Another Anthrocon story "sketch", this one for  ComicTF

I feel like a massage parlor is the perfect place to become an anthropomorphic ferret. It just *feels* right, ya know? Very appropriate, especially for a transformation directed by a thorough massage.

1.5k Words

.pdf is the best way to read

---

Flexible

Sketch Story for Comic

Marquis Orias



Woman -> Anthro Ferret

SFW


"We used to be called Mink Masseuse, but that was before the incident... and the lawsuit... and the media campaign... and the second lawsuit... and the third.. yes... second and third incidents happened simultaneously... so now we're just Ferret Masseuse. My marketing guru tells me that the ferret conveys a more relaxed, domesticated air than the fancy yet fierce mink. So as of yesterday, I officially changed the name of my establishment. Spur of the moment decision? Yes.”

The glasses-clad owner seemed pleasant enough. Eager to please, perhaps, but that was just the attitude Kate needed to hear from the woman. Much preferable to any rudeness.

"Good enough for me. I just came from the office and I... am... absolutely beat. You might as well hit my spine with a bat, that's how badly I need to be loosened up."

Kate did not, in fact, look up that massage parlor on Yelp or any other reputable site. She'd not read the reviews, instead going off the word of a coworker whose cousin's best friend got a good massage from said shop.

---

"Fixed her back pain, it did! Got rid of her knots! She was thrashing and snarling, but she got the special mustelid treatment and she's happy as a furry clam." Her coworker had told her.

"Special mustelid treatment?" Had been Kate's only question.

"They use mink... er... ferret-furred gloves for deep tissue stimulation. Patented technique."

"Fascinating. Not exactly ethical, but fascinating.”

"I’m pretty sure it's faux fur, at least that’s what I heard. Listen, if it didn't work then I wouldn't vouch for it!" Her coworker had seemed too insistent! If you're curious, just look up a review. You’ll feel rejuvenated all the same. Genuinely, you’ll feel like an entirely new person!”

“I’ll give it a go, then.”

“You’ll feel like… totally brand new!”

Within seconds of that work conversation ending, Kate booked an appointment via phone. A double-slot, extra attention, because her work had her extra stressed, extra flustered, extra angsty. Relief from her back pain might not release her from her thoughts, but it'd certainly be a start. Fingers along her spine would work out tension one knot at a time.

Moments of peace. Chances to unwind. Maybe not even any smalltalk, just a muffled radio and just a hint of incense.

Google Street View showed a dilapidated parking lot, sure, but she’d go in daytime and check it out for herself. Sometimes treasures hid in plain sight.


—

---

A few days later she found herself standing in that very parking lot. The massage parlor itself stood nondescript in a strip mall. Letters spelling mink had been sanded away from the sign, but Kate spotted the letters for ferret resting just next to the door.

"No mink, we're strictly ferret now." The sable-haired owner grinned as she handed Kate some appointment paperwork. "Ferret gloves, that is. For the massage."

"Ah yes, your patented technique. I’ve heard." Kate scanned over the liability waiver that removed all culpability for any new or worsening back pain. A small asterisk next to the final line led to a fine-print mention of non-refundable metamorphosis.

The masseuse rolled her eyes and let out a forced chuckle. "It's not officially patented, but no one has sued us for that yet. Fingers crossed, haha."

"Really... what... have they sued you for?" Kate tilted her head to one side, her curiosity piqued.

—---

And that had segued into the conversation with the owner about mink-ferret name changes and allegedly frivolous lawsuits. Lawsuits that Kate honestly cared less and less about with each passing minute spent with knots and spasms in her lower back. Sure, on a good day she'd be curious, but not anymore. Not in the slightest. She needed this. Badly.

"A bat to loosen up your back, you say? Nonsense. We use soft fur to make those knots evaporate." The owner fumbled with her glasses, one-handed, while her other moved across the front desk toward what to Kate looked like fuzzy gloves.

"Whatever you need to do. Honestly, you have nooooooo idea the kind of week I'm having. Presentations. Sales quotas."

The massage parlor owner gave her a curt nod of understanding. "Alas, I do. I'm booked twelve hours a day. Used to be thirteen... before the lawsuit."

Kate didn't press her further on the matter.

"So are you ready to get started? Are you ready to give up all that tension like a ferret crawling through a rabbit warren?" The owner clasped her hands together, excitement returning to her voice.

"Oddly specific, but alright."

"Just follow me, and we'll make all that stress disappear faster than a prairie dog down a pothole."

Kate let the owner lead her into a back room, one full of gentle ambiance and a massage chair lined with polished, freshly cleaned leather. A few punctures and scratches dotted the arm rest, but Kate couldn't help but admire the shine of its 50s chrome joints. The chair was a piece of history, a certified antique, but obviously she was in experienced hands in this establishment.

And she could even pick up on the faint hint of aromatic incense mixed with lemon-scented febreeze. A clean scent in the air, albeit one that came across as a little clinical. She’d have preferred it a little more rustic, perhaps smokey by a fire.

"Alrighty, sit right there and make yourself comfortable. I'm going to freshen up. This is better on skin so if you want to hike up your shirt, feel free." The masseuse slipped into two white-furred gloves. No visible leather, just fuzzy and fluffy like two small clouds.

“You got it. Do what you have to.” Kate did as the masseuse instructed, lying forward on the chair and hiking up her shirt to expose her lower back.

“We’re going to start with some deep tissue stimulation around your spine. I can practically see the knots. Let’s get those out, out, out!”

The chipperness of the masseuse made Kate smile. Even if the service ultimately was lackluster, the experience would make for funny office banter.

"Wow! That hits the spot!" Kate let a satisfied trill slip into her words. She arched her back as the padded gloves dug into her flesh. That hair... fur... erupted from where the gloves touched was lost on the woman in her moment of pure bliss.

Now this was a proper massage. It was like all her problems simply melted away, leaving her lithe and limber. She imagined herself as a tube, molded and reshaped, with more and more of her worries wrung out like droplets splattered from a rag. All problems cast to the floor and immediately forgotten. Good vibes only.

"It's funny. We used to do this with special mink gloves... but they must have been cursed or spellbound or possessed or whathaveyou because randomly they'd, and this is silly, but they'd turn the client into a big ol' weasel girl. Always a weasel. Always a girl."

"Mmm, that's nice... ahhh..." Kate exhaled sharply the moment the pain abated in her spine. Pent-up knots melting away. She stopped squeezing the massage chair, though her sharpened nails had left small holes in the leather upholstery.

"It's uh... part of the process... guess it isn't just mink, but ferrets, too..." The owner let her words trail off, a tremble in her voice. “This just keeps happening… oh dear… at least my lawyer wrote up a decent… waiver…”

"Your voice got a little faint there, what's up?" Kate twitched a rounding ear, cartilage stretched backward and curving out into a saucer dish.

"N-nothing. Nothing! Still more massage to go! Ha..." The owner resumed the massage with gusto. Her fingers dug and kneaded up and down muscles tensed from months of crunch time.

"Music to my ears." Kate bit her lip, with teeth both longer and sharper than she was used to. Not enough to hurt, no, but enough to make her twitch and jiggle on the chair. She clenched her eyes tightly shut and chittered to herself. That her nose dampened and upturned didn't concern her, not even when the incense scents of the room grew more intense.

Electric tingles inched across her body in the wake of the masseuse's fingers. Kate would simply have to become a regular to chase this feeling. Her office attire relented to the growing fur, snapping and buckling. Not even her shoes could handle the pressure, and having her clawed toes freed to scrape against the linoleum floor brought her further relief. And all the while, the masseuse kept rubbing, kept kneading, kept working out all Kate’s problems–

Once fur coated every inch of her, Kate let out a satisfied exhale just as her spine unfurled and erupted into a plume of a tail. She wagged it like an excited pup, not even caring that she shouldn't have such an appendage. The teeth. The ears. The snout and whiskers. All of it made sense with the creamy fur that covered her from the top of her head down to the backs of her padded hands and feet.

"I... believe we're done, Ms Kate." The owner seemed almost apologetic.

Kate couldn't reason why. Her whiskers undulated and twitched. Even the mix of lysol and incense in the air smelled better to her blunt, rounded snout.

She flashed the masseuse a toothy grin. "P-people sued you over this?! This is incredible! I feel like a brand new woman."

"So… you'll give me five stars on Yelp?" The masseuse clasped her hands together and gave the freshly turned ferret a pleading look.

"Let's... chitter not get carried away."