@micklemuses continued from (x)
"Thanks, Cleo." He looked at her and returned the small smile with a nod. If he had to lose himself to the beast, there was nobody better to do it with. It trusted her and would usually do as she asked, even without the mind control.
It was just incredibly daunting to face losing both his body and his mind for days at a time. He could feel the thick, black, slimy magic slowly creeping around his mind. Feeling anything too strongly would speed it up, but no matter what he did, it would always end up swallowing him in the end. It was a curse. Even with his supportive and understanding friends telling him they didn't mind, it was still a terrible and painful thing that was his fault. He had messed around with powers he didn't fully understand and now he was a gross slimy rat monster.
He pulled his knees up to his chest and rested his head on them. He thought moving away would give him a chance to actually have a normal life, but of course that wouldn't happen for him. With a deep breath in and then out, he relinquished just a bit of control to the beast, feeling the hot prickling sensation of fur growing down his back and arms. It hurt less to do it one step at a time instead of all at once.