Cadi was happy to be alone in her apartment with her food. She took her time to savor it, just making contented little sounds as she ate. Once she was done, she took a moment to explore the cozy set of rooms, sticking her nose into the fridge, playing with the fixtures in the bathroom. Somehow, even with as new as all of these things were to her on a rational level, she had an intuitive grasp of how these things worked as though she'd been using them all her life.

She puzzled at that for a moment before she let out a great big yawn. She frowned and made her way to the bedroom, slipping out of her clothes and under the covers where she was soon fast asleep.

As she slept, she found herself in an open, empty space. Grass stretching out around her with the dome of the sky above, and lovely, warm sunlight shining down on her. It was very pleasant here, and she couldn't help but stretch nice and big, basking in the warmth.

“Really nice here, innit," a human voice spoke from behind her, causing her to spin around and ready herself for a fight. The human she saw was... familiar. But how? Then it clicked. This was the man from the black place... the one she'd run into before he'd disappeared. He held up his hands in a placating gesture. “Easy, there, easy. I'm not here to hurt you. I'd be fucked if I even knew where 'here' is, to be completely honest," he said with a laugh. “Still, it's a damn sight nicer than the streets of Dublin, I can tell you that much."

She blinked, looking him over. The clothes that he was wearing, a mix of green and black were very much like the clothes she was wearing. She straightened up and gave him a wary look. “Who are you? What happened to us?" Her tone was frustrated, though that was fairly understandable.

“Name's Dorran. As for what happened, I've got no bloody clue. Last thing I remember is running from a group of guys who wanted to do me in. Next thing I knew, I was flying through the darkness, and I ran into a tiger... I'm guessing that was you, though you look different from when that happened," he said, tilting his head to one side and looking her over for a moment. “And for some reason, you're wearing my clothes. Bit confusing, that."

She frowned intensely, though she wasn't angry at him. Whatever had happened, clearly he wasn't the one who'd done it. His confusion was genuine. “Yeah... I'm different. I used to have four legs, not these legs and arms like you do." She looked down at herself, her brow furrowing, “It's like... we got smashed together... I'll bet you're why I know how to talk... and make human things work," she said, pausing for a long moment. “And I'm... Cadi."

Dorran gave her a big smile and bowed his head to her. “Glad to meet you, Cadi. Well, glad to get to talk with you," he said with a laugh before he thought things through. “Smashed together... like it's just... some kind of magic... now we're... kinda sharing a body? I guess you're the one in the driver's seat, though."

She frowned intently and nodded her head. “Driver's seat... yeah. No idea how it all works... but that sounds right."

“Hey, at least I'm pretty easy going letting you take the lead and all, y'know? And if you understand how human things work... maybe that is me working from behind the scenes."

“It's so... weird feeling you pushing at me the way you do. I don't like it... but... I need it. I'm a tiger, not a human."

He gave her a smile and a shrug. “Hey, I'm not looking to treat you like a puppet. If there's anything that... feels right, it's that you need whatever help I can give, just so that we can get our feet under ourselves and figure things out for ourselves. Maybe even... un-mash ourselves," he said with a laugh.

Cadi thought for a moment, tilting her head to one side and then the other a couple of times. “Un-mash. Maybe. Don't even know where to start," she said, stretching out one arm and looking at it. “Maybe even find a way for me to stay like this. It's... weird... but... I kind of like it..."

Dorran laughed, nodding his head. “I see that. Maybe we find ourselves someone who knows a thing or two about magic, and they can help us out." He let out a “Pfft," as he shook his head, “Magic... Sure, I grew up with the stories about the fair folk, but this... this is just nuts, and I wouldn't even know where to take it. I'm pretty sure we're not in fairy. But..." he trailed off, thinking for a moment before he shook his head and re-focused on the conversation. “Look, whatever it is... I can't think of anything but magic that would do this to us, and I know you agree that we need to get it figured out if we're going to stay safe."

Cadi let out a deep, heavy sigh, nodding her head with a dejected air, “You're right. We have to figure this out in order to be safe. So," she said, looking back up into his eyes. “I'll trust your nudges. As best I can, at least. At least you kept me from eating Carla. That would have made things pretty bad."

He laughed big at that, “No kidding. Wouldn't exactly make us welcome here. I'll do my best to go easy on you, but I'll have advice ready for anything that comes up, kay?"

She breathed and nodded her head. “Yes. I'll do my best not to push back. Too hard, at least. Unless I really have to."

He smirked and nodded his head, “Fair enough. I suppose that if it is a matter of life and death, it's pretty clearly all in your hands," he said with a sigh. “Just as a bit of advice, if they've got computers here and the internet, that's one thing it wouldn't be bad to get hold of. Probably a bit to get that, but it's worth a look," he added with a laugh.

She blinked and looked at him in a deadpan kind of way, clearly confused. “Yes... I'll... keep that in mind. Anyway, I guess... we're in this together," she said with a sigh. “I wonder if I can get to any other dreams..." she said with a little laugh and a heavy sigh.

“Probably. I guess just stop focusing on this one here? Think of something else?" He said, closing his eyes and taking a breath as he faded out of the space.

She laughed and shook her head, letting herself drift to dreams of hunting for the remainder of the night.

In the morning, Cadi woke in the bed and stretched, yawning nice and big as she just lay there for a long moment. When she got up, she shambled over to the bathroom, trusting Dorran to give her a sense of what she needed to do with the damn thing. There was a sense of suggestion from Dorran, and she looked to the shower. That would be nice.

She walked over to it and got it turned on, getting the temperature just right and grabbing a towel before she stepped under the water. Now, in Cadi's experience, water had always been cold. Cold water was quite nice. She enjoyed waterfalls, rivers, lakes... all of it. However hot water... blew all of that away. She let out a long sound of happiness as she just... melted under the stream of water pouring over her.

She breathed deeply, her hands just reflexively grabbing the soap and starting to wash herself with it. She lost herself in the luxury that this was to her, letting her worries about being humanoid... or part male just... wash away with all of the soap. Even after she was good and clean, she stayed there in the shower, letting the warmth soak into her muscles.

It was quite a while before she turned the water off and picked up the towel, drying herself off with it before she stepped out of the shower. She walked over to the mirror again, taking herself in. In her newly relaxed state, she was at least able to process that she wasn't bad looking... and so what if she had male parts? It wasn't like she was looking for a new male to pair up with, so... so what if she was partly male?

The shower really had been what she needed, and she made sure that she was good and dry before she went to find the clothes she'd been in the night before, seeing as those were the only clothes she had at the moment, and put them on once more. Some of them were... awkward and unpleasant, but she did her best with them all the same. The thing she put on her breasts, in particular, she was about ready to just tear up and throw away, but her breasts just... felt too big to not wear one.

So, with more than a few grumbles and only so much help from Dorran, she put her clothes back on and sighed as she made her way downstairs to the restaurant, where there were already other animal people like her eating. A lot of them were prey animal types, but she had a clearer head to not look at them as potential food. She walked over to Carla where she stood behind the counter and gave her a little wave.

The Rabbit smiled brightly and waved in return. “Well, I see you're awake at last," she said with a laugh. “Find yourself a seat, and I'll get you something to eat," she said, nodding to the tables.

Cadi found one that didn't have anyone sitting at it, and just... kind of looked around the room to take everything in, listening to the little snippets of conversation she could make out, seeing people reading newspapers or magazines... even one or two looking at a little flat thing that they held in their hands and poked at. Even Dorran was confused about those, though she wondered if that was what he'd talked about at the end of their conversation the night before.

Carla arrived soon after, setting a plate of food on the table, with bacon, sausage, eggs, toast, and a couple of pieces of fruit. She even set a mug of coffee on the table beside it. “There's cream and sugar right here that you can put in your coffee if you want. If you don't like it just as it is, I suggest you give those a go," she said, her tone quite easygoing with her surprise guest.

Cadi thanked her and got to work eating. The coffee wasn't really her thing on its own, but after she'd added one of the creamer packets and a good bit of sugar, the taste made her face light up. Still, that was nothing compared to the bacon. Now that was heaven, and the rest of the food was spectacular, too.

Not that a fresh kill was bad, especially with the satisfaction of the hunt, but she was quickly coming to understand just what the human way of preparing food had to offer. Especially the seasoning... that was entirely new for her, and she had no idea how she would be able to work that into her old way of eating. For that alone, she really wouldn't want to go back to the way she had been.

After she was done eating, there was a bit of a lull in the activity at the diner, and Carla came to sit with her for a moment. “Hey there. So, you're looking a lot better off this morning. Amazing what some good food and a good night's rest can do for you, yeah?'

Cadi laughed and smiled, nodding her head, letting out a heavy sigh. “Yeah. Even had a dream last night where I saw the guy I ran into in the dark place. Kind of seems like... he and I got smashed together... explains the human-like body... and a few other things, like how I know how to talk and use human things. It's weird."

Carla raised an eyebrow at that, “Gotcha... that's pretty weird... but..." she paused for a moment, looking off into the distance before she took a breath and continued, “It helps things make sense, but at the same time, it doesn't really change what to do next, yeah? First steps pretty much stay the same. You're going to want to hit the intake office, they'll get you registered so you can start figuring out a job and all of that, and they should give you some money to get some essentials like clothes, stuff to wash up with, and a phone."

Cadi followed pretty well until that last one. “A phone?"

Carla reached into her pocket and pulled out one of those little things that some of the others had been messing with. “Right, you're a tiger, not a former human. This is a phone. It's how you communicate with people, and it lets you use the internet."

Cadi's ears perked up at that, recognizing one of the things Dorran mentioned, though there was a general sense of confusion from the human in her mind. “Oh! Internet. Dorran mentioned that last night, though I don't really know what it is," she said with a laugh.

Carla smirked and sighed, shaking her head. “You're too cute sometimes, you know that? Anyway, yeah. It's nearly impossible to get on in this world without a phone these days."

Cadi nodded her head, just kind of pushing past Dorran's indignation and confusion. “Okay, so where do I start?" She was happy that there was a plan, even if it wasn't hers.

Carla pulled out her notepad, drawing out a simple little map, showing the way to the intake office, labeling the key streets to follow along the way. “So, if you follow this path, you'll get there without a problem. If you get lost on the way, just ask someone how to get to the intake office. Everyone knows where it is, especially since they had to go there when they first arrived, and it's where you go when you need help. And don't worry, people are pretty friendly to newcomers here. We're all in the same boat, after all.

Boat? This is a boat? Cadi didn't say that out loud, but it got a laugh out of Dorran. “Thank you, Carla. I don't know what I would have done without you," she said with a great big smile on her face.

The rabbit smiled nice and big, leaning over to give Cadi a hug, “No worries, hun. It's all part of life here in the big city," she said with a big smile. The hug was nice. Like, really nice, and Cadi returned it happily, breathing deeply.

They chatted for a little longer before Cadi got up from the table and set out for the intake office. It was... strange to her when she got out onto the street. It was so bright and colorful, with so many other people around. She'd never been much of one for crowds, but Dorran seemed to be right at home here, so she kind of eased into his confidence as she followed the map.

It wasn't hard for her to get her bearings. If there was one thing she was well wired for, it was navigation, and Carla' map had been good and plain, so it wasn't long before she was standing in front of a building declaring itself to be the Transhuman Operations Agency. She frowned at the name, shaking her head a little, but there really wasn't much to do about it.

She walked inside and was greeted by what had clearly been built and furnished as a stark, soulless bureaucratic office... but which had been decorated and worked at to make the place... actually feel kind of inviting. They'd done their best to soften the harsh angles, bring color and warmth into the space, and even had crammed a lot of the institutional chairs off to one side, bringing in some couches of different sizes to take their place.

Even Dorran was surprised by this. Still, Cadi made her way up to the counter, where a black wolf was sitting and typing away at a computer. As she approached, he looked up at her with a warm smile. “Good morning. Welcome to the TOA. How can I help you today?"

She blinked just a moment before she took a deep breath and said, “I'm... a new arrival. Newly... changed. I didn't use to be human, I used to be a tiger, but I got... combined with a human, we think. I talked to him in a dream."

The wolf's ears perked up at that, his face quite excited. “Oh wow. I've heard of people like that, but I've never met one! Hold on," he said, pulling out one of his drawers, flicking through a few tabs before he pulled out a manilla folder and closed the drawer once more. He set it on his desk before opening it up and pulling out a bundle of things. “There'll be some good stuff in here for you. Thankfully, you can speak, and I take it that you can read? That'll make things a lot easier," he said, taking the top few papers and a pen.

He wasn't having her fill out the form, thankfully, he was doing the writing for her, but he was asking quite a few questions. She answered to the best of her ability, and after a while, he had her walk over to stand in front of a camera, snapping a picture of her. It wasn't long before he had an I.D. printed out for her, which he put with her other papers and documents. “Now, there's a pamphlet in there which will go over things in a lot better detail, but for the time being, the most important thing is going to be these things," he said, pulling a few cards out of the bundle and spreading them out for her.

They included her new I.D. and two other similar cards that had her name printed on them, along with a chip and some random-looking numbers. “This card," he said, pushing forward the black one, “Will make sure that you can get food to eat for the time being. This one will let you buy things. It's got money on it, and there's information in your packet on how to go to the bank to put more money onto it," he continued, pushing forward the red card.

She reached out, running her fingers over them, just kind of taking them in. This was way more complicated than things in the jungle. She took a deep breath as she was processing everything. “So... I can go get clothes... and a phone and that kind of thing?"

He smiled and nodded his head, “Yes. The phone companies here work with the TOA, so you shouldn't have a problem with it."

She let out a sigh of relief, “Good. I guess... I'll take this and go get what I need," she said. Her tone wasn't enthusiastic, but at the same time, it wasn't frustrated.

He smiled at her gently, just being nice and easy with her. “Hey, I know the name on the building is pretty... cold, but the people inside aren't. It's just the name the government saddled us with. If there's anything you need, we're here to help."

She gave him a smile, nodding her head, “Thank you," she said before she walked back out onto the street, carrying the manilla folder in her hand as she just took a moment to breathe. She walked over to a nearby park, sitting down at one of the tables and pulled out the pamphlets to look over. One thing that was included was a map of the area, with shops labeled. She looked over that for a moment before she picked an area that had clothing stores and a cellphone place.

With that map now in hand, she wasn't as worried about finding her way around the place and set off through the streets. There weren't a lot of cars, the enclave wasn't really big enough to call for it, and it wasn't very far at all to the little shopping district she'd found.

The corgi who owned the clothing store she went to was quite friendly, helping her pick out a handful of outfits and even a little shoulder bag to tuck her things into and a wallet. She went to pay for the clothes, but the corgi gave her a playful little wink, ringing them up for far lower than they had been marked down as. “Welcome," she said, giving Cadi a little bow of her head.

The next stop was the cellphone store, where she got a sleek little slab of metal and glass, which Dorran just couldn't stop freaking out about in the back of her mind. She couldn't help but smile a bit at how he was reacting. The clerk showed her how to wake the phone up, how to download and use apps, and all of that. Even went over how to keep it charged, and made sure that she had a case for it before she left.

Cadi was quite entranced by the thing, beaming happily as she walked out of the store, making her way over to a park so that she could sit and play with it a little. She downloaded... probably more games for it than she needed, or would really end up playing, but she couldn't help herself.

After a while, she looked up from the phone, just drinking in her surroundings. It was, honestly, a really pretty day outside. The sun was shining, there were loads of flowers in full bloom, and there were people just having a lovely time. And she was having a pleasant time just watching the people in the park.

Though, as her eyes drifted around, they suddenly stopped, coming into tight focus. She couldn't help but lock onto a short brown tail with a white, fluffy underside, just taking in the tail for a moment and the lovely, shapely backside beneath it before they moved up along the rest of their owner's body. The doe connected to that backside was... just... adorable... and Cadi could feel her heart starting to race as her eyes were taking her in with predatory intensity.

A low growl rumbled in her throat as her tongue slid out to lick her lips. She could hear Dorran in the back of her brain, trying to get her to back down from her predator drive, but... there was no stopping her. She got up from her seat and grabbed up her shopping bag as she walked over to the doe.

She couldn't help but keep glancing down at her backside as they walked, her brain very much stuck in prey drive. And the doe was so... blissfully ignorant of her presence, it was just... way too easy.

As she finally closed the distance, she came right up behind the doe and slipped her arm around her waist as she purred deeply to her. At first, the doe froze in place, her body tensing up before she turned to look at Cadi, the white fur on her cheeks turning a rosy red as she let out a little whimper.

That was, in some ways, the wrong reaction. To Cadi, though, it was the right reaction. She breathed deeply and smiled at the doe, leaning in to nuzzle into her cheek before rubbing her head against the doe's. She was claiming her... marking her with her scent.

For her part, the doe remained frozen... but she whimpered so sweetly, and her heart was racing so wonderfully in her chest... and heaven help her, she could not help but press closer to Cadi, making... such... amazing sounds for the tigress' wild mind. Dorran more or less threw his hands up in the air and walked away for the moment as Cadi brought her muzzle down to the side of the doe's neck, breathing her in deeply before she opened her mouth and lightly raked her teeth over the doe's throat.

The poor doe nearly passed out at that point, though the sounds she was making were far from upset. She leaned heavily against Cadi, clinging to her for support... and for her part, Cadi helped hold the doe up, smiling warmly. The doe lightly pawed at Cadi, breathing deeply and slowly, a gaze of longing in her eyes. “I... do... you want... to... go somewhere?" Her tone was tentative but hopeful.

Cadi smiled nice and big, “I would love to," she said, the purr so nice and deep in her chest, which made the doe blush softly and snuggle in closer against Cadi.

“Lovely..." Cadi said as the two of them walked out of the park side by side.