My cat Urus - 7

It began with whispers.

First, Marcus gave him a weird look during gym. “You’ve been skipping arm day or something?”

Brad frowned. “What?”

“Dude, your shoulders look… kinda small.”

Then Jenna chimed in the next day, squinting at him in homeroom.

“Okay, I’m saying this with love,” she whispered, leaning across the desk. “You’re, like… glowing. Your skin’s smoother than mine. Are you on a skincare routine?”

“I wash my face,” Brad grunted, suddenly aware of how his shirt clung around his waist, how his jeans didn’t sit the same on his hips.

By the end of the week, he couldn’t deny it anymore.

His voice cracked upward sometimes. His shirts were tighter around the chest. His hair brushed his neck even when tied back.

And every morning, the mirror became an enemy. A stranger stared back, still Brad, but not quite. The softness. The curves. The little sway in his posture he didn’t remember learning.

He tried to hide it, of course.

Hoodies, low hats, sleeves pulled over his hands.

But people were noticing.

And he couldn’t explain it.

That Friday night, Brad locked his bedroom door, hands trembling. He turned to the corner.

“Urus.”

The spirit uncurled slowly from the shadows. He looked rested. Pleased.

“Hello, Brad.”

Brad stormed up to him, chest rising with ragged breath. “You lied. You’ve been changing me behind my back.”

Urus blinked innocently. “Lied? No. You consented to nightly transformation.”

“Yeah, but, just when I’m asleep! Not this! Not this!” Brad gestured at himself. His voice cracked upward on the last word, painfully feminine.

Urus circled him lazily. “You never asked me to undo the changes when you woke. You assumed. Not my error.”

Brad clenched his fists. “You sneaky little..!”

The spirit stopped in front of him. His golden eyes glowed brighter.

“You’re angry,” he said softly. “But it’s misplaced. You gave me permission. You slept, and I learned.”

Brad growled through clenched teeth. “Turn me back. Now. Or I swear..”

“You’ll what?” Urus asked, voice cool and sharp now. “Scream at your cat? Punch your mirror? Your body is still yours… just improved.”

“I never wanted this!” Brad shouted.

Urus tilted his head. “Then perhaps you should’ve chosen your words more carefully.”

Brad took a breath. Then another.

Calm down. Think.

He tried to steady his voice. “Fine. We’ll make a new deal.”

“Go on,” Urus purred, floating just above eye level.

“No more changes without my clear, spoken consent,” Brad said slowly. “And when this is over, when you go back to wherever you came from, you fix everything. You put me back. Exactly the way I was.”

Silence.

Urus stared.

Then, slowly, he grinned.

“No.”

Brad blinked. “What?”

“I decline,” Urus said. “Your body is now a vessel of observation. It is mine to adapt, refine, and learn from. You want me gone? Then help me finish my task faster. But until then…”

He circled Brad again, his voice now smooth as silk.

“Your body is mine to mold. Your shape is mine to refine. You may speak, but I do not need permission anymore. Not after how you tricked me.”

Brad felt the heat rising in his chest. “You’re breaking the rules!”

“There are no rules,” Urus said simply. “Only leverage. And right now, you have none.”

Brad’s breathing grew heavier. His hands shook.

His body trembled, not from fear, but from the sheer pressure of holding back the rage inside. He wanted to scream. To fight. To rip this thing out of his life.

But he couldn’t.

He couldn’t fight something made of mist and energy and smug superiority.

So instead, he did the only thing left.

“…Fine,” he spat. “You win.”

Urus stopped, hovering.

“I’ll help you,” Brad said coldly. “I’ll do whatever it takes to finish your dumb human research. Just leave me the hell alone during the day. Do whatever you want at night. Just go home as soon as possible.”

The spirit slowly descended to eye level. “You’ll help me?”

Brad’s jaw clenched. “Yes.”

A long pause.

Then Urus smiled.

“Deal.”

A pulse of heat rushed through Brad’s body, deeper than before. Binding. Final.

He stumbled back, feeling it settle into his bones like a contract burned into his soul.

And Urus? He just floated gently upward, pleased.

“Thank you, Brad. With your cooperation… I may return home much sooner than expected.”

He vanished in a shimmer.

Brad stood alone in the dim bedroom, chest rising and falling, heart hammering in defeat.

He was still Brad.

But not for long.