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Kitchen Prep

A.X. Bueno

From the nightstand next to my bed the alarm on my phone goes off and I look at the time on the screen. It's 7:00 am meaning I've got to start getting ready for work. It's been about 7 months since drinking the serum and the transforming decision that made me the big, happy polar bear I am now. Since it's been seven months I've had a good amount of time to adjust to my new body and all the changes that have come with it, having also grown a year older since my birthday was last month(I'm 25 now). A lot has changed since that night naturally. I think about it while I head to my bathroom mirror.

For starters I replaced most of my furniture so I can have things more suited to my bigger bear body. Apparently there's a few furniture stores that specialize in furniture for beastmen. I'm not entirely sure if that label really fits me but their furniture for larger beastmen has proved much sturdier and a better fit for me now than my past furniture and it's not too expensive either. I suppose the next thing is that some parts of my transformation weren't finished yet because three days later my eyes changed color from the brown they were when I was a man to a jade green surrounded by blue where there used to be white. The day after that I noticed that I was actually growing a head of black hair over my white fur and my eyebrows grew slightly bushier.

I brush my teeth along with..my fangs, my red tongue and then brush my hair as I look myself over in the mirror. It's still a surprising sight to see my new face in the mirror even after over half a year. It's a welcome surprise but sometimes in my mind's eye I can still see my pale skin where white fur is, my human ears sitting a little below my higher up and rounder bear ears are now, the smallness and slight overbite of my human teeth, as well as my sad, scared brown eyes. Of course these things aren't actually there and I'm happier now with no plans of changing back to human at all but I still remember the man I used to be. I may have had a love/hate relationship with that man and felt lesser and like I was going nowhere as him but I knew him so long it's hard to forget and the serum allowed me to carry almost all his memories with me.

With the exception of the name I used as a man and a few random memories from my past that I was able to remember again after I woke up from the two day slumber, the bodily stress from the transformation made me need it. It didn't immediately come back to me but through some introspection and searching the house for the pieces of who I was I was able to rediscover those last few pieces of memory. I only really needed them to explain and prove who I was to those close to me. Most accepted it with only a little convincing and some recounting of memories since magic isn't all that uncommon and what happened while pretty rare was not unheard of. Some required more convincing and time to convince them I was someone they knew and a few rejected me outright, either because they didn't believe I was who I said I was or they were too intimidated by the new me. It took about a few weeks but I was eventually able to recollect the pieces of my old life and make a new one. I was even able to get new documents and IDs that have my current name which I was able to make official; Theo Augusto.

After getting my new life in order the next change I made was quitting my old job as a telephone interviewer which I kind of hated and which freed me to get my dream job as a chef. Well demi chef(or line cook) meaning that I maintain my cooking station and prepare and cook specific food under the head and sous chef but still a chef. I started out as a commis chef before being promoted last month and it's been a lot of work since but I still enjoy it and it's a nice test of all . I finish getting dressed and double check how I look in the mirror before grabbing two different bottles of serum from a drawer in my dresser and take a sip of the first one of them before heading out the door. Another thing I have taken up since the transformation happened is alchemy specifically potion making and I made these two potions myself for one reason.

That reason takes effect almost instantly as I start shrinking thanks to the sip of the first potion I took and then I splash a little on my clothes, my chefs clothes to make sure they also shrink with me. I shrink a few feet going from 9'10" to 6'7" and continue walking when the shrinking is done. I shrink down to this size both to make life easier for myself regarding going through doors and handling delicate things like eggs as well as being less physically intimidating at work. With just a sip of my second potion I regrow back to normal size at home. Learning potion making wasn't easy and making these potions wasn't easy but through several somewhat expensive books on alchemy, some YouTube videos, learning proper measurements of everything, and a lot of trial and error I've become good at it, I'm no master at it but I'm good at potion making now.

I make it to the transport station in about eight minutes with it's several open floors each containing their different method of transport: the fast train on the first floor, the monorail on a more elevated third floor and the teleport gates on the second floor. Since I woke up and got ready early enough I decide to take the fast train instead of the teleport gate like I usually do. It may take 30 minutes longer as opposed to the instant the teleport gate and it's magic would or the 15 minutes the monorail would take but I prefer taking the slower option when I have time and I've calculated the time to be a little more than enough. I like the slow option because it gives me time to catch up on my reading, take in the scenery passing by which I love to do, and catch up on my sleep on occasion. Today I take the train to just take in the scenery of the city which I never really grow tired of and relax.

Within thirty three minutes(small delay) of taking in the buildings, trees, parks and landmarks I make it to work. I walk up to the side entrance of the restaurant I work at, one of the slightly fancier seafood places in the neighborhood called Winston's Seafood Spot. Here I prep everything from lobsters to scallops and occasionally even cook them when we're busy enough. I fish my work key out of my pocket using my big paws that I've become accustomed to and using it, shove open the door with just the right amount of strength making sure it doesn't slam. I walk into the kitchen casually and start saying hi to all my coworkers, my fellow cooks.

There's nine of us in total: the head chef, the sous-chef, two station chefs of which I am one, two commis chefs and then the two busboys. So I head over to my station which is where I prep the seafood by doing things like peeling the shrimp, deshelling and cleaning the scallops, cutting up and seasoning the salmon fillets and just generally making sure the seafood is properly cleaned, prepped and seasoned for cooking. The commis chef who helps me is an eager 23 year old Mexican fruit bat named Marcus. "Hello sir, you're earlier than usual. I guess the appeal of shucking scallops was just more irresistible today huh?" he chuckles lightly at his joke while holding a scallop with the tips of his wings.

"Nah, only the scent of fresh salmon can do that" I respond while taking a fake big whiff of a piece in one paw while also putting one down with my other paw. "Let's get to work" I say and Marcus just responds with an "ok sir" while continuing to shuck scallops and I get to work on the salmon. The work day has begun and I smile while moving on to seasoning the salmon I just finished cutting which will then go to the head chef. Moments like this, taking my spot in the kitchen remind me that I made the right choice in becoming what I am now.