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Six or seven hours later.

Jacinto has been riding an almost neverending bliss for the last while. Their costumes have been a super success, they have barely been able to walk from one end of the convention center to the other once in all this time, people stopping them for hugs and pictures and group picture opportunities just seemingly coming out of nowhere.

Cindi and Akari have been center of attention, and they most assured are soaking it up. Cindi generally acting more forward of the two, happily waving at everyone they pass and nodding for every ask of a photo pose. At one point they just barely got a pause to sit down for almost five minutes before someone came to ask for a picture and the whole rumba started again, not that they minded exactly.

Cindi's moving costume parts and generally almost explosively cheery look definitely has had its' fans, especially the wings that mostly just lightly moved back and forth. She got onto a video of flapping them as fast as her system would let her, sometime later in the day. She briefly wondered if she didn't break something trying to do that, but everything seemed fine afterwards.

As a loud gurgle from inside the costume betrays the wearer's body starting to protest continuing, she grabs Akari into a hug and whispers softly: "I think we gotta finally break for food."

Rowan almost can't believe how good things have gone, the suit feeling perfect. Beyond perfect! And the nearly constant stream of folks asking for photos and hugs just lifted him to cloud nine.

While Cindi would step forward to be the face, Akari was the more timid of the two, and got plenty of 'awww's' from folks who would ask for a photo, only for Akari to cover her face in embarrassment at first. The shy kirin didn't really enjoy the limelight as much, but was always happy make people smile, especially with the kids who were a little more timid around fursuits.

Akari's suit wasn't nearly as automated as Cindi's, just a mechanism for her ears, but they'd worked to put in a lot more expression into them. Big motions and the added movement of her ears could convey emotions extremely well, helping the shy doe-dragon act timid and demurely, as well as perk up with excitement whenever Cindi would pull her into a hug.

As Cindi does so this time, Akari whispers back, "We've been going for hours! We're definitely past due for a break."

Cindi motions foward towards the doors that lead out, and eventually back towards their hotel. Bit of a thing to attract attention from passersby, but really the whole walking distance is covered with furs anyway.

She leans closer to whisper again when she gets the opportunity: "Now that I think about it, I'm starving. Let's go." She starts walking towards the door, taking Akari's hand in hers... not that they still get out without several interruptions they can't bring themselves to deny, but at least they are trying now.

Akari's shyness helps a little, letting her body language and down turned ears enough to stop most people from asking for the two to stop... but not everyone. It's to be expected though. It is why they're here, at least! But once they're out of the convention center, the requests slow, and by the time they're in the hotel, they just get the usual odd stares from folks who would be otherwise unaware of the convention full of furries across the street.

Crammed into the elevator up to their room, Akari sighs, chuckling quietly, "I wonder what time it actually is... I've never managed to keep up that pace before, but we got so busy."

Cindi: "Very busy, and I have no idea what time it is." Cindi sighs softly, though the smile is unmistakable from the faerie-esque dog. "Just got to sit down for a bit before I even have energy to get out suit. Pretty sure you feel the same."

Akari giggles, grinning wide as well, "I do. I've never felt so... I don't even know! Usually by now I'd feel like I was carrying around bags of wet cement. But we really outdid ourselves with these suits!"

Cindi nods as the elevator door opens and she steps out, holding Akari's hand again. "Come on. We have deserved everything far as tonight's dinner goes."

Akari squeezes Cindi's hand in return, happily holding on as she follows just behind her partner. Another giggle escapes her lips when her own tummy rumbles loudly, "Guess I'm starving too. Just thought it was your stomach that was loud."

Cindi glances over her shoulder, smirking: "Likely story." Feeling bolder talking in the quiet hotel hallway, she continues: "I want something with a lot of cheese. For reasons." She then turns around to open their hotel room, having picked up the card key from her mane where it was safely kept.

Akari giggles again, "You always want something with a lot of cheese! I mean, not that I'm arguing against such a choice... cheese is delicious."

Cindi opens the door, rolling her eyes but her face forward so Akari doesn't see it. "See, you agree that I am right." Once in the room, she sits down on the bed and lets out a big breath. "Woo. Back here. Do I get to say 'finally'? It feels like that."

Akari laughs, turning around to shut the door behind her, letting out a deep breath of relief and raising her voice, "Ahh, didn't realize how much I wanted a bit of privacy." She walks over to her bed and sits on the edge so her tail drapes over the side, She glances at the hotel clock, "'Finally' is right. We were out there for eight hours, Cindi! I've never suited so long in my life!"

Cindi nods, just drinking in the euphoria for a second. "Oh wow. That's gotta be some record of... some dubious honor. But... maybe time to do some basic body maintenance. That is to say, food." She shifts her sitting position, having cramped on her tail a bit. "Mm. Almost sat on my tail. Not good, can't let it get twisted under me."

Akari giggles, "Can't have that. Here, let me help." She stands up from her bed, walking around behind Cindi to check her tail, lifting it up to make sure it doesn't get stuck or tangled.

Cindi shifts as her tail is lifted: "Thank you." Tail sorted, she sighs softly again. "Feels so good."

Akari hugs Cindi gently from behind, "My pleasure."

Cindi giggles at the hug. "Are we stalling on de-dressing, or am I imagining that?"

Akari giggles, "Maaaaybe. It's pretty incredible feeling." She tilts her head to peck Cindi on the cheek before she lets go of the hug and walk back to her own bed. "But food is the one thing that will probably tempt me out of it."

Cindi blushes at the kiss. "Gosh. Yeah, let's do that." She very expressly ignores the kiss and certainly refuses to read further into it. Instead, she lifts her hands to her neck, feels around... then blinks.

"Um. I may need your help again. I think something's snagged on my headpiece, it's resisting... don't want to break anything, take a look?" She gets up from the bed and turns around, kneeling forward so Akari has a clear view of the mane and neck and everything else.

Akari blinks, having just about started to remove her own headpiece as well. She turns back to Cindi and leans over. "Oh... wow... I didn't realize how clean we made these seams... just uh, give me a moment here..."

She starts to feel around for where the head drapes over the shoulders, fumbling a bit with the her three-fingered gloves as she runs them along Cindi's back. "Fudge... I just... ugh. These gloves are not making this easy. One sec. Don't know why I didn't think to just take them off first anyways."

Cindi blinks at Akari's fumbling. "Um... everything okay?"

Akari pulls at her gloves, feeling a pinch in her... hand? "Ugh, yeah, I uh... just... darn it... my hands couldn't find the seam and uh... I can't get these gloves off."

Cindi frowns and turns around to look at Akari. Confused, she looks down at her own paw-glove and goes finding the seam from it.

...but not finding it. "What the heck? There should be a... seam..."

Akari holds up her hand for Cindi to see, "Something is up with these... We really must have worn these way too long, it almost feels like I'm not even wearing a glove, see?" She wiggles Her three fingers, closing the thumb against her palm, making a fist, then spreading the fingers back up. "...we didn't make these gloves that good... did we?"

Cindi feels her heart drop a bit. "I... I do not think... so..." She squishes herself down to sit on the floor, feeling her legs be a bit weak. She stares at her own paw and moves it, touching at it with her other paw. She gives a pad a small squeeze with the dull claws. "Ow. I... I f-felt t-that..." She looks back at Akari, the euphoria rapidly turning into confusion turning into fear in her eyes.

Akari blinks, panic creeping into her voice, "Wh-what do you mean you felt that? Cindi... Jac'... it's a costume!" She reaches up to her head as she speaks, searching for the seam, feeling around her neck, her hand starts to stray up to her jaw to give herself leverage to tug, only to stop as she feels her mouth moving, "I... wait... I'm talking... And the suit is talking... no, this is impossible. D-did we use the wrong kind of glue? It sealed wrong, maybe?"

Cindi likewise lifts a paw to her cheek: "I'm talking. I'm... feeling my mouth... the costume's mouth... oh God. This... can't be good." She swallows and attempts to get up, only to feel her legs to weak to get up, though being on her feet all day has nothing to do with it right now.

Akari starts to hyperventilate, dropping her hand to her chest as she tries to breath, only to feel her chest rising and falling with each breathe. "I- I- c-can't..." She falls back against the bed, eyes tearing up. She can FEEL the tears in her eyes, the suits eyes, hands shaking. "F-f-ah... C-Cindi!"

Cindi... that is, Jacinto, looks at her... his friend with worry. "Ak... Rowan!" He scrambles up, at least to his knees and closer to his friend. "P-pull y-yourself... there's gotta be an explanation for this...!" Before he even knows, he's holding one of Akari's (Rowan's?) paws in his, tearing up as they both do.

Akari... Rowan? shakes her head, trying to get her senses back. She sniffles, squeezing her friends paws gently, "J-Jac'... I... What is this? This can't be real. E-everything was going so perfect today... A-am I... are we going insane?"

Jacinto swallows, then shakes his head. "I-if we are, we are doing so together." He hesitates, then gets up on shaking legs. It's easier if he doesn't think about the shape his legs may be at the moment. He then offers his paw to his friend. "M-mirror. We... we both, we need to see, I think."

Akari hesitates, but the trust for her friend overcomes her fears, and she reaches up to take the paw, letting... Jac'? pull her up. "I... I don't know if I really want to see..."

Jacinto... or really, Cindi, gives her friend a warm look, the kind that they have certainly imagined giving each other in costume a lot of times. "I don't either, but... i-if this is as real as it seems, it's one way to be sure. C-crafted eyes are only so real and so see-through, a-and I feel none of that right now."

Akari blinks a few times, noticeable to Cindi now. "I... I didn't even think of that. At some point today... everything just got so much clearer..."

Cindi nods, her very moist eyes pretty obvious as well. She leads her friend to the hotel bathroom, and as cramped as it is, it's somehow easier to squeeze in, in ways she really does not want to think about, but probably because there's no inflexible costume pieces... at all.

She looks into the mirror, and...

She would later try to tell herself she wanted to deny what she saw that moment.

"No way..."

But right now, there is absolutely no telling otherwise. In the mirror, both Cindi and Akari. Living and breathing.

Akari lets Cindi lead on, closing her eyes tight, terrified of what she'll see as well. Only hearing Cindi's voice convinces her to crack one eye open to peer into the mirror. "I- is... that us?" She sees herself staring back, one eye closed, one eye open, something the suits were definitely never designed to do.

"...that's us." Her voice is uncertain, a cocktail of emotions that she can't even begin to sort through. Fear, confusion, ....curiosity? "That's us..."

Cindi squeezes Akari's hand tightly, feeling her jaw tighten. "Y-yes. I... I'm afraid that..." She blinks, that train of thought not having a hope of being finished. Her other paw goes to her throat. "My... our... voices. They're... different."

While they have been speaking for a bit with different voices, it took until now for Cindi to realize it.

Akari shivers, "M-my voi-. O-oh. It's my voice. I- I mean... Akari's voice? It's the way I've always heard her, what I imagined I- she... sounds like."

Cindi blinks again, then nods slowly: "Y-yes. You're... you're right." She lowers her paw from her throat, swallowing. She turns back to the mirror.

For a moment she just studies her reflection. At a glance it's like she always wanted the costume to be, except... more so. The way her eyes don't just seem to follow, her irises actually move as she changes expression. As does her supposedly set in place brow. And... her ears give a small twitch and she almost jumps in place. "I... I think I just moved my ear. B-by willing it."

Akari turns her head to study Cindi... "Oh, wow... they are moving... and look at the rest of you... H-how did I not see this? How did no one else notice it? Look at us! Our suits were good but, nothing like this..."

Cindi turns to look at Akari and quietly whispers. "I have no idea. This... this should be impossible, but here we are..."

Akari:"But... How? Why? Why us? It's like those stories online, but those are just stories. Wh-what do we do?" For emphasis, her stomach growls, very clearly coming from her belly, not beneath a costume.

Cindi almost says something, then slightly deflates. "I... don't know..."

Then it's obvious that her mind is racing despite the utter insanity of their situation. Jacinto has never been one to give up at the face of the impossible, and seems he is not about to start now. "Wait. We went... all day, apparently, without being noticed. Something is off and maybe... maybe it is not just us?"

Akari looks back to the mirror, "M-maybe this is happening to others? Or... something has happened to everyone, and they don't see it happening to us? We... could check online? This is the kinda thing that would make the news right? Or at least the convention social media?"

Cindi nods slowly. "Y-yeah. We can't be the only ones, that makes even less sense. We didn't do anything special... well okay, we tried to be pretty special, but this wasn't the plan..." She shifts from one leg to another, then thinks of something else.

She looks up at one of her feathery antennae and gently reaches up to touch at it. Her eyes open wide as she realizes she super very much feels the touch on an appendage she shouldn't have. "So, um... you know the phenomenon called 'phantom limb'? I think I have the opposite now..."

Akari fumbles with her cloven hands to pull out her phone, struggling with the fingerprint lock. She glances up at Cindi, looking at the antennae, "Whoa... I guess... same for me with the tail... you've got a lot more appendages though."

Cindi looks at Akari fumble with the phone, then turns her attention back to her antennae, lightly shifting her head this way and that. "I... I can feel things, like how the air moves... with these things on top of my head." She blinks. "Fuck. That's what I imagined Cindi could do."

Akari looks up from her phone as she punches in her pin code, finally getting past the unlock screen. "W-wait... so... the voice, and the feelers. It's not just the costumes, w-we've become our characters?"

Saying it aloud makes something click in her mind... his mind... "I'm actually Akari... oh golly I've been acting just like her. I... I'm still Rowan in here... r-right? Jac'?"

Cindi hesitates for a second, then nods. "I am still Jacinto, but..." She looks at her paws: "Clearly, that's not all of the truth anymore, unless we'll wake up from this in the morning and..." Her expression makes it obvious she doesn't really believe that, this all feels way too real...

Akari frowns, eyes darting to her... his reflection, "I... I have to stop thinking like that. I keep wanting think of myself as her... but... I don't know. I d-don't know. I'm Rowan... I'm Rowan. Rowan."

He takes a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. "Maybe it'll disappear, but we can't go back out like this. We can order in food and just say we just got back when we answer the door. Something. But we gotta get out of here, Ci-... Jac'."

Cindi nods slowly: "I...y-yeah, maybe that is the best plan for now. Get our stuff together, however we can, stay in the room tonight, leave early in the morning..." And then what? she asks herself but doesn't voice it.

She shifts on her paws, then sighs and finally puts a hand on Akari's shoulder and tries to offer an optimistic smile. "We will get to the bottom of this yet. Whatever insanity is going on."

Akari leans into Cindi a little, before he blinks and pulls back, "Y-yeah... whatever this is... we'll get through it. We just..." He trails off, then turns back to his phone, if just to distract himself perhaps.

"...nothing on the Pittsburgh news about this. Let's check the Anthrocon twitter account..."

Cindi nods, leaning over to look, which leaves them considerably closer than they would normally be in such a situation. She blinks and gives Rowan an apologetic look. "Eep. Sorry. Too close." She pulls a bit back, slowly realizing how dang wide her field of view is.

Rowan looks up, blushing a little beneath the fur, "It... it's fine. It's just... you know. W-we did ship these characters."

Cindi blinks and blushes under her fur. "Um. I... maybe not the time to be reminded of that." She glances the other way, but in the small bathroom the options are somewhat limited. She just sighs. "Anything on the news?"

Rowan's blush grows, "I didn't mean it like that! Just... trying to avoid any um... err..." She looks back down at the phone, scrolling a bit, "Just panel announcements... a few art posts..." She cringes as she scrolls past some photos of the two of them tagged with the Anthrocon hashtag.

Cindi blinks a few times: "...nothing?" She frowns: "...though I suppose if others are also only now realizing, they'd also be freaking out in their hotel rooms, right?"

Rowan nods, "That would make sense I guess... I mean, we didn't notice anything til we got back and tried to take the suits off."

Cindi nods: "Yeah..." She looks down at her paws that are very stubbornly and obviously a part of her: "...which we can't, cause I am pretty sure this does not count as 'suited up' anymore." She slumps a bit with a sigh. "Great."

Rowan nods, making a move to hug her friend before he stops himself, "I... I don't know what else to do... I'll just... keep watching for any kind of news post that might help us... you order food? That way... at least we can solve one problem. Suit or no, we're gonna need food."

Cindi nods, then hesitates. "...yeah." She also almost makes a move for the hug, but now that the line between 'in character' and 'normal' has been thoroughly shattered, it doesn't feel right. Instead, she just squeezes past Akari and back to sitting on her bed. Picking up her phone and fumbling through the login, she starts musing. "I suppose we have to hope our palates have not been affected, but I will get a variety. Don't currently care blowing some of the con budget on this I guess."

Rowan waits a moment, staring into the mirror after Jac' moves past. He makes a few facial expressions into the mirror, just to be sure, then sighs and follows over to her bed. "Ugh... yeah. Guess con is over for us." He settles himself down on the bed, starting to refresh the phone pages with his soft hoof hand, still surprised at how well it works.

After a moment, he sighs, "It was so good too..."

Cindi... Jacinto, really need to get that in order, she chides herself. "It was." Her tone of voice is rather lacking in her usual happiness. Or the voice she usually imagines for Cindi.

Jacinto browses on his phone: "At least we can get some food, and hopefully disappear in the morning without a fuss." And, again, then what? he chides himself. Again.

Rowan looks up at Jac', then sighs and back down to the phone. It's because of these changes. That's why he suddenly feels so miserable. If they can figure out how to change back, it'll definitely cheer them both up again.

"We... we can pack up tonight, and set an alarm for early morning, before anyone would be awake. That way we should be out and on the road without anyone noticing us. We'll figure this out Jac'."

Jacinto nods, trying to ignore the feeling in his gut that probably is just hunger on overdrive making him feel weird. "Yeah, we... just get food and if no news come up, just leave... in the morning."

She grabs her tail and nuzzles into it for a second, taking a deep sniff that somehow feels pretty comforting. Hopefully not just because Jac' probably had it as headcanon for Cindi.

"Right. Food. Guess just whatever passes for their snack and dip platter or whatever. I really don't want to take our chances with anything strong."

Rowan nods a little blankly, trying to hold onto focus on the phone as he just refreshes and scrolls on repeat. "Y-yeah. Anything should be okay."

She doesn't really notice her her tail swaying about off the side of the bed.

Jacinto fiddles with the phone for a bit, actually focusing on the offerings, and trying to stop feeling like he's ordering their last meal.

"Okay. Predictably a bit of a waiting line but I got an order through. Half an hour from now." As though in protest, his stomach gives a grumble, and after putting the phone down he lifts his legs onto the bed and tries to figure a comfortable sitting position with this new 'body configuration'.

Rowan looks up and smiles, "Yeah? Okay, that's not so bad. I think we can survive... just... try not to think about any of... this, yeah?"

He puts the phone down in a bit of bored frustration, and lays back on the bed. "Guess I got it easy... no wings, no antennae... just hooves. And gotta be careful with these horns. No side sleeping..."

Jacinto hums, then gives Rowan a look. "You didn't have any, er, 'headcanon' about Akari? Or am I misremembering?" He pauses, then lifts a finger: "...actually, maybe a dangerous direction. Who knows if mentioning that stuff out loud causes it to happen or something."

Rowan starts to think, but cuts off his train of thought, "I definitely do... but I don't know... probably... probably best not to dwell on it."

He sighs, folding his hands on his chest. He laughs quietly, a somewhat unnatural sounding thing coming out of the kirin's mouth as opposed to the giggling she'd done through most of the day. "First time in history I've said no to someone asking me about my OC."

Jacinto blinks, and can't help but let out a small giggle at the sheer absurdity of it. "May be the first time in the history of the entire furry fandom."

He is quiet for a moment, but soon he finds his hands wandering, just up and down his fursuit... body, because it's becoming very much impossible to try and deny. For one, he can feel the muscles moving inside his oddly shaped digitigrade legs and wide hips. Under the lenghty fur there's not stuffing and foam, but muscles, fat and bone, he's reasonably certain. "...this is impossible, but clearly this is me now. For now."

Rowan hums, "I... I've moved past 'terrified' and I'm just sitting at... I don't know.... shock? Disbelief? Yet here we are... This all feels way too weird to just be a shared delusion."

Jacinto nods, then curiosity getting the better of him, he stretches his legs on the bed, marveling at them. "My legs... they look like a perfected version of what I built with the limitations of it being a costume. Same for... lot of the rest." He turns to Rowan. "Whatever did this... it got a lot right. Your shoulder has more of those glittery gem-scales than you could reasonably get to stick when building, I realize."

Rowan sits up carefully, looking over at his shoulder, "Oh... wow... they almost look transparent, like real gem stones... I had to compromise with those embroidery pieces. Wait..." He reaches up with his left hand, hesitating before touching them. then gently taps one. It seems to brighten up, glowing faintly.

"I did have some headcanon about her scales... that they were, I don't know how else to say it, but... magical? Not a lot, but they could glow. Faintly, or brightly, it was hard to control. ...how is that possible?"

Jacinto gives a shrug and a somewhat helpless smile. "I can genuinely say I have no idea." For a second he wiggles the toes in his paws, yet another item in the lengthening list of impossibilities.

"I feel like... Well, a whole lot of things, but... physically, this feels more weird than bad."

Rowan nods, rubbing the scale until its glow slowly fades. "Nothing about it hurts... b-but I don't know. Feels..." Good? Right? Why are those the words that first come to mind? "I'm trying not to dwell on it."

Jacinto nods. "Probably the sane approach. I mean, we ignore our bodies in daily life anyway a lot of the time. How hard can it be?"

Rowan hums, "I do my best to ignore mine..." So why does he really, really want to think about it now? He swallows that thought down much deeper. "Won't be hard at all."

Jacinto hums: "I would argue 'soft' is a more appropriate term, anyway. We have become supremely huggable, Rowan."

Rowan blushes, glancing over at Jacinto... "I um... I'm trying not to think about that. I mean, what fursuit isn't nice to hug, right?"

Jacinto nods: "Yeah, true." Instead of voicing further thoughts, he shifts his position on the bed again and idly takes a lock of hair in his paw, lightly touching at it. For a moment he is quiet, but curiosity is quite the force. "You know, one thing that doesn't feel strange is having longer hair. Although I'd probably never want to dye it pink..."

Rowan looks her up and down, "Well yeah, ha... I mean... pink would... um... You thinking of growing your hair out? I mean, once we get out of this?"

Jacinto shrugs: "I don't know. Pink seems natural for Cindi, as is long hair, but don't know if I could ever make that work."

The fluffy spaniel-moth with long pink hair blinks. "Er, we can ignore how silly that statement sounded coming from, well, me right now."

Rowan glances away, "Y-yeah... I mean... it's just these suits right? Or... these... bodies? I don't... I don't know. But there's probably nothing wrong with longer hair. Or pink hair either. I think it would look good on you. Or uh, looks good on you. On Cindi..."

She sighs, "I always head canoned that Akari just can't seem to say what she wants to..." He withholds that usually she says exactly what's on her mind.

Jacinto nods slowly, shifting position once again, turning to hug his big tail. "Yeah, it's... Wait, look good on me? You mean, I... Well, maybe. Once we're back."

He sniffs at the tail he's pushed his snout into. If we get to go back..., he muses to himself.

Rowan tilts her head, watching Jacinto, "What... are you doing with your um... with Cindi's tail?"

Jacinto blinks, letting go of the tail. "Um nothing. Well maybe something. It uh, I always wrote that twisting the tail to my, er, Cindi's nose... It calms her down. So I..."

He blinks. "... So I just did that without thinking, didn't I. Um."

Rowan nods slowly, rubbing at one of her wrists, "O-oh... Well, Akari does stuff like that too I guess... but I've really been trying to stop myself from anything like that."

Jacinto swallows and nods. "Yeah, I maybe shouldn't, but..." He lets out a deep breath. "... R-really I will take it if it keeps me from losing it for now. Sorry."

She picks the tail back up and buries her snout in it, just her eyes visible towards Rowan.

Rowan lets out a tiny whimper as she watches, holding back her own urges. "It... it's probably fine... I mean, I agree... what use would it be for us to just break down like this?"

Jacinto sighs. "I don't want to think about what happens if some outside party figures us out." She takes a deep snuffle of her tail and closes her eyes. "I'm trying to be logical about this but I fear I'm losing that fight a bit."

Rowan nods, "When she's scared or nervous... Akari... Akari just looks to Cindi for strength. She reckons that as long as their together, they'll be okay. That's way too much to put on you right now, a-and I don't want to fall into that if I can help it."

Jacinto nods, then lifts her head from the tail enough to offer a small smile. "Thank you. I think."

Her ear perks upwards before she herself realizes she's hearing a rolling cart and footsteps. "Oh. Food. I marked it just as knock on the door, they leave it there. For, er, reasons. Can you go pick it up once they actually inform us?"

Rowan nods, "I can do that. Jac'... do what you have to stay together... to stay you." She stand up to stand between the two beds, and reaches out to put a hand on her best friend's shoulder comfortingly.

Jacinto smiles at her friend, her hand touching Rowan's arm. "This is crazy, but we're still us, where it matters. We'll figure this out."

She shifts slightly in her seat, but doesn't entirely want to let go of her tail. She reminds herself that it wasn't initially supposed to be this flexible, but costume construction practices said it had to be somewhat... which led to the headcanon about tail comfort one con few years ago, which... she fiddles her fingers at the tip of her tail, feeling both sides of the contact and it feeling strangely good...

Rowan nods, and when Jac's hand touches her arm, she pulls his hand back from her shoulder to take hold of Jac's hand, squeezing it gently. "That's... it's not so bad really... I think, as long as we can keep ourselves together, remember we are Rowan and Jacinto, well, it's kinda nice really..."

She swallows, still rubbing her thumb against the back of Jac's paw, realizing how much she needed that contact. Akari was always so timid and shy, usually following Cindi's lead in social situations... but Rowan had always known that the doe-dragon was much stronger than she thought, and couldn't be discouraged when her friends were down. Is she really feeling better about this? Or is it just Akari showing her strength to ensure Cindi is okay? The distracting line of thought threatens to break into another full hug when there's a knock at the door that makes her jump.

"Aaa eeep! T-the food! They're just leaving it at the door?" She reluctantly lets go and starts to creep to the door.

Jacinto nods absently, having sparked similar feelings about touch and closeness to the other fur, her best friend. It feels if not outright needed, at least desired. But is the desire one of Jacinto's... Or Cindi's?

"We can keep ourselves. Er. Together..." She is interrupted from her thoughts by the knock on the door.

"Room service! Per request, leaving the cart here, please leave it outside the room when you can! Please enjoy and have a good night!" Steps leave from behind the door and down the hallway, a sound Jacinto realizes she has no business hearing that well...

Rowan's hearing is certainly better, if not as good as Jac's, her deer ears swiveling about to follow the sounds. After what is probably much too long a wait, she creeps to the door, slowly undoing the chain, and draws it open.

A quick glance reveals the tray, and no one nearby waiting to trap her. She not-so-stealthily grabs the tray and pulls it inside, closing and locking the door behind her once again.

She breathes out a heavy sigh of relief, and can't help but giggle at the absurdity of it all. "Food~. Food will make us feel better, I'm sure of it."

Jacinto smiles upon there being nothing strange happening, at least if anyone even saw Rowan at a glance. And not-admittedly because he never would, liking the curve of Akari's (definitely just Akari's) behind.

Belatedly, she also remembers what she ordered for them. "Okay, so... maybe need to pre-empt. Busy weekend and they were out of some stuff already, so the options were limited. But guess we can't exactly walk downtown to pick a restaurant, now."

Rowan raises an eyebrow, a very big expression on the doe as she practically tilts her head at Jac's statement. "I'm sure whatever it is is fine. Honestly, talking about headcanons, I never could decide if Akari is an omnivore or not? I don't know if that'll impact anything at all, but you know, deer, dragon, sorta opposite diets, so I just figured she'd eat anything!" She blinks, realizing how excited she got in describing things this, and clears her throat, quietly bringing the tray over to uncover their food.

Jacinto smirks: "So, not being interested in talking about your OC, was it?"

She then hums, remembering what's under that tray cover. Putting her paw on it, she looks at Rowan: "Just... just so you know, what's in there is not influenced by Cindi or any headcanon thereof. Limited options." She clears her throat, uncertain who she is trying to convince and of what exactly.

Rowan blushes at his gaffe, but shrugs, "Alright, Jac'... It's fine. Limited options. Hotel room service on the weekend of one of the biggest furcons in the world. I get it. I trust you."

Jacinto nods, then lifts off the cover. Underneath an eclectic combination: two hamburger meals with fries, a big bottle of soda... and a bunch of strawberries together with a chocolate dip, in a heart-shaped bowl.

The spaniel-moth blushes slightly, the wings on her back giving a singular nervous flap: "I uh... well, the part where I really want something sweet now might be partially Cindi. Though my blood sugar will also have me faint by the end of the evening, unless this craziness did away with that too along with my dignity."

Rowan's initial response is to squeak in a noise that some might joke 'only dogs can hear', a high -pitched squee of delight, "Awww it's so cute!"

She blinks, leaning back, "I uh, I mean, well, indulgences and what not right? I mean, sugar is sugar, uhm, doesn't matter what kind of container it's in... But... Limited um... Options and all..."

Jacinto winces at the sound she most assuredly can hear, very well in fact.

"Yeah, it's... while we did uh, once or twice write about Cindi and Akari dating, this is hopefully not live-re-enacting that."

Somehow saying that out loud just makes it sound so much worse. You go, girl. Er, no. Not girl, present circumstances notwithstanding.

Rowan clamps his hooves over her mouth, nodding before releasing her snout, "Of course not. We're not Cindi or Akari... Even if the outside appearance says otherwise. We're definitely not on a date. We just... Needed to get some food, together. We've done it a hundred times at cons, or just hanging out at home. Nothing weird at all." She keeps talking, why can't she shut up? She's way over-emphasizing how not weird this is and now it's weird again! "Just two besties sharing dinner together. And a little dessert too, even if it is a really cute dessert."

Jacinto opens her mouth a couple of times, not quite used to hearing the Akari babble in 'live action form'. Dumbly, she just nods as she attempts to refocus on the food.

"These cost probably a third of our food budget for the weekend. So, er, enjoy." Pause. "...though, yeah, it looks pretty delicious and cute."

Rowan sighs, distracting herself by taking hold of one of the burgers, staring a little dumbly at it as he holds it in the cloven fingers, "Ten hours ago, I would have called you insane for even suggesting we eat in our suits... " She has to get past a weird mental block of getting her fur dirty, before she shakes her head and leans in to take a bite.

Jacinto nods as she picks up her own. She's already been doing checks with her tongue inside her mouth, and fluffy as she looks and feels, her canines are now very real, and quite a bit less 'cute' than the tiny nubs the costume had. "The fur feels considerably more real, doesn't it. Although I can only imagine how long all this takes to dry, so maybe best we don't create a need to clean up anyway."

She stares at the burger for a moment before also digging in.

Rowan had no idea how hungry she really was until that first bite, despite her hesitation, once she started, she very quickly destroyed the burger, "Oh, well, guess omnivore it is! I doubt it's really that good, but right now, that's the best burger I've ever tasted."

Jacinto nods as she noms into her burger with almost equal gusto. At least she doesn't have any real questions about being an omnivore still. "Bad for the diet, bad for the wallet, really good for the hunger and situation right now."

She finishes up the burger and ahh's as she leans back a bit after wiping her paws... or almost leans back, then looks at the grease in them and frowns. "Well, about that theory of this fur and making a mess... guess I will go wash my hands and find out." She gets up, her curiosity awoken once again.

Rowan finds herself in a similar situation, "Couldn't be helped... That was a very good burger." Her ears swivel along with Jac' as she gets up, Rowan's own curiosity piqued as well, "...let me know how it goes. I hope the cleaning isn't as intense as we'd need for the suits normally..."

Jacinto looks down at her paws as she makes her way to bathroom. "Something tells me it might not be... let's see..." She steps next to the sink and after staring at her paws for a second, just starts washing her hands as she would normally.

She is momentarily frozen by the sheer weirdness of the water reaching through the fur to her skin, which also confirms that the fur is very much attached and part of her. Not that further proof of the realness of this is much needed, but her brain won't let go from finding this stuff anyway.

After that she finally realizes to observe that the grease comes off pretty easily, hair or no hair. "Yeah this is no fake fur anymore. Besides being able to feel the water flowing through my hairs... it doesn't stick. Just washing it off."

Rowan bites her lip, one thought springing to mind immediately, but she pauses before she voices it. "Is... is it weird that hearing you say that makes me want to try and take a shower like this?"

Jacinto blinks, not having thought about it but can't deny the thought has certain appeal. She swallows. "Well... n-no. Probably not. I'm curious a-as well, but maybe better save that until we find a way home..." There it is again, that feeling of not having the slightest idea where to even go, let alone what to do once they can leave...

She refocuses on her paws, picking up a towel. "Soggy fur is still a bit... bleh. More so now that it's mine." The towel is damp in an instant of being wrapped around her paws, the long pile fake fur... the long fur being pretty notorious for taking forever to dry. "Maybe we can use the air dryer once we're both hands-clean."

Rowan blinks, "O-oh.. right... guess just because the water doesn't stick doesn't mean we wouldn't have to dry off... and this is still a Lot of fur to get wet..." She reaches a hand up to her chest, feeling the soft fur there, while her other hand snacks on the fries still on the food tray.

Jacinto hums in amusement. "Washing Cindi and Akari just became both easier and a whole lot more complicated, didn't it." She decides she's done as much as she is able, fur on her paws still damp, but at least not overly dripping. "It will have to do", she notes as she gets back to the room with a wry smile that one could admit looks very, very cute on her small snout.

Rowan watches Cindi walk in, giggling quietly, "I wouldn't miss the long clean-up after getting home from a con..." She blinks, "W-what am I talking about... this would be way more complicated, even if showering would feel pretty nice... err, be easier to clean up."

Jacinto nods as she sits back down. "I think I will file that under 'hopefully we won't have to find out'." She pops a fry in her mouth, then another. "Mm. Good fries."

Rowan nods, taking another fry as well, "Y-yeah... at least all this food tastes worth the cost."

Jacinto nods. "If our con weekend was this, and we may be screwed for the rest of our lives, it better come with those chocolate strawberries."

Rowan giggles, "Thing is... if it weren't for this... this really would have been the perfect con weekend. Chocolate strawberries maybe included. Probably... I mean, I haven't tried one yet."

Jacinto blinks. "Oh boy. I really hope chocolate isn't dangerous for me now. Fuck." She frowns, then dips the barest tip of a claw into the chocolate and sniffs at it.

"Would I be able to tell?"

Rowan glances at Jac' carefully, "Well... I guess, if it goes off how everything else seems to work... what would your headcanon be? Doesn't seem to impact most furs I've ever heard of, anyways." It... feels a bit questionable to start making up details about their OC's like this, a dangerous slope, but it's also really hard for Rowan to stop once he's started thinking like this.

Jacinto considers for a moment. "... Pretty sure I have at least written her eating chocolate, and you are right." She sniffs at her choco-covered claw again, then gives a shrug and licks at it.

After savouring a moment. "Tastes like... Chocolate." She looks at Rowan and shrugs.

Rowan smirks, reaching for a strawberry and dipping it in the chocolate, nomming it quickly with a pleased hum, "Ohh~ These taste fresh too!"

Jacinto picks up a strawberry and dips it properly. "It actually makes sense, following our discoveries today. For whatever insane reason, we have become the characters we were being down on the con floor. And our OCs, like most furries, are at best inspired by reality."

She continues, looking the now chocolate covered strawberry with thought. "By that logic, my tastes in this form may be like Cindi's-" She makes a mental note to investigate this later: "-but this should be fine. And if it's not, well... I will limit myself to one. See if it makes me queasy, but I don't feel like it will."

With that she finally pops the treat into her mouth and for a second just chews with considerable joy.

Rowan does point a hoof towards Jac', "You are part moth. And uh, I'm part glowy gem dragon. So... reality might be just completely out the window at this point."

She swallows, "Y-you know... if the whole, 'turned into my fursuit' thing wasn't already a big enough signal."

Jacinto gives a small, pearly giggle. "Y-yeah, when you look it like that..." She lets out a breath, and despite all of the insanity of last couple of hours, manages to relax slightly. Food helps. She picks up a strawberry (without chocolate) and motions at the dip: "Anyway, is all yours. Just, you know... if to ease on my paranoia if nothing else."

Rowan nods, "Like I said... whatever you need to do to feel better. And honestly, if what you need to feel better is for me to eat all the chocolate, I'm willing to make that sacrifice~" She dips another strawberry in and pops it into her mouth with a giggle.

Jacinto giggles again, this time with a small snort: "My hero. How will I ever repay this, probably by eating the bacon out of your cheeseburger or something." There is no malice in her voice, even if she could summon it in the light-as-air voice of Cindi's.

Rowan snorts slightly, "H-hey! You wouldn't!" She giggles, clearly taking the joke in stride, "I'll just stop putting bacon on my cheeseburgers..." She feigns a devastatingly sad look at Cindi, "Is that what you want?"

Jacinto shrugs: "I'm fine with you giving them directly to me, if that's what you want." She giggles again, clearly relaxing at the fairly common branch of joking at each others' expense. She then actually blinks at Rowan's expression. "Oh wow. Those eyes could be classified as weaponry now."

Rowan pulls back, "Wh-what? What'd I do? I was just teasing a bit..."

Jacinto giggles, waving a hand. Paw. Whatever. "You know how we discussed a time or two how big kemono style eyes are? Yeah, you just pulled one heck of a puppy eyes look at me."

Rowan reaches up to wave a hand in front of her face, then looks at Jacinto's eyes, or well, Cindi's eyes, I didn't really think about that... we're not even proportionally realistic, huh? That's... that's so weird."

Jacinto shrugs: "Yeah, pretty much sums it up." She pops another strawberry as she muses. "You know, far as anything about this follows any rules at all."

Rowan nods. "Yeah, it really does sum it up, huh." She takes another strawberry, staring at it for a long moment as the doubts creep back in. Uncertainty about all of this. "There's... there's gotta be Rules, right? Magic or whatever this is... it always has rules."

Jacinto nods, then gives a small frown. "I suppose experimenting is our only real out, for now. But I think you are right, this feels like it follows a logic, we're just missing a lot of pieces."

Rowan sighs slowly, "Y-yeah. Yeah... that does make sense. Experimenting... heh. I guess that is something you're really good at, Jac'. You did the electronics in the suits from absolutely no experience in that stuff. We just... we get home, and we'll have time, and food, and... I Don't know... space? Something. It'll give us what we need to... figure this out."

Jacinto nods as Rowan speaks, but then her expression takes a turn for the thoughtful again. "Or..."

She takes a breath, lifting a finger up: "Or. This probably sounds insane, but we're there already anyway. But." She sounds more uncertain as she speaks, but the idea won't let her be so she keeps talking. "We went all day today without anyone causing an issue, we only noticed when we get back here. We still don't know if it's just us, or if others have been affected."

She paws at the bedding for a second as she thinks.

"Would it be completely crazy to head down to the con floor tomorrow and scout around? I know we know we aren't actually in costumes, but not like anyone would jump to the conclusion about us having changed... unless they also know something, right?"

Rowan shrinks a little, then reaches for her phone. She checks the social media again, and the news. "No word of anything still... So either, it's just us or... everyone else is staying quiet too."

She feels Akari's anxiety and nervousness bubbling up, "I- I don't know if it's such a good idea, but..." She trails off, forcing a smile at Jacinto. "But at least there's no better place to be undercover like this? If... if you think we should... I'll follow your lead."

Jacinto nods, swallowing herself. "It will... undoubtedly be scary, but, think about it. We changed sometime today, and we didn't even notice it ourselves. I'd say that something odd is going on but that's way too broad a statement for this, right now." She trails off for a bit.

...and then smirks. "...and I can't be the only one a bit curious if we can get away with it, can I."

Rowan blushes, tapping her hooves together guiltily. "I uh... well, I mean... a little curious."

Jacinto shrugs: "I mean, we can just sneak away in the morning. Although... where do we even go?" The other thought that has been on her mind since they started piecing this together. "What do we do, Rowan? Everywhere except this convention right here, we attract way too much attention." She shifts her sitting position on the bed, once again moving her tail a bit forward. Not yet lifting it up, but one hand is on it again.

Rowan's ears tilt down, "Just... 'Get Home!'... that's all my brain has been telling me. M-maybe that's the deer part of me..." She shakes her head, pushing the instinct down.

"So... if this has happened to others... how can we signal them? How can we make it obvious that something is wrong without attracting attention from anyone else?"

Jacinto hums, then smiles as something occurs to her. "Well... how many other furs did we hug today? And if we see anyone else... I have to imagine if they show up tomorrow, they have similar ideas." She pauses, pawing at her tail tip, rather liking how it feels. "Finding others."

Rowan taps her hooves together, thinking. "It... could work. Well... I guess... can't hurt? Driving home... Honestly, I don't even know how we could make it the whole ten hour drive home like this."

Jacinto winces: "Imagine being stopped on the road and being asked to take the costume off." Now she's definitely hugging her tail again.

Rowan slips off the bed to put her hand on Jac's shoulder once again, "You're right. We... we can't panic. We're here. And something is going on here that we're not seeing. If we run... we can't run."

Jacinto smiles at Rowan and lifts her arm to touch Rowan's. "Y-yeah. We gotta figure this out. And... the answer is somewhere in this con."

Rowan squeezes Jac's shoulder, then seems to make a decision, "Ah, heck. One hug can't hurt, right?"

Jacinto blinks, but all the same smiles and leans slightly towards her friend. "Y-yeah. Probably not. We are, as noted, very huggable."

Rowan waits until Jac' gives the okay, then quickly pulls her into a tight hug. "R-really really huggable."

Jacinto squeaks a bit at the hug anyway, but leans into it all the same. "S-suppose that isn't a downside. I l-like being huggable." She closes her eyes for a second, just leaning into the mutual softness for a moment.

Rowan giggles, "You are... I really like it too." ...she doesn't clarify if she means she likes being huggable, or likes Jac' being so huggable.

Jacinto takes a deep, restoring breath in the hug, then lets go. "...I think we needed that. Wait, wasn't that also some kind of headcanon at some point, Akari hugging Cindi at down moments?" She blinks a few times. "'Life imitates art' is rapidly becoming way too soft an expression."

Rowan lets go of the hug rather reluctantly, but frowns when Jac' points out their headcanon, "Oh uh, yeah... it was..." She backs up to sit on the bed again, tapping her hooves, "S-sorry..."

Jacinto considers, then offers her hand to Rowan with an accompanying smile. "Hey. In this together. I don't mind, I'm just observing like always."

Rowan sighs, but reaches out to take Jacinto's paw. "I... I'm just scared. I'm... I'm fighting really hard... I don't know what else to do."

Jacinto smiles softly, if slightly tinged with uncertainty for her part. "I'm sure we can figure out what to do, if we just... try to keep ourselves together. And if..." She squeezes Rowan's hooved hand. "If we find nothing, then we plan for heading home. Somehow."

Rowan hums, squeezing back. "I... okay. Somehow... r-right. Let's... let's finish dinner and then try to sleep..."

Jacinto nods. "I don't know what tomorrow brings, but... suppose we will find out, one way or another. Best scenario is probably waking up and all this having been a fever dream or something, but I've done way too many tangible tests in last three hours to really believe that."

Rowan smiles. "I don't think it'll happen either..." And, some part of her deep down isn't sure she even wants it to just 'go away' like that. "But we can find... someone who knows something, I'm sure."

Jacinto nods again and finally focuses back on the now-cooled fries she barely touched. "Something has to give, something caused this, and it happened today. Whatever it is, we are not far from the source."

She then deflates a bit, her energy trying to figure this out seemingly spent. "But for tonight... is it wrong to just enjoy something we've spent better part of our lives dreaming we could make happen?" She gives Rowan a small smile.

Rowan blinks, "...I... I don't know. What if it is wrong? What if... I... I don't know." She swallows, "Wh-what are you thinking?"

Jacinto blinks, giving Rowan a slightly confused look at first, then her eyes go wide. "N-nothing like that!" She waves her hands in a very Cindi kind of flailing for a second: "Just, goddamnit, not that! Just being here, like, sheesh, I'm talking like how this fur feels, or having a tail, or our changed senses. Not... that other stuff."

Rowan eeps at the flailing, bringing her hands up to hide her face in a similarly Akari manner to hide her blush, "Ohmygosh! I- I wasn't thinking anything like that! Of course not! I just... I just... thought maybe some... n-no. Nevermind. Oh gosh I feel so embarrassed."

Jacinto pauses for a second or three, before letting out a breath. "It's... gosh. It's okay. I think." She lifts a paw to her forehead: "This is such a mess."

Rowan sighs into her soft hooves, "It's just the costumes. Messing with our heads..."

Jacinto nods as she once again hugs her tail. "It's okay. I don't think anyone would be thinking fully straight in this situation. Me definitely included. Catching myself doing Cindi-like stuff."

Rowan watches Jacinto hug her tail, shaking her head with a sigh. "I'm trying to... probably why it's just best to go to bed... you can enjoy it, no reason not to... but I just don't think I can do it and stay sane."

Jacinto sighs, letting go of the tail. "Yeah. Sleeping seems anyway like something to do." She looks at herself, and at the bed she's sitting on. "Er... once we figure what even is a comfortable way to do it now."

Rowan reaches up to poke at her antlers, "...I just want to curl up into a ball but I'd just rip up the bed with these things."

Jacinto nods, glancing up at her antennae. "I don't want to know what it feels like to crush my antennae against the bed. Probably incredibly painful." She looks at her tail: "...sleeping on my back is definitely out."

"Sleeping on my belly, er.." She blushes as she looks down at the prominent shapes on her chest she has very much tried to not think about. "...no. Just no."

Rowan shifts back into the bed, just acting in part on instinct as she curls up in a sitting position, bringing her knees to her chest, "Might just have to sleep like this? Won't exactly be comfortable but I don't know what else to do."

Jacinto sighs, leaning back on the bed, against the wall. "Hmm. Guess I just gotta try it. You're going to hear a lot of me shuffling around, I apologize in advance." She lies down kind of awkwardly on her chest, then corrects to be more on her side but finds her lower body a bit weirdly positioned. She then grumbles into her pillow. "Mmrrph. Nope."

With a sigh, she sits back up. "I guess there's not much for us to do than try to get enough sleep for whatever tomorrow brings."

Rowan glances at Jacinto, somewhat sure she knows exactly how these two sleep... snuggled up, with Cindi held close in Akari's arms. "I... I'm sure we'll manage... at least a little bit of sleep."

Jacinto nods: "After today, even if my legs aren't tired because they decided to physically change halfway through - still weird to say that - today has been quite possibly the most tiring day of 'con experience we've had. Ever."

She runs her paws across her sizable thighs, frowning. "There's gotta be some position that makes sense..."

Rowan shifts uncomfortably. "I... well... n-no. Nevermind..." She sighs.

Jacinto looks up, tilting her head at Rowan: "Hmm?"

Rowan looks down at the bed, refusing to look up, "It's just... you know, in character, a-and obviously not something we would ever do. Cindi and Akari snuggle up to sleep, with Cindi on my- on Akari's lap."

Jacinto blinks, then blushes as she recalls exactly what her friend means. "Oh. Right. That makes... sense." She hesitates: "N-not something we do, though. Just our characters. Who... we..."

She lets out a deep sigh. "Yeah let's at least try to not go there." She can't entirely deny that the idea has appeal, but for all the good reasons they should not do that she refrains from voicing such thoughts.

Rowan blushes, still not looking up, "Exactly... b-best not to go there. We'll... manage."

Jacinto swallows. The Cindi side of the equation knows exactly where she wants to be, but for now she is fighting it. "Rowan, I... we... p-probably should not... snuggle, like that. For... you know. Reasons." The considerable history the two share also contains a time or two where things did not go so well. And some part of that time is related to snuggling into same bed.

Rowan nods. "I know... trust me, I know." Hugs are on thing... Akari has wanted to do more than that all night, since she saw Cindi pulling her tail in close for comfort. "Just... these characters. That's all. I don't want to, Jac', so don't worry. Let's just... get some sleep."

Jacinto nods, seemingly satisfied about this for the moment. She gets up to turn off the lights. "Let's... set an early alarm and see how we feel about things in the morning, yeah?" She brushes off any further thoughts about anything discussed moments ago.

Rowan picks up his phone, setting the alarm once again, "Yeah... up before anyone else should be... and we can see if we want to stay... or go."

Jacinto chuckles softly as she makes her way back to the bed, feeling oddly confident walking in the near darkness. Certainly she can't actually use her antennae like that... right?

She sits down on the bed, shivering a bit before laying down. And shifting her position. Then again. Until finally settling into something resembling horizontally comfortable. At least having a cover feels entirely pointless right now.

"Good night, Rowan."

Rowan pulls her legs up against her chest, back against the headboard. She rests her head down against her knees. "Good night, Jacinto."

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