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Really, the shot didn't need to be perfect. The whole purpose of this was simply to catalog Marie's changes. To stop her own brain from convincing herself that the treatment wasn't helping.
Because having gone from one picture to the next—from one day to the next—may have made it seem as if nothing was happening, but if Solar just closed her eyes and scrolled all the way back to the beginning…
It was impossible to deny that things had been changing. That Marie had been changing. The very first picture in the folder was still lit in that not-quite-natural light of the Alternan skybox, having been shakily taken with Solar's own hands, herself not quite sure of just what was going to happen from then on. Marie's white fur was bloodied, both with her own red and Solar's blue, with blots of ink and fuzzy ooze on her as well. She was growling, she was scared, and the only reason things hadn't escalated at that point was that it seemed that Marie had gained some sort of innate respect for Solar after what had happened.
As Solar looked up from her phone once more and took in the view of Marie, the change couldn't be more apparent. Well, no, it could be. It could be a fully untransformed Marie in front of her, after all. But the way Marie was now was, if nothing else, going in the right direction. While her whole body was still covered in white fur with the occasional darker spots, she'd shrunken down considerably, and while she was still a good bit taller than Solar, it was a far cry from that first picture. Her digitigrade legs had been slowly forming back into more Inkling-like ones, and the ears atop her head were now more at a diagonal angle. It was still very much an in between situation, but it was progress nonetheless.
But, most of all, hints of Marie's behavior had begun to shine through more and more. After a bit of practiced scrolling, Solar found the first picture with evidence of it, just a bit over a month old now. Marie was idly sitting on her bed, taking up all of it, eyes focused on the camera, focused on Solar. Seemingly not daring to make any moves, and yet… Even though her mouth was anatomically so different now, this picture showed that signature crooked smile clear as day.
A content sigh escaped Solar's beak. Not much to be happy about with this whole situation, but it was progress nonetheless. She covered her mouth immediately afterwards, worried that she may have woken Marie, yet she was still lying there as snugly as before. The bed had used to be more than big enough for Solar and Marie to sleep together, but given Marie's now larger size, it was out of the question.
Solar focused the shot once more. It was rare to get photos of Marie like this, looking almost as if nothing was wrong, and it was an opportunity to be cherished. Taking careful steps around the room, Solar tried out a few different angles.
Marie really did look comfortable, though. Solar's hearts beat in unison, each of them yearning for the now so distant days of them going to sleep together. With a barely audible thud, Solar sat down on the bed. While Marie's ears twitched a bit, it didn't seem to have interrupted her sleeping, at least. What if she just leaned back a bit, and—
Within an instant, a set of paws wrapped around Solar from behind and pulled her back with a considerable amount of force. Her hearts began speeding up and she was preparing herself to do whatever she could to break free, but after the paws had been done pulling her close, Marie just… stayed like this. Still sleeping too, evidently. At least she wasn't making any indication otherwise.
The paws were still holding Solar tight, keeping her sort of captive between them and Marie's fluffy chest, and oddly enough Solar didn't really mind. This wasn't what she'd expected, but it also wasn't the most uncomfortable situation out there. In fact, Solar hadn't really gotten to touch Marie's fur all that much—she tended to get cranky at that—so she was surprised at just how soft Marie was.
Solar took a deep breath, and a jolt went through her body as she noticed a familiar scent. It was Marie's, smelling a bit like freshly-cut blades of grass, and while it was buried under and mixed with a very Judd-like fragrance, the familiar scent still brought some sense of relaxation to Solar.
This really was quite comfortable, all things considered. It reminded her of how possessive Marie would get sometimes, pulling Solar close to make it clear that they were partners, that they both belonged to each other and nothing would get between them.
Those had been good times. And while being held tight by this fuzzified Marie was far from the same, it was similar. Similar enough for Solar to forget about all her problems for just a bit and bask in the situation.
Marie, still very much asleep, seemed to enjoy Solar's presence too. A low rumbling purr sounded through the room, and Solar could feel the vibrations in her chest first-hand, her whole body slightly vibrating for a bit.
This was a moment to eternalize, Solar decided. With all the degrees of movement that her situation allowed her, she took out her phone and navigated to the camera app using just one hand before switching to selfie mode.
Cod, when was the last time she'd actually taken a selfie? All her photos as of late were of Marie. Well, this one would be too, in any case.
Solar aimed the interior camera at the two of them, stretching her arm out to get the camera further away so that she could get Marie's sleepy face in there too. Truth be told, it was a terrible angle, way too low and way too close to really display the finer details that this series of photos was meant to journal. But Solar found it hard to care at that moment. She tapped the central button, and…
Click.
The photo appeared on the phone screen, a skewed angle and blurry details and a clear disregard for any actual rules of photography, and yet the most wonderful picture in this series.
Yet another rumble sounded from behind Solar, and this time the whole fuzzy body seemed to stir with it. Hmm. The shutter sound must have been what finally roused her enough.
Solar began wriggling out of Marie's hold before she could fully wake up. While these recent developments had been extremely promising and exciting, she still didn't want to find out what would happen if this mammalized Marie realized what had been happening.
After escaping from the grasp, Solar tiptoed her way towards the door, then looked back one last time while standing in the doorframe. She was going to miss this. "Bye," she whispered, her voice unsteady.
"Sunlight," Marie whisper-growled back. Or at least it was a growl that very much sounded like those words. Solar may very well have been hallucinating this, but… she certainly hoped that she wasn't.
Marie was seemingly getting closer to waking up, stirring more frequently and purposefully, and Solar took this as her opportunity to leave and inform Callie and the rest of the NSS of these new developments. They were going to be ecstatic! Heck, Solar herself could barely contain her excitement.
Before Solar finally stepped out of the room, she shot one more glance back and whispered, "See you soon, sweet pea," at Marie. These terms of endearment hadn't felt right before, what with the gravity of the situation. But this just felt like what the situation had needed.
Solar firmly closed the door behind her and felt a wave of guilt wash over her as she locked it. It was for everyone's security, including Marie's, yet it still felt so wrong, especially after what had just happened. With a sigh, Solar opened her phone and was immediately greeted with the photo she'd taken. Not much longer. Only a little bit more and Solar would truly have her girlfriend back.
(Image Description: A selfie of Solar, with her lying in the arms of a foozed Marie, her tail wrapping around as well. Art by Thunder_Jake.)