Puppy staring back at him? He hurried to the end of the aisle to check its label. The sign declared he was in the Psychology section, specifically Child Development.

He dropped his armful of books right there on the floor, and went back into the magical aisle. The biographies were still tumbling over each other as he pulled new tiny books from the shelves. He made stacks of them on the floor. Once he had collected one of each book, he sat down to read. He started with The Very Hungry Caterpillar.

"In the light on the moon...a little egg lay on a leaf..." he read out loud to himself. He took a moment to enjoy the picture before flipping the page. "One Sunday morning...the warm sun came up...and POP! Out of the egg...came a tiny...and very hungry...caterpillar." Lonan's tail gently thumped on the ground as it wagged. "He started to look...for some food. On Monday...he ate through...one apple...but he was still hungry." This was so much better than biographies.

@"King"

One of Lonan's ears twitched when he heard footsteps passing by. His ear instinctively turned to follow the noise, but he paid little attention to it. He was too busy reading about what the little caterpillar ate on Tuesday.

He heard the footsteps come back, but now it was Wednesday, and the caterpillar was eating even more food.

Lonan finally looked up when the footsteps spoke. His eyes were greeted by a giant pair of boobs towering above him. This really was a magical aisle.

After staring for a moment, he remembered the girl had asked him a question, and he still needed to answer. Now if only he could remember what the question was.

He was taking way too long to answer.

He assumed it was some form of 'how are you.'

"Em... Not too bad?" His mind was scrambling for something else to say so she wouldn't leave. "Do ye like cats?" he asked. A hopeful smile spread across his face. Her chest looked like a great place to curl up and take a nap. He also wouldn't get slapped if he was a cute little cat, or at least he didn't think he would.

@"King"

Before the girl finished speaking, Lonan shifted. It happened very fast, but his human form seemed to melt and shrink into itself, all the while becoming darker until it was replaced with a black cat. It was unclear if the suit he was wearing had vanished or become part of him.

With his lap gone, the caterpillar book fell abandoned on the floor.

Lonan jumped on a stack of books to see the girl better. Her boobs looked even bigger now that he was cat-sized. He tilted his head slightly, trying hard to look cute, and made a little 'mew' sound.

"Will ye pick me up? I'm soft," his voice rumbled with literal purring. His fur really was very soft, and it was just long enough to make him look fluffy, but not like a shapeless lump.

@"King"

The staring made Lonan a little nervous. He hoped she wasn't thinking about running away. He would follow if she did, but that probably meant he wouldn't get to cuddle on her chest. Probably. He could be very persistent.

His eyes widened with excitement as she moved closer. Yes! He was going to touch the boobs! His purring got louder when she reached to pick him up. He waited a second for her to bring him closer.

Soon he would be cuddled against her.

Any second now.

Or not.

The purring abruptly stopped. Was she really just going to dangle him in the air like this? This was not what he meant when he asked to be picked up. His ears flattened against his head.

"Of course not," he said, and flicked his tail in annoyance. "I'm a pooka. I can turn into whatever I want... Or whatever ye want, if ye have a favorite animal."

@"King"

Lonan curled his tail over his paws as he settled on the shelf. It was better than hanging in the air, but still a huge disappointment compared to boobs.

He mirrored her unamused face as well as he could in cat form. Someone did call him Pookie. He could tolerate the embarrassing nickname when it was used by hot people, but he didn't want to admit to it.

"I didn't choose the name. We're a type of Celtic fae," he mumbled defensively. He would've been blushing if he was still in human form. It was so unfair that kelpies got a better name.

Lonan's gaze dropped to the girl's chest when she looked down. He didn't bother to look back up.

"I like those books," he stated. He was far less embarrassed by the books than his species' ridiculous name. "They have pictures, and they don't take forever to read."

@"King"