Cassie was definitely surprised when she heard Nolian's response. Either he was just stupid or he truly cared for those around him. Whatever the reason was for his answer, Cassie didn't have it in herself to argue with him. If he wanted to do this, then who was she to stop him? And he did have a point, since he was a guy and all.

.

"Alright." Cassie nodded slightly before moving to follow him. She couldn't help but glance at him, trying to understand what was going through his head. He wasn't acting scared at all, but he had to be atleast a little bit, right? Also, wouldn't he rather not be around someone 'cursed' like Cassie?

.

After alot of internal debate, Cassie decided to adress her curiosity, even if her heart was pounding uneasily. "Why... Why are you doing this for me, Nolian? Wouldn't it be easier for you if you had nothing to do with me?" Silently she added, 'especially since I wanted nothing to do with you even though we worked together?'

.

As Cassie waited for his answer, she kept one ear and eye on their surroundings. At this point, though, she was pretty sure she would hear the faintest sound even without actually focusing on doing so.

Nolan tilted his head back and forth as he debated on his answer. The question she had asked was interesting and telling. There was that notation that she was more confused as to why he was actually helping her around--less of that and more of the undertone of the gesture toward the extra limbs that she had gained.

He wanted to make sure he didn't accidentally push a button that he wasn't meant to push. Which was why he was choosing his words as careful as he could.

"I care about you," he said slowly, rubbing the back of his neck. "If... that makes sense, I guess. Even if we're not exactly friends-friends, you're still a coworker of mine and an acquaintance. You didn't ask for any of this to happen," Nolan continued as he walked alongside the young woman.

"But if I had something like that happen to me," Nolan continued slowly, "I'd want someone to be there. Someone who... who wouldn't run off. I'd ..." he paused for a longer, silent moment. "I've been in situations where they leave you high and dry and I don't want anyone else to go through what I've gone through."

He finished with a wane and loose smile in his face, though there was a touch of pain. "So I'm sticking with you, so you don't have to do this alone."

He nodded briefly, determining that he'd probably head back to work and piece through the books on his own. There had to be something in that box that talked about what happened to Cassie.

"I know it might be weird or hard to understand," he finished briefly. "But it's the truth."

Cassie focused on Nolian's face as he seemed to answer as carefully as he could, trying to determine if his words were the truth or just a pretty lie. But as he continued to explain, the young woman focused less and less on whether he was lying or not and instead drank up his words. He really did just seem to care, which was very heartwarming to her.

.

Cassie was curious about what he was talking about when he said people left him high and dry, but of course she didn't actually say anything about it. His answer was alot more sincere and emotional than she had expected, so who in their right mind would push the subject?

.

"No," Cassie murmurs quietly as her gaze lands back on the road ahead of them. "It's not weird. I would do the exact same thing if the roles were reversed, so I understand. So, thank you. I appreciate all that you've done for me."

.

As the two got to a corner, Cassie instinctively turned right. "This way. That's my apartment building over there." She said, pointing to a four story brick building towards the end of the block. The building was alot like the one they had hidden by when the people had walked past. It was old and the brick was a bit crumbly. Still, Cassie called it home since it was one of the least expensive homes in this part of the city.

Nolan gave her a weary smile and bobbed his head. "I'll do my best to be back tomorrow but I'll probably just tell Bonnie and Alma that you're not feeling well."

He relayed his plan and thoughts to the young woman, figuring it'd likely be a good course of action to take. The apartment building was old, brick and had been there for a long while. But it seemed like as good of a home as any.

"It's not bad," he bobbed his head. "Looks kind of cozy at least. But I will do my best to be back tomorrow. Unless you decide to try and come out to work or something but I ... I wouldn't, honestly. I'd take some time to rest and recuperate."

He gestured briefly to the ears that she had now. "That is a lot to work with now and getting used to it will probably be within your best interests right now."

The young man stepped back and nodded briefly. "I'll see you tomorrow," Nolan waved, flashed another warm smile and stepped into the darkness to start his own walk back to the store. Not home but to the store again. There had to be something else in that box, something about this whole thing. The paintings and pictures were too coincidental to merely be fiction when Cassie had what she had.

He needed to know.

Cassie's brand new cat ears perked up at the mention of coming back tomorrow. She now knew Nolian was just a nice person in general, but she wasn't expecting him to actually countinue to make sure she was okay. He somehow kept managing to catch the poor girl off guard, which made her uneasy.

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Cassie's eyes slipped off Nolian and onto the ground as her mind whirled with thoughts. Her house wasn't very clean... stuff was lying around in random places... She couldn't just let her co-worker see that. Also, what if she somehow let Nolian down? What if he didn't like her house? All these thoughts and more plagued her mind, yet she wasn't about to turn down someone who cared for her safety.

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Cassie nodded at Nolian's words. To be honest, she hadn't thought much about what her next steps would be. She was too busy worrying about the here and now. But now that she thought about it and heard Nolian's thoughts on the matter, she decided he was right and she wouldn't be going to work tomorrow. It would be too stressful anyway. "Yeah... I'll stay home."

.

As Nolian turned to leave, Cassie gave him a small smile as she waved goodbye. "See you tomorrow." She then turned back to her apartment building, walking up the stairs to her floor and apartment. As soon as she was back inside her safe haven, Cassie let out a sigh as she plopped down on the floor. She covered her eyes with her hands, trying to hold back the tears she had been holding in for so long. What would happen now? How was she supposed to live like this?

Nolian tipped his head and made his way toward the shop again, letting himself into the back of the store. His faded blue eyes scanned over the box they had been working from as he set it on the floor and began to piece through each of the books. They were mostly just odd fantasy novels, old westerns, and Shakespeare. A lot of Shakespeare actually.

As the hours ticked by, he found nothing but had a growing knot in his back and shoulders. They grew tighter and tighter and far more uncomfortable.

He stood up and tried to relieve some of the pressure and instead felt a pop. It was a strange mixture of a zit and just popping your back.

He sucked in a sharp breath, suddenly relieved of the pressure but now they... stung?

His back stung?

Not to mention the sound of ripping fabric.

Nolian frowned and reached back, touching wet, bloody skin. His hand froze in front of himself as he glanced down at the ground. As he spun in a small circle, he left a trickle of blood.

"Oh shoot..." he whispered shortly. "Oh my goodness--oh what should I do?"

Nolian's other hand lifted up to touch his mouth. "Oh... this is bad."

But what had happened?!

He fished for some of the rags that they used, doing his best to clean up the blood on the floor. Eventually, he snagged an old towel and just wrapped his back and chest in towels until he could shuffle into the bathroom.

With the dim lightbulb overhead, he stared at himself in the mirror.

"What... the heck?"

Removing the towel revealed two ugly pink limbs. Limbs that looked suspiciously like... bird wings.

"Oh my stars, this is not happening."

Who was he supposed to tell?!

After taking a few deep breaths, Cassie forced herself to stand once more. She stumbled over to her kitchen, just now feeling the full effects of her transformation as the adrenaline died down. Her whole body ached, but it was mostly just her head and lower back. She took some ibuprofen before taking out some leftover Hamburger Helper and eating it cold.

.

After that, she immediately headed to her bed, wanting nothing more than to forget the anxiety that was holding her captive. That's when she realized she still had Nolian's jacket around her waste. Feeling slightly embarrassed, she tossed it onto her dresser before crawling onto her bed. However, as she started to lay down on her back, a sharp pain shot through her body, making her jump up. Shoot. She never even considered the fact that her tail would effect her sleeping habits. But... she never could get comfortable in any other position than on her back.

.

Cassie ended up tossing and turning through the night, each movement making her ache even more. Apparently ibuprofen did nothing for magical transformations. And eventually, she gave up on sleep. Instead, she figured she would fix the problem of her apartment being messy and tire herself out in the process so she could sleep.

.

First things first, Cassie started in the living room. She took all her dirty laundry and threw it in the basket. She then organized most of her knick-knacks that she had collected over the years that sat on a shelf she had in the living room. After that, she moved onto the kitchen and did the dishes. Lastly, she tidied up the bathroom just to be safe. And of course, Nolian wouldn't be in her bedroom, so she didn't bother cleaning it even though it was probably the worst room in her apartment.

.

At first, Cassie's pace was sluggish and slow, considering she was still hurting. But as she moved around and her body began to warm up, she realized she was aching less and less. Maybe her body was getting used to her new features? Or perhaps she was just too focused on making things look nice that she wasn't paying attention to her pain... Either way, as long as she ignored her extra features, she was starting to feel normal again.

.

Nolian paced back and forth in the bathroom, watching the way the feathers all but burst from the skinny limbs. It was like watching one of those nature shows where they showed the flower blooming but in a sped-up version.

But feathers.

Dark brown feather rippled outward, stretching downward along his back. The tips of the feathers slowly turned to a far more chocolate-brown color as they rested down near his ankles.

"Oh my goodness, I'm going insane," he pushed one hand through his hair, pacing back and forth. At the least...?

He slipped from the bathroom--once he was sure he wasn't openly bleeding anymore--and reluctantly shuffled toward the phone. Would--ugh. He could just run home. He really could.

It would be under the guise of night but then he'd be stuck in his own apartment. He was stuck at work at the moment!

This was the worst!

He put one hand to his forehead and finally picked up the phone from the dock. The number on the wall was dialed and Nolian waited for Cassie to pick up.

His fingers drummed on the counter, waiting idly for her to either pick up or let it go to voicemail. Either one would be fine.

He really didn't have a preference either way. If she picked up, he'd laugh it off and say things had happened. If she let it go to voicemail? Ah well, he'd probably do the same.

But it was while he was waiting, with his back turned, that someone else had come into the store. Perhaps she was far more unassuming than before but now, she was suspicious.

"Nolian?"

The young man let out a less-than graceful shriek, all but throwing the phone as he leapt around to face the newcomer. He held the phone out like a weapon at first with his heart in his throat.

"Alma?"

Cassie all but jumped when her phone suddenly rung, not expecting a call this late at night. Which begged the question, who the heck was calling? Cassie just stared at her phone for some time, unsure what to do with this situation. Should she answer it? Or just... let it go to voicemail? But seriously, why would someone call this late? What if it someone with bad intentions calling? Wait, was that even a thing? But then again... what if it was Nolian and he just wanted his jacket back?

.

After a long internal debate, Cassie finally but hesitantly picked up the phone.

.

"Alma?" Was all she heard as soon as she picked up. Wait... that was Nolian. Why did he sound so panicked? And why was he talking to Alma? "Uhh... Nolian? That's you, right? Is... everything okay?" Cassie asked into the phone hesitantly as she drummed her fingers against her hip. Why was she suddenly feeling more anxious than usual? She bit her lip as her tail lashed anxiously from side to side. The movement caused her to start aching again, but it's not like she knew how to control her movements when it came to her ears and tail.

Alma's own confusion cleared slightly as she heard Cassie's voice crackle over the phone. Nolian took in a deep breath, steadying himself as he lifted it up to his ear.

"That's me, yeah--uhm... y'know," he leaned against the wall, one hand on his hip. His fingers drummed for a second or two as he fished for a few words to say. "Y'know, I ... don't know if I'm going to be able to make it to your apartment tomorrow to pick up my jacket... but... uhm..."

Alma tutted and took the phone from the young man. "Cassie? That's you? You stay there, we'll be coming to your apartment in a few minutes."

She hung up the phone and set her hands on her hips. "So you went and broke some items?"

"Yes--no--not intentionally," Nolian said quickly. "Cassie didn't break the necklace--"

"But she touched it with bare skin?"

"I--y'know," Nolian's face cleared for a moment, thoughtful. "Yeah... she did."

Alma shook her head, pushing one hand through her greying hair. "I thought I got rid of that box, I really did. But we've got a lot to talk about and not a whole lot of time to talk about it."

Nolian remained relatively, if not stoically, silent in return. "... what?"

Alma held her hand out, drawing a leafy vine to her fingers. "You're not the only one, my boy. Lucky for you, I know... a short cut of sorts."

Said shortcut was a mystical journey through a very shiny version of reality but they ended up outside of Cassie's apartment, knocking on the door.