Ken looked around his room. As per usual, it was... Well, he never called it a
mess
, because while it was
time consuming
to clean up, very little, if any of it, was actually
dirt
. Books, yes. Clothes, strewn about, yes. But nothing actually
dirty
. Dusty, occasionally, but no more than that. He scratched at his back irritably, and remembered the comments of his letting agent, Carol.
"Well, Ken, it is indeed a knock down price, rentwise, but that's because we've had troubles renting it, especially after magic came back to the world. You see, it's cursed. And we haven't found anybody yet who'll stay there for long." It had been strange, back then, to see the dam burst, for magic to vibrantly, sometimes fatally, spring forth, and Carol was one of the people who, thankfully, had been happy to have been affected. After all, so many more people thought she was cute, as a bunnygirl. Although she was still a hardass to anyone who pushed her, and rightly so. Ken
liked
Carol, and they'd had a solid working relationship for the four years he'd lived here.
And Ken had partly dealt with this curse because he cleaned only as much as he needed to until the biannual inspections. Even then, his hair was constantly a little scraggly, and the nub of a tail... A
cat's
tail poked from the base of his spine. Little thing was sensitive too, so he'd had to adjust all his jeans and boxers to cushion it.
As curses go, it was a relatively easy one, but Ken could easily see why people might be disconcerted, maybe even horrified. Because, the harder someone cleaned their house, regardless of who they were before... They would transform, slowly but surely, into a catboy. A catboy
maid
, to be precise. It was, thankfully, something that faded over time, but for about a week after the inspection, he wouldn't go anywhere, stockpiling food, and wouldn't do
any
cleaning except the dishes, because it would take exactly that long to get... Where he was now.
God knows what would happen if he was germphobic, or otherwise obsessive about cleanliness. Still... It was that time of year, and he
needed
to get to work. He would do it in his boxers. He knew all too well that
clothes
wouldn't change back if he wore more than that, and underwear, at least, was cheap to replace.
* * *
Carol, sitting in her Fiesta, looked in the rearview mirror and primped her hair a little. She always wanted to look her best for the inspections, not only because it gave the appropriate professional image, but... Well, she
enjoyed
the looks she got, even if she came down hard on anyone she didn't like who pushed it further than that. And she enjoyed the inspections, because her tenants understood that, and were also lovely people, cultivated by Phineas Lettings with tiny little benefits, little easings of their lives that meant the nice, tidy ones stayed, and the bad tenants? Well, they didn't last long at
all
.
Still, it wasn't all roses. Inspections were
hard
this time of year, because, like the rabbit she'd taken the humanoid shape of, she was
horny
... And it was that time of year, the time of year it was hard,
so hard
, to maintain that professionalism she prized. She'd been fidgeting all morning,
aching
to rub herself on the desk, and, even now, she was looking at the gear stick contemplatively, before shaking her head to clear those intrusive thoughts. Slapping herself lightly on her puffed cheeks, she opened the car door, and smoothed down her pencil skirt. She had quite a few inspections to get through today, and she would just have to deal with it...
Putting on her best smile, she walked to the door, cheerily waving in case Candy and Chloe were watching, and knocked.
Only twelve more to go today... And then I can use my toys until I fall asleep
.
* * *
Ken looked around, and purred appreciatively. He felt so accomplished, like a good boy, to have gotten so much done! The tip of his tail was twitching lightly over his shoulder, pushing up his black and white skirt to reveal those lovely panties he so liked... But he fought the urge to bask in the afternoon sun... He needed to
clean
, otherwise Carol wouldn't be happy... And he
loved
seeing Carol happy, because her nose would twitch, and she would blush a bit, and that twinkle in her eyes... Oh, that was the
bestest
!
He didn't really tell himself the
real
reason he hid away after cleaning time, mainly because that other, less focused him didn't really
understand
. Ken the human with a tailbud was a person who went
outdoors
. But Ken, the catmaid... He was a
house
cat, and the outdoors... Well, it was noisy, and had those rushing boxes he was instinctively afraid of, and, and, and...
It was scary, alright?
He looked back at his tail, and deliberately thought about what he wanted to do next to stop it swishing so violently. His room was done, but there was still the kitchen, the bathroom, the guest room, the storeroom... Carol understood that he never really did the garden, even hired a gardener in exchange for a little extra rent, so that was pretty much it. But it was a
lot
to do before Carol came, and he wanted to make her
smile
this time! His tail swished one more time as he adjusted his panties... He always got hard at times like this, and there was no time for fun
