Really Strange Stuff

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

"It's not our format that's the problem," Serenity said between bites of her spring roll. Her ears were angled forward but her long fluffy tail swished back and forth behind her as she added, "Not directly anyhow. It's more that there's just so damn much content."

After a gulp of her cola she added, "Look at it this way? There's five centuries of records that cover Europe, North and South America, and parts of the far east. The last three centuries cover practically the entire globe! There's just no way for the three of us to turn all of that into episodes, not in our lifetimes anyways."

My ears were focused on my two friends while my tail twitched around in mild irritation. I snagged a chicken ball with my fork but before eating it I asked, "So what are you saying? It's less than a week before the first episode drops, it feels a little late to start messing with our format."

"I think the first episode is good," the tall ravenette catgirl replied. "And our plans for the second one are shaping up too. They're a good starter, they introduce our viewers to the existence of the Council, and go into some details about how it started and where it ended. I just think we need to treat them as a sort of prelude, then switch things up after that."

Bailey had been quiet for the past few minutes, just listening to my best friend and I talk over the Chinese food we had delivered. Lately I'd found myself less sure of her mood or how she was feeling, mostly because her little human ears didn't move around and she didn't have a tail to help broadcast those things. Serenity and I had a much easier time communicating with each other sometimes, since we had those extra nonverbal cues available to us.

After another second or two my girlfriend swallowed a mouthful of shrimp-fried rice then commented, "I agree with Serenity, it's too big for us to try and cover the whole thing in full detail. And I really don't think we should try."

I tried to protest but she didn't give me a chance to get a word in. The cute redhead kept right on talking as she looked back and forth between me and my best friend.

"For one thing I think that blurs the line between our original mission statement and something more like a history channel?" Bailey stated. "Or history and current events. Yes the Council was all about keeping a lid on supernatural stuff, but trying to do a documentary about the Council's entire history would be too big a scope. I think it would dilute the supernatural coverage with a bunch of historical stuff, plus we'd probably get caught up trying to cover all the latest news about them as well."

She continued, "And honestly, I think the current situation with them is another reason to take a step back? Some of this is still going on right now. Almost half of their board of directors are facing criminal charges in various European courts. A lot of them will be going to trial soon, and some of that could end up being covered by mainstream news orgs. Then there's all the Council directors who've gone missing. I'm sure some went into hiding, but we all know Kid Chaos must have exercised some divine wrath on at least a few of them."

"Exactly my point," Serenity nodded in agreement. "We don't want to be interfering in open court cases. And whether the missing directors are in hiding or they got smote by Kid Chaos, either way I don't think we want to broadcast that. It feels like the sort of thing that could put us or our viewers in danger. Last thing we need is some loyal supporter to spot one of those missing directors and get themselves killed when they try and get involved somehow."

I sighed as my ears and tail all drooped down. Rather than respond right away I focused on the food again. I helped myself to another scoop of the fried rice, then snagged two more chicken balls.

"Ok so what's your idea then?" I finally asked. "What do you two think we should do with the third episode? Or all the episodes after one and two are out of the way?"

My tall attractive cohost replied, "I was thinking we could start basing our episodes around the Council's cases. Not necessarily one episode per case, and we definitely wouldn't be covering every single file. I'm sure a lot of them are boring duds. But we were already talking about looking into their local cases, right? We should definitely do that, and maybe expand to cover all the best ones that took place here in the States?"

"I don't think we should limit ourselves based on geography like that," Bailey responded. "I know we're not going to be able to go on location to research cases all over the world, but we can still do a lot just working through the internet. Maybe even interview folks remotely, if they're up for it."

"Good point," Serenity agreed, while her ears and tail stood up.

"We won't be flying around the world to investigate stuff in Spain or Brazil or wherever," she added, "But from what I've seen a lot of the background information's already in the Council archives. So we pad that out with some stock photos of the locations, maybe score some remote interviews, maps if we need to explain where these things took place. Then the rest of the show is you and me on the studio sofa, bringing the news to our viewers like always."

I frowned quietly I thought through everything she and Bailey just said.

Meanwhile my girlfriend commented with a smile, "This actually reminds me of some of those old paranormal shows, where every week they covered a new case or investigated a new haunting or something like that."

"I always loved those shows when I was a kid," I admitted quietly, while my tail swished around behind me.

"Same," Serenity agreed. "Those were the sort of shows that inspired Callie and me, back when we first got together and started working on Really Strange Stuff."

After another couple seconds I grimaced, before that shifted to a smile. By that point my tail was sticking up, so were my ears.

I finally nodded, "Yeah ok. That stuff you suggested, that actually sounds like a pretty good format to be honest? Not too different from what we're used to, just a little more desk research and less boots on the ground location shoots."

"We can still go on location when it's practical," my beautiful best friend reminded me. "Anything in the continental USA is on the table, if we don't mind the drive."

She added a moment later, "After we get updated drivers licences and everything, I mean."

Bailey adjusted her glasses and asked, "Any more progress on that?"

"Nah," I sighed. "I don't know what to do about it yet either."

Serenity made a face, "In this case the instant magical transitions actually makes it harder? It's one thing to file for a change of name, but people looking at us now compared to our existing ID won't believe it's really us. They'll think we're just really bad at identity theft or something."

My girlfriend munched on her spring roll for a couple seconds, before coming up with an idea. "So this might be a long shot, but maybe you could ask Kid Chaos? I mean, she created the magic plushies right? And we know she's a goddess. There must be something she can do."

"Huh," my best friend gave me a thoughtful look, while her ears stood up and her tail swished around. Then she pulled out her phone and said, "I guess it's worth a shot? I'll DM her and ask if she can help us."

My tail started twitching as I couldn't help teasing, "Maybe we should ask for another plushie too? For Bailey, I mean. I bet she feels left out right now, being the only one on the team without fuzzy ears and a furry tail."

Bailey rolled her eyes and teased back at me, "Careful kitty, don't make me get the water squirter."

Serenity smirked as she continued tapping out a message on her phone, "What kind of cat do you figure she'd be? I'm guessing ginger tabby."

"I'm not going to become a catgirl," my girlfriend insisted.

"C'mon babe," I grinned, "You don't know what you're missing out on!"

My best friend seemed to side with Bailey at first, "Settle down Callie, if she doesn't want to be a kitty we should respect her wishes."

"Anyways now that I think of it she'd probably rather be a foxgirl," the sexy ravenette catgirl added with another smirk.

I laughed, "Not that big a difference, right? Foxes are just cat software running on dog hardware."

"That's a gross oversimplification," my girlfriend frowned at me. "Foxes and cats share some behavioural traits, but only because they fill similar niches in their respective environments."

She continued, "They're both predators, but they're also prey. Which means they always have to watch out for bigger predators. That combination of being little hunters while also being wary of being hunted themselves is what leads to a lot of the behaviour we think of as distinctly cat-like, because we're generally more familiar with cats. So when people see that behaviour in foxes it reminds them of cats."

My best friend and I shared a look, both of us had our ears perked up and tails swishing around in amusement. Then Serenity nodded, "Like I said, foxgirl."

"Right on," I agreed with a wide smile.

Bailey made an exasperated noise and insisted, "I'm not...! Oh whatever. I'm sure Kid Chaos won't waste a plushie on me anyways."

"Sorry hon," I apologized as I wrapped an arm around her. "We got carried away with a little fun, neither me or Serenity expect you to do anything you don't want."

My friend nodded, "What Callie said. Even if I do think you'd make a damn fine foxgirl."

That got my girlfriend's cheeks heating up. She slipped an arm around me though and leaned into the hug as she sighed, "It was stressful enough having to explain to my mom that both of you turned into a couple catgirls before coming out to her as bi. I don't even want to think about what it'd be like having to tell my folks I'd joined the furry ears and tails club."

"I don't know Bailey," I commented as I gave her a gentle squeeze. "From what you've said, something tells me your mom would be ok with it? Didn't you say one of your other relatives are already part of that club?"

Bailey continued blushing as she sighed, "Yeah. I don't know yet who, but we're going to find out in a couple days."

"I know it's not my dad," she added as she finally let go of me and straightened up. "So that leaves either my aunt, uncle, or one of my two cousins."

Serenity finally put her phone down as she announced, "Ok message sent. I asked if Kid Chaos can help us out with our ID and official documentation and stuff."

"You didn't ask her to send me a plushie did you?" Bailey asked as she gave the tall sexy ravenette a look.

"Nah," my best friend shook her head. She was still smiling though as she added, "I did ask her if she thought you'd make a good foxgirl, or if she figured you were more of a ginger tabby like my first guess."

The redhead glared, "That's it, I'm getting the squirter."

Fortunately me and Serenity both knew Bailey was joking, and sure enough my girlfriend didn't actually get the squirter. Instead the three of us just finished our dinner together, then we all helped tidy up. Leftovers went in the fridge, dishes in the sink, and finally the three of us settled down on the sofa in the living-room.

As usual I was the lucky little kitty in the middle, with a tall sexy ravenette catgirl on my left and a pretty redhead on my right.

"So here's a question," Serenity said as she picked up the TV remote. "What do we do next time we get a hot tip about a haunting, or a cryptid sighting, or a vampire attack? Now that we've already got proof of all these things, and enough source material to last us the rest of our natural lives."

She looked at me and Bailey and asked, "Do we keep going out and trying to get footage or proof of these things? Or are we moving past that now?"

"Huh," I frowned and my ears twitched as I thought about it. "What do you think, Bails?"

My girlfriend adjusted her glasses then suggested, "I say we take it on a case by case basis? If it's a good hot tip then maybe we check it out. If it's my cousin's boyfriend's brother saw something while he was out drinking in the woods, then maybe we pass on it."

"Sounds like a good way of handling it to me," I agreed.

Serenity nodded, "Yeah ok. I agree, case by case is the best way to handle things."

A few minutes later the three of us were sort of cuddling together on the sofa as we watched some sitcom on TV, when my best friend's phone buzzed with a text message.

She fished it out and had a look, then smiled. "It's from Kid Chaos. She says she can help us with our ID and other documentation, if we promise to use our plushies and go kitty-mode at least twice a week."

I grinned, "That's all? I already do that two or three times a week anyways."

"Yeah same," Serenity agreed.

She started tapping out a reply as she added, "I'm texting her back that we both agree."

I smiled, "Nice. Oh hey, what did she say about Bailey? Fox or tabby?"

My girlfriend grimaced and started to protest but Serenity responded first, "Fox. Totally fox."

"Seriously?" Bailey asked, with a skeptical look on her face.

The tall sexy catgirl smiled as she turned her phone so Bailey could see the screen, "Seriously."