Follows from this and this.

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After blackmailing Dr Careful into assigning her the do-nothing job of sitting at the front desk in the lobby of Science Laboratories, Serena had very generously paid him back the kindness of not bothering him in his lab.

It was mostly because walking down to his lab would conflict with her plan to expend absolutely zero effort whatsoever at this internship. But the other part was kindness.

Serena was definitely not avoiding him. And she definitely had not been having infrequent but recurring dreams about him since Dr Science forced her to take some weird drugs.

And she definitely didn't have one such daydream while sitting in the lobby.

Anyway, for no particular reason, Serena decided to go bother Dr Careful in his lab. He apparently had a big, important experiment today with that fancy, new lab assistant. It'd be a shame if Serena were to hang around and be distracting.

So she walked the familiar walk to Dr Careful's lab and heard an unfamiliar voice from the hallway.

"This thing is way too distracting!" the strange, deep voice complained. "How do people just walk around with huge, floppy things? Oh! Not so floppy again..."

A very, weary voice answered. It sounded like Dr Careful but squeakier. Like when he got particularly agitated. "Just... stop playing with it and it'll settle down!"

"I'm adjusting!" insisted the unfamiliar voice.

Serena finally reached the door to the lab and peeked her head in to find out who the new person w-w-WOW!

There was an unfamiliar tiger standing in the lab, sheepishly running his fingers through gorgeous, thick black hair. He was a hunk! The tight shirt he wore couldn't hide his muscular body. And his every moment spoke of strength but also restraint. Most guys that looked that good would be unbearably cocky, a real turn-off to Serena. But this tiger was sheepish, his eyes were kind, and he had a self-effacing air.

It was like some master craftsman carved the most perfect male specimen out of marble and then brought it to life with a non-sucky personality.

Serena wanted to run into the lab, throw herself into his arms, and be carried away into the sunset! Instead she stood in the entrance of the lab, tongue-tied, and feeling her heart beating like crazy in her chest.

"Oh great," Dr Careful muttered when he noticed her. The doctor looked different but Serena didn't pay him any mind. Who cared if that nerd got a new haircut or whatever.

"Who's your new assistant, doc?" Serena asked, hungry for information about this prime specimen.

"Hi, Serena!" chimed the tiger, waving.

He knew her name! Her heart beat louder, if that was even possible.

Serena scurried across the lab and stood right in front of the handsome tiger. "Hi, right back at you!"

She stared into the gorgeous tiger's gorgeous eyes, hoping he could read her thoughts and would just scoop her up and carry her away from all this.

Huh, he has the same glasses as... Jessica... Serena realized. Oh.

Even if she hadn't just realized on her own, Jessica shortly spilled the beans on the lab accident that had turned her into Serena's perfect guy. And something happened to Dr Careful too? Serena zoned out of that part of the explanation.

"And that's what happened! Can't believe I'm going to be stuck like this until next week... dealing with this unruly thing."

Jessica reached down and adjusted a bulge. A sight that would live rent free in Serena's head for nights to come.

Dr Careful sighed, still sounding weird. "A little decorum, please, Jessica! And it's next week if we're lucky! If the supplier has the replacement compounds on hand! If nothing goes wrong with the order! If there's no delay in shipping! If, for once, the universe deigns to give me a break!"

Serena got her head in the game. Next week. How very interesting.

"Well, we can't have you wearing that until next week!" She grabbed Jessica's arm and walked the confused tiger out of the lab. "Let's go find you some new clothes!"

"Serena, I need new clothes too!" Dr Careful told her, for some reason. Serena walked away faster.

She felt... really happy. Just walking arm in strong arm with Jessica.

Serena had a crush on her science internship friend!

But it seemed like Jessica was the answer to her romantic woes. The big, BEAUTIFUL tiger was exactly the kind of person that she wanted for her first serious boyfriend.

There was only one problem. This would all be going away by next week, if Serena was unlucky. That wasn't a lot of time.

Oh, and Jessica already had a boyfriend. A boyfriend she was quite serious about, judging by the way she mooned when talking about him.

There was only one and a half problems.

As Serena led Jessica off on a search for clothes that wouldn't disintegrate if Jessica moved her arm too much, the tiger looked down at Serena's beaming face and how she pressed against Jessica's side as they walked. It didn't escape her notice the way Serena hung on her every word and giggled even when she wasn't saying anything funny.

Jessica had been around the dating pool a few times. And was quite a catch in either her normal body or this new one. She knew what it looked like when someone was hopelessly crushing on her. That was her entire high school experience.

And Serena was hopelessly crushing on her.

Ohhh dear.

Her boyfriend bunny Louis was going to laugh himself silly when she told him about this entire situation.

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Serena Sagittarius and Jessica Timbus owned by me
Art by  SonggoIshtar