Inflate-a-Flammie
Inflate-a-Flammie
By shadowlugia249
Author's Note: After the success of my "Latexed Lugia" Story, I did some serious thinking on how to use the same concept with the Flammies. After much consideration, I found something that would work. Keep in mind that this is not meant to clash with the "Flammie and Glory" series and everything in here is not set in stone. The details are just for this story and should be ignored if you plan to return to the "F&G" stories. I also am using a different description for a popular character, so don't worry about the names not going with the characters. Enjoy!
In the magical shop of "Plushtopia", an aged, decrepit old man named Karmen Aridos was just finishing up the creation of one of his latest items for sale. He had been so overwhelmed by his first two sales that he had decided to take it a step further. After much meddling with various spells and mixtures, he had finally created a new kind of magical merchandise.
To the naked eye, they simply looked like cheap, disposable plastic animals, but once they got to know them, they would turn out to be much more than that. A little air and a little love and these animals would be the most popular item he had in stock next to his plushies. He was so proud of them that he took the gamble of keeping them off of his Internet web site and hope that someone would come directly to his store to buy them. True, he hadn't yet had a walk-in customer since he had reopened for the third time, but he felt confident that someone would notice them and buy one of them.
Not only that, but his boss had hinted that someone very special would be visiting him sometime soon. He just had to keep his hopes up that his boss was right. Then again - he was always right.
My name is Skyle Kelvin and I am finally living on my own. After living with my parents for my entire life, I had finally earned enough money to move out and get a small apartment in the two of Willmar. Even though it was small, I still felt a sense of accomplishment over owning it. I had a job working at the local McDonald's to pay off my rent and even get a little something for myself on the side.
And what, may you ask, is the thing I use my finances to purchase? Two words: mythic... creatures. I spend all of my extra earnings buying things that pertain to mythological creatures. Most of them involve my collection of Magic cards and my Dungeons and Dragons collection, but every now and then, I manage to find a rare item that would boost the value of my collection by some degree.
I've collected it all - a small, metallic trinket called the "Silver Wing" (Author's Note: From the very first "Dreams Come True".), a collection of Japanese toys called "Legendz", (From DCT5) a large, ever color-changing orb called the "Heart of Darkness" (DCT4) and a replica Black Chaos Emerald from the "Sonic the Hedgehog" game series (Chaos Theory [cancelled]). Yes, my collection is pretty rare and valuable considering the time and effort I took into tracking and purchasing them.
(Author's Note: These items are completely normal in this story because he bought them all on the Internet. These items are not the main focus of this story, so that's why nothing has happened to him while owning them).
But at the moment, my funds are currently frozen because my baby brother (To be completely honest, he's actually my half-brother, but I call him my brother anyway.), Tyler's birthday is coming up. He'll be just two years old and I will finally be able to stop spending my money to keep him supported. Not that I don't appreciate him - I love him very much - but my parents needed the extra money to help raise him for the past year. Now that they have the money, I can start supporting myself once again.
And to celebrate, I made the decision to find him that one special toy that would make him remember all of the effort I put into raising him these past 24 months. He had been over to my house numerous times and once he had learned to crawl, he had been in my room to create a mess of my collection on a number of occasions. That's why I decided to get him a mythic creature toy of his very own so that he could stop trying to get at mine.
That very idea is what brought me to a strange toy shop just down the road from my apartment complex one day...
It was called "Plushtopia" and it had just recently been built. I had seen this building go through some troublesome times over the past four years. Apparently, someone had it out for this place. Back when it first opened, it had been called "Aridos' Magical Medleys" and was rumored to sell special Halloween costumes for all occasions. I had never been to the place, but like everyone else, I had heard about the incident where a fighter jet allegedly crashed through the roof of it. No evidence was ever found to support this claim, but the shop had closed down anyway and reopened several months later.
Shortly after it reopened, the shop had been set ablaze by an unknown arsonist that had somehow produced unusual black flames. The arsonist was never caught and the shop had had to close down once again.
Shortly after it reopened for the second time, there was a rumor of a bomb that had gone off inside the building, destroying it and forcing it to finally shut down for good.
(Author's Note: These are the events that played out in the three "Fit for a God" stories.)
Now, the place had had a complete makeover and while it had once been only open to adults 18 or over, it was now opened to the general public and practically anyone could go in now. But because of the rumors about the place, no one had yet gone inside of it. They believed that it was a jinx and decided to stay away from it. Now, I was taking on the jinx and heading into the store for the first time. A small bell tinkled overhead as I entered the shop.
The place certainly had plenty of color. There were balloons tied to posts all over the store, the walls were painted very vibrant shades and hues and there were positive symbols painted in every possible place. It certainly looked better than what I had heard about its previous owner.
The place was not called "Plushtopia" for nothing. There were various stands with a number of various plushies of all shapes and sizes. I saw a large white dragon plush with large feathery wings, brown gauntlet and a winged helm called a "Windragon" in various sizes. There was also a plushie that looked like a cat-boy with long, black ears tipped with white called a "Klonoa" sitting atop its own stand with various smaller plushies lining the stand.
There were also a number of different dragon plushies of all colors and sizes. There were bipedal and quadrupedal versions. There were ones in green, blue, red, black and silver - to name a few. A number of them also had various wing shapes. Some of them had "webbed" wings with five long bones lining them while others simply had bat-like wings. They were truly a sight to behold.
I would have taken any one of these plushies home with me if my funds hadn't currently been frozen. I was sorely tempted, though, by a large, pure-white, furred and feathered creature called a "Flammie". The face on it was just so cute that I felt bad for not taking it home. But try as I might, I couldn't look away from it. It was just so spectacular that I could barely ignore it. But then I realized that there was too much "fur" on it and Tyler would certainly choke if he tried to chew on it. I made a note to come back to it someday.
"Can I help you?"
I nearly jumped out of my skin! The store manager - an aged, decrepit old man with more wrinkles than a bag of raisins - had appeared out of nowhere and asked me a question, catching me completely off guard. I turned to confront the hunchbacked old man, but one look at his piercing-green eyes shot my anger down in flames. He may have looked old, but there was a fierceness and youth in those eyes that demanded a lot of respect.
Getting my blood pressure under control, I looked at the old man and raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"
"Can I help you? You seem to be looking for something in particular."
I looked briefly at the Flammie plushie on the stand and sighed. "You wouldn't happen to have a more... "baby-friendly" version of this, would you? My little brother is turning two tomorrow and I wanted to get him something to chew on."
The old man looked up at the plush, rubbing his chin in thought. "You know, I think I have just the thing. We just got a new shipment of toys in last night and I think there was something like this in there. Come with me."
The old man put his hands behind his back and walked over to a special rack in the far corner of the store marked, "For Baby and Me". Reminding me of that childhood nursery rhyme, I wandered over to it.
Over in this area, there were all kinds of rubber animals and inflatable paraphernalia to be had. I could see an inflatable dolphin that stood on two legs, a tiny, blue rubber dragon that reminded me of the infamous "Scorchio" from the Neopets universe and a number of miniature plushies all for toddlers under the age of three.
"Let's see what we got here..." muttered the old man, looking at the boxes on the floor. "Flammie... Flammie... no... no... ah! Here we are! One inflatable plastic toy Flammie!" He held up a small bag with an inflatable item inside. Somewhat less than convinced, I took the bag from him and read the label.
"Inflate-a-Flammie
Is your child too young or inexperienced for the real thing? Then give them "Inflate-a-Flammie"! This tiny tot furball will give your infant or toddler the company of the infamous beast of legend!
Contents: One Inflate-a-Flammie"
It seemed harmless enough, but I wanted to see what I was buying before I purchased it. It was just a habit that I had while shopping
"Is there a way that I can see the final product before I buy this?"
The old man looked up at me (yes, he was significantly shorter than me) and seemed to be pondering the question. Finally, he gave a shrug and said, "I don't see why not. I usually keep an extra for these such occasions. Wait here." He sauntered off towards the counter and disappeared through a door behind it to a back room.
I waited a while for him to return, all the while looking at the Inflate-a-Flammie inside the package. From what I could tell, it had a pure-white skin and a number of orange spots in various parts of it. I was looking for the label that read, "For ages 3 and up", but I didn't find one. Instead, it said, "For all ages!" Huh. That was rare. I had no intention of using it for myself, but from the picture on the package, it looked about as real as its plush counterpart.
The old man finally returned holding a replica version of the Inflate-a-Flammie in his hands. He walked over to me and held it up. I took it and nearly dropped it in surprise.
The skin on this plastic animal felt as if it was a kind of "liquid fur". It felt watery, but it wasn't wet. It was like it had "plastic fur" to put it bluntly. It was soft and liquid-like and the "fur" rippled underneath my touch like touching a still pond.
"How do they do this?" I had to ask him.
The old man shrugged. "It's a company secret, but I guarantee that you'll never find another inflatable animal like it. Keep in mind that this is just a display item, so the real thing will be much more realistic."
I didn't quite understand that, but I asked another question that was bothering me.
"This thing is only the size of a puppy. Are you sure that my brother won't choke on it?"
The old man smirked and nodded. "All of my merchandise is guaranteed or you get your money back and get to keep the item in question."
You couldn't beat a deal like that, so I handed the Inflate-a-Flammie back to the old man and grabbed the packaged one instead.
"I'll take it. Is there a way that you can wrap this up, too?"
The old man smiled and took the package from me. "I'll have it done in a jiffy. Come to the counter and I'll ring it and wrap it up."
I felt confident that I had finally gotten the one thing that my brother would appreciate and followed him to the checkout counter. Using a handheld laser scanner, he rang up the item and the price appeared on the electric display.
"$7.77, please."
Amazed at the bizarre price, I gave him a tenspot and he dug in the register for my change. He then took the package to his back room and disappeared behind the swinging door. I waited patiently for him to return, all the while strumming my fingers on the counter.
Once he was safely inside his back room, Aridos slit open the package with the muttering of a spell and slid the Inflate-a-Flammie into his grubby hand. He went over to a computer he had in the back room and quickly scanned his database. Popping a special Jumpdrive into the port, he pulled up Skyle's data and downloaded everything about him onto the Jumpdrive.
Some time ago, he had bewitched his new computer to be able to pull up any and all data about his customers and then download it to a custom-made Jumpdrive he had put together himself. Using this data, he would insert it into a special port he had installed in all of his merchandise so that the item in question would know everything about its owner.
He knew for a fact that this plastic animal was not meant for Skyle's baby brother and made absolutely sure that it would keep to that promise. His boss had said that the Inflate-a-Flammie bonded to Skyle James Kelvin and no one else. He would blow his last chance to keep his business afloat if it happened otherwise.
Inserting the Jumpdrive into a special port in the back of the plastic Flammie's neck, he waited a minute for it to download and then pulled it and the port out, replacing it with a plastic air nozzle to help inflate it. He then slipped the toy back in the bag and magically sealed it shut without so much as a fiber out of place. He then went to a drawer and pulled out a short box lined with bubble wrap and placed it inside. He then put the lid on top and tied a pretty blue ribbon on the top of the silver box, keeping it firmly wrapped and perfectly snug inside.
With a chuckle to himself, he carried the box back out to the counter and handed it to an anxious Skyle. As the young man left, he smiled and waved him off. It was the perfect "crime" and soon, he would get a special bonus from his boss for pulling it off so nicely.
I had to admit, that old man had really outdone himself this time. The glossiness of the box and the expertise of the bow-tied ribbon made it look completely innocent and cute. I had a feeling that Tyler was going to like this present that I had picked out for him. It had come directly from my heart and there was nothing that could go wrong...
The next day, I hopped in my car and drove the 23 miles from Willmar to Paynesville (Author's Note: This is a real town near my hometown. The name is not meant to be offensive.) and pulled into the driveway of my old farmhouse. I had spent most of my life on this farm and my father and step-mother were still living here after ten years together. I got out of the car and grabbed Tyler's present before going up to the door and ringing the doorbell.
My step-mother, Carol answered the door and smiled when she saw me. "We were wondering if you were coming. You normally forget things like this."
I sighed but returned the smile anyway. It was true - I normally forgot about birthdays, but I had a connection with Tyler that trumped all of my other relatives, so I made an exception this time and followed through with my promise.
My baby brother was sitting in his high chair like always and was currently making a mess of his birthday ice-cream cake. Chocolate ice cream and cookie crumbles were all over his face and he was carrying on with his pre-juvenile babble. I smiled at him and said, "Happy Birthday" anyway.
"We were just about to finish up with presents," said my younger sister, Kari, taking her fork out of her mouth, having just finished her cake.
"Did you save any for me?" I asked, referring to the cake.
"We saved a piece just for you," said Dad, pointing to the freezer. "But why don't you let Tyler open his present first?"
I figured the cake could wait. I sat down at the table and handed the box to Tyler. "Happy Birthday, Tyler. I got you something from a toy shop in Willmar that just opened."
Tyler noticed the present and immediately picked it up and started shaking it, continuing his inane babble. It looked like he was trying to shake the toy out of its cardboard prison. Carol laughed and snapped a picture with her digital camera before coming to the rescue.
"Careful, Tyler. You don't want to break it, do you?"
Tyler let out a wet raspberry and threw the present into Carol's arms. She then undid the bow and lifted off the top of the box. When she looked at the package for the Inflate-a-Flammie, she raised an eyebrow.
"Where did you say you got this? I haven't seen anything like this in the stores."
"It was from that new "Plushtopia" store just down the road from my apartment. They sell all kinds of kid's stuff there that I've never seen before. I thought I'd get him something he could chew on so he's not always drooling all over my stuff."
"Huh." Carol went over to the drawer and used a scissors to cut the bag open. When she saw the deflated toy, Kari spoke up.
"It looks like a deflated beach ball."
"I think that's the point," I said, rolling my eyes at her. "It's not blown up yet."
Carol handed the toy to me and I located the plastic stopper on its neck and pressed my lips to it, taking a deep breath before biting onto the stopper and blowing hard. The Flammie toy began to inflate and with each breath, I could see progress faster than it took to fill a beach ball. The taloned paws filled out one by one until they were at about the same thickness as the display version. I noticed that the plastic on its clear-blue talons was significantly harder/thicker than the rest of it except for its blue pads. That area was only slightly tougher than its malleable body.
As for its wings, I had expected them to just be flat pieces of plastic like most inflatable animals had, but lo and behold, they were filled out with air just like the rest of its body, including the slightly firmer silver plastic that formed the ridges all the way down its front.
The last thing to fill out was its head. I saw both of its deer-like ears fill out from being stuffed inside its head. And its mane looked like a crop of thick, untidy, clear-white hair. Finally, its eyes were round and innocent-looking and a clear-blue shade. It was clearly a sight to behold.
With a few last breaths, the toy achieved its glossy/furry texture as if that last push had pushed the fur follicles out of its skin. I felt the watery texture around my lips as most of it (including its neck) was covered by a coat of glossy, plastic fur.
I found it impossible to continue, so still breathing into it, I sealed the stopper shut and pushed it into its neck. It was complete and Tyler's toy was in its full glory.
The total size of the toy was no larger than a full-sized Pomeranian dog, but it felt twice as nice. I smiled and handed the Flammie to Tyler, who took it in his arms and began to bounce in in his high chair.
"It looks like he likes it," said Dad, motioning to Carol to take another picture. She did and I was confident that I had made the right decision.
But what happened next changed all that. When Tyler turned it to look at its face, everything seemed to happen at lightspeed. The moment Tyler locked eyes with it, he paused for a brief moment. Then, his own eyes went as wide as I had ever seen them and he suddenly threw the toy to the floor. A split second after it left his hands, he started crying like nothing I had ever heard before. And he wasn't just bawling, he was flat-out screaming! He was throwing a tantrum in his high chair like he had just been branded for life and screaming at the top of his lungs, tears pouring from his eyes.
"What happened?!" I asked, putting my hands over my ears. "What did I do?!"
As Tyler continued to scream, Carol yelled back. "I don't know! Maybe he saw something!"
Dad tried to make amends by picking up the Flammie toy and handing it back to Tyler, but he only made things worse. The moment Tyler saw it looking at him again, he yelled even louder than before until Dad took it away again. I never even knew he could yell that loud!
"Make it stop!" yelled Kari, adding to the racket. "In the name of all that is good and holy, make it stop!"
Normally, Dad and Carol would have scolded her for speaking like that, but they were a little busy at the moment. They were trying to find out what had caused Tyler to become so upset while simultaneously trying to calm him down.
Since I was not one to handle loud noises very well, I gathered up the toy, the packaging and the box and yelled over Tyler's shrieks, "I'll just go! I can take it anymore!"
Carol nodded and I was out of the house in a heartbeat, Tyler still putting on quite a show behind closed doors. I made a beeline for the car and after I put the toy on the passenger's seat, I peeled out of the driveway in a hurry.
I could not understand what it was about the toy that had scared Tyler so much. It looked just as cute as he was, but it was obviously a toy. It was as if something about the way it had looked at him had scared him out of his tiny mind. Even when I looked at the toy's cute, clear-blue eyes, I could not understand what had scared him so much. It just looked so... harmless and innocent. What was there to fear about it?
When I got home, I placed the toy on my kitchen counter and went into the living room to watch some TV. I still couldn't figure it out. A Flammie was one of the gentlest creatures in the world from what I could see; there shouldn't have been any reason why Tyler had freaked out at it.
While I was watching TV, I thought I heard a clatter from the kitchen, but it was so small that I figured that it was from the people next door. I ignored it and continued watching my shows.
Some time later, I heard it again. There was a small clatter and a clunk and then a crash! as something tipped over and crashed all over the floor. Now that I knew I wasn't hearing things, I scrambled over to the kitchen to witness a strange sight.
The container that held all of my plastic cooking utensils - a spatula, a few stirring spoons and a plastic noodle fork - had fallen to the ground and spilled all over the floor. Something had obviously knocked them off the counter - it was too far up the counter to just fall off - but if someone had broken into my apartment, my alarm would have gone off. And from what I could see, there was no one in the area.
Pondering this, I reached down and started picking up the tools, but when I reached one of my spatulas, I froze. There was a large chunk missing out of the soft rubber as if something had bitten clean through it. And since I could not make as clean a cut as this, it told me that there was something unnatural in here.
I was saved the trouble of looking for what had caused this mess when I heard something clattering in a drawer nearby. When I approached the drawer, I saw that something was moving inside of it. The drawer was partway open and I could see something white chattering and squeaking inside of it. Gathering up all of my courage, I pulled open the drawer and confronted the thing inside...
...
...
...HUH?!?!
If I wasn't seeing things, then I was pretty sure that I was looking at the same Flammie toy that had scared Tyler just this afternoon. But I wasn't seeing things. The Flammie was crouched in the drawer and was slurping up a roll of plastic wrap like it was a plate of noodles.
My first impression was that of disbelief. This thing was alive?! And it was eating my plastic wrap?! But then ignoring the obvious, I reached into the drawer and scooped up the toy, scolding it.
"Hey! What are you doing?! You're gonna choke if you eat that!"
The toy looked straight at me with a piece of wrap still in its mouth and smiled at me with that short, furry muzzle. I could see for the first time that there was a single plastic fang on either side of its beak-like muzzle, It smiled and let out a small yip-like bark at me.
"Yaaa!"
Panicking slightly, I dropped the Flammie and it fluttered down to the floor before taking off towards my living room. Now that I knew that it was able to move on its own, I took off after it. This wasn't making any sense, but I was going to figure it out anyway.
The Flammie toy had somehow climbed to the top of my entertainment center and was looking down at me with those plastic eyes, watching me. It seemed to be measuring me up just by looking at me, but I was not intimidated.
"You don't scare me," I called up to it, reaching up to pluck it off the counter. "Come here, you."
But the toy simply frowned at me and pawed at my hand, chirping incessantly. It wouldn't let me grab it and it had obviously claimed its territory.
"Fine, be that way. I'm not going anywhere. You can stay up there all day if you want."
And it didn't have anything better to do. It watched me watch TV for a good hour, all the while walking around the top of the entertainment center as if it owned it. I ignored it for a while, but when it started humming to itself and it appeared to be taunting me by wagging its tail over my screen, I had had enough.
I sat straight upright and made another grab for it. But it jumped out of my reach and fluttered off into my kitchen again. Giving chase, I ran after it. It had once again found my cooking utensils and was now chewing on them.
"Hey! Cut that out!" I made a lunge for the toy, but it saw me coming and leaped out of my reach, taking a plastic stirring spoon with it. The result was that of a small crash. I knocked over the can and came up empty-handed.
Now getting annoyed, I chased after the Flammie and followed it into my bedroom. When I got inside, I closed the door behind me so that it could not escape. I saw it sitting on my bed, taking bites out of the spoon and chewing it as if it was made of crunchy candy. It never took its eyes off of me as it continued its meal. Soon, the entire spoon, including the handle, had disappeared down its plastic throat and it was now looking curiously at me.
"You're going to pay for that, you little squirt," I muttered to it, preparing to pounce. "I'm not made of money, you know."
Suddenly, the Flammie started yipping and whining incessantly and started running in a circle on the bed like a dog chasing its tail. It was acting like a chicken with its head chopped off and I watched it in disbelief as it continued to run in circles. Finally, it stopped, sat back on its tail and rubbed its belly with its plastic paws. Even though it was a toy, I could hear its "stomach" churning as if it was having indigestion. It whimpered and looked at me like it had a bellyache.
I chuckled and sat down on the bed. Those clear-blue eyes were just too cute to stay mad at. "That's what you get for wolfing your food down like that." I slowly inched my hand towards its tail, hoping to catch it off guard, but it spotted it and I immediately froze in my advance. It lowered its head towards my hand and appeared to be sniffing it. I wasn't sure if plastic could smell, but it obviously could. It smiled, purred and gave my hand a little lick. The sudden feeling of wet, rubbery plastic on my skin caused me to recoil in shock, but the Flammie suddenly looked like it had lost its best friend.
Feeling bad, I held my hand out at it and let it sniff it once again. When it was sure that I would not hurt it, it smiled and allowed me to scratch it behind the ears, purring intently. It felt like I was touching liquid water but with a distinct glossiness and solid feeling to it. It was harmless and I forgot all of my anger towards it.
"You're really something else, you know that?" I told it, running my hand through its plastic fur. "I think you should have a name. Now... what shall I call you?"
As if in answer to this, the Flammie climbed off my bed and went over to the door where it pawed at it and looked at me.
I misinterpreted this as its answer to my question. "Dora? Is that what you want to be called?"
The toy frowned and stuck out its tongue, blowing a squeaky raspberry.
"Oh... you want me to follow you. Is that it?"
The Flammie nodded and continued to paw at the door. I finally took the hint and got up to follow it. When it was open, it took off towards the living room. I followed it and found it sniffing the ripped package that it had come in.
"That's just trash, you know."
But it thought otherwise. It stuck its glossy face in the bag and pulled out what appeared to be a small, folded square of yellow paper. I hadn't noticed that before, so I was curious to see what it said. I had expected it to just be instructions, but I paused when I saw that it was an introductory letter written in a loose, spidery handwriting.
"Hello, Skyle Kelvin. My name is Seryn. I am a female Inflate-a-Flammie and it's nice to meet you." So... that's your name, eh?"
(Author's Note: For those of you who have read my "Flammie and Glory" stories, you should know that "Seryn" is a creamy-yellow Flammie and not a pure-white one. I would have used the name "Sirius", but since I used it in my "Latexed Lugia" story, I had to improvise. Besides, Seryn is the more popular character, anyway. Don't get too attached, though. This persona is only being used in this story. Next time you see Seryn, she'll probably be back to normal.)
"Seryn" looked at me and tilted "her" head, making a little squeaking noise and chirping happily. Well, that was one mystery solved - I had a female Flammie inflatable toy and her name was Seryn. Turning back to the note, I read further.
"I am a very rare and special creature and must be cared for if I am to survive. When I grow larger, I will be able to take care of myself and be next to immortal, but as I currently am, I am as vulnerable as a newborn kitten. Therefore, there are certain rules that must be followed to ensure my survival.
"Rule Number One: I must eat to survive, but thankfully, I will not clean out your fridge to be sated." Oh. That's good. "I will be satisfied with plastics of any and all kind. Plastic wrap, old toys and plastic silverware are all suitable for me to eat. Normally, I will eat anything, but to really gain my affection, I appreciate thick, durable plastics such as cooking utensils and every now and then. These special snacks can be used as rewards for good behavior and such." I looked at Seryn and tickled her under the chin. "You're in luck, girl. I've got so many plastic forks, spoons and knives that you'll be fat for a month."
Seryn let out a soft, happy note to tell me that she was happy with that. I then turned back to the note.
"Rule Number Two: I may not look it, but I have the natural ability to increase in size as I grow older. I may be small now, but I can get up to be 15 feet from head to tail. But don't worry. Since I am an inflatable, I can let air in and out of my body to make my size more manageable for indoor or outdoor settings. I also have a surprise for you when I finally get up to full size. I may not look it, but I am very wind-resistant and will gain the ability to fly when I grow older. Who knows? I may take you on a personal flight one of these days." I looked at Seryn, who had rolled over on her back and was whining for me to rub her belly. I sighed and gave her what she wanted. "You're gonna get big, huh? I dunno if my landlord will like that. But if you can fly, that's just fine with me."
The next paragraph startled me a little. "Rule Number Three: With time, my intelligence will be amazing in compared to yours. I will be able to make my own decisions and if I am being treated well by then, I may return the favor in some way. I also have the ability to keep myself from being noticed in the world. I can mimic a simple dog in behavior should you ever decide to take me into the community. I will be the ideal pet for any occasion, so you do not need to worry about hiding me." I need to get out of the building anyway, so that's just fine with me."
There was one more rule, but it was more of a warning than anything else. "Be warned, I will know if I am being treated inappropriately and I do not forget events like that. Should you treat me with disrespect, I have ways of repaying those actions." Oh... kay. I'll make a note of that."
There was nothing more on the note, so I folded it up and put it back in the bag. "So, Seryn, what do you want to do right now?"
Seryn's response was inconclusive. She blinked and then walked in a slow circle before she pawed at the floor and then stretched out like a cat, yawning widely. She then sat on her back legs and gave me a smile that told me nothing about what she wanted to do.
"Okay... I'll find something for us to do, then." I looked at the clock and saw that it was already 8:00. "I guess it's too late to go out tonight, so... how about a bite to eat?"
Seryn's expression brightened and barked happily, "Braaa! Maaa! FLA!!!" I had a feeling that that last word was her way of trying to say "Flammie", but I couldn't be sure. I ignored it and went to my kitchen to find something for a plastic toy to eat. Seryn happily pranced after me.
"You're in luck, girl. I've got so many plastic plates and silverware that you won't go hungry for a while. Let's see what we can find."
I dug in my drawers until I found my stash of clear-plastic forks and whatnot. They were individually wrapped with a plastic wrapper, but I wasn't sure if she would eat it. So, I improvised by opening one of them and showing the fork to the toy.
Seryn sniffed it and gave me a wanting look. Then with a quick snap of her muzzle, she yanked the fork right out of my hand and sat back on her haunches, chewing the crunchy plastic with satisfaction. She seemed to like it and I made to get her another one, but something caught my eye.
Seryn's body was clear enough and transparent enough for me to see her inner workings without looking too hard, so I squatted down and watch a miracle of magic unfold. The fork was reduced to chunks of plastic by Seryn's special teeth and when she swallowed, I saw the chunks sliding into her body as if they were traveling down her throat. But instead of falling into her body like you would expect with a hollow shell, I saw them slowly descend into a chamber halfway inside her. They paused there for a moment before they started to warp and become liquefied. The white liquid then spread out into Seryn's body as if they were traveling through unseen blood vessels. The liquid then split apart in various places until it was so thin that it just disappeared from sight altogether.
Seryn noticed me watching and looked down at her transparent belly with interest. She saw what I was seeing and gave her belly a little lick. It was hard to see through her head and her belly, so I gave up and got to my feet.
"You're really something else, you know that? I think that you and I are going to be very good friends."
Seryn smiled.
I offered Seryn the wrapper that the fork had come in and hoped she would take it. Without hesitation, she stuck out her tongue and slurped up the plastic wrapper like a wet noodle. But then she looked at me again with a pathetic look in her eyes, telling me that she wanted more. I couldn't say no to that little face, so I went back to the drawer and dug out a half-dozen forks and spoons to give her.
"Go nuts, Seryn. I've got plenty more where that came from." She barked happily and did just that. Without even taking the wrappers off, she took two bites to a fork or spoon and chewed it loudly with no preference whether the tools had their wrappers on or not.
While she was eating, I went to get my own late supper. I had various lunchmeats and some cheese that I had taken out of the freezer some days ago and decided to make a couple of chuckwagon sandwiches. All the while, I watched Seryn eat out of the corner of my eye. She may have been plastic, but she was as obedient and as well-behaved as the best pet money could buy. Not even obedience school could tame a toy as obedient as her. Then again, I doubted anyone could tame a toy like her, period.
Seryn finished eating before I did and decided to join me at the table. With a flutter of her balloon-like wings, she fluttered up to the table and parked herself in front of my plate, watching me intently. I sighed and ruffled her mane. She was... cute - there was no other word for it.
When I finally finished eating, I was about to throw my plate away when Seryn started whining like a pouting dog. I shook my head and sighed.
"You're a bottomless pit, you know? I can never keep you fed, can I?" Another pathetic look from Seryn changed my mind. "I guess babies need their nourishment, don't they? Here you go." I tossed the Styrofoam plate to Seryn and she bit into it like a giant cookie. She didn't seem to mind that there were still flecks of melted cheese on it and went into it like a hungry child.
"I can't figure out where you're putting it all. I bet you could eat and eat and never gain an ounce!" Seryn looked up at me for a moment before returning to her meal.
Finally, Seryn seemed to be sated and she joined me on my couch to watch TV with me for an hour. She stretched herself out on my lap and let me stroke her like a cat all the while.
When 9:30 came around, I figured that it was time to turn in. I lifted Seryn up in my arms and carried her to my room, where I got ready for bed. Seryn watched me intently as I climbed into bed and gave me a puppy face when I was about to turn out the light.
"You wanna sleep with me?" Seryn barked in response and I relented. I threw the covers open so she could slide underneath them and stay warm. I smiled at the small Flammie and turned out the light. Pretty soon, I was just another visitor in the Dream World.
The next day was Sunday, so I had the whole day free. I woke up and rolled over in bed to check on Seryn. She had buried herself under the covers and was hidden from view at the moment. When I peeled back the covers, I was in for a shock.
Seryn had grown like a weed overnight! She had once been about 18 inches from head to tail, but now curled up, she was about the size that Tyler was from head to toe - about two feet. When she uncurled, she had grown to an amazing three feet!
Seryn opened her eyes and smiled before yawing widely. I noticed that when she took a deep breath, her body mass bulged out a little before she let it out.
"Good morning, Seryn," I said, looking at the living toy lying next to me.
Seryn looked at me and hesitated. At first, I thought something was wrong, but then she gave me that cute smirk and...
"Morning, Sky."
I sat bolt-upright in bed when she said this. I couldn't believe it! She was only a day old and she was already talking!
"What did you say, girl?" I had to confirm.
Seryn looked at me. "Seryn say, "Morning, Sky." Seryn happy to see Sky."
Okay, her speech was a little rusty, but she was speaking nonetheless. This was the first step in her life that would make her a full-fledged inflatable Flammie.
"Congratulations, Seryn. You're growing up. What do you say we get something to eat?"
Seryn rolled out of bed and landed with a thump on the ground. She then picked herself up and looked at me. "Seryn hungry. Sky have "bekfast"?"
I rolled out of bed as well and put on some shorts before opening the door and following Seryn out into the kitchen.
"What do you want for breakfast, girl?" I asked her, opening the drawer that had the plastic cutlery in it. "Same as last night? Or..." I went to a cupboard and rummaged around for something. "I've got some plastic gloves here... somewhere.... ah!" I pulled out a box of disposable plastic gloves that I normally used for cleaning and then offered them to Seryn.
Seryn sniffed the box for a moment before looking up at me and nodding. "Seryn like. Sky give, yes?"
I chuckled and ruffled her glossy mane again. "Sure. Just say when." I started pulling out gloves one by one until Seryn was ready to call it. I reached about 20 before she chirped, "When!" and I put the gloves on the floor for her to eat.
I made myself some Pop-Tarts for breakfast and ate them peacefully while Seryn went at her meal. Like before, she finished before me, but suddenly, she didn't look so good. She had screwed up her face and appeared to be choking on something.
"Are you okay?" I asked nervously.
Seryn paused in her choking to nod and then went back to gagging and retching. If she was well enough to do that, she must have been just fine.
This continued for about a minute before I started to worry. She didn't sound so good and I was about to intervene. But then, Seryn paused, bulging her cheeks for moment and then spitting something out onto the floor.
I thought she had been sick, but one look at the item she had coughed up told me otherwise. The item that was lying at Seryn's feet looked like a small, metal ring with a large, blue diamond cut into a teardrop fused into the top. I was sure that I had no such jewelry in my collection, so out of curiosity, I picked it up and examined it.
It seemed to be very valuable, but the lack of the feeling of cold metal told me that it was not as real as it looked. To confirm it, I tapped the jewel against my front teeth. This was a way I had to tell the difference between glass, plastic and/or real gems. And from the thick, dull click that I was hearing and feeling, it was obviously a plastic fake.
At first, I looked at Seryn with a frown for creating a cheap, plastic ring, but then I realized that she had created this from the bottom of her heart, so my expression lightened.
"This is really beautiful, Seryn," I said to her, examining the blue teardrop. It didn't look smooth like a regular teardrop would be cut, but judging from the size of it (about the size of my thumbnail) and the many facets and cuts into it, Seryn had put a lot of work into making it. I doubt that even real gems could be as finely-cut as this one was and plastic ones had nothing on this.
I slid the ring onto my right ring finger and marveled that she had gotten my finger size exactly correct. It was tight enough that it would not fall off but it was just loose enough that it would be able to slide off without much resistance.
"This is really... cool, Seryn. I didn't even know you could produce such fine jewelry." I didn't try to mask my amazement. It was probably worthless, but the fact that it had come from a friend made it priceless in sentimental value.
Seryn's expression brightened and she rubbed her head against my leg. "Seryn make it just for Sky. Seryn hope you like."
"I do, actually. Thank you, Seryn."
Seryn rubbed against my leg for a moment before she went to the living room to curl up and take a post-breakfast nap. She was so cute when she was lying there that I turned down the volume and turned the captions on on the TV until she woke up.
She didn't sleep long. After about a half-hour, she opened her eyes and uncurled, yawning. She then smiled and climbed onto my lap, purring intently.
"Sleep well?" I asked her, stroking her glossy wings.
"Yes. Seryn sleep nice. But Sky smell like bed. Sky need wash."
I forgot that I hadn't taken a shower yet, so I sighed and went to go get ready. Just before I closed the door to the bathroom, Seryn managed to squeeze in and look up at me.
"Seryn!" I hissed at her, pausing in the process of taking off my shorts. "You can't be in here!"
Seryn gave me a sappy look and started to whine. "Seryn wants to get clean, too! Seryn take shower with Sky! Waaah!"
I couldn't take her whining, so I relented and said, "All right! Just don't do anything inappropriate while we're in there." Seryn dropped her display and climbed into the bathtub where she sat patiently and waited for me to get undressed.
I was worried that Seryn would be offended by seeing me naked in the shower, but then again, she didn't have the same kind of dirty thoughts that most people have when a male and female are naked together. Technically, she didn't have anything to hide, so I figured she would be decent in here.
I turned on the water and waited until it had gotten at the right temperature before pulling the shower stopper and climbed in. The instant the shower water hit Seryn, she immediately went into a flurry of chirps, squeaks and chitters. She also honked like a duck and flapped her wings playfully, splashing water everywhere. If the curtain had been open, my entire bathroom would have been soaked.
I watched her frolic in front of me, splashing in the small pool and rolling on her back so that the water hit her belly. Due to her size, it was hard to get any water for myself, but Seryn would simply move to the back of the tub until I was done cleaning myself.
"You're a duck," I told her, listening to her continue to make noise. She was certainly making a big enough racket.
"Seryn am duck!" she replied, continuing to splash like a fish out of water.
While I was putting shampoo in my hair, Seryn thought it would be fun to climb on my back and put me in a small bear hug. I could feel her glossy fur stroking my back as she hung on me like a sack of potatoes. She wasn't that heavy; in fact, she weighed almost nothing, but it was still strange to be playing piggy-back with a pool toy. But when Seryn decided to take a bite out of the back of my neck, I decided playtime was over.
"Seryn! Off! NOW!!!" I said, bucking her off and clapping a hand to the back of my neck. Her plastic teeth had left quite the mark and when I brought my hand forward, I saw that she had bitten it hard enough to draw blood.
Feeling invaded, I picked Seryn up by the back of her own neck and threw her out of the shower. "I said you could join me if you didn't do anything inappropriate, Seryn. You can go out into the living room and wait for me now. I'll be out in a few minutes!" I whipped the curtain shut again and ignored her. She sat there for a moment before she realized that she had gone too far. She sighed and worked the doorknob with her paw before slinking into the living room and shaking herself dry.
At first, Seryn felt that she had broken my trust, but after some thought, she gave a smirk and curled up in front of my TV, sighing.
"Seryn do good. Sky like what Seryn do for him."
I finished my shower without further incident. I had let the water wash over my bite wound, diluting it and reducing the blood flow. It had stopped bleeding relatively quickly and all that was left was a small, white scar. I still didn't understand why Seryn had bitten me. Maybe she had gotten so carried away while riding on my back that she hadn't been paying attention to her actions. It mattered little now. What was done was done.
I got out of the shower and got dressed quickly. When I came out to the living room, I saw Seryn sitting on her back legs, waiting patiently for me. At her feet was a small, plastic leash that she had obviously just coughed up. She had the collar in her muzzle and was wagging her tail like a dog waiting for its master.
"Seryn go walk, yes? Seryn want to go outside."
By now, my anger towards her had pretty much vanished. She hadn't meant any harm and she was still too young to know any better. I smiled and took the leash from her.
"All right, you twisted my arm. Let's go for a walk. Uh... how do you put this thing on?" The collar was way too small to hook over her head at the moment.
But Seryn solved this problem easily. Opening her mouth, she let out a sound like air being let out of a tire. She seemed to be letting some of the air out of her body and soon, she was as big as she was when I first got her.
"Clever," I said, amazed and slipped the collar over her head. I then clipped the plastic clasp on the leash onto the loop that was on the collar. And just when I was about to get her to start moving, she opened her mouth again and took in several deep breaths. Within seconds, she was her original size again.
"We go now, yes?"
"All right, let's go," I said, tugging on the leash. "But you need to keep your mouth shut while we're out. I don't think many dogs in the park talk verbally."
Seryn remedied this situation by running a talon over her muzzle, closing up the seam that made up her mouth so that she would not say a word. I chuckled and escorted her out of the building, taking a few plastic shopping bags for her to snack on from my kitchen before leaving.
The park was relatively calm today. It wasn't that big, but it was nice enough to take a peaceful walk around during the day. There were a couple of other people here as well, but they were preoccupied with their children on the play sets in the sand. It was the perfect place for a walk.
True to her word, Seryn kept her mouth shut and acted like a medium-sized dog on its leash. In fact, she was too good. Every now and then, she would wander over to a tree and sniff it out while I tugged on the leash to call her back. She even tried to pull ahead a few times while I fought to keep her at bay.
Because of her clear-white body, Seryn was somewhat easy to spot in the sunlight from not even a block away. I thought people would grow suspicious of her reflective properties, but she seemed to be reading my mind. She stopped walking and closed her eyes for a moment. I watched in amazement as she started to morph from a clear Flammie toy to a very good imitation of an Arctic Huskie. Her body became less see-though than normal and her Flammie muzzle pushed forward into a canine one. Her ears thickened slightly and became slightly floppy. I watched her tail lose some of its length and her legs gained some length to them. Her talons shrank and became dull, dog-like digits. Finally, her wings appeared to melt into her back so that she looked just like the dog she was trying to achieve. She even mimicked the coloring to a "T".
"Seryn, Seryn, Seryn..." I muttered, shaking my head. "Is there anything you can't do?"
Seryn simply looked at me and smiled with her tongue sticking out of her mouth - a Huskie in almost every way. In fact, the only way to tell that she was still made of plastic was if you looked really hard at her in the sunlight. Her fur would have appeared slightly transparent, but no one was in the immediate vicinity to notice.
Seryn and I continued walking down the sidewalk for a solid hour before I heard a low grumble. She looked back at me and smiled wide. It seemed that that noise had come from her stomach.
"All right, girl. Let's get you something to eat."
Looking around to make sure no one thought I was trying to choke her, I took out one of the plastic bags out of my pocket and crumpled it into a ball. Making an attempt to further disguise her, I held the plastic ball up and said, "Seryn, sit."
She did not object. She sat back on her hind legs and looked up at the treat with longing. I smiled. "Good. Here you go." I tossed the bag into the air and she quickly snapped it up with her jaws. Slurping it up quickly with her rubbery tongue, she chewed the bag for a moment before swallowing it. Since her body was now colored and slightly thicker, I couldn't watch her digestive system at work. Oh well, I can't ask for everything.
"Good girl," I crooned, holding my hand forward. "Now shake."
Like the obedient dog that she was, she reached out with her front paw and placed it in my hand. I shook it happily and then took her leash in my hand again.
"I think we've been out long enough. Let's go back home."
Seryn yipped happily as she pranced behind me back towards my apartment complex.
The rest of the day passed without much incident. Seryn and I watched some TV for a while and had lunch and dinner without much happening. Seryn had long since changed herself back to her Flammie form and was playing along with me like normally. I had found a spare rubber racquetball and was rolling it around for her to play with. This simple activity kept us busy for most of the day.
Before too long, it was time for bed and Seryn and I decided to turn in. For some reason, Seryn had decided to sleep in the living room because of what she said was an "up-and-coming grow time". I had a feeling that she was going to be much bigger in the morning, so I went to my room and went to sleep. It had been a nice weekend for the two of us and it was back to the old grind for me in the morning.
The next morning, I came out to the living room to find out that Seryn's premonition had come true. She was now much larger than me at a staggering ten feet from tip to tail. When she woke up, though, she didn't seem to be bothered by it.
"Seryn wanted to grow because Seryn have surprise for Skyle."
"A surprise?" I asked curiously. "What's that?"
Seryn stretched out and yawned widely before turning to look at me with a casual look.
"Seryn merge with Skyle. We go into the world together."
This did not immediately register with me. What did she mean by "merging" with me? I didn't understand. But when Seryn wrapped her arms around my front and turned me around so that my back was to her belly, I had a feeling that I was about to find out.
"Skyle not move. This not hurt if Skyle stay still."
I had a feeling that she knew what she was doing, so I went with it. I could feel Seryn's soft, glossy body pressing up against my back, sending a soft coolness into my body. I sighed and relaxed my body as she pressed her paws on my front. I felt myself being pressed into her body and her plastic belly had begun to mold itself around my sides. I was entering her body and I felt... safe. She would never do anything to harm me and it was that knowledge that kept me calm.
Soon, her soft, plastic body had completely encased me, taking with it my arms, legs and head. I was inside a giant plastic toy, but not one part of me was panicking. This was all natural and I knew it would be a bad idea to get riled up.
Once I was completely inside Seryn, she patted her belly with satisfaction and spoke to me, her voice echoing all around me. "Is Skyle safe?"
I nodded and took a deep breath, filling my lungs with fresh, clean oxygen. She would never let me suffocate in here.
"I am, but... this is a little awkward."
My body and Seryn's body were not of the same build. I felt like a dwarf wearing a human wedding dress from the size disadvantage I was in. But Seryn remedied this situation easily.
"Seryn make Skyle comfortable. We be same body but two minds. Skyle wear Seryn and Seryn wear Skyle. People not know the difference."
I nodded. "Go for it."
Seryn opened her mouth and let out pretty much all of her air so that her body lost its definition and shape. When it reached my body, it seemed to melt and shape itself over my skin and clothes. I shivered a little from the slight coldness that her body contained. Soon, her plastic body had wrapped me so tightly that it felt like I was wearing a cold wetsuit. It was so close to my body that it was a miracle that I wasn't suffocating.
But Seryn didn't stop there. I suddenly felt goosebumps all over my body as my skin started to absorb the plastic that made up her body. It was like she was "eating" me, but to me it felt more like I was putting on my skin like a suit. Soon, our bodies had come so close together that I couldn't tell where my skin ended and Seryn's began.
When it was all over, I looked at my body with interest. It looked normal, but I could see a definite sheen on my skin like I was made out of plastic. The skin I now had was made out of the same glossy plastic material that made up Seryn's fur. I had become a living, breathing human toy! The bounciness and the flexibility of my plastic skin was truly a sight to behold. In fact, Seryn had merged herself so tightly with me that my body actually looked better than it did before. The detail and coloring of my skin and clothes was much sharper and more defined than ever before.
"Gee, Seryn, you really outdid yourself this time."
I heard Seryn return my comment as if she was speaking directly in my ears. I could hear her all around me as if she was invisible. "Thanks. Seryn try her best. Now Seryn and Skyle be one body and go out into world as one."
"That's just fine with me. If you remember, maybe I can borrow your body sometime."
I could "feel" Seryn's satisfaction. "Seryn think about that. But now, we go to Skyle work, yes?"
I realized that I only had 15 minutes to get to work, so without another word, she and I left the apartment to go to McDonald's to go to work.
No one really seemed to notice my new look. But then again, they didn't have a reason to. I simply went about my job like I did every day and kept up a quiet but constant conversation with Seryn whenever I had a moment to myself.
"Seryn think that Skyle boss too good for own good. He give Skyle poor cleaning job and give him small pay."
"Hey, at least it's better than nothing," I said under my breath, cleaning the same spot on the floor with the mop for the last ten minutes. "If you ask me, this is the best job for me. I don't trust myself back behind the counter with all that food."
"Skyle make good decision. Seryn still wish that Skyle had better lifestyle."
"Why do you say that?"
Seryn paused as a woman walked past us to dump her trash in the nearby trash can. When she was gone, she continued.
"Skyle deserve better than this. Seryn wish that Skyle could become Flammie like Seryn."
"I wish that, too, but at the moment, I'm still really flesh and blood, so unless you can magically turn me into a toy, I guess we're stuck."
Seryn didn't answer for a while. She seemed to be thinking on this idea and wondering if she could really turn me into a toy. I couldn't hear her thoughts, but I was sure that she was doing some heavy-duty consideration.
Finally, she spoke up. "Seryn might not be able to make Skyle toy, but Seryn know how to make Skyle into Flammie."
"Oh yeah? How do you figure?"
"When Skyle get off work, Seryn change back to Flammie and take Skyle for flight."
I wasn't sure how to respond to this. Seryn sensed my confusion and did her best to explain.
"Skyle wearing Seryn now, yes?"
"Yes..."
"And Seryn have ability to change body, yes?"
"Yeah..."
"So before Seryn separate from Skyle, Seryn change Skyle into Toy Flammie and take him for flight. Skyle understand?"
I thought about this for a minute. At the moment, we were sharing the same plastic-flesh body, making both of our physical forms very unstable. So Seryn would simply change both of our bodies at the same time back to her Flammie form. Like she had put it, she was wearing me and I was wearing her, so there was literally no difference.
"I get it now. Okay. We'll go for a flight right after I get off work."
Seryn beamed with happiness. She was fulfilling her dream to be with me forever one piece at a time. She just had to keep me in the dark until she planted herself into my being and everything played out just like it was supposed to.
Of course, I had no idea that any of this was going on in her mind, despite the fact that we were sharing the same body. But right now, all I was concerned about was Seryn's invitation to take me on a flight that night.
I didn't get off work until after 6:00, but for some reason, Seryn decided to wait until it was dark to take me flying.
"People not see us at night. Besides, Seryn like it at night. It much safer and we feel nice breeze during flight."
I was wondering how she could know this if she had never been out of my apartment at night since she had awakened. But I figured that it was part of her built-in persona and let it be.
It didn't get dark until well past 8:00. By then, the moon was already high in the sky and there was a gentle breeze blowing through the city. Since we were still in the same plastic body, the conversion from human to Flammie would be much easier than if I had been flesh-and-blood.
"How can you be sure? I have to go through this, too, you know."
"Seryn made of plastic. She not feel pain like Skyle do. This be strange for Skyle but not painful. Skyle just relax."
I did my best to relax on my own, but all of a sudden, my body went numb, canceling out any pain I might have felt anyway. This time, it was Seryn that took control of our mish-mashed body, leaving me in the back seat to watch and wait.
Seryn started the transformation by taking in some slow, deep breaths. The extra oxygen started to fill out my body, changing it against my will. At first, we simply gained size, turning our six-foot frame into an eight-foot one. Then, it really started to get weird.
As Seryn took in more and more air, I suddenly felt tingly all over. I was able to look at our body and see that it had lost its "natural" color and was now sprouting clear, glossy, plastic fur all over it. I suddenly felt like I had put on a heavy fur coat without the extreme warmth it normally brought with it. I also felt my hands start to thicken and my fingers shrunk to become short, plastic nubs, reducing the number from five to four. At the same time, thick, hard talons grew out of each of my three digits with a fourth dewclaw where my thumb had been. Finally, tough, blue pads appeared at the base of each digit, adding a dog-like feel to it.
Normally, my organs and bones would have been unrecognizable by now, but since Seryn had nothing of the sort, I felt nothing. My torso seemed to bloat and the front of it became rugged with plastic plating. And with a pulling sensation on my back, two pairs of various-sized plastic wings blew out of it and hung there like they and always been .
I next felt a pulling sensation on my tailbone. Within a few seconds, a brand-new Flammie tail had practically exploded out of my backside. Not only that, but the part of me that made me a man disappeared without a trace, covering it with the blue plating.
The same sensation that happened with my hands repeated itself with my feet, but this time, I only had three talons and digits instead of four. And at the end, my skull did a little rearranging to match that of Seryn's own.
When it was all done, Seryn and I had changed from my natural body to hers. And I didn't feel a thing!
"That wasn't so bad," I said, speaking all around her like she had with me. "I barely felt anything at all."
"Skyle get used to it. It happen much more with time."
That made absolutely no sense, but Seryn refused to elaborate on it.
Standing in the parking lot, Seryn spread each of our four wings and flapped them experimentally. Seryn was in control and she wanted to get a feel of the wind before she took off. After getting her bearings, Seryn sprang straight into the air and with a few flaps of our wings, we were airborne.
The first few hundred feet were the hardest. We had to get above the buildings before we could truly relax, but Seryn made it into the air above the buildings with plenty of room to spare. Now that we were at altitude, we could finally take in the splendor of flying for ourselves.
If I could sum up the experience of flying in one phrase, I would say this: pure... exotic... ecstasy! Flying on your own with no restraints whatsoever gave me a feeling of pure joy that nothing on earth could compare to. Being able to soar through the breeze and feeling the coolness of the wind on your skin gave me complete freedom up here. The feeling of wind passing through each of our plastic feathers and smoothing over our synthetic fur made me feel like I had gone for a dip in a cool - not cold - lake, except there was not threat of drowning.
Seryn and I leaned to the right and took a slow, steady drop in the sky. I felt my heart leap into my throat as we seemed to fall out of the sky and then catch ourselves before we even got close to the ground. And with a rhythmic pumping of each of our four wings, we got back to altitude with very little effort. Owning four wings gave us the added comfort that we did not have to pump them as hard or as fast to get into the air.
Seryn and I flew well above the city and I was able to look down and see miles of lights and colors stretching in every direction. I never realized how many colored lights there were at night in Willmar. But once we reached the outskirts of the city, Seryn took us high above the clouds to about 30,000 feet - a height that no creature could survive at. But since neither of us needed to breathe at the moment, we were just fine up here.
"If you think that's something, Skyle..." said Seryn, rolling onto her back. I noticed for the first time that she was speaking in perfect sentences now. "Check that out."
We were looking straight up into the starry sky and for the first time in several years, I could see the entire night sky without any lights blocking it out. For someone who had lived in the city for half his life, seeing the endless expanse of space and stars was like being a kid in a candy store, except this experience was more awe than joy. The very fact that I could see something I had not seen since moving to the city made me feel happiness like nothing I had ever felt before.
"Seryn..." I said hesitantly.
"Hmm?"
"..." I couldn't spit it out. "Thank you... You are a true friend."
This obviously meant a lot to her because I could see a tear welling up in her eye. She smiled sadly and used a talon to wipe the tear away.
"I'm glad I could make you happy, Skyle. That's my true purpose in life and I've finally fulfilled it."
"Any time, friend," I said and Seryn leaned to the right to fly back towards the city. I was glad that she was happy and I felt good myself for having a friend like her.
As I thought about this, I felt a sharp pain in the back of my neck. Borrowing Seryn's paw, I reached back to feel the source of irritation. What I found spooked me for a moment but then I got under control. It was just the plastic stopper that all inflatables had somewhere on their bodies. Since I was sharing Seryn's body, I guess it only made sense. But why it had chosen now to become irritated was beyond me. I chose to ignore it and followed Seryn back to our house.
When they returned home that night, Seryn and Skyle remained fused together for the rest of the night. It was well past midnight and they were both too tired to separate at the moment. Seryn figured that he would not mind sleeping in their Flammie form, but to get inside, Seryn had had to let a decent amount of air out of her before they could enter the apartments.
While they were asleep, Seryn suddenly awoke to a noise in their room and sat bolt-upright. Skyle was still fast asleep, but Seryn was now on high alert. There was an intruder in the room and she was going to protect her friend as best she could. She could not understand how someone could have gotten in and instinctively inflated herself a little more to make her look more intimidating.
But there was a familiar scent in the air. She had never smelled it before, but she instinctively knew that it belonged to someone special. It smelled spicy and sharp yet strangely pleasant. It smelled like strong cologne with a bit of lacquered wood and freshly-burnt firewood mixed in. It smelled a lot like...
"Aridos?"
"You could say it is me," came a distinct mutter.
Seryn turned and looked directly at her creator, Karmen Aridos, who was sitting on one of Skyle's chairs in the dark. She was both excited and confused as to why he was here at 3:00 in the morning.
Karmen Aridos gave his fingers a sharp snap and the lights in the room turned on, giving them plenty of light to communicate in. But the light seemed to be filtered somehow. It didn't have the kind of glare that normal people went through when they turned on the light. Seryn's eyes immediately focused on her creator and she felt Skyle sleep on deep inside her.
"It's great to see you again, Seryn," said Aridos, leaning back in Skyle's chair. "You've certainly been well taken care of since I last saw you."
Seryn smiled and twiddled her dewclaws, blushing a little. "Skyle has been very kind to me and I've done my best to pay him back."
"But...?"
Seryn blinked. This question was a little vague. She didn't know what else to tell him. But then she remembered how she really felt.
"But I don't think I've done enough. It's true that I've allowed him to share my body for a while, but it doesn't feel like I've done everything I could."
Aridos folded his fingers together and looked at Seryn for a moment. "Go on..."
Seryn sighed and got up off the bed, making sure that Skyle was still fast asleep. "Skyle is the best thing that's ever happened to me, but I feel... incomplete. It's like there's a part of me that has not been satisfied and I don't know what to do about it. I can't exactly show him how happy I am to be with him without him being a plastic toy as well."
Aridos nodded. "And what's stopping you from fulfilling that wish?"
Seryn chirped and tilted her head. "Huh?"
"You may not know this, but every single one of my creations have developed feelings for their owners at some point in time. They feel that their owners are happy, but they are not. They wish that they could show their owners the wonders and excitement of being of the same composition as they are."
Seryn frowned. "You're losing me."
Aridos sighed and did his best to explain. "It's like this: every relationship with my creations starts out as flesh-and-blood and synthetic in some way. On one hand, you have the worries and responsibilities of a human - mortal, weak, disposable. On the other hand, you have the wonders and abilities of a Synthetic creation - immortal, near-invulnerable, powerful. All of my children wish that they could share their lives with their owners so that they could live in peace forever. So that's why I always add a special ability to each of them - the ability to convert flesh and blood into the same material as their own. This way, both of you would be happy and you can live on with the knowledge that you will never be separated again."
"But won't that be devastating to the owner? I mean, their whole life has just been taken away from them."
Aridos smiled and tapped the side of his nose with his fingers. "That's where I come in. All of my customers are people who have all but given up on their lives. They feel that their lives are not worth living anymore and they wish for a higher plane of existence. Of course when they are first converted, they feel that their lives have been taken from them, but in the end, it's up to the creation to convince them that their lives will be much better as a Synthetic than as a human. And 99% of the time, it works. There's some withdrawal for a while, but they eventually come around and find out that their lives have just been changed for the better. That leaves the question - how are you going to do it?"
Seryn thought about this. If it was truly possible, she and Skyle could finally be on the same page, but she wasn't sure how he would take it all at once. She would have to do it slowly so that he understood everything one part at a time. She didn't want to do anything he didn't want to do.
So she decided to give Skyle a small taste of life as a plastic Flammie. She would allow him to sample it first and then when he was ready, she would go all the way.
"Thank you, Aridos. I will never forget this. But..." she paused. "I have one more question for you."
Aridos nodded. "Ask away."
"If you think that life as a Synthetic is so wonderful, how come you're still human?"
The old man shrugged. "It really doesn't suit me. You may not know it, but there are some things I can do as a human that life as a Synthetic just doesn't offer. I prefer to stick to my studies and let others experience the changes for me."
Seryn couldn't argue with that, so she let it be and lied back on the bed. "Thank you, Father. I will think about what you said."
Aridos nodded. "Just remember. You have all the time in the world, so don't rush it if you don't want to." And with a snap of his fingers, the lights went out and Aridos vanished from the apartment.
Seryn smiled and drifted back off to sleep. But her subconscious mind was constantly thinking about how she would let Skyle know how much she really felt for him. It would come to her in time; she just needed to sleep on it...
When I woke up the next day, I immediately knew that I was back to my human form. I could feel my natural body heat and I could feel my heart beating in my chest. Now that I had my lungs back, I could breathe normally again. Somehow, Seryn had separated from me and we were once again inside our own bodies. My skin was sponge-like and fleshy once again; no plastic whatsoever.
Seryn, meanwhile, had been up for some time. When I got dressed, I came out to the kitchen to find Seryn occupied with the frying of some scrambled eggs on the stove.
"Good morning, Skyle," she said, smiling at me before returning to the eggs.
"Good morning. I didn't know you could cook."
Seryn chirped and used a spatula that she had not yet eaten to stir the eggs. "You'd be surprised what I can do now. Now that my plastic body is much thicker and more resistant, I can handle decent amounts of heat without melting. And being fused with you told me all about you, including how you like your eggs. How am I doing?"
She tilted the pan so that I could get a look at them. She wasn't doing half bad. She had cooked the eggs until they were nice and airy and had even mixed in some hash browns and cheese into it.
"That's my breakfast of choice! Not bad for a toy."
Seryn giggled and stroked the back of my neck, pausing for a second to toy with something and then completing the stroke. "You have no idea what this "toy" can do now."
"Oh? Why do you say that?"
Seryn simply grinned and looked away in mock distraction. "Oh... you'll find out."
"Okay... whatever." I gave her upper-left wing a playful tug and went to go sit down at the table.
Within a few minutes, Seryn was ready and she tipped the egg mixture onto a plate before serving it to me. "Bon Appetite," she said, putting the empty pan in the sink and then heading to the drawer to get a few plastic forks and spoons for her breakfast.
She didn't do half bad. The eggs were light and airy and salted just enough that they seemed to burst with flavor. The cheese and hash browns had been cooked to perfection, releasing a harmony of flavors that I never knew could exist in this dish. It was absolutely perfect!
"This is delicious, Seryn!" I said, talking with my mouth full. "My compliments to the chef!"
Seryn gave me a smirk and took a bite of a spoon, wrapper and all. She was just glad that she could please me.
While I was eating, I noticed something in the way Seryn was sitting. Her tail was trailing through the back of the chair and her legs seemed to reach all the way to the floor, where her pads and talons touched down and kicked freely under the table. Her arms were also distinctly longer. They certainly weren't that long when I first got her. Despite her inflated size, she looked more like an Anthro Flammie right now than a regular one.
"Say, Seryn... have you grown?"
Seryn paused with a fork half-in and out of her mouth. Pulling it out, she shrugged. "I might have. Why?"
"I dunno. You look more... "human" than you did before."
The plastic Flammie stood up and spun around, looking at herself. There was no doubt about it. Her legs and arms were much longer than before and she was able to balance herself on her back legs much easier than before.
"I know what you're thinking. Since I'm a Synthetic, I have the ability to manipulate my body into whatever form I want. I can make myself more human-like if I wanted to and I can even merge myself with your body like I did yesterday." She slowly spun on her digitigrade toes and watched me stare at her. "What? Too much?"
I shook my head dumbly. I noticed that she had kept herself decent for me. Even though he was a female, she had neglected to produce breasts like most women had. Not that that was a bad thing; I just think that she looked much more exotic without them. All I could do was stare at her glossy, plastic body, trying to comprehend the details she had put into her new body.
But then something popped into my mind. "Synthetic"? Is that what you call yourself now?"
Seryn nodded. "I'm not the first nor am I the last synthetic creature to be created, and since we come in all shapes, sizes and materials, we call ourselves "Synthetics"."
I nodded in response. "It suits you."
Seryn chirped and sat back down. "Thank you. Now, eat up. I didn't slave over a hot stove for you just to go hungry."
I smiled and finished my eggs. When I was done, I went to go get ready to take a shower. But while I had the door open and was getting ready to undress, Seryn managed to sneak in.
"Seryn!" I cried, pulling my pants back up. "I thought we had an agreement! You're not allowed in here when I'm taking a shower anymore!"
Seryn frowned and gave me a pouting face. "Oh, come on, Skyle. I was young and didn't know better. Can't a girl get a second chance? Hmm?"
I suppose she had a point. She had barely been aware of her actions before, so I figured she deserved a second chance. It's not like anything else can happen now that she knows better. Besides, I couldn't say no to that face.
"All right, but you'd better behave."
Seryn chirped and helped me undress. It alarmed me as to how determined she was to get into the shower. When I climbed in, she closed and locked the door before following in after me.
Standing face-to-face with a life-sized plastic Anthro Flammie naked in the shower was one of the most unusual situations I had ever been in. She seemed to ignore the fact that I was naked and took it upon herself to wash me while the water simply trailed off her skin.
"You know, you don't have to do this," I said as she shampooed my hair.
"I know, but I still like to be with you at every possible moment."
I put a hand to the back my head nervously. She really was concerned about me. It was a strange feeling to have someone care for you like she was doing with me.
Just then, I felt something on the back of my neck that seemed to stick out like a sore thumb. I poked it, but it simply moved with the rest of my skin. It felt like a mole, but I knew for a fact that I didn't have a mole on the back of my neck. And when I started to finger it, I knew that moles did not stick an inch out of your skin.
"Seryn..." I said, turning around. "What's this?"
Seryn put her paw on the object and pulled on it for a moment. While my back was turned, she smiled mischievously.
"It's just a little souvenir from our flight last night."
"What is it?!" I said, trying to figure out what the item was.
Seryn leaned forward and whispered in my ear. "It's a stopper. I've got one, too, you know." The two of us turned in opposite directions so that I was facing her back. She pointed to the plastic air stopper on the back of her neck that I had used to inflate her with. I suddenly realized that an identical item was attached to the back of my neck!
"Get it off! GET IT OFF!!!" I yelled, yanking on the stopper but only succeeded in trying to pull off my own skin.
Seryn turned back around and held me with both paws. "Don't fight it, Skyle. It's a part of you now. With it, we can relive last night whenever we want now."
I suddenly scrambled out of the shower, staring at Seryn in shock. "What did you do to me?! I thought we separated! I... I'm still a toy!"
Seryn simply turned the water off and climbed out of the tub to try to comfort me. "You're actually a _were_toy now. All you need is a little air and..."
"Get away from me!" I said, looking at her like she had just slapped me. "You stuck this thing on my neck last night while we were flying, didn't you?! You planned this, didn't you! Take it off, now!"
Seryn simply shook her head, furthering my fears. "It's not that bad, Skyle. Just let me open it for you. I can make this all better if you just hold still."
"No! Stay away from me! I don't trust you anymore! You stay away from me or I'll let the air out of your head! Then we'll see who's smiling!"
Seryn said nothing as I pulled my underwear up to myself and opened the door. I then went to my room and locked the door, flopping down on my bed and burying my face in the pillow.
How could she do this to me? I had taken her in as one of my own after my brother had rejected her. I had put a roof over her head and plastic in her "belly". I had merged myself with her for a day so that she could experience life as a human and this is how she repaid me? By slapping a plastic stopper on my neck and turning me into a "weretoy"? It didn't make any sense. Why would she do this to me after all I did for her? I couldn't get it removed - the hospitals would ask too many questions. I couldn't cut it off, either. It was fused so well with my skin that it was hard to tell where the skin ended and the plastic began.
I was so busy moping that I did not see Seryn deflate herself enough that she could slide under he crack of the door and reinflate herself without so much as a whisper. She then made her way across the room to my bed and gently pushed on of her talons into my bare leg.
I immediately felt my body seize up as if I had been paralyzed. I couldn't move a muscle and could only watch as Seryn sat herself on the side of my bed and put a paw on my back.
"I'm sorry, Skyle, but this is the only way I can show you what you're ignoring. Please wait until this is all over before you say anything."
I couldn't say anything even if I had wanted to. My entire body had frozen up, including my vocal cords. In fact, the only part of me that could move was my eyes. And they were staring at the Synthetic with a hate unlike anything I had ever felt towards her.
Against my will, Seryn pulled the plug out of the stopper on the back of my neck and put her muzzle over it in preparation to inflate me. She then began to blow like I had done to her only a few days ago.
For some reason, it didn't feel like I was being filled with air. It actually felt like my body was melting internally as the rest of my body began to change. My skin started to lose its flesh-like consistency and started to "goo-ify" and become plastic-like in nature. Not only that, but it felt like I was growing a coat of plastic fur just like I had last night. My skin went from a fleshy-pink to a transparent white as my hands began to fatten and my fingers shrunk into short, nubby digits, where four plastic talons appeared just like before.
As Seryn continued to pump air into my body, it felt like my torso was being inflated, but not with air. It was like it was expanding with muscle and sinew in a metaphorical way. Not only that, but a brand new plastic tail started to push itself out of my backside. My underwear seemed to disappear from sight altogether as the same thing that happened with my hands happened with my feet. Finally, my head began to shape itself into one that matched Seryn while four balloon-like feathery wings popped out of my back at various points.
Just when it felt like I couldn't take any more air, Seryn stoppered the plug and pushed it into my neck so that it would not stick out. I instantly felt my body free from its paralyzed state and I was able to move freely again. Seryn then went to go sit down on my chair and watched me for a while.
If I was to compare the Synthetic body I had now to the one I had had last night, I wouldn't have been able to tell the difference. They were so identical that there was practically no difference between the two of them. I swung my hips around so that I was sitting on the side of the bed and looked at Seryn.
"You know..." I said, looking at my paws with interest. "This isn't so bad. The only difference between this body and your body is that we're not sharing it. I could actually learn to like this." I gave a Flammie equivalent of a smile and looked at Seryn. "Thank you, Seryn. We can do this every night after I get off work."
Seryn nodded and took my hand. "If you think that's something, wait until you try eating like I do."
I was unsure how to respond to this, but Seryn simply took me out of the room and to the kitchen. Pulling out a plastic fork, she placed it in my paw and smiled.
"Here. Go nuts."
I looked at the fork in disbelief. I knew that I was still human, so I was unsure how my human side would respond to this unusual meal. I finally worked up the courage to open my muzzle and stick the fork inside, wrapper and all and take a bite.
It was just like biting into a piece of fruit. There was a slight resistance, but once you got into it, it parted company easily. I chewed the tips of the fork along with the wrapper for a while before finally swallowing it. Seryn watched with bated breath as I gave my analysis.
"That... was... delicious! I've never tasted anything like this before!" Seryn sighed in relief that I had liked it. "No wonder you like these so much. They are practically bursting with flavor that my human form can't seem to translate. Thank you, Seryn!"
Seryn chuckled and pointed down at my belly. I immediately looked down and watched through my clear fur as the plastic fork mimicked its journey through my body just like it had with Seryn's. It broke itself up into a fine, white liquid and spread throughout my body, thinning out as it entered my plastic blood stream.
"Cool!" I said, letting out a squeak. "Thank you for this, Seryn. We can do this every night. But..." I looked at the clock. "I can't do it now. I have to go to work."
Seryn's face fell slightly before she realized that I was still human. Sighing, she stroked my plastic mane affectionately. "Okay... another time, then."
She then went to my neck and pulled the stopper up before unplugging it. As the air hissed out, I could feel my body returning to normal. My skin and body regained its fleshy definition, my hands and feet slimmed out to their former forms and the four wings and tail disappeared into my body, leaving me standing in my underwear again.
"Thanks for that experience, Seryn," I said as she pressed the stopper into my neck to conceal it. "We'll have to do it again tonight."
Seryn's mood seemed melancholy, but she was in good enough spirits to give my cheek a little lick with her rubbery tongue. "I'll remember that appointment. Well..." she sighed. "You'd better get off to work. I'll wait here until you get back."
I could sense her disappointment. "I'm sorry, Seryn, but they don't allow "pets" at work. Don't worry, though; we'll do this again as soon as I get off work."
Seryn gave me a sad smile and went to go sit down on the couch. She seemed concerned about something, but I figured that it was just a phase she was going through. As I got dressed to go work at McDonald's, I wondered if and when she would ever snap out of it.
Later that night, Seryn had gotten over her mood and was waiting at the front door for me. The expression of happiness on her face when she saw me was definitive. She had waited all day to spend time with me as a Synthetic and I couldn't blame her. So after I had had a few minutes to relax after work, Seryn was once again behind me, blowing into the plastic stopper on my neck. Within a few minutes, I was a Flammie toy once again. Only this time, we decided to go out for a flight in the moonlight.
Flying in the moonlight with your own body was slightly different than flying together with Seryn. The ability to control your own body the whole way made it feel even more enjoyable. It was just like it had been on Monday and the ecstasy of flying never seemed to die out.
We would then return well after midnight and then go to bed in our Flammie forms. In the morning, Seryn had done the honor of deflating me when she woke up. It amazed me how little sleep I needed at night nowadays. It was like whenever I would change from human to Flammie, the transformation would rest my body so that it was all ready to go the following morning. It was the perfect way to keep both of us happy at the same time.
But even happiness can't last forever. About a week after Seryn had installed the plastic nozzle in the back of my neck, I woke up after a particularly pleasant night flying in the moonlight with her to find her standing in my living room, staring blankly out of the window. She didn't have breakfast cooking like always and she was looking rather deflated at only a portion of her full size.
"Seryn?" I said, walking up to her to see what was wrong.
She said nothing. It was a weekend and I wasn't supposed to go to work today, so I could not understand why she was acting like this. She continued to look out of the window, breathing lightly.
I figured she just needed some time to herself, so I went to go prepare my own breakfast for once. I wasn't much of a cook and I feel like frying a grilled cheese like I normally did, so I improvised by pulling out a package of Pop-Tarts and toasting them.
While I was eating them, I noticed that Seryn hadn't moved a muscle since I had come out here. She continued to stare out the window as if awaiting something. I couldn't figure out what it was, so I improvised by sitting on the couch and turning on the TV.
About 30 minutes passed before I started to grow concerned about Seryn. She hadn't budged an inch in over an hour and I wondered if she was all right. If she didn't occasionally blink or sigh, I would have thought that she had died.
Finally, I couldn't take it anymore. I got up and went over to Seryn to see if she was still alive.
"Seryn? Is there something you want to talk about?"
No answer. Not even a glance in my direction.
Thinking up a different idea, I reached back and pulled the plastic stopper out of my neck. "How about you put a little air in me and we can spend the rest of the day as Flammies?"
Still nothing. Seryn simply sighed and continued to stare out the window.
I had one more idea. I went to the kitchen and grabbed a few plastic bags - Seryn's chocolate of choice - and brought them over to her.
"How about some chocolate, Seryn? I know you haven't eaten in a while. What do you say?"
Nothing. Absolutely no response. I let out a groan of frustration and went to go sit down on the couch. "Fine! If that's how you want to do it, I don't care! I'm sure whatever's out there, it's much more interesting than I am!"
At first, Seryn didn't respond. But then, she finally turned to look at me with a light in her eyes that I had never seen before.
"We were meant to be," she said, almost trance-like.
"Seryn?" I said, looking at her with an eyebrow raised. "What did you say?"
Seryn came over to sit down next to me, but she still didn't take her eyes off of me. It disturbed me about the look she was giving me.
"You have something I want. You have the inner spark of life that I desire. I want you to join me, Skyle. I want you to be me."
"Oh... kay..." I had never seen Seryn act this way before, so she was starting to scare me. "If you want to stay with me, that's just fine with me. I had no intention of abandoning you if that's what you mean."
Seryn shook her head, putting her plastic paw on my hand. "No, Skyle... We were meant for each other. We have the connection, now we need the substance. Together, we could live forever as mates with one existence with each other."
"I... I don't understand, Seryn. Aren't you happy with me?"
"I am... but you are not."
"Say what?"
"You wish to join me in total harmony. You wish to join the life well beyond that of a weretoy. You and I were meant to be on the same page. We were both meant to be Synthetics. Skyle... join me."
"Seryn... Isn't life as a weretoy good enough? I still have a life to live during the week. Can't you understand that?"
Suddenly, a sick, sadistic smile stretched across the Flammie's maw, causing me to back up. "It is you who does not understand. You and I must be one with each other. I must show you who is the superior creature here. I must prove that my way of life is more meaningful that your worthless, human one. Skyle..." What she said next scared me clean out of my mind. "...I'M GONNA EAT YOU!!!"
At first, this did not register with me, but when I saw Seryn licking her chops and baring her fangs, I knew she meant every word of it. Out of instinct alone, I jumped off of the couch so that Seryn sank her fangs into the couch arm.
Spitting out the awful taste, she set her sights on me and gave a sick smile. "You can't escape me, Skyle. You can only run so far before I catch you. You are only delaying the inevitable."
I didn't care what she said, I was in way over my head and I had to run away as far as possible. I swung the door wide open and bolted out as fast as I could.
But before I could get to the staircase, I was greeted by an impossible sight. Seryn the Synthetic had somehow gotten in front of me so that she was standing in front of the staircase.
"Going somewhere?" she said, chuckling darkly to herself.
"That's impossible! How could you get in front of me like that?!"
I immediately made an about-face and headed for the other door. But just like last time, she had somehow gotten in front of me so that she was standing firmly in my path.
"The only place you're going is down the hatch! I am much more nimble than you are, Skyle. You will not escape me. Give up and this will be that much more bearable."
"Seryn, move! I don't want to hurt you, but I will to get past you."
Seryn began to advance on me so that I was being backed into my corner apartment. It was impossible! How could she be in two places at once?! I scooted back into the apartment... right into her open arms! She held me firm and looked down at me with that mischievous smile on her face.
"Are you ready to give up?"
My instinct to survive instinctively took over. I squirmed and wriggled and kicked my way out of her arms an retreated into the apartment. When I was finally behind her, I saw that there were three identical Synthetic Flammies advancing on me.
"How... is that... possible?!" I said breathlessly.
The left Seryn stepped forward as they backed me into the living room. "You have no idea what a Synthetic like myself can do with enough experience."
The right Seryn then stepped forward, cracking her furry knuckles. "I can do things that normal creatures of this planet could never do in a million years. You might as well give up right now."
The center Seryn stepped forward now and spread hall four wings menacingly. "There is nowhere for you to run, Skyle. You and I will become one with other and there is nothing you can do about it." Seeing my still-puzzled expression, she smirked and motioned to her "friends." "This simple trick is the result of my long hours of alone time here in this apartment. Watch."
With a simple snap of her plastic talons, the two Flammies at her sides exploded into small wisps of blue flame. I had never seen blue fire before unless it was very, very hot. But something about this fire didn't seem as hot as it looked. In fact, it looked like... magic flame!
Seryn saw my shocked expression and wiggled a talon like a mother scorning her disobedient son. "This "flame" as you call it is my Flammie Breath. With it, I can manipulate reality and do pretty much whatever I want. Watch this..."
I knew instinctively what she was planning and dove for cover just as she took a deep breath, expanding herself a little more than usual. I had just gotten past her when she let fly a stream of blue, static-charged breath attack. I thought that she would stay in place to breathe the "Flammie Breath", but I ran for my life as she spun around, still expelling her dangerous breath.
I ran for the kitchen and grabbed the biggest knife I could. It was around the corner, so Seryn couldn't hit me. When she had fully expended her breath, it gave me a few seconds to leap at her and plunge the knife clean into her chest.
Seryn gasped for breath as she staggered backward, the knife sticking out of her chest. I fell to the floor on my front, looking up at her. She looked like she was in pain, but for some reason, she remained standing like a creature impaled.
There was a tense standoff between the two of us in confusion. I didn't understand why she hadn't burst from the attack or at least started to deflate. Seryn looked like she had just seen a ghost.
But just then, Seryn - of all things - started to laugh! It started out low, but then it grew louder and more maniacal. I couldn't believe that she was laughing after she had just gotten her heart pierced!
But to add insult to... more insult, Seryn wrapped her paw around the knife handle and gave it a quick outward pull. I could not believe what I was seeing as the hole that I appeared to have made simply popped back into place. It couldn't be! She had absorbed the knife attack like a sponge without even getting her skin punctured! It was just not possible!
Before I could react, Seryn took a small breath and gave a small puff of blue flame directly at me. It wasn't much, but the flame hit me square in the face, bursting into several wisps of blue flame and paralyzing me from head to toe. I couldn't move a muscle!
Seryn cast the knife aside like a flicked booger and looked down at me. "You can't honestly think that you haven't been paying attention to my skin thickness, can you? From all of the plastic I have eaten, my plastic skin has become all but impenetrable. Now, I am nearly invincible and, as you're about to find out, I am much more than just outer beauty." She then knelt down and picked me up with amazing strength and held me up to her eye level.
"This is for our own good, Skyle. I will explain everything when you are safely tucked away. Besides..." she added with a smirk. "I want to know how you taste."
If I could move right now, I would have been screaming and kicking for my life, but since I was incapacitated at the moment, all I could do was close my eyes against the inevitable. Seryn gave my face a small lick; possibly just a taste before the main event. I kept my eyes closed as she opened her muzzle wide before stuffing me in head first.
The feeling of her wet, plastic mouth was like being shoved into a too-small wet bathing suit. I felt her tongue lap against my face before I was stuffed into her throat. I immediately felt everything close around me like it had when I had worn her like a suit. All the while, she was slowly shoving more and more of me into her gullet, pausing with each shove to savor my human "flavor". Not only that, but there was something about her plastic saliva that was causing my shirt and pants to dissolve, leaving me naked half-inside a Flammie's gullet.
Soon, all of me had entered her wet, slimy throat and she slurped up by feet like a wet noodle. Seconds later, I was dumped a large, soggy chamber somewhere inside Seryn. When I was all the way inside her, I was able to look around through the transparent chamber.
It was then that I realized where I was. All of the plastic that Seryn had consumed over the past week had not only thickened her furry skin, but it had also formed an entire digestive system inside of her! And if that was the case, I was about to be digested!
Finally feeling my body free up, I thrashed and kicked in a small pool of plastic gunk that had accumulated at the bottom of her stomach.
"Seryn! Let me out of here! It's not too late to stop this! I promise to take care of you better if you just let me out! I'll quit my job; I'll go on a plastic shopping spree; I'll do ANYTHING!!! Just let me out!"
From outside, she gave her belly a sharp punch, agitating me and causing the white goo to splash around on top of me. "You no longer have any say in the matter, my love. You will be mine forever and nothing is going to change that. I have made up my mind and you will stay in there until I feel you are ready."
For the first time, I realized that I was trapped. Seryn had me deep inside her and she was going to make a decent meal out of me - enough to keep her fed for a long while. I knew that she would not change her mind now that she had me right where she wanted me. As the plastic goo swirled around me, smelling a little like crude oil, I realized that it was oil that plastic was made out of. It was only a matter of time before she began to digest me. I was so distraught that my eyes began to water. I let out a sniffle and tried to wipe the gunk out of my eyes.
For some reason, Seryn heard me and rubbed her belly softly. "Skyle? Why are you crying? I thought you would have wanted this. I'm making your body more... appropriate than it currently is. Why don't you tell me what's wrong."
I could not believe the nerve of her! "What's wrong? WHAT'S WRONG?!?! I took you in as one of my own and raised you like a child! You attacked me on several occasions, but I've always forgiven you! It was hard enough to accept the fact that I was turned into a weretoy against my will. BUT THIS TIME, YOU'VE GONE TOO FAR!!! You ate me, you vile creation! You destroyed my life, you piece of plastic filth! I HATE YOU!!! I HATE YOU, SERYN!!!!!!"
Because I was so upset, I gave Seryn's stomach a sharp double kick. But other than making the goo around me splash around a little, she was practically unfazed. In fact, I thought I heard her sniffling on the outside!
"Why, Skyle? I thought we had something together. I've always wanted to return the favor for all of your kindness, and this was the only way I could! I had no money to give you or trinkets to trade for your generosity, so I did the only thing I could. Do my feelings for you mean nothing to you?!"
I couldn't believe that she was yelling at me, but once I thought about it, I realized that she had a point. While she had been with me, she had obviously developed personal feelings for me. I had just been too busy to notice it before now. But what was she doing to me to "repay" me?
As if reading my mind, Seryn replied, "I am not going to digest you, Skyle. I am merely converting your body into something more... appropriate for your new life."
"New life? What are you talking about? I'm perfectly happy with my life the way it is!"
As I said this, some of the white plastic gunk around me started to cover my legs, numbing them up and starting to liquefy them. I realized that this was Seryn's body either starting to digest me or "convert" me. I hoped it was the latter; I was starting to lose feeling in my thighs.
"You're lying through your teeth, my love. You hate your life. You wish that something would happen that would bring you away from your two-bit existence. You forget - I am filled with air from your lungs; I know every thing about you, down to your innermost feelings for me. Think about it this way: life as a Synthetic will be completely hassle-free. We will live forever with a simple diet of plastic products every now and then. We will not have the burdens of human responsibilities to deal with. We will be immortal with very little consequence. All I am doing is making your body more appropriate. Is that all right with you?"
Now that she put it that way, she had a point. I really did hate my life and did wish that something would happen that would change my life forever. She was just making my innermost wishes come true. Besides that, the plastic liquid was starting to liquefy my torso.
"All right, Seryn. I give up. Do with me what you want. I won't fight it anymore."
Seryn smiled and rubbed her belly affectionately. "I'm glad you understand, Skyle. I will make this as painless as possible so that you may be reborn peacefully. Until we meet again, good-bye... and sweet dreams."
I sighed as the goo started to envelop my head. Before it flooded my mouth and I lost consciousness, I was able to make out the words, "See you... on the other side..."
The whole time Skyle had been dissolving inside her stomach, Seryn felt just like a human did after chugging a soda and feeling the bubbles in their stomach. Her belly was now full of a white, liquid-plastic goo that contained Skyle's body, mind and soul. He was still "alive" but not in his human body anymore. He was now in a state of suspended sleep that would reawaken when she rebirthed him.
But for now, she had to find a new place to live. Someone will have heard that racket and be coming to investigate soon. She wanted to find a new place for them to start their new lives far from here before rebirthing Skyle. She had always wanted to live in the forest near a lake, so that was her first order of business. She was going to find her dream home and bring Skyle back into the world so that they could enjoy themselves to the fullest.
Sliding the sliding-glass door to the side, she stepped onto the balcony and looked into the city. This wasn't really her ideal place to live, but she would soon fix that. She didn't need to pack because she would soon be able to return to the city to take what she wanted from the local grocery stores. After all, almost all plastic bags were free at local stores.
Glancing down at her bloated belly swirling with plastic liquid, Seryn frowned. She would be a little too heavy to fly as she was - she had at least a good ten gallons of Skyle inside of her - so she improvised by inflating herself to a much larger size. This reduced her belly size and gave her enough wing strength to get in the air without much difficulty.
Spreading each of her four wings, Seryn stepped onto the railing and then jumped, taking flight immediately. She was able to get in the air relatively easily and was soon high above the city. She didn't even have to look back at the life she was leaving behind - she had a much more higher plane of existence awaiting her somewhere in the wild. She just needed to find it.
Some time after she left, Seryn found her ideal place to roost. There was a great forest about 200 miles away from the city with a perfectly clear lake just within reach of the forest. Believe it or not, but the forest was part of a wildlife reserve far to the north of the city of Willmar and after much scouting by her, Seryn was able to find an abandoned bear cave near the lake where she and Skyle could start their new lives. And after a few raids on some local grocery stores along the way, Seryn had managed to lug a number of bags of plastic bags from different stores. She knew that different stores put different flavors in their bags, thus adding to the variety. Seryn didn't need to strengthen her plastic fur for a while after how much she ate with Skyle, but Skyle would be as delicate as a newborn once he was reborn, so he needed to "put some meat on his bones."
After stowing the bags in her cave, Seryn decided to go for a short swim before rebirthing Skyle. She wanted to get herself lubricated before she emptied her gut and what better way to purify her body than to take a dip in the crystal-clear Lake George. Since she was weighted down by Skyle's liquids, she was able to break the surface and go for a small dunk. When she wanted to do this later, she would simply fill herself with water, thus making her heavier and able to sink. It was certainly better than taking a hot shower with Skyle in that cramped bathroom back at that apartment.
Finally, Seryn could put it off no longer. She climbed out of the water and headed back over to the cave to finally rebirth Skyle. She stood just inside the cave entrance as the full moonlight shined down on her and closed her eyes. Taking a few deep breaths, she agitated her stomach lining to force her to "vomit", but unlike humans blowing their cookies, she was able to force a small amount of Skyle's fluids into her mouth to coat her tongue with the tasty liquid. She had forgotten just how delicious he had tasted when she had eaten him not even 12 hours ago. Once her tongue was covered, Seryn pursed her lips and began to blow.
The result was the creation of a large, white, plastic bubble not unlike blowing a bubble with bubble gum. But this one did not pop. As Seryn forced more and more liquid into her mouth, she added it to the ever-growing bubble so that it gained thickness and size. It took about 20 minutes, but finally, Seryn managed to empty the rest of Skyle's liquids into the new bubble, which had grown to about double her size.
Once she was done, Seryn bit down on the end of the bubble and did a little motion with her tongue before finally spitting the end of the bubble out. The result was the creation of the same plastic stopper that was on all inflatable toys. It looked like she had created a huge, milky-white beach ball.
Seryn grabbed the stopper in-between her talons and held it at arm's length for a moment. She then took another deep breath and let out the same blue-flamed breath that she had used on Skyle that morning. Because of its magical properties, she could command it to do whatever she wanted. And what she wanted was for the Flammie Breath to mold the bubble that contained Skyle's essence into a Synthetic that she would be proud of.
The flame ignited the bubble for a moment before it began to mold it into the unmistakable shape of an Anthro Flammie. The only differences between this one and Seryn was that this toy was now a clear, sapphire-blue in color, its pads, talons and mane were a shining silver color and its eyes were a deep, emerald green.
Finally, Seryn examined her new mate with happiness that only came with the love of a new friend. Grasping the plastic stopper in-between her teeth one more time, she gave it one last blow, injecting the heart and soul of Skyle into it, bringing life into the "inanimate" object. She then plugged it and pushed the stopper into the back of his neck.
The newly-reborn Skyle opened his eyes sleepily and wobbled a little on the spot as he tried to get his bearings. He chirped a little and put a paw to his head.
"Ohh... what happened? Where am I?" He turned and finally focused on Seryn. "Seryn?" he said with a slow smile. "Is it over? Am I all right?"
Seryn nodded and wrapped two wings around him. stroking him gently. "It's over. Welcome to your new life, my love."
Skyle smiled blankly and held out his paw in front of him. Flexing each of his digits experimentally, he listened to the distinct rubbery squeaking noises that happened whenever his digits rubbed together. Chuckling to himself, he turned to look at his mate.
"I guess the squeaking will never stop now, will it?"
Seryn chuckled as well and gave her new mate a pat on the back. "I'm afraid not, my love. You'll be squeaking forever. Don't worry, though; you'll get used to it."
Skyle smiled and yawned widely, stretching his body a little from his deep breath and then letting it out. "I'm really tired, Seryn. I think I need a nap before I embrace my new life."
Seryn nodded and escorted him back into the cave, where the two of them curled up on the ground next to each other and closed their eyes. "Good night, my friend. Tomorrow, we will embrace our new life with every ounce of our being."
"Haaa..." yawned Skyle, putting his head over his tail. "I look forward to it, but let's just get some sleep first. I don't want to overdo it on my first night. Good night."
As the two of them slept, Skyle thought about what Seryn had done in order to make him happy. She may or may not have planned this, but as long as he was happy, she was happy. They had both been given a new lease on life and tomorrow, they were going to cherish every moment of it. It just showed what could happen when you pay an innocent visit to the wonderful shop of Plushtopia.
END