It was a rainy day outside Aisling’s room. Not a severe downpour, but it was enough to compliment her mood quite well. She had cleaning to do around the house, stories that needed writing, and cards to make. Except for that first one, they were projects she should be quite eager to do. But as of late, she found herself unable to get motivated even to do those things. Even purely-recreational activities such as movies or video games had lost their luster lately.

She gave a sigh and looked out at the drenched street below. But in doing so, she also saw something else: Her reflection in the window. It was a sight she’d seen plenty of times that day, but this time, something was different. She wasn’t consciously focusing on it, so it took her a moment to notice, but the change grew more pronounced, until it went from merely a small oddity to something that was impossible not to notice.

Her forehead was turning blue.

It was not a vibrant blue. In fact, it was a fairly muted shade. But it was definitely noticeable now. Even in her gloomy state, she couldn’t help but widen her eyes when she consciously noticed what was happening. But, in her current emotional state, even the surprise was tinged with sadness. Surely, this was a sign of illness of some sort. Logically, she felt she should call the doctor. But she didn’t want to get out of bed.

At the very least, though, she could muster the effort to lift up her hand and feel the affected area, at which point her eyes widened again, for what she felt there was quite soft indeed. In fact, it felt unmistakably like... feathers? She plucked one, which did hurt a bit, but not enough to deter her. Even in her sadness, there was still room for curiosity. And indeed, what she saw confirmed her suspicions: What she held in her hand was indeed a blue feather.

She felt like she should be excited. After all, being transformed was something she’d always dreamed of. But even something so amazing as this served only as a partial, momentary distraction. She sighed and looked back out to the rainy scene outside her window, the blue feathers spreading out from her forehead. The feathers above her eyes spread in such a way that they resembled thick eyebrows made of feathers. Indeed, her human eyebrows were nowhere to be seen now. Had she devoted more attention to her transformation, this alone may have tipped her off as to what she was transforming into. But as with most things lately, she couldn’t bring herself to care all that much.

Her eyes were next to change. The whites of her eyes changed to a light blue, while the area around her eyes was outlined in black, making them look all the more gloomy. How appropriate, she thought as she took off her glasses, her new eyes no longer needing them.

Next to change was her nose and mouth, as they reshaped themselves to a a large gray beak. At this point, almost her entire face had been overtaken by blue feathers, a thin white circle of feathers forming around it. It was at this point that, even despite not particularly trying to solve the mystery of her new form, she had a fair idea what she was becoming. It was a suspicion that was confirmed by the two large curved ‘spikes’ of feathers forming on either side of her head.

A tengloom. How appropriate, she thought.

As the transformation was taking over the rest of her head, causing her hair to recede and vanish along the way, she glanced down at her hands. Although her left hand was still as human as before, her right hand - the one she’d used to pluck the feather - was completely covered in blue feathers. Was the transformation spread from the feather to her hand by touch?

Well, given just how appropriate the form was for her, she figured she may as well accelerate it. And so, she touched her hands together, before parting them, blue feathers starting to form on her other hand where they touched. She lifted up her shirt and touched her belly, then took off her socks and touched her feet with her hands.

With her clothes still on, she could not see many of the changes that followed. However, she could feel the feathers spreading from her neck, her hands, and her belly, covering her entire torso in soft, warm feathers. She would very likely have found the warmth quite pleasant and comfortable, had she been in a better mood.

Meanwhile, her feet were changing as well. Unlike most birds, her feet were becoming feathered as well. And of course, they were reshaping themselves as well, becoming a fair bit cuter than her previous human feet, not that she was in much of a mood to appreciate that fact. She simply looked out the window again, as she felt the feathers spreading up from her feet and down from her waist, eventually covering her legs entirely.

Then, she noticed that her shirt seemed to be a bit tight. She took off her shirt, the new wings on her back spreading a bit to take advantage of the new space they now had. At first, they were rather small, only just starting to form. But after a bit, they grew to full size. Theoretically, she would now be able to fly, but she had a hard time feeling excited about that. She had a hard time motivating herself to even just get up to try to have fun. Actually putting forth the effort to take a flight for fun seemed like an even more monumental task.

She looked herself over. Although her entire body had been changed by the transformation, her clothes were still the same. She thought for a bit, before deciding she may as well head out to the store to buy some clothes to match her new form. Sure, she didn’t particularly wish to get out of bed, but it felt quite appropriate to her, for her to more closely look the part of her rather apt transformation. She didn’t know where she’d find the traditional tengloom sandals, but she’d figure that out later.

Aisling got out of bed and opened her front door, finding an unusual sight there. It was a phoenix, made of gum, about 4’ tall (that is to say, 62cm). The phoenix, in turn, also looked quite surprised. Partially about the incredible timing of Aisling opening the door right as he was about to knock, but mostly at the fact that his beloved Aisling was awfully feathery for the human that he’d been lead to believe she was.

“...Joat?” Aisling asked.

“Oh, it is you!” Joat said, quickly pulling Aisling into a hug. “I thought I had the wrong address, for a moment there!”

“Hi...” Aisling said.

Joat blinked twice. Sure, he knew that Aisling wasn’t feeling well. It was why he’d come all the way here, after all. But the messages she’d sent to him hadn’t conveyed the sheer level of depressed she was feeling. At the very least, he thought she’d get excited to see him. Though to be fair, it looked like her expression brightened at least a bit when she realized who was at the door. But to fully cheer her up, he’d need to do far better than simply showing up.

Fortunately, he had a fair idea what to do.

Joat picked up Aisling in his wings and carried her inside, giving a loving nuzzle. Once he was in the center of Aisling’s room, he gently set her back down on her feet... except that what she felt under her feet was not the carpet, but something far thicker and squishier.

Aisling’s eyes widened as she blushed brightly, though her blush was hidden well under her feathers. Even so, Joat could tell from the rest of her expression that she was blushing and that, even despite her sadness, she was quite happy with what she figured that squishy feeling was.

Looking down confirmed Aisling’s suspicions. Her feathery feet had both landed in a thick puddle of bright pink gum, the same color as her beloved Joat. She gave a tug with one of her trapped feet, watching the gum slowly stretch underneath as she pulled. But despite her best efforts, the gum was simply too strong, snapping her foot right back down into place in the puddle. With that, she looked back toward Joat and the two of them quickly hugged.

Had she thought before she’d acted, she would have been able to predict what happened next. But the surprise was definitely a pleasant one, as she felt the gum cling quite thoroughly to the feathers of her hands, a fate shared by the front and the arms of her pajamas. She tried tugging with one of her hands, but as with her feet, they were quite thoroughly ensnared, only able to stretch the gum of her love a bit before being pulled back into place.

Joat moved his wings up, slipping them between Aisling’s back and her own newly-formed wings. And sure enough, Aisling felt the gum clinging to her back and wings as well. She tried spreading her wings, though not to escape, as she most certainly didn’t wish to actually break free, but simply to enjoy the feeling of her wings being held stuck. And indeed, her wings couldn’t pull far, completely stuck to Joat’s sticky gum wings.

“Joat... thank you so much,” Aisling said. And in her face, Joat saw something which had been missing from it for far too long: a smile. For the first time in a fair while, Aisling was happy again. And the one to make her feel happy was her love, Joat.

How appropriate, she thought.