Kaila sat on the couch in Helen's living room, waiting for her host to return with tea.

The visit had gone very well so far. Kaila had been nervous about meeting her new neighbors since she moved into the neighborhood, but Helen had been friendly and welcoming, with no indication that she considered Kaila's presence to be an intrusion. It was nice to know that her anxiety about this had, as she hoped, been unfounded.

"Mow!"

Kaila stopped. A cat?

"Mrow!"

It was a cat! Kaila perked up on the couch and looked around.

"Meow!"

Ah, there it was! A little housecat with tan-colored fur, trotting towards her from one of the other rooms. Though, as it got closer...

Kaila's brow furrowed. It wasn't an ordinary cat. Most of its body looked normal, but where its head should be was, instead, a humanoid upper body.

"I've heard about your type of breed before," Kaila said. "A... 'taur,' right? You're supposed to be pretty rare. And smarter than normal cats."

"Mow!" The cat responded with another friendly meow as she trotted the rest of the way to Kaila. Kaila, almost by instinct, leaned over and extended a hand, and the feline trotted up and nuzzled her nose into Kaila's palm.

Kaila stroked the feline's ears, and was rewarded with a rumbling purr. "Well, you certainly still act like a normal cat. I wonder if there's anything else special about you?"

The cat licked Kaila's palm, causing a little shiver to go up her arm.

"Well, aren't you friendly?" Kaila said. "And so pretty, too." She ran her hand down the side of the feline's upper body. She really was a beautiful little cat -- her fur was soft and shiny, and that humanoid torso was slender and feminine. In fact, Kaila found herself feeling a little weird about the position of her hand, which was now caressing the hip of that cute little body, and Kaila could feel a slight blush warming her cheeks.

The cat, however, took Kaila's large hand in both arms and brought it back up to her head.

"Ah, I guess you prefer pets between the ears... hey! Ow!"

Kaila felt a small prick around her knuckle as the cat yawned, then pushed Kaila's finger inside.

"Careful, little kitty, that's my finger! That's not for... ow!"

Another prick, this time further up her hand, as the cat maneuvered the rest of Kaila's fingers into its mouth.

Kaila stared in shock at the bizarre sight. Most of her hand was now inside the cat's mouth, its lips stretched bizarrely around her digits. She could feel that rough tongue against her palm. And then...

Glck.

The cat swallowed, and Kaila's hand -- and a good portion of her arm -- vanished.

"Uhm..."

Kaila wiggled her fingers. She could see the feline's throat bulging with the motion. She could actually feel the cat's tight throat wrapped around her hand, the peristaltic motion trying to tug her deeper.

Glk.

Another swallow, and that sharp tongue pulled her in almost up to her elbow. The cat's torso didn't look nearly as distended as it should, given the amount of Kaila's arm that was already inside it.

Kaila swallowed hard. "Oh... oh god."

"Alright, I've got the tea ready! I hope you like Darjee... huh?"

Helen walked out into her living room, but her Kaila was nowhere to be found. That was odd. Did she have to go to the bathroom? But she would have had to walk by the kitchen to get there from the living room, and Helen hadn't seen her.

Helen felt something brush past her leg. She looked down to see Mitzi sauntering off towards Helen's studio -- one of the cat's favorite places to nap. Helen shook her head. Every time she saw Mitzi, it seemed like she had gained weight. She needed to put that cat on a diet!

Anyway, that could wait. She walked into the living room, setting the tray with the tea on the table. She called out. "Kaila? Are you still here?"

No reply.

Helen saw something lying on the floor, near where her guest had been sitting. Furrowing her brow, she leaned down to pick up the pair of objects.

Why had Kaila decided to leave so suddenly? Had Helen offended the girl, to cause her to flee without even saying goodbye?

And why on earth had she left her shoes behind?

Mitzi curled up in her favorite spot in the studio, a circular bed situated on top of a feline climbing structure. At this time of day, this was the perfect spot to soak up the sunlight from the nearby window.

Mitzi loved her life in this house. She had no worries to speak of, she could sleep all hours of the day if she wanted to, and she had plenty of stimulation and food. And her mistress sometimes even left special, delicious treats for her!

The cat's swollen belly squirmed slightly. The barest imprint of a hand could be seen pushing up through her fur. The sound of a panicked, pleading scream could be heard, but it was muffled, and almost entirely drowned out by the loud purring emitting from Mitzi's chest.

Mitzi let out a happy sigh, before closing her eyes to bask in the sun. She was looking forward to a pleasant afternoon.