starlightcafe | New, and a bit alarming, who'd have ever thought that this could be?

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New, and a bit alarming, who'd have ever thought that this could be?

Lexi's first crush had come when she was about eleven, and had ended before she was twelve. Webby's interest in her and her family, though unnerving, had been flattering - and she was nice to Lexi. That went a long way to a kid who'd barely had friends outside of family prior to that. But, ultimately, it had been a passing infatuation with someone who she wasn't suited for, and who wasn't suited for her.

There had been other people in her teenage years - crushes and relationships alike - with all kinds of people, and plenty of meaningless flirtations in addition to those. For a while, she'd thought that was what she'd been doing with Gobo - flirting harmlessly. It was certainly fun, but he was, well, Gobo. It clearly didn't mean anything.

Right? The thing was, she found herself thinking about Gobo a lot, even when they weren't together. Notable experiences left her eager to tell him, and she often wondered if he'd like this or that thing... He was becoming a big part of her life. That was still a bit scary to Lexi with anyone, but in this case? Doubly so.

At least she knew who to go to when it came to any sort of strange thing like this. And she knew Louie was in town for a bit, so off to Donald's place she headed.

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The music was beautiful, and instantly had Lexi entranced... Then, after
a moment - and though Gobo didn't so much as open his mouth - she heard; she felt words, and more instruments, all of which left her feeling awed, but also... Comforted.

When she took the charm gently in her hands, the music seemed to intensify, at least for her, and that could have been the source of the warmth just as much the charm's magic, she felt, though she supposed they were quite connected.

There wasn't much chance to ponder it as she felt something in the pit of her stomach twist, a moment of discomfort as her body started to change shape and size... But a brief one only; it passed far quicker than the discomfort of her first merduck transformation. She could feel her feathers smooth down, almost melting away, it seemed, and then there was a cozy prickling as the fur took its place.

As the transformation continued, the view the other two would get would only be the faintest outline of Lexi's shifting body within a blinding light, until that brightness faded away and...

There she was, no longer a duck but a green-haired, orange-furred Fraggle. She kept her eyes shut even as the warmth and that general feeling of magic faded away, basking in what was left of the feeling.

The light and magic didn't so much die as simply pulled away, hands of its own releasing the butterfly back into the wild. Still it buzzed in the air as Louie caught the device, and as Gobo opened his eyes to look.

Whether Lexi had opened her own by then or not, the next thing she'd feel after the exhilaration of the transformation will be a bodily hug, as Gobo all but launched across the space and scooped her up in his arms. A joyous laugh went with that, words inadequate for now, and then he kissed her- and words weren't needed anyway, as he held her there with him.

She opened her eyes as she was hugged, not that she needed to to know who was hugging her, and who she was hugging in return. He was so happy, and honestly, so was she - just seeing him so delighted warmed her heart.

After the kiss ended - far too soon, no matter how long it had been - she leaned back to look at Gobo, her snout scrunching up in an amused way. "What do I look like?" she chuckled.

"You look like me!" A happy, bubbly sort of laugh. "You look like you! Hold on, hold on-"

"Full body mirror in my bedroom," Louie volunteered, and Gobo was off like a shot, tugging Lexi by the wrist. The excitement of the moment had infused him completely, coupling with the joy of the day overall. A girlfriend- a Fraggle form!- The promise of how much they could share now!

In Louie's room, he practically pushed Lexi up to the mirror so she could see her reflection, standing behind her with his hands on her shoulders.

Lexi laughed as well, letting herself be pulled along, even running to keep up. His joy was infectious.

Once in front of the mirror, she beamed. Being a merduck hadn't come with overall dramatic differences in appearance, not like this - and yes, just as much as then, she still saw herself. It was wonderful... And then her eyes wandered to the reflection of Gobo, and how excited and pleased he looked, and she whirled around to kiss him.

There was a surprised sound at that, but he kissed her back a moment later, wrapped his arms around her and spun her around once, taking advantage of the fact that now he could really interact, could get a proper embrace, could even pick her up if he wanted.

When he set her down and moved back, he put his hands on her shoulders again and looked her over.

"How is it? How do you feel?" It would be slightly incorrect to call it worry since it wasn't a negative feeling, but this Fraggle form would be so different from what she was used to- fur and fuzz, a completely different sort of body style, the long tail, and more. It must feel totally foreign, in a way he couldn't even guess at! He was wondering how she was holding up, but he was also intensely curious.

Oh, it was certainly strange. Arched feet were weird, for one thing. This kind of tail, too, and just being so small! But the most prominent thought as to how it was and felt came out of her mouth without hesitation.

"Cozy."

She ducked her head a bit with a little chuckle. "Walking feels kinda weird? And the shape of my face, that's going to take some getting used to, but that's okay! It really is... I want to get used to this."

With her head down, he could easily rest his snout atop hers, nuzzling faintly first.

"And I wanna help you get used to this."

She smiled as she returned the nuzzling. "Thanks, Gobo," she whispered, and- Well, she hadn't figured out how to control this new tail yet, so when it rose into the air, lazily waving back and forth, that was all on her happiness.

He noted that movement and laughed softly, leaning back a bit and taking her hands.

"Guess we'd better get started on that, eh?" He had no idea of how he was going to do this, he'd never had to teach anyone how to Fraggle like that before. But, just like everything else, they could figure it out together.

She nodded. "Yeah, and I think we'd better start with walking," she snorted. "You can't just pull me from here to there all the time."

He laughed, only somewhat sheepishly, and nodded.

"Yeah, good idea. This is as good a spot to practice as any."

"I know it's supposed to be, like, heel-to-toe, right? But that's harder than it sounds!"

She took an experimental - and notably flat-footed - step backwards. "I mean, sure, I'm not falling over, but it's gotta be easier than this."

He crouched so he could get a better look, watching her walk.

"Maybe if you actually tried walking heel-toe." He snickered softly and glanced up, then on seeing her face, cleared his throat and looked down again. "Here, just try it, slowly." A knelt-walk backward a few steps, to give her room.

She rolled her eyes, with a muttered comment about how he was lucky he was cute.

She took another couple of flat-fooded steps. It turned out a little angling of the ankle went a long way, though, and after a bit of pacing back and forth, she was starting to get the hang of it.

He watched her learn to walk, remaining where he was with an encouraging nod every now and then- At least, he stayed there until the third or fourth smack in the face with a barely controlled tail every time she passed him. About done spitting out bits of hair he finally stood up and moved back a bit more, laughing some.

"There ya go! I think you've about got it, now."

She couldn't help snickering each time her tail hit his face, still going even as she nodded at his conclusion. This wasn't so hard! She took a few, slightly quicker steps toward Gobo, and looped her arms around his neck.

"Yeah, I think so."

Gobo smiled, catching her as she came over to him, and nuzzling the length of her snout.

"Now we just have to work on your tail." A snickered, then he glanced at her. "I wonder if music comes naturally to you now, or we'd have to work on that, too?"

"Yeah- Oh. Good question, but I think there's an easy way to find out," she pointed out. "I could try your harmonica, or see what Louie has."

"Oh, my harmonica! It's worth a shot!"

He reached into a pocket and pulled it out, using a corner of his sleeve to wipe it off before handing it to her. A nominal gesture at best, but the thought was there?

She smiled as she took the harmonica, placing it to her mouth and exhaled a few breaths against the instrument. The first thing she noticed was how much that tickled, but then she realized... She was playing it. Actual notes that sounded good together, with no practice.

She liked that.

He smiled brightly with an excited noise in his throat, his tail waving behind him.

"That sounds great, Lexi!"

She continued to play for a couple of seconds, then lowered the harmonica with a grin. "Yeah? Thanks. Well, I guess that was effected, then, because I wouldn't usually know how to do that."

"I guess so! I wonder what else has changed, eh?" Someday soon they'd play music together, but right now the idea of experimentation was far more exciting. There were so many things to try now-

"Oh!" A quick pat over of his pockets, then he pulled a Doozer stick from one and passed it over. "Here, tell me what you think."

An amused quirk of the brow as he started searching for something, but that became a genuinely surprised look when he pulled out a Doozer stick. Those... Hadn't looked appetizing before, ever. Just kind of simple and plain, but the smell they gave off - admittedly quite faint, but perhaps her nose had improved? She wouldn't be surprised.

She took an experimental nibble, even though it was already appealing... And grinned, taking a few larger bites. All those years as a kid of avoiding eating vegetables!

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