The Unbearable Weight of Contempt and a Fluffy Abomination
Kaelan spent the entire macroeconomics lecture in a state of simmering irritation. He couldn't focus on the theory of consumer surplus; all he could see was the obnoxious shimmer of Ignis's crimson hair two rows ahead of him. Ignis didn't take notes; he simply leaned back, one arm draped over the chair next to him, turning occasionally to regard Kaelan with a lazy, vexing smile that radiated utter self-satisfaction.
Kaelan was fuming. He hated that the man was here. He hated that he was being watched. He hated the memory of the light, oppressive touch on his hoodie.
When the lecture finally ended, Kaelan bolted, trying to lose Ignis in the crowd. It didn't work.
"Kaelan, wait up!" Ignis's voice was too loud, too close.
Kaelan rounded a corner sharply and slammed himself against a brick wall, pausing to catch his breath and regain his composure. He closed his eyes, forcing his short temper back into its cage. He was exasperated. This wasn't stalking; it was relentless, deliberate harassment, and it was making him resentful.
He opened his eyes and found Ignis standing five feet away, a concerned—and therefore immediately infuriating—look on his face.
"Are you alright? You look a little... infuriated," Ignis observed, the last word carrying a hint of genuine curiosity, which only made Kaelan more indignant.
"I am perfectly fine," Kaelan clipped out. "And I don't appreciate the scrutiny. If you want to talk about magic, take your act somewhere else. I'm busy."
He tried to walk away, but Ignis smoothly stepped into his path.
"I don't think you understand the gravity of my interest, Kaelan," Ignis said, his voice dropping to a low, seductive baritone. "I am used to getting what I want, especially when that 'want' defies me. Your refusal to believe is a spectacular challenge."
Kaelan's dark eyes narrowed. He looked Ignis up and down, a look of profound, cold contempt settling on his face.
"I don't care what you're 'used to,'" Kaelan hissed, his control cracking. "I'm not a trophy or a puzzle. You're a pest. An irate pest. Now move before I forget my manners and remove you myself."
Ignis's eyes flashed gold, and a heavy, thrumming beat of power filled the air—the scent of ozone returned, sharper now. It should have been intimidating, but Kaelan's innate fearlessness—his conviction that this was all just an overly dramatic performance—kept him steady.
"Such fire," Ignis murmured, smiling slowly. "Very well. I will let you go... for now. But you should be prepared for a very strong dose of reality."
Ignis gave a small, theatrical bow, and then simply turned and walked away.
Kaelan watched him go, every muscle in his body tense. He was livid. He felt physically ill from the sheer, sustained effort of not snapping and starting a fight.
That night, Kaelan dreamt of crimson scales and oppressive heat. He tossed and turned, his sleep shallow and disturbed. When he finally woke to the insistent buzz of his alarm, he immediately sensed that something was catastrophically wrong.
His back felt oddly heavy, and his hips felt constrained, like he was lying on a lumpy, oversized pillow. Worse, there was a persistent, highly distracting fluffiness brushing the back of his neck.
Kaelan rolled over, trying to push the obstruction away. Instead, he felt a massive, velvety appendage flop onto his chest. He pushed it again, and it slid down the length of his body, thick and unbelievably soft, the tip thumping gently against his knees.
He sat bolt upright in bed, heart hammering, his face a perfect mask of bewildered horror.
Kaelan looked down at his own torso. Sprawled across the cheap university-issue sheets was a magnificent, impossibly long, impossibly fluffy tail. It was a deep, charcoal black, fading to white at the tip, and it was nearly as thick as his arm. It pulsed slightly, and as he stared, it gave a gentle, almost lazy flick.
"What... no. Absolutely not," Kaelan whispered, his voice shaking with absolute, pure outrage.
He scrambled out of bed, the massive tail following him, its sudden weight throwing his balance off, causing him to stagger. He rushed to the small, cracked mirror over his dresser.
The sight that met him made a low, strangled sound escape his throat.
Not only did he have the grotesque appendage, but sprouting from the top of his dark hair were two perfect, triangular, black cat ears. They twitched, what the heck—they actually twitched!—as he stared at them, and he could feel the delicate movement of the muscles at their base.
Kaelan's jaw dropped. He reached up, touching the ridiculously soft fur of one ear. The sensation was immediate and overwhelming; he could hear the low hum of the dorm refrigerator next door with shocking clarity.
He stared at his reflection—the familiar, pale, angry face, now adorned with the two most annoying, most fictional appendages imaginable.
He touched the tail, running his hand over the dense, silky fur. It was impossible. It defied physics. It defied his entire worldview.
His mind scrambled for a logical explanation: hallucination, a bizarre and elaborate viral prank, a drug planted in his coffee—anything but the truth. But the reality of the weight, the warmth, the movement of the tail was undeniable.
Kaelan's quiet calm evaporated. His face darkened, going from disbelief to a terrifying shade of pure enraged crimson. He didn't believe in magic, but someone had clearly done something unthinkable to him, and they had done it while he was vulnerable.
He punched the wall next to the mirror with a force that made the cheap drywall groan, ignoring the sharp spike of pain in his knuckles.
"Ignis," he bit out, the name a low, furious curse. He didn't know how Ignis had done it, or if it was even him, but the man had been talking about 'doses of reality' and 'magic.'
Kaelan was now a walking, breathing contradiction to his own carefully guarded sanity. He was a Shifter, the very thing he had mocked with such contempt, and it was the most humiliating, incensed moment of his life.
He felt the tail flick again, a large, heavy movement, and he immediately wanted to tear it off. He had to hide this. He had to fix it. He had to find that insufferable man and throttle him.
He was going to kill the Dragon King. He just didn't know it yet.