Commission made by  YzaqTF - with a story by Ghostlyboi7737 - Isabella tries a new tea at a cat cafe that seems to be very familiar. But whose memories and form is it?

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After a long week serving with the Hawkmoths, Izzy/Zey finally decided it was about time to have a well-deserved break. And neither of them could think of a better way to spend it than to check out a new store that had opened up close to her house. It was unlike anything she had seen before, which was saying a lot considering what they usually got up to.
She finally arrived at the place, which had a sign labeling it as “Cats and Clothes Cafe”. Some brief online research described it as a cat cafe, with the added feature of being a clothing store, with a specialization in fancier garments. They both had always wanted to visit a cat cafe, and they definitely agreed they could use some new clothes. Especially Isabelle, who had been dying for a cute new outfit~
With that in mind, Zey decided to let Izzy take the reins for this, staying back and letting their body just be hers. And Izzy made sure she dressed in a nicer outfit for this occasion, meaning she was wrapped up in a long brown coat, a black suit vest, a white blouse, black slacks, and well-shined brown leather shoes. She even put on a nice maroon tie to complete the very fancy look. Isabelle always enjoyed it when she could get all dressed up~ It reminded her of her maid days.
After making sure her outfit was nice and tidy one last time, she took a deep breath and pushed open the door to the cafe, being greeted by the bell signaling her arrival. Already, it was unlike anything she had ever seen, as expected, of course. She was immediately greeted with their wide range of fancy clothing, from suits to dresses and everything in between. It almost looked like a regular fancy clothing shop, if it weren’t for the large cafe in the center of the huge room, which came with a few seating areas. And the cats, of course.
The place was absolutely littered with countless cats of all different sizes and colors. They roamed freely, standing atop different clothing racks, playing through all the different cat towers, sitting on the laps of some of the seated patrons, and, most interestingly, walking about with the actively shopping customers, almost as if the cats were like employees that showed guests around, helping them find whatever clothes they were looking for, or offering suggestions on what they should buy.
Speaking of the guests, it didn’t take Izzy long to notice that there was something off about the customers. At first, they looked normal enough. Most were humans, with a few other species there, also including a few anthros like herself. But upon closer inspection, she realized that they were all slowly gaining the features of a cat. A cute human couple shopping together both seemed to have cat ears growing where their normal ones should be, an anthro dog man’s tail started to look more agile, thin, and flexible. There was even an orc woman at one of the tables, taking sips out of a teacup and petting a cat on the table while her hand was actively transforming into a large, humanoid paw.
At first, Izzy was alarmed, wondering what was going on here and considering walking back out. But, before she could do so, the door finally closed behind her, ringing the bell one more time. That one bell chime seemed to ring especially loudly in her ears, bouncing in her mind and truely being absorbed into it. Something about this seemed to calm her. She suddenly no longer saw anything wrong with the customers slowly changing, as if it was normal and nothing out of the ordinary.
With all of that settled, she found herself suddenly greeted by an employee she had mistakenly overlooked.
“Hello!” She said in a very friendly manner, which quickly got Isabelle’s attention. The employee was a small anthro cat girl, specifically a calico one. She wore an adorable maid dress that even came complete with a little collar with a bell on it. The collar also had a name tag, identifying her as “Yerona”. She stood behind a little check-out desk, having a teacup of her own that she sits down on a little plate so she could give her full attention to the newly arrived customer.
“Welcome to Cats and Clothes Cafe! May I help you with anything?” She asks.
“Oh, no! I just saw that this place recently opened and thought I’d visit it! It’s… amazing!” Isabelle responds, looking absolutely awestruck by what she’s seen.
“I know, right? I felt the same when I first walked in~ I’m so happy they hired me,” Yerona says, looking as if she were fondly recalling a memory.
“Well then! If that’s all, feel free to look around! Though I cannot recommend enough that you get yourself a cup of tea~ Really adds to the whole experience,” She suggests, gesturing to the cafe area.
“Heh, sounds like a plan~ Thanks for the help!” Izzy says, waving goodbye to the very nice employee.
Izzy walks over to the cafe area. Thankfully, there wasn’t a line, so she could walk right up to order. The barista behind the counter was another anthro cat, this time, one with grey and white fur that almost made her look like she was covered in TV static. She also wore a very fancy barista’s outfit, with a nametag that read “Ashnah”. She also wore an interesting mask over the left half of her face, and the palms of her hands were wrapped in badges.
“Hello! What may I get for you today?” The barista asked. Before Izzy could answer, a cat leaped onto the counter and again onto the display case beside it, which elegantly showed off the various pastries they offered. The cat curled up and seemed to go to sleep right then and there.
“Oh, well, this is my first time here. Anything you suggest?” Izzy asks, looking at the menu.
“Well, our special is our renowned Catnip Tea~” The barista says, already getting to work making it. Isabelle watched on in awe as this barista masterfully worked the various machines behind the counter, perfectly pouring different amounts of different liquids from various containers, adding in various ingredients until he finally presented her with a fresh brew in a cute little cat-themed teacup and plate.
“Go on, try it!” Ashnah insisted, holding out the teacup to Izzy. Izzy carefully took the cup and looked down into it, admiring its lovely brown shade. She took a deep breath, taking in the sweet aroma of the tea. After all of that, she gave it a soft blow before bringing it to her lips and taking a tasting sip.
Immediately, it was like a shock went down her spine. Her whole body suddenly felt buzzing and alive, tingling all over.
“Th-This is amazing!” Isabelle exclaimed, taking another sip.
“Glad you like it~ I’m sure you’ll like it even more knowing that it's on the house~” The barista adds.
“Really?! Thank you so much!” Izzy replied, absolutely overjoyed.
“Of course~ Now,” The barista starts before giving the cat that was lying on the display case a nice pet that seemed to wake them back up, “Stella, dear, why don’t you and your girls show Felicia here around? Maybe give her a few… suggestions for a new outfit. I’m thinking she’s really looking for a new one~” She says rather slyly.
Izzy didn’t quite catch being called Felicia, or much of that exchange at all, really. She was far more enamored with the cup of tea she had been served, still idly drinking it. As she did, unbeknownst to her, while she was drinking, the changes slowly began. They started with her losing a few inches in height. Not only that, but her shoulders began to erode, making her clothes start to fit a little more loosely on her frame. Her horns began to slowly shrink back into her head, and the fur at the tip of her tail began to shift from pink to grey. This trend would also start to occur at the fur around her mouth, slowly shifting it from yellow to grey, and causing it to get a little longer.
Stella nodded and leaped off the display and onto the ground, where she circled Izzy’s feet and rubbed up against her in the classic cat way. This quickly caught her attention, taking her away from her tea for a moment to address this very friendly cat.
“Oh, hello there~” She says, bending down to give her a little pet.
As this happened, a few other cats began to gather around her, each taking a different spot on her coat. When she finally stood back up, they held firm and managed to slip the coat off of her, leaving it to fall onto the ground. They quickly scrambled to drag it off before Izzy could notice anything. This also left her suit shirt and button-down underneath to start to hang off her shoulder. Along with that, her pants began to look more and more baggy by the moment, a slightly embarrassing affair, but one that strangely felt somewhat familiar to her.
But this didn’t stop her from starting to follow her new friend Stella into the clothing area of the shop. She moved past all the other sections and led Isabelle straight to the dress section. Specifically, the maid dresses~
As this was happening, Izzy kept drinking the tea more and more, becoming more addicted with each sip. It was almost like the cup was endless, like it kept getting refilled after every sip she took. Not that it mattered to her, as she just kept on drinking away without a care in the world. This caused her changes to progress more and more. Her pink hair began to darken into the same, if not slightly darker shade of grey. This would continue all over her fur, starting with her hands and a bit at her neck. She kept getting smaller all around, causing her pants to start completely slipping off her waist, suddenly revealing her black panties beneath. Somehow, even her button-up began to become undone, starting to spill out her bust- once more bringing up feelings of nostalgia. From a time where something like that had happened before.
Stella paused in front of the perfect outfit, letting Isabelle finish her tea as whatever infinitely refilling charm that was on it wore off. Once she finished, she let out a satisfied sigh, looking more pleased than any cup of tea had made her feel. On a rack next to her, another cat appeared with a saucer in her mouth. She neatly put it down and presented it to Isabelle, as if suggesting that she put it down.
“Oh, why, thank you~” She replied oh-so politely, placing the teacup down on the saucer. The cat carefully pushed the saucer out of the way and seemed to sit there neatly for a moment before, suddenly, it pounced onto Izzy, leaping onto her and digging its claws into her suit shirt. She held tight and managed to slip the shirt off of her still shrinking body. Stella did the same, jumping up to grab her white button-up and effortlessly peeling it off her torso.
Isabelle was more than surprised, her heart pounding away, even more so when she looked down to see that her pants had also completely fallen off, having pooled around her legs, leaving her just standing there, bare-furred and only in her bra and panties. If she hadn’t noticed them before, her sudden half-nudeness made her changes all the more apparent, her increased adrenaline making the effects of the tea catalyse. Her fur had completely turned grey from the chest up, and the shift was slowly making its way down. The same was happening from her feet upwards, her new shade of fur slowly overtaking her legs. Along with this, her horns had practically vanished into her hair, which was now half converted into lush dark grey locks that looked fashionably messy. Her tail had also shrunk slightly as it continued to turn grey and began looking more tubular.
Izzy was now very embarrassed, looking around frantically to make sure no one saw her this way. She tried her best to cover herself up with one hand while trying to grab her clothes with the other, only to find that they had all been stolen away by cats. They even managed to slip off her shoes, leaving her in her plain white socks.
Izzy was at a complete loss for words, but finally looked back at Stella to see her standing right beneath a full maid outfit. Neat white apron/blouse over a puffy blue dress, with an adorable bow wrapped around the collar and another wrapped tightly around the waist.
“Y-You want me to put that on?” She asked the cat, looking over the maid's dress. She had to admit that it was really cute~
“Yup! It’s puuurrrrrfect for you!” The cat replied.
Isabelle was shocked that she could suddenly understand the cat, failing to notice that her ears had finished shifting into massive cat ears that had a nice, slightly stripped pattern to them.
But that wasn’t her biggest concern right now. She was still practically naked and needed clothes sooner rather than later. Without a second thought, she grabbed it and began to slip it on. As she did so, her changes began to reach their stop. Her height slowly settled into a much shorter one, and her tail finally shifted from that of a wish dragon to that of a cat. Her eyes grew massive and began to take on a yellow tint. Along with that, she noticed her eyesight had gotten a little worse once she finished putting the dress on. Thankfully, on the shelf just above the rack she grabbed the dress off; there sat a pair of blue, half-rimmed glasses. Next to them were a pair of blue, frilly arm cuffs, as well as a frilly hair band. She grabbed those as well, putting them all on.
Finally able to see properly with the glasses on, she looked over her new self in awe. Rather conveniently, there was a mirror right next to where she stood, which she easily turned to and began to admire herself. Her long, soft, grey fur, her adorable maid outfit. She looked like a completely different person. Like… Like…
“Felicia!” She suddenly heard a familiar voice call out from behind her. In that moment, her head began to fill with all sorts of new thoughts and memories. Everything related to Isabelle began to slip away, being replaced with Felicia. She was Felicia, she remembered picking that name herself after her Margaret accidentally gave her that wonderful tea. While she hadn't always been a catgirl, she certainly remembered how good it made her feel the first time being one~
Yerona walked up behind her, admiring her new coworker.
“Wow! It fits you so well! That blue is really your colour~” She compliments, making Felicia’s little cat hard flutter, causing her tail to excitedly wave behind her.
“Thanks! I wore this at Barlow’s Burrow, always felt amazing to wear!~” She replied, pinching either side of the dress and performing a well-rehearsed curtsy.
“Well, you seem like a natural! Thank you so much for coming to help us set up here, hopefully your mousey girlfriend won’t be missing you too long.~” Yerona said.
“Do I have to wait? Can I get started right now?!” Felicia excitedly questioned, amusing Yerona, who was very charmed by her trill.
“I don’t see why not! Let me show you around and go over the basics,” Yerona says, leading her back into the main area of the store.
Felicia caught on quickly, shaking off a weird lull she had and getting quickly into the groove again, and loving every moment like it was the first day she and Margaret came to the store together back then.But, unfortunately, time flew fast when you had fun, and before she knew it, it was the end of the day, and she had to clock out. She waved goodbye to her coworkers, including all the cats, and made her way out through the back entrance. It was there that she stepped out into the alley and behind the shop. She was about to walk out, back onto the street, when she suddenly heard rustling in the dumpster beside the door. She walked over and carefully looked into it, only to see a pair of kittens inside, playing with one of the thrown-out cat toys. Both cats noticed her as well, and immediately got excited, desperately trying to climb out while shouting “Mama! Mama!”.
Before she knew it, the cats had climbed into her arms, where she held them like a pair of babies~ All the shouting had attracted even more attention, and, soon, Felicia was absolutely surrounded by stray cats, both from this alley and maybe a few others.
“Oh, h-hey there everyone~” she shly addressed this newfound crowd, “I’m Felicia.”
All the cats began to whisper to each other, quickly identifying her as an employee of the cafe. It seemed that, much like her, all these cats also wanted to get into the cafe, and a few even said that some of the other employees took stray cats home and trained them to be cafe cats.
Hearing that gave Felicia an idea.
“Say, would you all like to come home with me? I have a lot of babies already, but I can’t say no to those lovely faces of yours!” She asked. Immediately, they all erupted in all forms of confirmation and gratitude, eagerly preparing to follow her home. With that, Felicia’s smile was as wide as ever, having only made her best day ever even better as she began to lead all these cats home. “Hope Margaret won’t mind me coming home with even more… again.”