Claude's demanding boss Dan has sent him out in search of a show stealing costume. Thankfully a new costume shop appears to have opened up right around the corner. When Claude buys a pair of themed outfits, will the two be able to keep up the act?

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Faux Pass is getting its first real customer! A potentially familiar customer for the CYOC fans out there. (Did you hear it's back after their extended downtime?) I typically write from third person perspectives, but I decided to experiment with the second person "You" perspective in a costume shop thread that Blue had gotten started. The lion and tamer dynamic I explored there was fun enough to polish and include here as part of Faux Pass. Enjoy!

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Faux Pass - Lion & Tamer

It had been an unusual couple of days at Faux Pass Costumes. The Shopkeeper and his werewolf guard dog Ben had suddenly found themselves running an honest to goodness magical costume shop.

There had been a few customers so far, but things were starting off pretty slowly. The wizard was passing the time constructing a new mask display. Ben was standing by the register and doing his best to work video editing software with his paws. (They’ve proven to be more dexterous than expected, and paw pads worked surprisingly well with capacitive touchscreens.) Neither of them were expecting much foot traffic until classes got out at the nearby university later that day.

So it was quite a surprise to hear the bell over the front door ring. A middle aged man in a blue button down shirt and a pair of khakis shuffled into the store.

“Umm, hello?” He asked tentatively. “Are you open-“

The guard dog let out a friendly bark and waved a paw. The man almost fell over in surprise.

“Woah! I’m at the right place!” The human gawked.

The Shopkeeper slid up beside the man. In the brief time Faux Pass had been open, he'd come to expect a bit of mental whiplash when dealing with a new customer. In an instant the Shopkeeper would suddenly know all he needed about a customer's needs and desires. To say nothing of their name. Claude here was looking for a costume for his boss. Huh, that was a new one. Was the guy really too busy to shop on his own? Claude has some costume of his own picked out already, but the Shopkeeper was sure he could outdo it. He already had several in mind that could do the trick, but it was best to let the customer dole out a few questions first.

“Well hello there! Welcome to Faux Pass Costumes!” The Shopkeeper gave a small bow. “Anything I can help you find today?”

“Uh- Yes! I think so?” Claude scanned the Shopkeeper for a moment. He was clearly trying to figure out if the old man was wearing a costume too. (Besides his wizard robe of course.) “My office is doing a Halloween party this month.”

“That is the customary time to do so, yes,” the Shopkeeper gave a polite laugh.

“My boss really wants to win the costume contest. He’s used to always being the center of attention.” Claude glanced back at the guard werewolf. “Do you have any more of those werewolf costumes?”

“Your boss wouldn’t mind wearing a mask all night?” The Shopkeeper asked.

Claude shook his head. “He talks enough that everyone would know it’s him. He’s a bit of a showman. So uh… Any more of those werewolves?”

“Ah, I try not to do repeats,” the Shopkeeper smiled. “So your boss is a showman huh?”

Claude gulped. He looked around for anyone listening. “Show off might be a better term?”

The Shopkeeper nodded, “Mhmm, I think I’ve got just the thing for the two of you.”

He turned and walked deeper into the store. The wizard had discovered early on that his wares didn't like sitting still. The costumes had a habit of reorganizing themselves for the current customer. You just had to walk down an aisle or two and you'd eventually find what you needed.

“Oh, uh, I’ve got a pretty good doctor outfit at home actually? White coat, a legit stethoscope?” Claude said meekly. “I’m really just here for my boss.”

“Mhmm, and how did that costume go over the last three years?” The Shopkeeper teased.

“Uh-“ Claude blinked. Whoops, the Shopkeeper may have been a too accurate there.

“Look, if your boss wants to be the star of the show, he can’t just be out there peacocking on his own.” The Shopkeeper paused and stroked his beard. “Although I may actually have a peacock costume around here somewhere.”

Claude mumbled a bit and gave the Shopkeeper the smallest of head tilts.

“What you need is a pair of costumes! Everyone loves a good themed set.” The Shopkeeper started approaching the end of the aisle.

“Umm… I’m just his assistant. I don’t know if Dan wants to do a costume with me.” Claude rubbed the back of his head nervously.

“I’m sure you could talk him into it? You sound like a convincing assistant.” The Shopkeeper smiled and gestured up at one of the racks. “If he’s a showman, this routine is hard to beat.”

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The wizard-y clerk stepped aside to let Claude look at the two costumes on the end of the rack. One was an enormous furry bundle, and the other was done up in some gaudy felt. It took Claude a moment to realize what he was looking at.

It was a lion costume and a matching tamer outfit. The lion outfit looked like some sort of furry yellow jumpsuit. Resting on its shoulders was a massive maned mask. A muzzle dangled down revealing two large empty eyeholes.

The mask was clearly supposed to be the focus. It had a good amount of detail to it, and the mane had a nice gradient of brown furs. The rest of the outfit just looked like an afterthought. There wasn’t much blending in the fur color. The pants and sleeves at least ended in large scruffy paws. They didn’t exactly look all that useful though. Whoever wore this would definitely be drinking through a straw all night. Probably with someone holding the glass. Resting on the chest was a small silver zipper buried in all the gold fur.

The tamer outfit was a bit nicer in comparison. Gaudy was the wrong word for it. The outfit was flashy? The centerpiece was a bright red velvet jacket framed with bright gold trim. There were tassels dangling every which way. It made sense once you picked up on the circus vibe.

Underneath the jacket was a simple pair of black slacks. There was a fake looking fabric whip prop attached to the belt. Claude hoped it was attached to the pants. He reflexively winced picturing his boss wacking him with it all night.

It wasn’t the most elaborate outfit, but it looked within Dan’s price range. The costume shop had clearly split the material budget between the two costumes.

Ugh, Claude had a mental image forming in his head now. Of course he’d get stuck with the lion outfit. He could just picture his boss getting into the lion tamer routine all night. He’d no doubt keep Claude on a short leash to roar on command.

Still, a happy boss was a boss that kept you employed.

“This… might work? How much for the two?” Claude ran his fingers down the lion’s fur. “Does it come with a leash or anything?”

“If you’re into that sort of thing?” The Shopkeeper raised an eyebrow.

“Gah! Not like that!” Claude nearly threw his hands up in embarrassment. “I just uh- My boss likes to keep me on a short leash.”

Claude checked his watch as if to drive the point home.

“It sounds like you two don’t have the best working relationship. You should really be the one to crack the whip from time to time.” The Shopkeeper smiled. He picked both of the outfits up off of the racks. If one were watching closely, they would see the faintest blue aura radiating out from his hands and onto the coat hangers. “It’s one hundred and thirty five for the set.”

Wow, that was perfect. His boss had given him a hundred and fifty bucks. That left him just enough to go grab lunch before heading back to the office. He’d take the small silent victory.

“Oh wow, I- I guess I’ll take ‘em!” Claude reached into his pocket and started counting up the bills.

The Shopkeeper handed over both outfits and walked back over to the cash register. “I will say, my costumes work much better when you try to act the part.”

“I’ll try to keep that in mind.” Claude awkwardly held the lion jumpsuit in front of his chest. “Are you sure they’ll fit?”

The Shopkeeper beamed, “I assure you, my costumes are all one size fits all.”

---

“Ho ho, I’ve always wanted to say that,” the Shopkeeper was practically bouncing on his heels as Claude departed.

The werewolf gave him a side eye and let out a brief whine.

“Come now Ben, we all need to enjoy our work,” the wizard smiled.

“Arf arf?” the wolf asked.

“They’re not all going to change here,” the Shopkeeper explained. “Plus I don’t think you’d get along with a lion.”

That got a bit of a growl out of him.

“That still doesn’t mean we can’t do a bit of peeping though,” the Shopkeeper grinned. He waved his robe sleeves back with a flourish and suddenly revealed a large crystal ball. It was the same sort of presto-reveal Ben had been working on all day on his video editing software. Only naturally this time the reveal was real.

“Ruff?” Ben padded over for a closer look at the sphere.

The two peered inside. The image in the crystal shimmered for a moment. When it came into focus, Claude could be seen humming along with the music in his car.

“This might take a while,” the Shopkeeper stroked his beard. “How’s the ad coming along?”

Ben slid his phone over beside the crystal ball. He tapped play with a paw pad and rolled the footage on the video the two had filmed a few days prior. Ben left a bit of his genuine freak out in there, but cut it off before folks would get too suspicious. There was just a brief blurry glimpse of the store magically assembling itself.

“Wow, this is perfect!” The Shopkeeper smiled. “I’m lucky to have such a good pup-licist.”

Ben rolled his eyes and let out a growl, but it was easy to see his tail wag back and forth.

---

Dan leaned back in his cubical. It was funny how corporate status symbols changed over time. It used to be that having a corner office was the peak of success. Now you were lucky to get something with a three and a half shoulder-height walls to call your own. He still saw the way his peers coveted his jumbo-sized monitor, ultra-sleek laptop, and desk trinkets he could actually leave out overnight. Life was still good.

He chomped on his granola bar and leaned in to check his emails. He had far too much going on to waste time going downstairs to the cafeteria for lunch. The team was almost finished putting slides together for his presentation next week. The engineers were almost done solving that one problem that had been giving everyone trouble for the last month. His one thirty call was still on his calendar. He should have just enough time to get caught up his business news feeds.

A plastic rustling distracted him before he could get too far into his article. Who was stomping around the executive area? He poked his head up to scan for the troublemaker.

“Ah Claude! Back already?” He beamed, “What did you manage to find?”

His mousey black haired assistant traipsed into his cubical’s entryway with- Huh. Two garment bags. Whatever he had was being kept pristine in dry cleaner style bags on their coat hangers. It was a little hard to make out exactly what they were.

“The uh- The shop recommended themed costumes?” Claude started to lift the plastic off.

“What on Earth?” Dan blinked. That was a lot of fur! “You want me to dress up as a shag rug all night?”

“Uh- Nosir.” Claude pulled back the other plastic. “It’s a lion and tamer outfit.”

Huh. The lion tamer outfit didn’t look much better. It was flashy and was going to stand out among all the other costumes. This was a business socializer, not a circus! Everyone would see him strutting around like a- Oh! Hmm. Everyone would see him. That would be perfect! Hard to lose the contest if you knew you’re not getting overlooked.

“Hmm, I suppose that will do. Nice work Claude.” Dan reached out and took the lion tamer’s coat hanger from his assistant.

The second he grabbed onto the metal coat hanger, a small static discharge shocked his finger. Dan pulled his hand away reflexively.

Something about the recoiling gesture rattled him. Whatever it was, the tamer outfit suddenly seemed… off? He couldn’t put his finger on it, but he suddenly no longer wanted to wear it. “Sorry, is this… felt? That sounds a little hot to wear all evening.”

“Err, maybe?” Claude held up the other outfit, “This one will probably be warmer. But I’m sure they’ll have the AC cranked up.”

Dan looked at the costume Claude was holding. A lion! Now there was a costume! King of the jungle and all that! Why hadn’t he gone for that earlier?

“Why don’t you deal with the taming nonsense?” Dan reached for the bundle of fur. “I’ll take this one.”

He snatched the lion costume from Claude. His assistant looked on dumbfounded. (Not an uncommon expression for him these days.)

“You… want me to be the tamer sir?” Claud asked.

Dan pulled the zipper on the lion costume down. He was already getting it off the hanger. “It’s a theme costume, right? It wouldn’t make sense for me to dress up like a lion if you’re not there.”

“Oh!” Claude looked at the tamer outfit with renewed interest. “Well okay then!”

Claude usually got there eventually! Dan kicked off his shoes and slid them under his desk. He pushed his laptop aside so that he could lay down the lion outfit for a moment.

“Are you… changing now sir?” Claude blinked.

“Yes?” Dan looked down at him. “I have to make sure it fits.”

“The shop said it was one size fits all?” Claud said softly.

“And you believed them?” Dan let out an amused guffaw, “They’re all fly-by-night hucksters. Go change and make sure we- Well, you didn’t waste my money.”

“I uh- Okay. Be right back!” Claud took his costume and ran off towards the bathroom.

He had to actually change-change. Dan just had to get a furry jumpsuit on. Plus Claude didn’t have a cubical to get a bit of privacy in. With his help maybe Claude could rise through the ranks one way. Well, maybe to a half-height cubical at least.

Dan still wasn’t quite sure why he was drawn more towards the lion. Something about being a raw powerful animal in this corporate jungle must have seemed appealing to him? He lifted up the bundle of fur and turned it over in his hands. Maybe it was the mane? The shade of brown matched his hair nearly perfectly.

The executive stepped into the costume with both of his socks on. With any luck they’d help cushion things while walking around in this silly outfit. As quick as he was drawn to it, Dan was suddenly realizing how plain the getup was. Uniform layers of yellow fur, sagging material around his hips and thighs, a limp tail. This was all very… discount.

He pulled the outfit up over his shoulders, and thankfully there was enough material for him to get his arms into the costume’s sleeves. He slid his hands into the built in paw gloves and quickly realized he had put this outfit on out of order.

The paw gloves had stubby little fingers built into them. It was really difficult to even get them to wiggle. Ugh, how was he going to schmooze without a cocktail in his hand?

Of course, the more pressing issue was just getting the mask on. Dan managed to grip the lion’s head in his paws and slowly lower it down on his face.

His paw slipped, and suddenly the mask went on sideways. His right eye could barely see out of the left eyehole, and his face was plunged into near-darkness.

“Gah!” Dan let out a muffled yelp. He reached up to his head and fumbled around for a good grip. He managed to find the mask’s muzzle and give it a firm yank over towards his face.

The eyeholes lined up with his face and he could suddenly see again. It felt odd having his face framed by such a large mane of brown fur. It sat heavy on his shoulders before trickling down his chest.

Claud had just walked up to his cubical entrance in his tamer’s outfit. Hmpf, he could have helped.

“Need a hand there sir?” He did a small wave in front of the cubical.

“I’ve got it…” Dan grumbled.

“I still can’t believe how well this jacket fits.” Claud turned in place. The red felt did seem to fit him like a glove. The black slacks went fine with it. There was nothing particularly “tamer” about the pants. His office loafers stood out like a sore thumb though.

“Hopefully mine fits as well once it’s zipped up,” Dan pawed at his chest hoping Claud would take the hint.

His assistant was still looking his jacket over. Something crinkled in his pocket. Claude reached inside and pulled out a small plastic bag. Inside of it was a red something or other.

Claude did his best to fish it out. The red strands were different from his jacket. They were almost a bit glossy? They curled up towards the ends and- Oh! The outfit came with a fake mustache? The twirled mustache was almost comical in its presentation. The amber red hair didn’t exactly match the black on Claude’s head.

“I guess I’m not finished changing,” his assistant laughed. He picked at an adhesive tab on the back of the mustache. “The guy at the store recommended I try and play along with the role. Do you think I should try an accent? Chip chip cheerio and all that?”

He did a bit of a fake English accent at the end. Or maybe it was Australian? Dan watched as he pushed the mustache onto his face and finished off the costume.

“Righto, that’ll do nicely!” Claude kept the accent going. “How do I look?”

Before Dan could respond, the office lights seemed a bit.. brighter? It was almost like Claude’s whole figure glowed for a moment.

The strangeness passed as suddenly as it had occurred. Claude shifted back to a neutral stance. Dan could hear a distinct clink from his boots. Maybe the fluorescent lights were reflecting off the shine of the…

Wait a second.

Dan looked down. Then he looked down further. He had a muzzle to peer over now. Rather than the tarnished brown of Claude’s usual brown loafers, he was now sporting a pair of glossy black knee-high riding boots. Instead of the awkward clashing he had a moment before, Claude’s footwear was a perfect fit for his outfit.

His outfit! Dan jerked his head up. Claude’s simple black slacks had been replaced by a pair of worn black leather chaps. (Just the sort of extra protection you’d want around a lion.) His jacket looked different too. Instead of plain sheets of felt, Claude was now wearing a well creased suede jacket.

It looked like he had worn this outfit for years! Even the brass buttons on his jacket had a believable looking tarnish to them. Wait, weren’t they made out of plastic?

“Uh- Cluade?” Dan cleared his throat.

“Righto!” Claude turned to him with excitement in his eyes. Oh wow, Dan was getting a proper look at his face now. His mustache was real. Not “really well applied”. Real. Dan could make out every strand of the waxed red facial hair. He even had a few bits of red stubble growing around the edges of the mustache. It was clear to see where he had trimmed it back in the morning. “Let’s get you zipped up!”

“Wait!” Dan threw up his paws. Claude was already helpfully leaning forward though, “Claude!”

“I’ll have you all tucked in a jiffy!” Cluade grabbed onto Dan’s zipper. Wha- what was going on!? His jet black hair was suddenly lightening into a familiar shade of red. “Just relax.”

He pulled the zipper straight up Dan’s chest. Dan was hoping maybe the fur would slow it down, but the next thing he knew the metal clasp was clicking into place.

“Gah!” Dan growled. He quickly pawed at his chest and did his best to reach the zipper through the glove material on the paws.

“What’s gotten into you Dan?” Claude laughed, “Costume a bit too tight?”

“Me-owbye?” Dan ran his paws along his chest in a desperate attempt to find the costume’s clasp.

He was frantic to get it off, but he knew what to watch for this time. Just after the outfit was complete, his body let out a faint but distinct glow. It only lasted for a fraction of a second, but the aura was unmistakable.

“I say… Do you hear music?” Claude asked curiously. His accent was becoming less forced every time he spoke.

Dan shook his head, “Nyo?”

Claude wasn’t going to be any help. Dan quickly turned his attention back to the costume. The zipper had to be here somewhere! Wait- there it was!

His paw brushed back some of the golden fur on his chest. The zipper was at the base of some of the brown fur that had trickled off of his mane. It was a tiny little thing. It formed a glistening line down towards the base of Dan’s stomach. It was… shorter than he remembered. He wasn’t quite sure how he had even gotten through that opening.

Dan flattened out the fake fur to get a better look. Now that he had his paw pressed against his chest as a reference, it was clear the opening wasn’t just small. It was getting smaller.

Tooth by tooth the zipper faded into nothing but simple yellow fur. The effect was speeding up Dan’s chest. He had already lost a few inches by the time it took him to notice.

Dan tried to get Claude’s attention, but his voice wasn’t working right. He let out a low grumble of confusion as he pulled at the loose fabric material on his chest.

The fur slipped through his paws and clung to his chest. All the loose material and give in the suit was vanishing along with the zipper. Dan gave one last effort to pinch the clasp… and then its was gone.

“N- n- nyao!” Dan yowled.

The costume felt tight. It was as if someone had pulled too tightly on his sweatpants drawstring. Only rather than squeezing around his waist, he felt a squeezing sensation constrict around him everywhere!

Dan reached down and tried to pull at the fabric. There should be big obvious folds in the furry jumpsuit! Or at least obvious spots where his work shirt and pants had clumped up underneath it. Instead he felt bare furry skin? That was impossi- Nyao! That pinched!

Dan ran his paw dumbstruck through the fur his chest. He- he could feel it! It was like brushing his hair, only there was suddenly a lot more of it! He rubbed his arms, his chest, his thighs…! There was fur everywhere on him!

It wasn’t just a flat uniform yellow either! The fur was lighter in spots and darker in others. Even the length of it varied as he teased the different areas of his body.

Dan stumbled back in surprise and kicked up some of the straw on his cubical floor. Wait, straw? He glanced down and looked at the floor. Instead of bland corporate carpets, he saw hefty wood paneling and… straw?

Maybe it was hay? Dan wasn’t an expert on dried grains. He reached out to get Claude’s attention, but he was still distracted by that music.

That music! Dan felt his ears twitch. There was a faint brass band playing off in the distance. It was a lively tune and… and…

Did Dan just feel his ears move!? He reached up to try and grab at his ears, but his thumbs suddenly didn’t want to curl around them. All he could do was bat at his face with his paws. They felt enormous…! And so did his head! The mane had really puffed up in the last few minutes! He could feel it flow around his face and down his shoulders.

“Nyaooo!” Dan called out to Claude again. The voice that escaped his throat startled him. He sounded like… like…

Dan watched as the lion nose on the end of his muzzle twitched to life. It started reflexively sniffing the air. Instead of bland office cleaner and stale coffee, Dan swore he smelled the scent of caged animals and… popcorn?

What was going on!? He did his best to call out to Claude. Every time he tried to speak though, Dan felt a large guttural vibration stead to build up in his chest. He did his best to say his name, but all he could manage was a loud, “Rrreow!”

This time his muzzle moved in time with his efforts. He could feel the weight of it as he opened and closed his jaws. Jowls? He tried to lick his lips and- Gah!

Dan bumped into the back of his cubical as a long pink tongue curled up over the top of his nose. About a million different throughts ran through his head, but an odd one bubbled to the surface:

Where did his desk go?

He shouldn’t have been able to backpedal into his cubical wall. Where had his desk gone!? Or his chair? Or his big fancy monitor? All of it had been replaced by small piles of hay. Even the cubical walls themselves were starting to look strange. The gaps in their panels were growing wider?

“What’s the matter Danny?” Claude finally turned around and faced the opening to his- His uh- Oh no.

The cubical didn’t have an opening anymore. The fabric paneling was continuing to narrow. It was taking on a odd polished metal sheen. They slowly solidified into evenly spaced rods. Dan stared at the chrome pipes for a moment until it finally dawned on him what they were. These were bars. The type one might use to keep a large jungle beast contained.

“Grrr!” Dan reached out to Claude. The office walls were shimmering behind him. Their bland industrial gray was fading into the bright reds and whites of a flapping canvas tent. Of course he would have chosen this moment to turn around! The floor itself was shimmering as well. Grass grew up around his assistant’s new boots. Large patches of dirt displaced the office carpeting and formed in some of the more trafficked areas.

Reaching out to Claude had been the wrong move. Dan felt his balance fail him. Before he knew it, he was tumbling forward to the floor.

He deftly caught himself on his paws. A cat always lands on their feet after all. He did his best efforts to crawl towards Claude, but everything started feeling-

He wasn’t sure how to describe it. There was an enormous pressure on him again. It was like when the fur was contracting around him, but at a more fundamental level. Dan bulked up in size, and all his proportions shifted. His arms grew longer, his legs grew larger, and he felt the most peculiar sensation of his skull being shifted into a completely new shape.

Finally the sensation passed. Dan was simply left there wagging his tail in bewilderment.

His tail! Dan glanced back at the new appendage. He knew he should have felt surprised by its appearance. He could control it, even swish it back and forth with a bit of effort. He could even feel it pass through the humid outdoor air. It should have struck him as odd or alien, but somehow it felt normal. This all felt surprisingly normal.

He took a step forward on his fore paws and hind paws. His coordination was flawless. The range of motion was different than it had been before, but it felt fine. The idea of getting up on his hind legs honestly struck him as a bit unusual. Like a trick he hadn’t mastered yet. The rush of changes had passed, and he just felt like… himself?

“That’s a good kitty,” Claude reached through the cage and brushed his muzzle.

A sharp click rang out. Dan immediately sat up on his haunches. His body knew all the motions and performed them on instinct. He looked down at Claude and saw him holding a small plastic training clicker and- A dried fish!

His assistant tossed the fish treat through the bars. Dan’s eyes tracked the moment and easily snatched it out of the air with his muzzle.

The fish tasted wonderful, but wasn’t nearly as nice as the dopamine hit of doing a task that Claude at set out for him.

The young man smiled, “Atta boy Danny.”

The interaction felt relaxingly rote. What had he been so worked up about a moment before? Danny was a cat. A lion to be specific. He was a trained performer. A circus animal. In a circus. His circus. He was right where he needed to be.

He looked down at Claude again. Danny felt himself just sit there waiting for direction. Claude always knew what to do. His tamer set the tempo for their routine in the ring, and took care of him outside of it. Everything was going to be fine.

“We’re going on second tonight, we better get you fed.” Claude walked over towards the end of his cage. The words washed over Danny, but they had a nice comforting tone. His tamer reached past the leather whip on his belt and pulled out small leather strap.

Claude liked to keep him on a short leash.

His tamer seemed nonplussed by all the changes. It set Danny at ease. Claude could take things things from here. Danny just had to respond to the human’s commands as he clicked them out. It felt comforting to the lion to have Claude in charge.

Danny gave a wide toothy as the human clipped his leash on. His tamer ordered him around, but the lion knew he was still the real star of the show.