Archive of Our Own

“Pleeeaaaassseee!” 

“Red, I already told you-”

“Pleeease Blue I’ll do anything!!” Red whined, hands folded and puppy-eyes on full display. 

“Why do you even want to?” Blue questioned, exasperated . 

“Why wouldn’t I want to!!” Red threw his hands in the air, “I could be a cat, Blue! A cat!!”

“Yeah, but it’s not like the other potions. It doesn’t have a time limit, you could get stuck like that if you’re not careful,” Blue chastised.

“So? One of you guys would just help me turn back anyway?” 

“That’s not the point,” Blue turned his back toward Red, focusing instead on packing his bag, “It’s risky. Me and Yellow have barely started experimenting with it as it is.”

“So you’ve used it?” 

“Red.”

“So it’s safe then?” Red grinned cheekily. 

“That is not what I said,” Blue groaned, dragging a hand down his face. 

“Well, it’s what I heard,” Red smirked, “And what I heard is that it’s safe to transform back and forth. And what I know is that you know how to make them.” 

“I don’t even have the resources for a transmutation potion right now,” Blue settled his bag on his shoulder, “That’s why I’m heading to the Nether, I need to restock.”

“I’ll come with and help you! Then you can make one!”

Blue gave him a deadpan look. Red matched it with a smugness that Blue recognized as the look Red gets when he knows he’ll get what he wants. Blue sighed tiredly. 

“You’re not going to give up, are you?” 

“A cat, Blue,” Red whispers, giddy.

“Ugh, fine,” Blue relented, walking over to his work station.

“Yes!!!” Red cheered, following him. 

Dozens of bottles and brewing ingredients littered the table near the cauldron, creating a type of organized mess that only Blue could understand. Red watched Blue navigate it with ease, the craft he spent years perfecting, movements expertly memorized as he did what was needed for a—

“Wait, it only needs an egg??” Red gawked.

“Mobs come from spawn eggs, don’t they?” Blue explained.

“I mean, I guess?” Red shrugged, “Hey! I thought you didn’t have the resources for one!?”

“Oh, yeah!” Blue said, smiling, “I lied!”

“Prick,” Red huffed. Blue smothered a laugh. 

It took a minute to brew, Red struggling to contain his excitement with each second that passed. As soon as it was finished, Blue took the potion and held it up to inspect, letting out a satisfied hum once he deemed it acceptable. Red reached for it eagerly, only to be met with Blue shoving him back. 

“Hold up, you still need a way to change back,” Blue reasoned, already making his way out of his room and downstairs, “C’mon!”

Red jogged to catch up, bumping into Blue and nearly sending them toppling to the ground. He glared at Red briefly, before letting it go and continuing his journey to their kitchen. A few extra minutes of rummaging around later and Blue finally found what he’s looking for. 

“There,” Blue laid Reuben’s food bowl on the floor, “I filled it with milk, so drink it when you’re done. It’s the only way to turn back when I’m not here.”

“You got it!” Red gave a thumbs up, making grabby hands at the potion. 

“Once you drink it, focus on the mob you want to be,” Blue warned, holding it back, “It’s very flexible with how it works, so if you don’t do that, you might end up as something else.”

“Alright, yeah,” Red nodded quickly, bouncing up and down with anticipation. 

“And tell someone else you’re taking it, at least?” Blue advised.

“Ugh, Blue! I’ll be fine!!” Red complained. 

Blue rolled his eyes, but finally, finally, gave it to him. Red looked at it, shaking at the prospect of his animal dreams coming true. In one swift motion, he downed the whole thing, feeling the effect immediately as his world suddenly became a lot larger. The bottle fell to the floor, landing with a clink. Blue crouched to pick it up, staring at him in the process. 

“I gotta admit, you’re pretty cute like this,” Blue smiled, reaching out to scratch behind his ear. 

‘Oh Cursors, that feels so good.’

Red couldn't help but lean into the touch. A low rumble drew itself out of his throat, constant as Blue’s fingers worked their magic on him. He soaked it in as much as he could, pushing his head into Blue’s hand even more. Blue laughed at the action, soft and breathy, before he moved on to smoothing his fur with soft strokes. On any normal day, Red would be embarrassed of how unashamedly cuddly he was being, but right now he didn’t care. Not when he was getting the best massage he’s had in his life. 

Blue moved over to his cheeks, hands larger than his head cupping both sides of his face, his hold gentle with his friend’s new form. Red rested his weight into it, looking up at Blue with big, dark eyes that he cooed at. 

“Maybe we should keep you like this,” Blue joked, pinching both of Red’s cheeks with his thumbs. 

The pinching evolved into squishing, until Blue was less so petting him and more like playing with his face like clay. An agitated yowl slipped from Red, his face scrunching up with displeasure. Blue giggled again, but thankfully got the message, since he pulled away, ruffling his head one final time. He pocketed the bottle in his inventory and brought out Red’s bandana. 

Wait!! How did he even—

“You need to keep better track of your things,” Blue interrupted his thoughts, wrapping it around Red’s neck. He tied it into a bow, tugging the edges so it was secure, smiling. “There! Now we’ll know which one is you.” 

Blue stood, stretching from his time on the ground. 

“Well, if that’s it, I’m heading out now. I won’t be back for a bit, so don’t get locked out of the house or anything,” Blue readjusted his bag. Red tilted his head at him, confused, and gave a questioning meow. Blue shrugged, “I wasn’t lying about needing to restock. Plus I promised to visit the piglins too… And maybe get more netherwart…” 

Blue trailed off, muttering his plans to himself. He stepped around Red to get to the kitchen’s exit, sparing only a quick glance back before leaving.

And Red was alone.

He supposed now would be a good time to get acquainted with his new body. He held a paw close to his face, testing the difference between it and his hand. He had claws, for one, that were able to come out and retract like a real cat’s. He spent a while playing around with that, but couldn’t find anything to snag them onto—unless he wanted Blue to hunt him down for ruining his apron again—so he moved on. 

He looked at the pads on his paws instead, feeling how sensitive they were every time he took a step, as if he were walking outside barefoot. Moving around was, luckily, very easy. He remembered his time as a fish, how naturally swimming came to him, so he assumed this had something to do with the potion giving them enough instincts to function. 

He wandered out of the kitchen and through the rest of the first floor, happy to see everyone out for the time being. That always seemed to be the case nowadays, ever since they rebuilt their Minecraft house in the overworld. It was so nice here, it’d be a shame to spend the day inside. 

Red eyed the pet door attached to the entrance, gently flapping open from a calm breeze, almost invitingly. Excitement built up in his chest, mixed with a touch of nerves, but that was quickly overshadowed by the idea of this new adventure. Red smiled. 

‘Well… it would be a shame to stay inside, wouldn’t it?’ he thought.

Needing no confirmation from anyone else, Red ran outside. 

~

Red didn’t think he’d ever had this much fun! 

The entire afternoon was a blur of running around, exploring the world that seemed so familiar yet so different at the same time, all from a completely new perspective. For the past few hours, Red fully immersed himself in the life of a cat. 

Climbing trees with his newfound agility, laying in the warm grass under the sun, experiencing the joys of catnip. Sooo much catnip, he probably spent an hour on that alone. He’s glad Blue wasn’t there, otherwise he’d find a very happy Red rolling around in his garden, then Red would never hear the end of it. 

All in all, it was a pretty good day and Red was ready to turn back. 

He was definitely going to do this again in the future, maybe even convince the others to join him once Blue and Yellow deem it safe. Red thought they were exaggerating a bit with their caution, as so far, the potion had been nothing but good! Just thinking of all the fun opportunities this would bring to them got him riled up, and he couldn’t wait to tell the others about his experience.

Red entered through the pet flap and made his way to the kitchen, briefly registering Yellow, Green, and Orange in their living room. Blue still seemed to be out and likely wouldn’t come back until the evening. 

He also passed by Reuben, who seemed awfully pleased with himself, droplets of a mysterious, white liquid trailing down his snout. Red thought it was strange, but paid it no mind. After all, there wasn’t anything the pig could’ve gotten into that he shouldn’t. He was Red’s best-trained pet, the smartest creature he knew, and he knew better than to eat from anywhere but.. his…

Food bowl. 

Red stared down at the empty food bowl. 

The bowl with the milk Blue put for him to turn back. 

Uh oh. 

…

Okay, this is uhhh. This is manageable. He’s been in much worse situations before and made it out on top, this will be no problem at all! Yeah. Yeah!! His friends are just in the next room, they’ll definitely recognize it’s him and help him turn back! It’ll be solved so fast he’ll wonder why he was worried in the first place! 

Feeling reassured, Red waltzed back into their living room, taking note of everyone’s positions. Orange was laying on the couch, taking up most of the space and likely about to take a nap; Green was scrolling on his phone on the other end of the couch, humming to himself whilst taking notes, probably planning a new song; Yellow was working at the desk they kept in the corner of the room, a glass of his favorite drink sitting half-finished by his laptop. 

Red looked at each of them, debating which one would be best to ask before deciding on Orange, since he recognized them all last time. He meowed loudly to make himself known, startling his friend from his drowsy state. Orange looked at him, confused, and sat up. Red meowed again, louder, alerting the other two to their impromptu stare down. 

“A cat…?” Orange lifted a hand up, cautiously inching it toward Red to sniff. Embarrassingly, Red leaned into it, giving Orange the confidence to start petting. He lifted Red from the ground and perched him on his lap, giggling at Red’s purring, “Hey lil’ guy. Who’re you?”

“One of Red’s cats, probably,” Green shrugged, “It has his bandana.”

“Oh yeah, true,” Orange noted, “Hmm, but it doesn’t look like a Minecraft one? It’s a bit uh… red?”

‘Yes, yes! That’s him!! Red!!!’

“Maybe he wanted a new pet?” Yellow suggested, turning away from his work.

“He wants a new pet every week,” Green teased. 

“No, like– A housepet like Reuben,” Yellow clarified, “Would explain why the texture’s altered and he tied a ribbon around it.”

“So what, he customized it?” Green snickered.

“Pfft, seems like it,” Yellow stifled a laugh, shaking his head, “Poor thing.”

“Aw c’mon, I think he’s cute,” Orange defended, though a smile was present, “Right big guy?”

Orange took both of his paws and brought him halfway to a stance, shaking them around the same way Red does when he pretends to dance with his cats. Orange proceeded to make kissy faces at him. 

“Where is Red anyway?” Green interrupted. 

‘Yes! Yes!! Yes!!!’

“I saw him with Blue earlier, so he probably went with him to the Nether,” Yellow replied.

‘Nooooo!!’

Red squirmed out of his grip, landing on his side before jumping to the floor in front of Orange. He meowed at him, loud and displeased, while doing his best approximation of what an unimpressed face would look like on a cat. Orange studied him in an attempt to figure out what was wrong. 

“Ohh, you’re probably hungry, huh?” Orange concluded, “Red’s not here to feed you so…”

“There’s some buckets of milk left over from the cake pranks, I think,” Green suggested. 

“Nah, milk isn’t good for cats. Messes with their stomach,” Orange refuted, “Blue’s planning on grilling fish tonight, so there should be some in one of the chests.” 

Orange stood, making his way toward the kitchen. Red stared in disbelief, only one thought on his mind at that moment. 

‘FUCK.’ 

~

Raw fish wasn’t too bad if he pretended it was sushi. Yellow liked sushi, he always brought it whenever they had picnics, so this was fine. Red told himself, at least. As much as he was opposed to the idea of eating raw meat, he hasn’t had anything since breakfast and all the running around he did before tired him out, so cat food it is. 

As it turned out, Orange never realized the cat was him, as reasonable and insulting as that was. Reasonable because the explanations the three made earlier made sense, insulting because he was a bright red cat with a yellow bandana around his neck for Creator’s sake. Red glared daggers at Orange’s sleeping form, not too dissimilar to how he’s been woken up by his own pets sometimes. If he was going to be stuck like this, he might as well get into the part. Not that Orange will mind given–

SNOREEEEEE

Given he was none the wiser. The stick was out cold like usual, snoring at a record breaking volume. No wonder Green left for his room. 

Red glanced at Yellow, wondering how he could possibly work through the noise, only to find the stick perfectly content with one of Green’s spare headphones. Red focused on the sound emitting from them, listening past the inhuman levels of snoring to recognize the telltale sounds of a lofi playlist. Fitting for their resident workaholic. Looking at him now, eyes focused and drink seemingly infinite, Yellow did look the part. 

Red shook his head of those thoughts. Cursors, he was getting distracted! He still needed to turn back!

Trotting over to the corner of the room, Red hopped on top of the wooden desk, tiptoeing around the cluttered mess. He almost got to the center of the chaos when a hand suddenly lifted him up from his stomach, carrying him off to the side like he weighed nothing and plopping him back on the floor. 

“Nope, sorry buddy,” Yellow apologized, eyes returning to the screen. 

Red pouted. This cat thing was starting to feel real patronizing, but what else could he do? He followed Yellow’s gaze, scanning over a mass of code he didn’t fully understand as his friend tapped away at his keyboard. 

Wait. 

That’s it! He might not be able to speak, but he could type a message. He just had to get to that laptop!!

Trying again, Red landed on the desk with the goal of sweet-talking his way through. He got within the other stick’s line of sight and flopped on his side, belly exposed, the other watching. Red meowed, leading him to pull down the headphones to listen. He chirped at him happily, putting on the cutest expression he could manage and pawing at the air slightly, as if inviting his attention. 

He saw Yellow succumb before his very eyes. The next thing Red knew, Yellow was lightly petting his side, careful not to touch his sensitive stomach. At the very least, Yellow was paying attention when Red was explaining how to pet his cats.

“You look like a neopet,” Yellow snickered. 

But clearly not enough attention to know how to compliment one. Red will consider it a compliment, regardless.

Testing the waters, Red stood from his spot, slowly padding over to the computer. Yellow’s hands ran down his back as he walked, making this mission a lot harder than it needed to be as his body purred nonstop. It was difficult not to give in and melt, but beside that, Red made it over without a problem. He pawed at the ‘H’ key in hopes to spelling out ‘HELP,’ getting halfway through the word and—

He got scooped up again. >:/

“Not for kitties, sorry!” Yellow chimed, placing him on the floor once more, before returning from his ‘break.’ 

So that was a bust. Red guessed asking Yellow wasn’t an option. He looked around the room. Yellow was too busy, Orange was asleep, and Blue was in the Nether… 

He heard music coming from the floor above, mixed with the familiar notes of a clarinet. Green. 

Surely he could help, right?

~

To Red’s luck, Green’s door was left slightly ajar, allowing him to easily slink himself through. The stick’s room was sleek and organized, noteblocks neatly placed amongst instruments they stole from images. Green was sitting in front of one, his hands on the keys of a piano, playing the same melody he was humming to himself earlier. Every now and then, Green would mess up a note, grumble at the mistake, then start over. He didn’t seem to notice Red was there yet.

Red looked around, quietly wandering the room as he searched for a way to prove his humanity. He paused when he came to the noteblocks, pawing at it experimentally. The block produced its signature harp-like sound, tuned to emit a random note. Red hopped on top of it, another note playing as he landed, and he studied the block. 

If he could play a song Green made, a song that nobody else but him and his friends would know, then surely Green would figure out it was him. Red pawed at the block, mimicking the motions he would have made with his hands against the keys, the strings responding appropriately inside. Careful not to damage them with his claws, he replicated a song he knew Green would recognize.

As if on cue, the other stick paused his own playing, choosing to watch him in baffled amusement. Red made it through the whole song, playing to the best of his ability with only one block and paws instead of fingers. He looked toward Green for his reaction. 

“What the fuck?” Green laughed, shock evident, “How’d you even do that?”

Red meowed at him.

“W-What kind of cat are you!? That was awesome!!” Green rose from his seat and crossed the room to meet Red. 

‘What.’

Green picked him up, twisting and turning him around as he inspected him for something. 

“I don’t see any potion effects on you, so it can’t be a potion of musicality,” Green muttered, “Maybe you’re super smart like Reuben?”

Red whined, dangling from Green’s hold, the other’s hands supporting him under his front legs. Green held him in front of his face, eyes boring into his with a skeptical gaze. 

“Hmm…” Green pondered, “It’s possible. That must be why Red picked you out, huh?”

‘This is absolutely not how you hold a cat…’ 

Red briefly considered swiping at his friend’s face, but was quickly prevented in doing so by Green tucking him close to his chest, cradling him like a baby. While this position was technically better, it was equally humiliating. It didn’t last long, at least, as he was put down quickly once Green reached his piano. Sat in Green’s lap, Red watched as he set up his phone to record, gently grabbing Red’s paws.

“Red’s gonna love this,” Green whispered, “Don’t worry, Red Jr. You’ll master this one in no time!”

Oh, so he was Red Jr now. Great. 

“Just follow my lead.” 

Not like Red had much of a choice. Green moved his paws to press on the keys, following the song Green played earlier, his hold gentle but firm. Red let him do what he wanted with him, finding it easier than attempting to escape. He stared bored at the camera, brainstorming ways to prank the other back in hopes it would make this go faster. 

By the time Green finished the song, Red had thought of at least 15 different ways to shove the other’s face in a cake. Again.

“There, and now you know it!” Green let go of his paws, excitedly looking at Red, “So! Think you can play it?”

Red climbed onto the piano, uncaring to the way the notes clashed as he walked over them, jumping to the ground. He stared Green down and hissed, tail flicking on his way out. 

…

“Yeesh, tough crowd.” 

~

Orange was still asleep. 

Red was starting to lose hope. Blue was going to come back and see Red did get stuck like he said. Then he was going to make fun of him and garnish his dinners with catnip and call him Red Jr for at least a month. He could already see it coming. It was inevitable.

Not ready to accept defeat, Red leapt onto Orange, meowing as loud as he could. When that didn’t work, he bapped at his face, ready to slap him awake if he needed to. And Red needed to, so he did, and it still didn’t work. 

Red tried everything! Tickling Orange’s nose with his fur, sitting on his face, digging his claws into his skin—not too deep, he didn’t want to hurt his friend. Yet still!!! 

NOTHING!!!

That’s it! Blue won, Red gave up. 

There was no way he could turn himself back without Blue’s help. And until Blue came back, Red would just have to deal with it. He cursed himself for getting too excited earlier, for not telling anyone else his plans before drinking the potion. Sitting on his friend’s chest, he looked at the clock, noting the amount of time still left until dinner. Cursors, he wished for time to pass quicker. 

With nothing better to do, Red patted the fabric of Orange’s shirt, kneading in repetitive motions. He curled up, tucking his legs into his body and wrapping his tail around. His head laid on his friend’s chest, bobbing up and down with each breath the other took. 

It was then that Red realized how tired he grew. All of the play he did earlier, all of the running around he was subjected to. Failed attempts at being noticed, seen as nothing more but a housecat. It wore him down until his eyelids drooped and his breath matched Orange’s slow pace. 

As he drifted off, he felt a hand scratch behind his ears and the familiar rumble he’d grown accustomed to draw itself from his throat.

~

Red slowly came to awareness, the voices of his friends having a debate around him. 

“I still think he’ll go with Red Jr,” Green said.

“Scarlet’s nicer,” Yellow said, “It’s cute.”

“Red Jr starts with an ‘R,’ though,” Green pointed out, “Reuben, Red Jr—He could get an ‘R’ thing going.”

“Okay, okay, I see your point,” Yellow nodded, “Counterpoint.”

“Yeah?”

“Red Jr sounds dumb.”

“Wha-” Green stammered, “And Scarlet’s any better?”

“Yes. By a long-shot.”

“It’s just another word for red!!”

“And Red Jr is basically just Red’s name.” 

“Like he wouldn’t do that. It’s pretty much him in cat form!!” Green huffed, “Orange! Settle this debate! What do you think?”

“Hm… I thiiiink,” Orange drawled out, “Red should name his own pet.”

“Nope, not an answer,” Green said.

“Well, it’s all you’re gonna get from me,” Orange scratched his ears again, causing Red to purr like crazy, “Red’s gonna be the one taking care of him, might as well let him name the lil’ guy. If he wants suggestions, he’ll ask for them.”

“Boo, no fun,” Green pouted, “You just wanna go back to bed.”

“Maybe.”

“Dude, you sleep too much, it’s getting concerning,” Yellow deadpanned.

“Hey, dinner’s ready!” Blue called from the kitchen doorway.

“We’ll be right there!” Yellow responded.

Red heard shuffling, the sound of footsteps mixing together with a revived debate. Red didn’t move, the warmth of someone’s hand and the steady rise and fall of their chest proving too cozy.

“C’mon, kitty. Time to wake up,” Orange whispered.

“Brrt, mrow,” Red blinked his eyes open, shaking off the prior sleepiness.

“There we go, that’s it,” Orange coaxed, holding him close as he sat up, careful not to let Red fall. 

He lowered him to the ground, ensuring all four of his legs touched the floor before letting go. Didn’t stop Red from stumbling, though, which made Orange snicker at his post-nap clumsiness.

“I’ll sneak you some more fish for dinner, m’kay?” Orange ruffled the top of his head, then left for the kitchen. 

Mmm, dinner sounded great right now. Red was starving and all he wanted was to taste some of Blue’s…

Blue. Blue! Blue!!! 

Blue’s back!

Red’s drowsiness was gone in an instant, instead replaced by the urgent need to find the stick in question. Red ran to the kitchen, nearly tripping over his own feet. Cursors, why was having four legs so difficult!!!

He managed to catch Blue hanging his apron, the others too preoccupied with filling their plates on the other side of the room. Red meowed, catching Blue’s attention. He paused, staring at the cat for a moment, confused. His eyes widened, a sputtering laugh threatening to come out only to be smothered by his hand. 

“You cannot be serious,” Blue whispered, laughing. Red meowed angrily. “Dude, I told you this would happen!”

“Mrooowww!!”

“Don’t look at me like that,” Blue giggled. Red glared at him harder, making Blue laugh more.

“Hey Blue, wasn’t Red with you?” Orange called, worry evident. Blue sobered up in an instant, putting on a sweet facade. 

“Oh, yeah! He wanted to visit his friends at the Monster School. He said not to wait for him,” Blue ‘explained,’ which seemed to relax Orange.

Blue then shot a smug grin at Red. 

‘Oh the mOTHERFU-’

“MROOWWWWWWW!!!”

“He’s very talkative, isn’t he?” Blue commented. 

“He’s probably hungry again,” Orange noted, “Do you have any plain fish left over?”

“Nah, but I have an alternative,” Blue said, walking toward a chest. He pulled out a bucket of milk and began pouring it into Reuben’s bowl, pocketing the bucket once it emptied. 

“Isn’t that bad for–”

“Not for this one. He’s a special case,” Blue replied, “Red told me himself that this is his favorite snack.”

“Um, well if he said so… I guess?” Orange accepted, still unsure but trusting in the supposed words of his animal-loving friend.

“Let’s eat!”

Everyone took their seats and began eating. Meanwhile, Red was lapping up the milk as fast as his little tongue would let him, unable to drink more than a few drops at a time. It was slow progress and he wondered if he’d even finish by the end of the meal, but he was determined to keep going. 

He was absolutely sick of being a cat.

He finished after about 10 minutes. Just like before, the change was instant and he found himself on his knees, hands against the cold floor below. Hands! Oh he never thought he’d be glad to see them. 

“ANIMATORS!!!!” Orange yelped upon noticing, startling the others so bad that Green started choking, leading Yellow to go to his aid, “Red how– Where the hell did you come from?!?”

“I’ve been here the whole time!!!!!” Red announced, clambering off the ground, “How did you NOT notice me!!!”

“Nice bowtie,” Blue smirked.

“Shut up!!!!!” Red cried. He walked over to Blue, pointing an accusatory finger at him. 

“YOU!!!”

“Yes?” Blue smirked. 

“How could you!!” Red grabbed Blue’s shoulders, frantically shaking him back and forth, “You knew I was stuck and made me eat off the floor!!! You could’ve used another potion to turn me back! Do you know how hard it is to drink anything like that!?!”

“I mean, it seems like you got it down just fine,” Blue stuck his tongue out tauntingly.

“How could you abandon me in my time of need!!!!! I thought we were friends!!!” Red wailed, punching his arm repeatedly in minor strikes.

“We still can be,” Blue offered, “How about a peace-offering?”

“Oh yeah? Like what,” Red grumbled, pausing his assault to hear him out.

 Blue pushed his plate forward, half of a grilled salmon still present. 

“Fish? It’s Red Jr’s favorite,” Blue grinned.

Red knocked over his glass of water.