Really Strange Stuff

=::= Bailey's PoV =::=

"I knew it!" Callie suddenly exclaimed.

She was loud enough for me to hear over the dialog coming through my headphones, and the shout was followed by a loud bang, as if she'd hit or slammed something. So I paused the segment I was editing then pulled off my headset as I looked towards my girlfriend to see what was wrong.

All three of us were at our desks, working on our own separate parts of the project. I'd been putting together all the audio and video we'd recorded over the previous month to make it into a smooth coherent episode, and considering there was just one week left before our self-imposed deadline I was feeling the pressure.

Meanwhile Serenity was doing research for our next episode, digging up background info and consulting maps and encyclopedias along with news archives and stuff like that. And Callie was digging through the mountain of data we received from Kid Chaos, looking for inspiration to base future episodes around.

Except my girlfriend was glaring at the screen of her laptop like she wanted to hit it. Her ears were folded back and her tail was down low behind her, twitching around in irritation. In fact I had a feeling that bang was from her hitting her desk or something. I was about to ask what was wrong but Serenity beat me to it.

"What was that all about?" the tall ravenette catgirl asked with a frown. Her ears were folded back as well, and her long fluffy tail had poofed up after her cohost's outburst.

The petite calico catgirl was still glaring at her computer, but she really couldn't pull off a good glare anymore. These days even her angriest look came out more like a grumpy pout.

She finally sighed then slumped back in her chair and gestured towards the laptop, "Remember about three years back, we had a lead on a guy folks said could raise spirits and talk to the dead? He was up near Ashland in Wisconsin? So we made arrangements to go meet the guy, we were going to do a show on him? Only first our car broke down, then your phone went missing and mine stopped working? So the guy got fed up because he thought we were unreliable, then he refused to see us after all?"

As soon as my girlfriend mentioned the guy raising spirits Serenity started nodding like she knew exactly what Callie was talking about. The smaller catgirl was obviously on a rant though, and she wasn't about to stop part-way through. Which was fine with me, since I hadn't heard this story and didn't know anything about it.

I'd actually only known the RSS catgirls for about eight months, the three of us met in a chance encounter back in March.

I was down in Tinley Park interviewing at an indie TV studio, hoping to land a job as a camera operator or maybe get onto their post-production team. I was positive I flunked the interview though, so I decided to cheer myself up with some hot chocolate at a nearby cafe. Except I wasn't looking where I was going, and literally walked straight into Callie and Serenity as they came out the door with their drinks.

They weren't using those names at the time though, that was long before they got turned into a pair of catgirls by those enchanted plush toys.

When we collided their coffees went everywhere, mostly on me and Callie. Unfortunately enough of it got on the camera Serenity was carrying that it stopped working completely. And even though it was entirely my fault Callie was a total gentleman about it, especially when she realized how distraught I was about accidentally spilling their drinks and damaging their camera.

Then Serenity said something about having to film with their cellphones that evening, and next thing I knew I was offering to help and volunteering my own equipment. It wasn't as good as their dedicated cinema gear but I had a mirrorless camera with an all-purpose zoom lens in my bag that could shoot HD video.

They were leery at first, but when I found out what they were up to and what sort of stuff they did that only made me more excited. I'd always been interested in the paranormal, and while I hadn't heard of RSS I was really eager for the chance to work with them. That and the fact that I'd literally majored in photography and videography at college was more than enough for them to accept my offer.

So the three of us spent that night shivering together out in Bremen Grove, waiting under the full moon for an alleged cryptid to show itself. It never did, but by the following morning I was an honorary member of the Really Strange Stuff team. My promotion from 'honorary' to 'official' team member came later, when -

"So guess what?!" my catgirl girlfriend's angry voice snapped me out of my reverie.

Without waiting for a reply she continued, "Those problems weren't just bad luck after all, it was the frickin Council! They had a guy monitoring us! Can you believe it? And apparently that spirits guy in Ashland was the real deal, so this Council dude sabotaged us! He messed with my car and my phone, stole your phone, and basically just screwed around with us to make sure we'd never get there to interview that guy."

Callie kicked the side of her desk again as she growled, "We could have had proof of this stuff three years ago! Maybe even before that! I'm still reading through this crap, who knows how long the Council's been holding us back?!"

Fortunately Serenity lived up to her name. Rather than share in my girlfriend's outrage she just shrugged her shoulders and shook her head, "Water under the bridge my friend. Look at the bright side? The Council's gone, but we're still here doing our thing."

Callie held on to her grumpy pout for another few seconds, before it slowly gave way to a smile.

"Yeah," she nodded. "You're right Sere. And hey, this just proves we've been on the right track all along."

Serenity looked thoughtful as she asked, "Hey did you see anything in there about them sabotaging us on our trip to Canada? We interviewed actual catgirls there, and almost interviewed a werewolf before we got arrested and deported. We never did figure out who tipped off Canadian Border Patrol about us."

That trip happened just over a month after I met Callie and Serenity. I was still an honorary member of the RSS team, but I'd been helping them with filming and post-production stuff, and I did all the camera work for their April live-stream. That freed them up as hosts so they could both be on camera together which was a huge improvement in the format and content of their show.

When the time came they both invited me, but even though Callie and I were already dating I wasn't quite ready to accompany them on an international road trip yet. So I stayed behind, but kept in touch with them. I helped with research, and catalogued the footage they uploaded each night.

Then after they got arrested I talked with a local lawyer and accessed their RSS emergency fund and sent them the money to cover the fine and get them home again. Finally I played a big part in putting together the two exposé episodes that came out of their Canada trip.

That's when I was promoted from honorary to full member of the team, and from that point on my name appeared in the credits right after the two hosts.

"I don't know who got us arrested on our Canada trip," my girlfriend pouted. "But that 'man in black' who threatened us there was definitely a Council agent, some guy named Adrian Sinclair. He's not the guy who sabotaged us here three years ago though, that was a local agent."

A second later her ears perked up and her tail swished around in excitement as she added, "Hey what if we could interview our local Council guy? We know where to find him thanks to everything we got from Kid Chaos, so we can just look him up. That might be good payback, put him on the spot about sabotaging us?"

I grimaced as I slowly shook my head, "I don't know Callie. Some of those Council agents are dangerous, aren't they? I don't want any of us getting hurt."

"It'll be fine!" my girlfriend insisted. "We're always careful, right Sere? And even if the guy did try something we've got divine backing now! We can just shoot Kid Chaos a message and I'm sure she'd help out!"

The tall sexy ravenette catgirl smiled as she shook her head, "We don't have divine backing Callie, not yet. She said maybe we could work together more in the future. For now she's just another supportive fan paying her twenty dollars a month to keep the channel going."

Callie looked smug while her tail twitched behind her, "I'm sure if we got into serious trouble she'd help us out. Maybe we'd have to message her and ask, or heck maybe we could even pray to her? But she gave us all that data and information on the Council, she wants us to make it public. If we got into trouble following a lead she gave us, I think she'd come and rescue us."

"In fact," the cute calico added as her tail swished back and forth, "You could even say I have faith in Kid Chaos."

Serenity rolled her eyes, but before could respond my phone started buzzing with an incoming call.

"Sorry," I grimaced as I checked the call display. Then I got up and headed for the door as I added, "Excuse me girls, I have to take this."

I hurried up the stairs and into our cosy living-room as I answered the call, "Hi mom! What's up? How are you and dad doing?"

"Hello honey!" mom responded. She sounded like she was in a good mood as she continued, "Your dad and I are fine. I'm calling about your email? Of course you can bring some friends to Thanksgiving! I assume that's your two boyfriends, right? I'm looking forward to finally meeting them!"

I felt my cheeks heating up as I protested, "Mom! I keep telling you I'm not with both of them!"

"Anyways that's what I needed to talk to you about," I added, before we could get side-tracked in that argument again.

Mom sounded like she was smiling as she responded, "I assume things are getting serious then, if you're finally bringing them both home to meet your parents. You know you'll have to pick just one if you plan on getting married, Illinois won't recognize a polyamorous union. Not yet anyways."

"Mom!!" I gasped as my cheeks got brighter.

By that point I knew she was just winding me up on purpose, and she gave it one last twist which hit a little too close to home. "I know there's some places where polygamy's tolerated, but I don't know if they'd approve of two boys with one girl. Unless one of your boyfriends is trans? That might work."

"Mom!" I finally stated. "That's enough! This is serious, ok?"

This time she apologized, "I'm sorry Bailey. What is it? Is something wrong?"

"Not wrong," I sighed, "Just complicated. I know you don't watch our show or you'd already know this stuff but here we go. My uh, 'boyfriend' isn't a boy anymore. She's a girl, her new name is Callie. And her best friend isn't a guy either, she's also a girl and her name is Serenity. And yes, they're the two friends I invited to Thanksgiving. I hope that's not going to be a problem?"

Mom was quiet for a few seconds while I found myself cringing. When she finally responded though I was surprised by what she actually said. "I hope you got their permission before outing them to me as trans?"

"Yeah of course I did!" I insisted as soon as the shock wore off. "So um, are you ok with that? Will dad be ok with them?"

"Your father and I will be fine honey," mom replied in a calm caring voice. "But are you ok? What are you going to do now that you know your boyfriend is really a woman?"

I'd been pretty sure my folks didn't have anything against trans people, but it was still a big relief to hear her say it. And it was touching to hear how concerned she was about how this was affecting me.

Fortunately I was mostly fine with it now, but that first week was a challenge. Neither Callie or I had any big crying meltdowns, but there were several long difficult conversations, along with some soul-searching and introspection. On both sides. There were also some laughs too, like the sheer absurdity of having to teach my former boyfriend how to put on a bra.

And as tempted as I was to tell mom about all that stuff, I had one more hurdle to get past first. I needed to know if they'd be ok with a bi daughter.

So after a deep breath I told her, "I'm fine mom. It was a shock, believe me, and that's another thing I need to warn you about. But yeah, Callie and I worked things out and we're still together. So um, I guess she's my girlfriend now?"

There was another brief pause before mom responded, "I'm glad you and Callie are staying together Bailey. I know it's early days though, and please don't take this the wrong way but you might feel different as she gets further on in her transition. So I want you to know I'm here for you if you ever need someone to talk to, ok?"

I couldn't help smiling, "Aww thanks mom! I appreciate that. But actually that's the other thing I wanted to um, warn you about? Callie's and Serenity's transitions I mean. I know you and dad don't believe in supernatural stuff, but magic is real and -"

"Don't tell me," mom suddenly interrupted, and her tone was noticeably different. She didn't sound angry, but she was definitely uptight about something. Then her next words left me stunned, "Did they get their hands on some enchanted plush toys? Are you going to tell me your girlfriends both have fuzzy ears and furry tails now too?"

It took me a second or two to find my voice. Then I demanded, "How could you possibly know about that?!"

Mom sighed, "Let's just say your girlfriends won't be the only ones with tails at our Thanksgiving dinner."

"What?" I gasped. "Who else... Mom please don't tell me dad got one of those toys?"

She actually laughed, "No honey, it wasn't your father. Although now you've got me picturing him with fuzzy ears. Anyways Bailey you were telling me about your girlfriends. What kind of plushies did they get? And do they have any special dietary requirements I should be aware of?"

Once again I was shocked by how well she seemed to be taking things. I found myself smiling as I answered, "Cats. They're both catgirls now. Callie's a cute little calico, and Serenity's a tall hot ravenette. I don't think either of them have any special food requirements? I haven't noticed any changes and they haven't said anything about it."

"And I'm only girlfriends with one of them mom," I added as my cheeks coloured again. "Callie and I are the couple, Serenity's just a good friend. And colleague. And housemate."

"Of course honey," mom replied, "Whatever you say. Your father and I are looking forward to seeing you on Thursday, and we're excited to finally meet your two close friends whom are also girls."

I sighed but she cut me off before I could say anything else, "Sorry for teasing you hon, but I can practically hear you blushing over the phone."

"Fine," I grumbled. "So if it wasn't dad, who else got one of those plushies?"

Unfortunately she wouldn't tell me, "Sorry honey, I don't have permission to say anything. You'll have to wait until Thanksgiving and see for yourself."

There were only a few possibilities, as far as I knew the only other family who'd be there were an aunt, an uncle, and two cousins. I didn't bother trying to guess though, like mom said I'd find out soon enough.

Instead I told her, "Actually I should get back to work now mom. I love you, tell dad I said hi. See you next week!"

"Bye honey, love you too!"