Bold Coffee
A raccoon decides to take a friend out for coffee... with big results.
"This had better be damned good coffee, Kurt. As much as I love trying out new stuff, I wasn't expecting to have to drive halfway out to Northbell."
"Don't worry about it," Kurt replied, his fluffy tail twitching to and fro behind the cherrywood-stained seat. "I promise, it's worth it." Still, the sunglasses on the lion's face couldn't hide his sour expression, his whiskers twitching in agitation.
"Fine," Erik sighed. "At least the decorations in here are nice. I was never a fan of those new industrial-type places. Too cold." He and the raccoon sat at a tall mahogany table, the design of a coffee cup inlaid in the space between the two. The wooden motif extended to the walls as well, dark wood paneling warmly lit by small sconces spaced around the room.
"And the coffee's, like, amazing. Trust me." He hopped down from the stool. "I'm gonna grab a macchiato. What do you want?"
"Get me a mocha, heavy on the cream," Erik muttered, already lost in the depths of the Twitter feed on his phone. "Oh--" he looked up-- "and make sure it's hot. None of that frappe crap."
"Right. Back in a jif!" After a fairly perky exchange with the gazelle working the counter, Kurt headed over to the condiment station with both cups. After setting them onto the counter, he pulled a tiny dropper bottle from his vest. This drink was going to be sweet, indeed, he thought to himself.
Erik snickered at the latest quip on his feed, then blinked in confusion as he was snapped out of his digital reverie by the clinking of silverware against porcelain as Kurt returned to the table. "Jeez, did you have to order the large for both of us? I know it's the weekend, but I do have to sleep some time."
"You know me," Kurt quipped, "I like everything big." He gave a sly wink. Erik simply rolled his eyes.
"You're lucky you're cute, or I would've smacked you over the head for that one." He ran a paw through his mane, trying to slick it back as best as he could to avoid staining the fur. "All right, let's see what this place can do."
"Right. On three. One, two, three!" The pair nodded at each other and slurped from the heavy red cups, Kurt extending his pinky in mock sophistication. The ambient triphop in the shop drifted through the air as the two took a moment to savor the flavor.
"Well?"
"... OK, I guess it was worth the drive after all." Erik gave a content smile. "What kind of beans do they use, I wonder?" He took another sip, deeper this time. Whether it was the caffeine buzz or the thrill of a coffee connoisseur finding a new favorite spot, his muscled tail lashed around in excitement.
The raccoon shrugged. "I'unno. I just heard this place got excellent reviews on Yelp, so I figured I'd check it out with you. You can geek out with the baristas later." He chuckled.
"Tch, whatever. I keep telling you you can get stuff just as good in your own house, but you don't take the time to learn. Hey, I'll be right back, OK?"
"Yeah, sure, take your time." As the lion sauntered off toward the restrooms, the coon couldn't resist gleefully pulling out his dropper again and tumbling it over in his hands. If everything went to plan, it would be kicking in right about the time they'd have to leave. Who knew a dosage of only 50 micrograms could-- wait. Micrograms?
"Oh no. Oh no no no."
Erik finished washing up in the restroom, leaning over the sink. Hrm... did he have to lean over farther than usual? He had always been a tall guy growing up, but this mirror seemed to be even lower than usual. He shrugged it off. The place was pretty new, after all. Maybe the owner was just short and was throwing a bone to his fellow shorties. In any case, he thought, ducking under the doorframe on the way out, it wasn't going to put a dent in his good time.
"Miss me?" the lion chirped, taking his seat at the table. He grabbed his mocha again, only half full by now, and downed the rest of it while it was still warm.
"Uh-- haha, yeah," Kurt stammered, his eyes scrunched in a nervous smile. "I was just dying waiting for you to get back," he said, slipping his bottle into his pocket with the deftness only a raccoon could muster. "Uhm. You wanna take this outside? I'm kinda chilly."
The towering feline tilted his head. "Really? It's fine to me. In fact, I'm a little warm," He unbuttoned his dress shirt slightly, the fabric already pulling itself apart against his broad chest. In fact, all his clothing seemed a bit tight now. Probably the heat. He always did like to wear his clothes rather fitted.
"Yeah! That's why-- there's-- a breeze outside, so you can cool off, and I can warm up in the sun, right? Heh..."
"You feeling all right, dude? You seem a little worried."
"I'm fine! I just a little uncomfortable, I guess?" Kurt tried to smile, but his nervous ears gave away his true demeanor. They had to get out of here as soon as possible, before--
CRUNCH!
"W-whoa! Sir, are you all right?" The gazelle at the counter had leapt over in a flash to help the lion up. The chair had broken under Erik's weight. Kurt gulped. This was already progressing much faster than it should have.
"Yeah, I'm fine, I'm fine. Sorry about the chair. I can make it up, I promise--"
"That's all right--" Kurt interrupted-- "Here's $50, now we really have to go bye thanks the coffee was delicious!" He practically threw the money at the barista and tried to shove the leonid out the door. At this point, the lion had to duck under the main doors as well, his shirt riding up, exposing his toned midsection.
Once they were outside, it finally hit Erik that something was amiss. "All right, what's going on, Kurt?" He turned on the raccoon, who from his vantage point was nearly dwarfish by now.
"W-what do you mean?"
"Kurt." He crossed his arms, the motion accompanied by the ripping of his shirt's shoulder seams.
"Okay, I just wanted to test out this serum I got from a friend, but, well, I misread the dosage and--"
"And?"
"-- and, well, now you know why I wanted to be outside?"
"How bad is it, Kurt?"
There was a long silence. Erik must have been about 7 and a half feet tall by now and showed no signs of stopping. With one intake of breath, his shirt's buttons popped off, rattling on the ground like a handful of pebbles.
"I... might have given you about ten times the upper limit of the tests they did in the lab."
"What?! Oh, you've done it now, Kurt. I've been putting up with your bullshit for a long time, but this is the last straw! How am I going to go to work on Monday like this? It's going to--"
"Wait, wait, just listen, okay?!" The raccoon heaved a heavy sigh. "The good news is, the effects are only temporary. So you should be fine. But the higher the dosage is, the greater the residual effect on the body."
Another pregnant pause. "I'm listening."
"So you should be fine. You just... might end up with a few extra inches, is all."
"A few extra inches being..."
Rrrrip! There went the pants. "You may want to invest in a good tailor."
Erik sighed, running his paws through his mane. Here he was, in the parking lot, down to almost nothing in the way of clothing, and it was only going to get worse. "Well... let's at least ride this out. For now. We can deal with... what you did... later. What were the results of the lab tests?"
"Well, let's see. There was increased height, bone density, muscle mass..." he gulped. "L-libidinal effects..."
"You mean--?"
"Y-yeah."
Another sigh. "Fuck." Then... "Oh. Fuck." He looked around. By now he was level with the roof of the shopping center, able to see thrown sneakers, bags of trash, and other detritus that had made it on top of the building. "We gotta go." His briefs were already obscenely stretched, and by now everyone sitting at the storefront was staring. A wave of... something... ran through his body, and he resisted the urge to give the unwilling public a show. "We gotta go, now." He grabbed Kurt, by now the size of a child to him, and sat him on his shoulders, stumbling across the parking lot towards what seemed to be the edge of the city.