[SNEAK PEEK] Paw Socks
Savi accidentally borrows a pair of magic socks.
This is just a preview; the full story will go live next month, but if that's simply too long to wait, head over to my Subscribestar to read it, and other stories like it, before everyone else~!
Paw Socks By Limewah Subscriber Reward for Lucky-Ray (April 2024) SNEAK PEEK
Savi had his heart set on a particular pair of socks. It was finally getting too warm for his thicker, woolier ones - something smoother and more sheer would do the trick. There were these cute ankle-length pink socks he planned to slip on, nylon with a very slight see-through sheen to them. He’d look good in those, especially paired with a matching pink hoodie and dark skirt.
The problem was, he could only find one of the socks. The other one had vanished. Somewhere between the dryer and the dresser, or maybe it was just buried somewhere down in the dresser itself. He rummaged, tutting to himself and muttering under his breath.
“You almost ready?” Summer called from down the hall. She was probably pacing back and forth, getting impatient and antsy. “The market’s gonna close sooner than you think!”
“Just a sec!” Savi called back, before sighing with frustration and looking back at the piled up clumps of socks.
A flash of orange caught the femboy’s eyes, drawing them to a pair of socks that had the smiling face of a fox on them, with little black ears sticking up past the hem line for the ankle.
He didn’t recognize that pair - he ought to have. And he definitely would have worn them by now, too, but the socks were still bound together with a little plastic rivet.
“Hmmm.”
He discarded the pink sock for now. He could find the other one later. The foxes were calling to him.
As he picked up the pair, his fingers brushed against something squishy on the underside. When he turned it over, he almost squealed with delight - they had cute pink paw-pads on the dark undersides!
Where had they been, all this time?!
There was no doubt now. He couldn’t not wear them…
The socks were so soft to the touch even before he started to slip them on over his slender feet. He took his time with it, too, giving his toes a bit of time to tickle the rim of the hole before sliding them in. The pawpads pushed up against the balls of his feet as he brought her legs down to the floor again.
Savi sighed contentedly, closing his eyes to take in the simple pleasure of the new, unworn pair.
He felt a strange little twinge as he stood up, like a mini-charlie horse, but didn’t think much of it.
“Coming!” he said, as he threw on a pair of shoes.
“Are you okay?” Summer asked, squinting curiously at Savi.
“Yeah, fine, just…”
Maybe it was the paw pads pushing into the soles. but Savi’s shoes felt like they were getting tighter the more he walked. The cobblestones of the old town centre weren’t helping either; the uneven hunks of rock were going to kill his ankles - death by a thousand cuts. He wondered if he looked like he was limping. His feet were probably just swelling slightly.
But something felt a bit itchy, too, like something was scratching against his soles. The oddest thing about it was the sensation seemed to be perfectly localised in the exact same points. Just at the heel, and just around the squishy paw pads. His toes felt sort of scratchy, too, like his toenails had gotten a bit too long. But he definitely wasn’t overdue a manicure…
Eventually, the many discomforts were too much for him to bear.
“Let’s sit down a second,” Savi said, already making a beeline for the big fountain that was the centrepiece of the old town.
“Sounds great,” Summer said. “My legs are killing me…” They wove past the wandering tourists and between the various wooden market stalls.
“Mine too,” Savi said, immediately grasping at the lace of his right shoe and undoing it before sliding it off.
He gasped with relief as he stretched out his leg, his clawed toes splaying out and his orange fur shimmering in the light.
…Clawed?
Fur?
Every part of the sock, below the cute fox ears, had transformed into fur, and Savi’s normally human sole had become a big-beaned, digitigrade fox paw.
Savi pulled off his other shoe, and found it was the exact same. When he wiggled his toes, small black claws unsheathed. His paws felt rough and springy against the ground, and his legs wobbled as they tried to readjust to the change in ankle-structure. It was like he was wearing soft, springy high heels…
When Savi looked at Summer, she had the same dumbstruck look as him.
“What the heck…?” Summer sputtered. “How did you-?”
“I dunno!” Savi said. “I found these socks in my drawer, and I didn’t recognise them… I thought they looked cute, so, uh…”
**To read the rest now, Subscribe!