Conventions were expensive, a fact that Alex was all too aware of. The funds needed to acquire plane tickets, arrange a hotel room with moderately close accommodations to the venue, and buying tickets to the venue itself certainly took a toll on one’s budget—and that didn’t even get into vending expenses. Usually this could be alleviated by splitting the cost with a buddy, though this wasn’t always a possibility. Fortunately, Agent was able to schedule some time off alongside with Alex’s travel itinerary and was fully prepared to split costs. The two found the flight much more enjoyable as a result, happily chatting about life, their work, their creative outlets and their latest media cravings. Even the trip to the hotel wasn’t as much an ordeal; two pairs of hands meant two helpers to hoist their luggage into the ride-share care, which they also split equally. They received a hotel room close to the elevators, and within walking distance of the ice machine and soda dispenser. There were other guests, fellow attendees amongst them, in the other rooms, all in good company. And the room was reasonably spacious for the pair, despite the single bed—Agent offered to sleep in the pullout. “Wouldn’t be my first time doing that,” Agent shrugged. “It’s only for a couple days.” “We could trade off,” Alex offered, the picture of fairness. “Since we’re splitting the room too.” “Whatever you want, Alex,” Agent smiled. He started idly organizing his own suitcase, placing his clothing into a dedicated dresser drawer to keep safe. Alex started unzipping one of their own suitcases. Inside was a head, or a costume of one. It was Bash, the fursuit pinata Alex so lovingly cared for and wore to similar events. Of course Bash would be attending the parties and con floor, receiving photographs and handshakes all around. “You excited for it?” Agent asked. Alex lightly turned their head. “Do you enjoy putting the suit on?” “Oh yeah,” Alex agreed. “It’s fun to act in character, after all. A pity you didn’t bring one yourself.” “Budget didn’t call for it just yet,” Agent explained. “Besides, I’m your handler for the weekend. I’d just like to observe.” “Fair,” Alex agreed. They zipped up the suitcase again, opening their second one to organize their clothing. “You did grab your ticket, right?” Agent paused suddenly. Frozen in shock. Alex grew increasingly nervous. “Agent?” Alex asked. “You, uh, DID buy the ticket too, right? Your own convention ticket?” A bit of air passed through Agent’s teeth, realization setting in. “I might have forgotten to do that…” he said, sheepishly. Alex facepalmed. “Come on, Agent, that was the ONE thing we came here for…” “Look, I’m sorry,” Agent said, embarrassed by this oversight. “Maybe I can just buy one—” “Agent, these events have tickets well in advance,” Alex reminded their friend. “You can’t just waltz up and buy one, they’re all sold out by now.” “Okay, new plan,” Agent offered. “I’ll take the hit this weekend and I’ll do better next weekend.” He looked out the window briefly, inspecting the sights of the hotel grounds. “I’m sure that, uh…shuffleboard would be a fun three-day activity for me.” Alex, while miffed at Agent’s epic failure, still felt bad for their friend’s plight. There wasn’t much they could do about it, however. Unless… They peeked down at their suitcase, where Bash was resting. An idea started to form in their head. “I’ll bail you out just this once,” Alex said, slowly. “We’ll just have to improvise.” “Improvise?” Agent asked, uncertain. “You mean, for the tickets?” “I know a way to get us both into the con for the price of one,” Alex explained. “Shapeshifter, remember?” “Oh, right,” Agent nodded. It was easy to forget his friend was a master at shapeshifting their own body to match their needs. “So what do you suggest?” Alex tapped their chin in thought. “I mean I could have Bash take a rest this con,” they said. “Maybe I could even help you out with your costume situation.” They turned to Agent. “What would be your ideal suit?” “Hmm?” Agent was surprised. “Well, I guess a mouse would be cool. But…” “Easy enough,” Alex smiled. “Hold tight for a moment, okay?” They sat in place, focusing their energy and their thoughts. Total concentration would be needed to warp their own physiology into something inanimate. They could already feel their skin softening, bone and organs evaporating into the ether. The real changes began to form now, with Alex’s skin starting to develop some fur, artificial in nature. Brown colored, sleek and shiny, just like the real deal. The fur had grown across their body, arms and legs, up their neck… Some of their limbs began to swell up now, to better match the exaggerated proportions of a proper fursuit. Their hands especially grew larger, with some paws forming while still remaining at least somewhat digigrade. Their feet, too, had swollen up to form similar paws that would properly fit shoes within. Such was the perk of being an active fursuiter and shapeshifter, they thought. No one knew the ins and outs of a suit than they did, and thus, they could warp their body to provide maximum comfort. Granted they supposed they could have merely shifted their body into Bash’s and saved the money, but there would be…complications in such a form. Indeed, the complications started occuring as Alex idly observed their larger hands. Their wrists began to feel disjointed, a large seam developing along the length, as though it were separating entirely. It soon began to fall off outright, first one hand, then another: disconnected gloves now, immobile. The same was true of their feet, the hindpaws falling off of their legs with a small plop. They could even feel on their back a growing, yet ticklish, tearing sensation, as well as a small zipping noise. A zipper, naturally, was forming to properly allow access into their new form. Their hollow shell would need to be worn, after all. As they felt their face contort into that of a mouse’s muzzle, they felt their mouth begin to harden into a cartoonish smile. The singular tooth was exposed in a grin, Alex’s face sealing itself. The only thing that remained mobile was their eyes, and even that was exaggerated into a wide-eyed toon stare that could pass for advanced digital additions. Best to not cause panic or fear in the con, after all. They began to feel their own head start to disconnect from their neck, a similar seam developing in a circle. They then felt it start to topple, before Agent quickly caught Alex’s head in his hands. The rest of the body, the fursuit proper, started to crumple with all air flowing out. Just like any suit would. “You okay there?” Agent asked Alex, cautious. He inspected their form carefully; a full-size mouse fursuit, indistinguishable from any other and certainly not resembling their friend. “Um…I suppose you can’t exactly talk like this…” Alex’s eyes gestured briefly, signaling to Agent. The sign was vague, but understandable to an extent, in that they were asking Agent to just slip them on. “Got it,” Agent nodded. He started to hoist Alex’s suit head up, then placed it down atop his own. His vision grew dark, the only source of light coming from the eyes, and it was far warmer within. “Problem solved,” Alex said. This was not out loud, but in Agent’s head directly. A form of telepathy or connection, mayhap. “I mean, it’s not the best solution, but it’ll do for this trip.” “Sorry you had to do all this for my sake,” Agent said, genuinely apologetic. “But you do make an awesome suit.” “I appreciate that,” Alex said. They would have smiled if they could. “Now slip the rest of me on and we can get going.” Agent nodded, carefully lifting up the pieces to the suit. So soft, so light, yet so sturdy. Alex did not mince details in their self-construction, evidently. He started to slip them on, piece by piece, stepping inside the bulk of the costume first and then slipping on the paws and feet. Agent peeked at the in-hotel mirror then, seeing his fully-costumed self. Alex certainly did an excellent job, fully resembling a high-quality mouse suit with a grin, an adorable yet flexible design perfect for the event. Even Alex looked pleased with the results. “Nice!” Alex declared. “Now we’re ready to go.” Agent nodded. Then a thought occurred to him, something they both overlooked. “Isn’t the con tomorrow?” An awkward silence fell over the two friends as their oversight hung in the air. All that excitement, too early. “Tomorrow,” Alex corrected. “We’ll be ready to go tomorrow.” … The con itself was rather populated, with assorted guests both in and out of costume milling about, visiting stalls, buying merchandise and waiting in line to buy merchandise. Alex would have been at one of those stalls themselves, but fortunately the previous convention was far more lucrative than anticipated, so they could simply rest this con before their later panels. “We’ll have to think about how you can still attend those,” Alex explained. “But let’s just enjoy ourselves.” In a combination of excitement and general jet lag, both Agent and Alex had fallen asleep shortly after Alex’s changes—with the shapeshifter still in their costume form, at that, their pieces gently placed off of Agent onto the bed in case they shifted back overnight. Not even Alex knew what would happen if Agent was still wearing them when that happened, and neither of them wanted to risk it. Still, the con proper was rather enjoyable for them both. Mingling with others, some familiar faces. More people seemed to recognize Alex’s name more than Agent’s and reacted accordingly, with Agent trying to play it cool to not be labeled an imposter. The walking and interaction was certainly tiring, and he did feel sluggish for some reason. A fortunate side-effect of being worn, Alex noted, was their limited ability to maneuver the suit themselves should they so chose. At first they allowed Agent free rein to wander aimlessly, his first con and all. But they could tell Agent was wearing down, and began to pick up his slack progressively, as being a suit meant no immediate fatigue from walking themselves. “Hey!” The sudden call-out briefly startled both Alex and Agent, but when they turned around, they instead were very pleased. Their friend Casey was running over to greet them with a wave and a smile. “Got a breather between autograph sessions,” Casey explained to the pair. “Glad you two could make it!” “You could recognize us both?” Agent asked, and Casey nodded. “You two are some of my best friends, loves,” they explained. “I know you from sight. You make a cute suit, by the way, Alex.” “Aww, thanks,” Alex mentally blushed. “I don’t think they can hear me. Agent, can you tell them I said hi?” “Alex says hi,” Agent agreed. “They can’t really speak like this, of course. Best to not cause a scene.” “Oh, I hear that,” Casey laughed gently. “So what inspired you two to wear each other?” “It’s a long story…” Agent tried to explain. But their throat suddenly locked up, silencing their voice. He tried raising his hand to clear his windpipe, as Alex in turn expressed surprise. So did Casey. “You okay?” Casey asked in concern. Agent merely gave an appreciative gesture, followed by a thumbs-up. “Alright, just checking. Hey, maybe you two can tell me later on, right?” A handler was signaling to Casey now, the voice actor noticing. “Oh, looks like we’ll be starting up again,” they realized. “I’ll try and meet up with you two later, alright? Good luck at the panel, Alex!” Casey ran back to their station, prepared to resume their signings. That left the pairing of Agent and Alex to their own devices, and Alex was far more concerned. “Are you really okay?” Alex asked, not buying Agent’s dismissal that easily. “You feel a bit…different in there.” “I don’t know,” Agent said. He thought this rather than speaking out loud, however; his vocal chords were still on pause. “But I feel…kinda weak, to be honest.” This wasn’t good, Alex knew. There could be any number of explanations, the most mundane being heat stroke from being in a costume for an extended period of time with no formal training. The more magical explanations were far more numerous. “Bathroom,” Alex decided. Agent’s legs were proving heavy, unable to move on their own. Alex moved them for him instead, marching their friend to the safety of a less used restroom. The stalls were all available, and Alex chose one at random, locking the door behind them. “This gives us a bit of privacy,” Alex explained. “Alright, just lift me off and we’ll take a peek.” There was no voluntary movement from Agent, once again forcing Alex to puppet Agent’s body into doing what was asked. They cautiously maneuvered Agent’s hands into gripping their own costume head, and lifted it off. What they saw shocked them. Underneath where their head used to be—the fursuit mouse adornment—was another suit head, completely identical to what Alex already was. Unmoving, silent. As Alex hurriedly started to unzip themselves, struggling with the zipper in the process, they could see the rest of Agent had converted into a fursuit as well, a perfect replica of the mouse costume. “O-oh gosh,” Alex blushed internally again, as they felt Agent begin to fall apart once exposed to the outside, nothing holding him up. Alex fell as well, but attempted to regain some footing, to slide himself out from atop Agent’s immobile form. Their parts scattered across the empty bathroom, the shapeshifter rushing to pull themselves together. Once all parts of Alex were condensed, they concentrated once more, reshaping back into their flesh and blood self. After a brief verifying pat-down, they immediately darted back into the stall to inspect their friend. Much like Alex was, Agent’s fursuit form was completely immobile. But perhaps they could still communicate like they could prior, just in reverse. Alex hesitantly put Agent’s head atop theirs to experiment. “Oh, this is weird,” Alex could hear Agent thinking again. “You okay, Alex?” “I should be asking you that,” Alex said, uncertain. “I think my residual shapeshifting energy rubbed off on you. So you became what I became.” They tapped their chin in thought. “I wonder, did you become yourself turned a suit, or yourself turned into myself turned into a suit?” “Maybe let’s think about that after we find a solution,” Agent said. “How do we reverse this?” “I’d have to research this,” Alex said. They didn’t have their notes on them, after all, and their laptop was being prepared for one of their later panels. “It’ll take a bit of time.” “Fair,” Agent consented. “So I guess we just kill some time, then. And hey, this is a perfect opportunity for you, eh?” Alex blinked. “You’re offering for me to take your place, right?” they asked. “Got it in one,” Agent said. “It’s only fair since you shifted for my sake. Now you can enjoy the convention your own way.” Alex had to admit, that did sound fun, circumstances notwithstanding. And they supposed if Agent was cool with it, so were they. Plus they could meet up with Casey afterwards together, work on a cure for Agent’s condition, and enjoy the rest of the days of the con. “Alright,” Alex decided. “But I get to take photos and selfies this time.” Agent laughed briefly, as Alex started putting on their friend in turn. This would, in other circles, be weird. To these friends, this was just another weekend.