Is this what you're looking for? (Finished)

[Lauryn de Vampyre]

Lariel went to lean her back against a brick building lining one side of the alley, when she felt her fins fold against the wall. She hadn't had these new mutations long and they were taking quite a damn long time to get used to.
The sun had set hours ago and most of the Outer Bazaar's patrons were now out in full force. Not every Card that came to this part of the Capitol was looking to be part of a shady dealing, but with run down buildings and lack of any street sanitation the area certainly did lend itself to a specific clientèle.

Though the Bobcat was a licensed private investigator by day, and on paper, that one job alone didn't seem to cover all of her bills and expenses. For awhile now most of her income came from her less than reputable job; a Black Market dealer. Her P.I. contacts came in very handy, especially when one didn't need to sweat the little things, like reputations or the law. Security, though, was something you had to take seriously. There was no such thing a complete anonymity, but Lariel made sure that if anyone were to squeal about her dealings the law would have one hell of a hard time proving it.

Which is why she was standing alone in the alley, waiting to meet with a person one of her previous clients had referred to her. The woman was needing a Full Species Favor. Just as luck would have it, Lariel had managed to get her hands on a couple of those just a few months back. The favors had "fallen off the back of a cart" on their way to a posh shop where they would be sold for more than a year's worth of her P.I. salary. As it stood, she could sell them for a very reasonable price to the buyer and make one hell of a profit at th same time.

Felaria... The Bobcat thought. That was the name of the Card she had scheduled this meeting with, through their mutual acquaintance. She had better have the money with her; I don't like setting up multiple meetings.

((OH MY GODS, that was horrible. [cringes] It has been SO LONG since my last post and it effing shows. Just bear with me, Jenn, as I get back into the swing of writing again. Oiy. This is embarrassing!))

[The Jenn]

Felaria had already begun to work her new body towards a semblance of "normalcy". Thankfully, her body had been Golfam to start. Nothing she could do about her changed suit, though the rank was already good. She'd gotten a gender favor from the Queen of Spades, which was probably the biggest part of everything for her peace of mind. Good to have tits again, and know where she stood on the gender scale. She stood where she belonged. Dammit, she was a woman.

And then there'd been the mane. She never would've thought that such a tiny little thing could mean so much. When she felt the weight of that ponytail sliding down her scaly skin, though, it was like a million memories came right on back. A sense of rightness. All for a stupid patch of hair.

Now, though, now she was after her old form. If she could get her rat back, she just knew she could remember the damn biped. She'd been born that way! It was part of her! Except that this body was weird and fucked up and holding herself up would be a good sight different. So. Off to the back alleys and the shading dealings for a favor she could actually afford. She wouldn't get any royal charity on this one, she knew.

[Lauryn de Vampyre]

Lariel had to keep stopping herself from leaning forward as if to go on all fours. This BiPed form was certainly impressive and useful, but she'd been so used to her animal form. Having to relearn how to work her body made her feel so... inadequate, and snarly. Thankfully her lionfish fins had sprouted at the same time she'd learned how to change into her BiPed form, and for her was just another part of this stage to get used to. The fins couldn't move separately, like a tail, but they could still move.

The Bobcat had been flexing and unflexing her fins when she noticed a dark form heading down the alley. Pushing away from the wall, Lariel crossed her arms under her chest and made the small yellow/orange spots on her fins begin to glow. She towered over the approaching Card and felt the added weight of her silver crown as she lowered her head to watch who she assumed to be Felaria. Huh, was that a lizard? That was certainly a species she didn't see very often.

With her fins glowing and her body in the middle of the alley, she was clearly visible but decided to let the other speak first. Just because this was probably her new customer didn't mean jack shit. Let the other one bring up business first.

[The Jenn]

The hell was all that glowing? Felaria stopped dead and stared at the thing in front of her warily for a moment. When it didn't move to attack or threaten, she slowly continued towards it and made out the form of a woman in the gloom. Feline? Sorgaire, certainly, which she'd been told to expect. What the hell were all those spiky bits?

If she'd had her own proper teeth again, she'd have bared them for show before speaking. As it was, baring gums did absolutely nothing but make her look stupid. She stopped where she was and assumed an awkward 'sitting' posture.

"I ain't gonna be a lizard for long, am I?" she asked the woman drily, establishing her purpose and her realm very clearly all in one go. Also a sense of her impatience, though she meant no real disrespect. "You the one what's got the inside handle on things of a less obtainable nature?"

[Lauryn de Vampyre]

Lariel had watched the Lizard hesitate. She supposed she did look... rather odd, now. The Bobcat took a deep breath and tried to calm herself, or at least the muscles around her back. Slowly but surely her fins began to relax until finally they were pressed as close to her fur as they would go - though the little spots on them still continued to glow. Still, without any lamps the alley was nicely lit for their meeting.

"You must be Felaria. The name's Lariel," she added, introducing herself. "No, you aren't going to be a Lizard for very much longer."

"This Full Species Favor," she said, putting her hand into the satchel at her side and drawing out the item her customer wanted, "will do exactly what you want in no time at all. The only wait you have yet is for us to complete this transaction."

Lariel slipped the item back into her bag, and out of sight.

"I assume you brought my money with you?" she asked, taking a step closer to the woman. Lariel personally couldn't understand the want or need to turn into any Species that wasn't the one you were born with. It seemed... unnatural, in a way. But then again, who had ever heard of a Bobcat with lionfish fins? So, she decided, to each their own. Besides, anything other than a Lizard simply must be easier on the eyes...

((*snorts* I had NO idea until this post that Lariel is a Grammar Nazi. That tickles me to death! XD And well, she's kinda a snob too! I LOVE finding out new things about my own characters. <3))

[The Jenn]

Oooh, fancy. It would be her luck to get the snobbish back-alley dealer, wouldn't it? Whatever. Felaria had lived with an Esterberry for long enough that little 'corrections' like that rolled off her skin like water. She had the goods. That was what mattered. That was all the Golfam wanted.

"Yeah, I gotcher money, Miss Law-riel," she said, laying it on a little thick. She stood up on her back legs, long lizard body bending with relative ease, and fumbled with a pouch tucked tightly to her stomach. It was one of the only ways she could carry an easily accessible pouch without wearing a collar like some sort of canine mutt. Her natural form would make that so much easier, even without biped.

With a careful gesture towards the entrance of the alley to block the view, she fished out an elongated bag of coins. Large denominations to make them less heavy, and those hadn't been especially easy to acquire without turning a head or two at the odd request. She held it out, her grip on the bag firm, and opened it to show the dealer that the money was legit. Presumably the woman had a way to check she was getting the real deal and not some sort of magical substitute.

((I love it when that happens! Nothing more satisfying than having random but squee-inducing trivia pop up out of the blue.))

[Lauryn de Vampyre]

She fought not to snarl at the southern twang pronunciation of her name. A bit snarly today are we? she asked herself. Lariel was impressed with the Lizard stood on its hind legs and was able to use its front legs as any BiPed form would. Apparently the reptilian body had more dexterity than she had given it credit. She also noticed a small pouch the woman was reaching into. The Bobcat always had the spells she had learned in the forefront of her mind during such transactions. She didn't know this female personally and couldn't afford to let her guard down.

Lariel stepped forward and gazed into the bag, making sure not to lower the silver crown on her head too much. She'd accidentally conked a few other Cards on the head by accident that way. A smile spread her lips wide at the sight of the coins within, and Lariel gently took the bag from her customer and stowed it away in her own satchel, then pulled out the Full Species Favor once again.

"This was a rare treat to come by," she said, holding the bottle aloft in her hands a bit higher than Felaria's head. "A member of one of the courts was supposed to be making these only for that Court, but when I happened to find out about his extra-curricular activities of selling them around the darker sides of the Market, I was able to persuade him to part with a few for my silence," she finished, lowering the bottle to the Lizard.

"You might want to take the Favor before eating though," she warned. "I was told the transformation could be a bit... jarring."

[The Jenn]

A bit of history before she was allowed to have it? That was fine. Felaria rested herself patiently on the ground, her body tense as a coiled spring and her eyes more on the feline than the favor. She had the money now - if funny business was going to happen, this would be the time. Unless the bottle was poison, in which case the time would be whenever. But she'd heard good things about this woman, which was why she'd approached her with the request. So.

Shit. Now or never. "Convenient," she agreed, carefully raising herself up again to accept the bottle. She stared at its contents for a moment, eyes flicking every second or two back to Lariel. She was a cagey thing. She'd existed too long not to be.

But sometimes, you just had to take risks to get what you wanted. She lived her life by that. Most times it paid off, even if it wasn't in ways she could have ever predicted. "Lesse if this product o'yours is worth all that money." And with that, she yanked out the stopper with her mouth and downed the contents.

Almost immediately, her body shuddered and spasmed. The bottle flew from her grip and rolled to rest near the wall, cracking but not shattering. She doubled over, heaving a little, some bile escaping her mouth but nothing more. She hadn't eaten. She'd been too damn nervous.

Fur began to sprout. Her shape began to change. Ears sprouted. And then, far too soon... things stopped.

She stood shuddering in the aftermath of the transformation. She certainly felt weird. But... but she didn't feel like a rat. Not really. There was still that stupid fucking skin dangling from her face, loose thanks to inattention. She heaved a few more times, muzzle strangely shaped. Then something in her head seemed to click. And all of a sudden, she wasn't on all fours. She was on hands and knees. And she still felt fucking weird.

[Lauryn de Vampyre]

((She is so gorgeous!!))

Lariel's eyebrows raised when the Lizard took out the stopper and downed the Favor right in front of her. Well, she personally would have wanted privacy for something like this, but then again they were pretty much alone already and the Bobcat saw the wisdom in making sure the product worked as advertised.

She watched the woman as fur began to sprout out of the lizard skin, as ears and a luscious green mane grew. Lariel frowned though, when the woman stopped changing Breed forms and started elongating. She cocked her head to one side and took a step back, her mouth open as if getting ready to say something.

This didn't seem right at all! she thought, and no sooner than that, the Bobcat realized what was wrong with the transformation. That fucking idiot!! She screamed in her mind, cursing the little wizard and his bag of tricks. He'd said they'd been Full Species Favors but it was only Half!

Still, she paused, looking over the newly formed Felaria, gaining a BiPed form -while not the equivalent of a full species transformation- was quite valuable. In fact, Lariel realized she didn't know anyone off the top of her head that could make such a Favor. This sort of thing was learned through training and study. After all, the Bobcat would know.

"Uh- Are you alright?" Lariel asked quizzically. No telling what half a species favor and becoming a BiPed could make a Card feel like.

[The Jenn]

Taking a few second to just breathe in a differently structured body, Felaria would feel the muscles and something in her head connecting, some muscle memory from before setting in. She remembered being a biped. She'd been one for the first fifteen years of her life. In Harold's mind, she'd still been one.

Things were different. Lizard was still there. But she knew how to move. Knew how to spring to her feet, tail balancing her motion, body crouched and ready to bolt.

But the woman had asked her a question in a non-threatening manner, didn't seem ready to bolt or attack. Well. Fine.

"Fuck you," she snarled, webbed fingers clenching into fists. "What did you sell me, you whore?! This inna rat!"

She felt wrong. Felt absolutely wrong, like some sort of mix that her brain was fighting and her mind was coming up with all sorts of horror story scenarios on how the ugly-ass lizard might have meshed with her native rat and done things that were wrong-wrong-wrong and would Harold even be able to look at her now, with whatever this had done to her?!