Really Strange Stuff

=::= Callie's PoV =::=

I looked up at Bailey and her camera as I continued, "So how do we know exactly what year the Council was founded?"

"A valid question," Serenity responded. "And there's no-one more qualified to answer it than one of their own directors. Let's turn it over to Carlos Nahuel. Carlos, what do you have to say on the matter?"

Both of us turned to the left at the same time, just as Bailey swung the camera over towards the basement stairs. We were all quiet for another second or two, then my girlfriend stated "Cut! Perfect!"

"Finally!" my tall sexy ravenette catgirl friend sighed while her black fluffy tail twitched. "How many takes was that?"

My cheeks coloured and my ears drooped as I apologized again, "I said I was sorry. I don't know why I thought we were panning right for this one, or why I kept making the same mistake."

Bailey smiled as she replayed the clip on her camera screen, "The important thing is we got it this time."

"How many more of these are we doing today?" Serenity asked.

My girlfriend checked her laptop then replied, "We've got almost a dozen more of these short takes? And two longer ones."

"I thought we did all the long takes already," I frowned. "This is way too late to be changing the script around."

Bailey sighed, "These are retakes Callie. The first one has a big bloop I can't cleanly edit out, and the other one has a factual error that we didn't catch until post."

"We were probably too ambitious when we told everyone the episode would drop November twenty-sixth," she added with a grimace. "That's only nine days away, we're going to be working non-stop if we really want to wow people."

I was about to reply when my phone's ringtone sounded loudly from my hoodie pocket. Both Serenity and Bailey gave me a look, and I cringed hard.

"Sorry!" I apologized again. Then as I pulled my phone out I added, "At least it didn't happen while we were recording?"

Without checking the call display I swiped the screen and raised it up to my left temple as I answered, "Hello?"

It was funny how quickly I'd gotten used to holding the thing in the new location. I didn't need to press it right up against my ear, my hearing was sensitive and directional enough I just had to hold the phone up a little higher.

There was a brief pause before I recognized my mom's voice. She sounded awkward and uncertain as she asked, "Oh um, is Keith there please?"

"Ma it's me," I replied as my ears drooped slightly. "And I'm going by Callie now, like I said in my email. Didn't you see our October live streams? I know I sent everyone the links."

At that point Serenity made a show of focusing on her tablet, while Bailey looked like she was busy reviewing the clip we'd just recorded.

I knew my co-host could probably hear mom's side of the call, her feline ears were just as good as mine. Even if she couldn't, I didn't want to subject either her or Bailey to my half of what might be an awkward family conversation. So I gave them both an apologetic look as I got to my feet. My long calico tail was down between my legs as I hurried out of our basement studio, and up the stairs to take a seat in the kitchen instead.

Meanwhile mom had started talking again, "Very funny. I assume this is Bailey I'm talking to? Please just put my son on the line."

"Ma I'm your daughter now," I said as I stifled a little sigh. "I explained all this in my email, and those two videos I linked showed how it all happened."

"That's impossible," she insisted, although she didn't sound that sure of herself. "There's no such thing as magic. Those videos were just a publicity stunt. Weren't they?"

I shook my head, "No ma. Those were streamed live, it wasn't special effects or anything. Magic's real. I ignored the warnings and messed around with that enchanted plushie and got myself turned into a catgirl. Like I said in my email, I'm changing my name to Callie. I'm a girl now, I'm your youngest daughter."

For the next few seconds mom was silent, and I found myself almost holding my breath as I waited to see how she'd respond.

She finally sighed, "I did watch the videos, I've watched the first one with the transformations three times now, and I have a very hard time believing it's real Ke- I mean Callie."

"Yeah I get that," I grimaced. "I don't know what else to say though ma? I'm still me, I'm still working on the podcast and the video channel and stuff. Serenity and I are still housemates, and we're still best friends. If anything we've gotten even closer over the last few weeks? And Bailey's still my girlfriend, she's still doing most of the camera work and behind the scenes stuff for our show."

"Speaking of which I really can't talk long ma. We're kind of in the middle of it, and we're on a deadline," I added.

My mom asked, "What about Thanksgiving? Will you be coming home next week? You know we all miss you."

"Sorry ma," I shook my head. "I can't make it this year. I haven't got new ID yet and the last thing I need is some crazy hassle with TSA because my drivers licence is for a guy named Keith while I'm a catgirl named Callie."

She pointed out, "You can still drive though, can't you? Do you still have your car?"

I grimaced again, "I do, but like I just said I don't have new ID yet? And honestly we're way too busy right now ma. It's a full day's drive from here back to Arkansas, and it'd be another full day home again afterwards. And Thanksgiving's only two days before the episode's premiere, it drops at nine o'clock next Saturday night."

"Maybe we can get together next month?" I offered. "I can't make any promises right now, but we can think about it ok? Or for sure next year."

"All right hon," she sighed. "I just hate the thought of my youngest boy... I mean my youngest daughter being all alone for Thanksgiving."

That made me smile, "Thanks ma, but don't worry ok? For one thing I'm not alone. I've got Bailey and Serenity here, the three of us are going to celebrate together. Or Bailey said she might get me and Sere invited to her family's Thanksgiving? So either way, we're not alone."

She sighed once more, but it sounded more like her 'accepting things' sigh as opposed to the 'preparing to escalate the argument' one.

Sure enough she changed the subject slightly, "I still can't quite believe it's real, you know? You and Chaz..."

I corrected her, "Me and Serenity, ma. Please get the names and pronouns right, ok? Especially for Serenity, it's really important for her."

"Sorry Callie," mom apologized. "Tell me the truth hon, are you happy this way?"

I shrugged, "Yeah? Like I said on that second video, I'm not trans, not really. I didn't actively want to be a girl or anything, not like Serenity. I never knew how much she was suffering, you know? She kept it all to herself before, but this was a literal life-saver for her. For me, it's... It's fine. I'm already used to it. Things were weird with Bailey at first but she's ok with it too."

"Anyways don't worry about me ma," I added. "I'm happy, and things are going great with the show. Turning myself into a catgirl feels like the best mistake I ever made, you know?"

She didn't respond right away so I asked, "Hey do you know if pa saw those videos too? What about Savannah, and Dean?"

"Yes, your father watched them with me," she replied. "And I know your brother and sister have both seen them too. They all thought the same as me, that it was some sort of publicity thing you were doing..."

I nodded, "Maybe you can tell them it's true? Magic is real, ma. Me and Serenity are living proof of it, and we're coming up with more evidence every day. The supernatural is out there. It's been hidden for a long time but we're finally starting to uncover the truth."

"All right hon," mom said. "You be careful though, ok? Look after yourself. And please try and make time to come home for a visit? I'd really like to see my newest daughter with my own eyes."

That made me smile for a couple reasons, "All right ma. I'll do my best. But I gotta get back to work now, ok?"

"Ok Callie," she replied. "I love you."

"Love you too ma! Bye for now!"

=::= Serenity's PoV =::=

"So how'd it go?" I asked as my co-host came back down the stairs into our basement studio. Although the way her tail was standing up straight behind her while her ears were perked up told me she was in a good mood.

Bailey added, "How's your mom doing?"

The cute calico catgirl grinned as she sat back down in her usual spot on the sofa next to me, "It was good. Ma still didn't quite believe what happened to us, at least not at first? But she seemed to accept it as we talked."

"She's disappointed that I'm not going home for Thanksgiving," Callie added. Then she shrugged, "I explained that it just wasn't practical though. So we talked about maybe visiting next month instead? I don't know, I have to think about it."

I asked, "Did she say anything about the rest of your family? What do they think about your change?"

The calico shrugged again, "She said everyone watched the recorded streams? It sounded like none of them believed it was real though. Ma's going to try and talk to pa and my brother and sister, to let them know it's all true."

"How about you Sere?" she added. "Have you talked to your folks yet? What did they think of the videos last month?"

I sighed as my ears drooped, and if I'd been standing my tail would have ended up between my legs. Instead I curled it onto my lap and started idly stroking it as I replied, "They don't know yet. I haven't sent them those links, and I know they don't watch our channel."

"I've only emailed them once since it happened," I added quietly. "And that was just like, my monthly check-in? To let them know I'm ok, that I'm staying here for the holidays and stuff. I still haven't even come out to them yet. I'm ah, I don't know how they'll react when they find out I'm trans."

By that point Bailey was staring at me. The cute redhead adjusted her glasses as she pointed out, "You can't put it off indefinitely Serenity. And honestly, being trans doesn't seem like that big a deal compared to growing a tail and fuzzy ears."

"Yeah," I cringed. "That's the other thing I'm worried about."

Before either of them could respond I added, "My family's not as close as Callie's, or yours. It's no big deal. I can probably just keep putting it off indefinitely, you know? It's not like they're in a hurry to come all the way here from California to see me. And they haven't been after me to come back and visit them again either."

Bailey had a small disappointed frown on her face as she replied, "I still think you should tell them something. You can do it by email, like Callie did. Let them know you're trans, see how they react. If it goes badly then you can go back to ignoring them. But if it goes well then both you and your family will be happy you reached out to them."

"I guess," I sighed. "I'll think about it anyways. Maybe."

Callie moved closer to me on the sofa and slipped an arm around my waist as she said, "Whatever you decide to do Serenity, you can count on us to support you. We're with you all the way, alright? Team RSS sticks together."

"Right," Bailey nodded as she came around from behind her desk to stand next to the sofa, in front of both Callie and I. Then she leaned closer and wrapped her arms around both of us, so I was caught in a group hug. "Team RSS all the way."

"Aww," I couldn't help smiling as I reached up with one arm to hug Bailey while my other wrapped around Callie's shoulders. "Thanks you two. You're the best."

=::= Bailey's PoV =::=

"So are we ready to keep doing retakes?" the cute calico catgirl finally asked as we all separated from the group hug. "We should be able to get through the rest of them today, right?"

Serenity smirked, "As long as you don't keep forgetting which way's left and which way's right."

"And maybe put your phone on silent Callie?" I added with a smile of my own. "Or turn it off, so we don't have to worry about any more interruptions."

My girlfriend blushed, "I already said I was sorry! And I set my phone on silent after I got off the call with my ma."

I took a step back towards the camera gear, but paused and grimaced as I looked over the two catgirls. "Sorry you two, but I think you need to fix your hair and stuff. I should have been more careful when I reached around for the hug."

The tall raven-haired catgirl smiled as she got to her feet, "It's ok Bailey, the hug was more than worth it. I'll be right back."

Serenity was a lot more image-conscious now than she ever was before. I knew she was probably going to spend five or ten minutes in front of the washroom mirror, touching up her hair and probably her make-up too. Meanwhile my girlfriend just smiled as she ran her fingers through her short calico-coloured locks, quickly sorting out her cute pixie cut.

Then Callie jumped to her feet and planted a kiss on my lips before teasing quietly, "Did she really need to fix her hair, or did you just say that so we could have some alone-time?"

"It's true!" I insisted as my cheeks heated up. I returned the kiss though, before adding "You might not care about that sort of thing, but Serenity sure does."

I turned and headed back to my position behind the camera as I added, "If I'd just gone ahead and recorded takes while her hair was like that she'd have killed me when the episode dropped."

Callie smiled as she sat back down in her usual spot on the sofa, "It's sweet how you and Sere worry about stuff like that now. You never used to say anything about messy hair. Remember we even did that one episode with a mustard stain on my shirt, and you never said a word about it?"

"That's because I knew neither of you were too concerned about your appearance," I pointed out. "It made sense in Serenity's case. Now she's not struggling with dysphoria, she wants to look her best. And you should too, cutie."

My girlfriend was still smiling as she teased again, "I dunno Bailey. I think maybe you're into her. That'd explain why you're always checking her out, right?"

Rather than respond I just made an exasperated sound, then busied myself by checking the notes on my laptop again. Except my mind had already drifted elsewhere. For what felt like the thousandth time since that fateful October live-stream, I found myself marvelling at all the strange twists and turns my life had taken lately.

Like for one thing I always thought I was straight, but somehow I ended up in love with one girl while finding myself growing progressively closer and more attracted to her best friend as well. Then there was that meeting a few weeks ago, where the three of us ended up talking to a real live goddess and her demon girlfriend. Not to mention that said goddess hinted at the possibility of working with us more closely in the future.

Or the way I ended up living and working with two catgirls, on a project that allowed me to combine my education in photography and videography with my life-long interest in the supernatural. It was almost hard to believe the whole thing started with a chance encounter last March, when -

"Ok I'm all ready to go!" Serenity announced, jarring me out of my thoughts. She was just coming back down the stairs again, with her hair and make-up all perfect.

"What's the next retake we're doing?" the tall hot ravenette asked as she moved to take her place beside the petite busty calico.

I adjusted my glasses as I checked my notes one more time, "The introduction to Ida Larsen's confession video. There was something wrong with the audio and it's easier to just redo it than try and repair the audio glitch."

It took the two catgirls a few moments to review their scripts, Callie on her phone and Serenity on her tablet. Then when they were both ready I got the camera rolling and gave them the signal to begin.