The Next Chapter: 13

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The Next Chapter
Chapter 13: Are You Another Wolf?

Around half an hour after Nancy's announcement, there was a knock on the door to L'hoxifel's room. She went and answered it to find Ed, wearing some gym shorts and a t-shirt that had probably fit her as a guy—which meant that now it was loose across the shoulders, and showed off just a little bit of her midriff. The wolf-girl was probably going to be a permanent tomboy (at least, while female), but this look wasn't too bad—especially accented as it was right now by a faint blush on her cheeks.

"Hey, Ed! What's up?"
"Hi. I uh...there's some.." She paused, performatively clearing her throat. "I was wondering if you wouldn't mind helping...adjust some...stuff. To, uh, fit me a little better."

"Oh, you mean your bras? Sure. Did you bring some with you?"

"N-no..." She looked slightly mortified at the idea of carrying something like that through the hallway.

"Sooo, they're still in your room."

"Y-yeah."

"Pfheehee. You realize every person living in this house has this stuff, right? There's nothing to be embarrassed about. Let's just go and I can fix them for you, okay?"

"Sure...I-I guess you're right about that..."

It didn't escape her notice on the walk over that Ed wasn't wearing one right now. Her original form's chest had been just about small enough to get away with it, but the increase that came with her height gain pushed them past that particular threshold. Well, the wolf-girl had probably also noticed this, which was no doubt the reason an adjustment was so urgently needed.

"S-so uh.."
"Yeees?"
Ed blushed adorably for a second. "About the date...you think, uh, lunch?"
"Sure!"

"I..just had breakfast, so like...maybe we could do it a little late. Around one?"
L'hoxifel smiled. "Works for me~. You have a place picked out?"

"Not...really. A few ideas, in easy walking distance. Maybe we can, figure it out on the way?"
"That sounds like fun," she said, nodding.

By now, they had reached Ed's bedroom door, which was open. So the demon-girl followed inside, and then did her (literal) magic. As might be expected, Ed's choice in undergarments was very practical and comfort-focused, with nothing lacy or frilly in sight. That, or she'd hidden away the ones that looked like that.

"Thanks. Um..."
"No problem~! Just make sure to actually put one of those on." She leaned Ed's way slightly, whispering: "It shows when you don't, you know?" Of course her fox-eared roommate could hear this whisper just fine, and audibly stifled a giggle.
"Uh—y-yeah..."

After that, L'hoxifel grabbed her laptop and headed to the "sun room" for a change of scenery. This big, second-story room with huge windows to let in a ton of natural light was intended for painting, apparently, but this chapter of OZK didn't actually have any painters yet. They just had Rob so far, and he did all his work on a computer. But she loved the view out those windows, and figured it made perfect sense for someone artistic to do their work in that room.

Later, close to lunch time, Nancy popped in. "Hey, L'hox," she said, waving.
"Hi. Guess you finished shopping with Kyo?"
"Yup! Aaaand either that fox has always shopped like a girl, or she learned awful quick. Say, she turned out really cute, huh?"
"I'd say so," the demon-girl said, smiling.

"Heheh—along with Jay and Rob, I guess you've got plenty to thank the house's enchantment for. I noticed Ed looking a little different this morning, too. Your handiwork?"
L'hoxifel nodded.

"Well, it's a good look for her. Did you do that much back in high school?"

"What, transform someone else? Once or twice, I guess."
"Oh, I meant more—changing someone to suit your preferences."

"Excuse me? Ed asked to be taller and stronger. She likes the results," L'hoxifel said. "I've been powerful enough to do this kinda thing since high school, sure, but I also comprehend things like 'asking permission'. I don't suppose you want any alterations?"

"Mmh—nah." She shrugged, smiling. "You know me—I find value in doing some things the hard way~." With that, Nancy flitted back out of the room.

Everyone's first impression of that girl was pure sunshine and sweetness, but she had the habit of occasionally letting out those subtle little venomous barbs too. L'hoxifel had occasionally felt the slightest bit of frustration from her when those didn't land, and knew to not take her too seriously when she being was like that. It always passed, and then 'nice Nancy' would be back, just as if nothing had ever happened.

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"So—you're really gonna try exercising?"
"Yeah...I figure like..going walking, or jogging, or something..like, just once. Probably won't kill me." Ed had put on a freshly-resized sports bra and changed to a tighter top more suited to the task. "You know, uh.."
"It wouldn't kill me either? I guess not." Jay shrugged. "I totally should do something to work off all the sugar I eat, huh?"
"I-I wasn't gonna say it like that," Ed said. "It'd just be, less awkward if I didn't have to do this alone, is all."
"Fair enough. Maybe I'll join you next time, if this turns into a Thing. I mean, if I can even keep up with that new physique of yours!"

"You could get a 'fit' male form able to handle it, I guess...I mean, you said something about that before, right?"
"Hmm. That's not too bad an idea, actually. It's about time I ask for a ring anyway. You want me to pick you one up too?"

"I'm not sure they're given out that freely. I'll...ask for one when I'm ready to," Ed said.

"Okay. Have fun, don't forget to drink lots of water!"

"Uh...sure." Fun???

Ed had noticed a difference in her stamina even before being transformed to be more fit, and it seemed that said change had exaggerated the effect even more. She walked for a while, water bottle in hand, before looking around and wondering when this was supposed to start feeling hard. Then she shrugged, and tried to go a little faster, then a little faster than that, until it felt like she was actually putting some effort in.

This was still very strange. Ed had seen people jogging like this before, and given up after about ten seconds of trying it himself. But—other than the fact that the tight sports bra didn't completely prevent her chest from awkwardly bouncing—this didn't feel too bad at all. Maybe it even felt a little bit good?

She stopped eventually, catching her breath and taking a (large) sip of water. Another jogger approached, coming the opposite way on the same sidewalk, and slowed to a halt in front of her. It was a woman maybe half a foot taller than Ed, with some extremely solid muscle tone that put Ed's own "cheated" fitness to shame, and—coincidentally—she also looked to be part wolf, with snowy white fur and hair and gleaming yellow eyes. She had on a black baseball cap with (apparently) holes cut into it for her ears to poke through.

"Heeyy. I didn't think there were any other wolves 'round campus," she said, smiling. "You've never used this route before, have you?"
"Uh..n-no. I mean—this is pretty much my first time jogging at all," Ed said.
"What, really? Could've fooled me with those abs. Huh..." The stranger paused, leaning slightly forward, and...sniffed two or three times. The inhalation through her nose was audible, probably even for human ears, and the flaring of her nose was visible despite the couple of feet of distance between them. "Ahh...'scuse me," she said, seeming to notice Ed's visible confusion at this behavior. "You're not a werewolf, are ya?"
"Nnno. Just, um, I guess a human transformed to be part wolf? And also, slightly more fit."

"Hah, no no—that's my bad," she said, placing a hand on her own chest. "Making assumptions and all. I bet we still got plenty in common anyways. Name's Tokanwa," she said, putting out her left hand to shake. Ed almost returned with her right before realizing and swapping to take the hand in her own left.

"Um—Ed. Edward."

Tokanwa had no apparent reaction to the male name, just nodding and maintaining her same cheerful expression. "Nice to meet ya, Ed. Hey, if you're that new to running, maybe I can give a few tips? I'w's 'bout to turn around soon anyways."
"That, uh..sure."

"Great! If you've caught your breath already, then, let's get going."

They jogged on for a minute or two, the werewolf clearly matching her pace to Ed's with minimal effort. "Your form's not bad," she said at that point. "Maybe relax your shoulders a li'l more. Swap what hand you're carrying the bottle in if that arm gets tired."

A little later, Ed felt compelled to stop for a rest. "You're doing great!" Tokanwa said between some slightly heavier breaths of her own. "Hey, you are a college student, right? I mean, after that first assumption.."
"Y-yeah...hfffh...freshman..comp-sci..."
"Hahah! Take some deep breaths, I'll yap for a minute instead. I'm a super-Junior studying biology, anatomy, medicine—that kinda thing. There's a ton of exciting developments in the field, mostly stuff people thought was solved until the veil got lifted."

"Like what?"
"Well, this, for one thing," she said, holding out her left arm for a moment. In a brief ripple of movement, she grew white fur like that of her ears and tail from the hand up to the forearm; the palm of her hand shifted to more resemble a pink paw-pad, and her nails shifted into sharp claws. "DNA is supposed to tell your body how to look and all. But how's it know about this stuff?" She dropped the arm back to her side, the hand becoming fully human again and the fur shifting back to bare skin. "There's tons of traits for beastfolk, demons, yokai and other stuff that have to be coded for, and apparently only get activated by magic. It oughta be possible to tell—like from a human's DNA—what pattern their fur would have if they became a werewolf. Never mind the fact that magic can alter DNA too, of course. Like, proper transformation stuff."

"Yeah...obviously," Ed nodded.

"The funny thing is that it always seems to minimize. You turn a girl into a guy, it's just the sex chromosomes that change most of the time. So usually the result is someone who kinda still 'looks like the same person', y'know? Unless the caster does something special, or like too much wild magic gets involved."

"..Oh, whoops! I been yapping a li'l too much now. You'll lose your runner's high if you take too long of a break."
"Um, that's okay—that's really interesting," Ed said. "I..think I should turn around anyway. I have a...um, an appointment. To get to."
"Sure, sure. I'll stick with you a while longer then, if you don't mind!"

When Ed needed to take another break, she waited until her breath was mostly caught to say, "Hey...fhh..do you, live in the dorms?"
"Nah. I'm renting an apartment back that way," she said, pointing backwards with her thumb. "Got sick of the shared living space after the first year or so; don't really fit in with any of the sororities. As..you can maybe imagine."

"I, hff...know the feeling. But with, uh..fraternities instead, I guess." She stood up slightly straighter. "I uh..that transformation I mentioned, was also.."
"Ah. Neat. But—just to get into a sorority?" Tokanwa asked, tilting her head slightly. "Or—was it some kinda accident? Or, somethin' you wanted done anyway?"

"It uh...well, this might sound pretty stupid. But, there's a new sorority on campus, and my roommate and I really wanted out of the dorms. And, their house is enchanted to..uh...transform people, so that guys can join too. On...that condition."
"Innnteresting. They get any takers for that besides you an' your roomie?"
"Y-yeah...two others so far. Both a little...weird, honestly. I guess I don't have much room to talk, though," Ed admitted. "Plus one girl's boyfriend was kind of roped into joining, too. They're still recruiting now; something about needing, at least ten members so the college will officially recognize them."

"Hah. You don't think they'd mind if I took a li'l look around the joint, then?"
"That's, what I was getting at, actually. It's a really nice house, and Nancy—who started this whole thing—is so rich and eager to get members that there's no fees for joining or anything. At least..not yet, anyway."
Tokanwa rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "Heh. Almost sounds too good to be true. It would be nice to save money on rent, though. Well—I'm sure a quick look around couldn't hurt, at least. You got your breath caught?"

"Yeah."

They stopped near the front doors to the house, Tokanwa leaning back slightly to take a good look at the exterior. She whistled. "Looks pretty nice on the outside. 'Bout a year ago, I remember seeing an abandoned volleyball court on this lot—weeds and grass all grown over what used to be sand."

Ed nodded. "Let's go in.

"..Apparently they did some magic thing to make the building slightly bigger on the inside. It's kinda hard to tell," she said while the werewolf looked around just inside.

"That kinda thing don't come cheap. I guess you're not kidding about that Nancy being rich."

Not long after coming inside, they happened across Polaris, who seemed to be on her way out. "Greetings, Ed. You brought a visitor?" she said, the slightest hint of surprise in her voice at this possibility.
"Uh, yeah.." Ed trailed off, since Tokanwa had hurried closer and was now leaning in to get a better look at the winged girl.

"Whooaaa, those wings're real, right? An honest-to-goodness celestial?"
"Oh, most certainly," she said, spreading them out to their full span. "I suppose you must be enamored by my positively immaculate appearance?"

"Mmh, nah. You look a li'l overweight to me." Ed could not stifle a slight snort at the shocked and mortified expression this response brought to Polaris's face. "Heeyy, it's no big deal—a little diet and exercise can go a long way. But, look—there are no mammals with six appendages. Literally none! Yet somehow specific kinds-a humans can have that many anyway. Do you know what the biological mechanism is that'd keep any kids you have from also having wings?"

"That is Sol's will, not a 'biological mechanism'," Polaris said, sounding slightly offended.

"I mean—yeah—but there's gotta be some practical way that will is carried out, doesn't there?"

She sort of cut herself off at this point, standing fully upright again. "—Sorry, I can get kinda carried away about this stuff. I'm Tokanwa," she said, offering a hand to shake.
"..Polaris." The celestial spoke her name a little icily, but graciously shook the hand. "Now, I've some business to be off to. If you're so impressed by a preponderance of appendages, you should meet L'hoxifel—the resident demon here, at the moment. Surely seven is even more unusual than six, after all."
"Oh, totally! Plus sometimes horns, and skin pigments that oughta be impossible. And like, what part of a demon's DNA decides if they have headwings?"

By this point the werewolf was basically just talking to herself, as Polaris had walked past and now—from behind her—gestured very slightly, inquisitively, in Tokanwa's direction. Ed just gave a helpless shrug; her initial impression had just been of a nice fitness buff who was a little interested in studying biology, and not something quite like this. There was still some hope that she wasn't always like this, and would calm down soon.

As Polaris shut the door behind her, Jay came running up to the entryway. "Ed, hi! I knew that was your voice I heard! Who's this?" she said without much of a pause between sentences.

"Uh—this is Tokanwa. She's...a werewolf, I guess? Might be interested in joining, maybe."
"Oh, neat! Nice to meet you, Toka!" She'd stopped not three feet away from Tokanwa, who regarded her with a slight head-tilt.
"Um, this is my roommate, Jayden," Ed clarified for her.

"Pffhahah! They do say opposites attract, huh? And, you were a guy too?"

"Yep!" the fox-girl nodded.

Tokanwa mumbled "could've fooled me", but not softly enough that Ed couldn't hear it.

Jay probably heard too, but plowed straight ahead: "Are you gonna give her a tour? I can help! But first—I wanted to show you something." She'd turned to face Ed at this point, and quickly produced an unassuming-looking metal ring, holding it up over her head and between her thumb and fingers like it was a winning lotto ticket. "Look!"

"Oh." Ed thought that Jay did seem more excited than usual at the moment. "You—asked for a ring, I guess. Have you...used it yet?"
"Yeah!" she nodded. "Check this out—"

Upon shoving the ring onto her right ring finger, Jay immediately shifted: Growing taller, losing her curves, and gaining a slightly broader, more masculine frame. Neither Jay's furry bits nor her-then-his hair changed at all, and the guy he wound up as was pretty much the same height he'd been before first turning into a girl, a little bit on the skinny side, and had flowing bright-red hair and a very pretty, smooth-shaven face. At the same time, the girly outfit Jay had been wearing (fortunately) shifted into a t-shirt and some long cargo shorts.

"Cool, huh?" he grinned, sounding exactly as he had before first transforming too.
"Uh...yeah, sure," Ed said, feeling a slight uptick in her heart rate accompanied by a faint warmth in her cheeks. Guys weren't supposed to look that pretty, she thought, but at the same time...well, it did suit him. "I guess, you decided to keep the fur, then?"
"Uh-huh!" he nodded.

Tokanwa, who'd been watching this from the sidelines, finally interjected: "Hey, where'd you get an enchantment like that?"

Jay answered, "Any guy who joins OZK can get one to turn back to being a guy whenever. It just has to come off at night 'cause otherwise the house would transform me again."

The werewolf put a finger to her chin. "Uh-huuh...is that offer, exclusive to guys who join?" she asked.

"You'd have to ask Nancy, but, probably not?" Ed guessed. "Anyway...maybe Jay can show you around the house if you want? I still have that uh..appointment, coming up, and really need a shower first."
"Sure, no problem."

Ed thought, on her way to her room, that those two would either cancel or amplify each other...and either way, she'd like to be well out of range before it happened.

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It can be a fun type of character who's mostly normal, but if you get them talking about their very special interest then they just go off into their own world about it and can temporarily forget all sense of propriety, and maybe even seem to have a totally different personality. The "Mystery" quadrilogy of the Atelier games has like six such characters.

The Next Chapter: 12

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The Next Chapter
Chapter 12: Who's That Vixen? (Remix)

"Whoa! You look...bigger." Jay hopped to her feet to get a better idea of what she was seeing. Her roommate's height had grown all of a sudden, along with certain other proportions. She'd somehow gained several inches since supper!

"Uh..y-yeah," Ed blushed faintly, wringing her hands briefly. "I uh..asked L'hoxifel to do that for me. I...like this, a lot better actually."

"That's great! Hey—did you get buff, too? Are those abs?!"
"Y-yeah..."

Jay crossed her arms. "Now that's no fair; you didn't have to work for them at all."

"True, but...it's not like I'm the only one of us with access to a magic solution, you know."

"Heh, I guess you're right. Are you gonna start working out to keep 'em, though?"
"I...hadn't really thought about that. Maybe it'd at least be easier."

After waiting long enough for the wolf-girl to be sitting at her desk, Jay said, "Soooo...."

"What?"
"Did you..ask to be a little bit bustier, too?"
"N-no! It just...apparently, is, part of the deal. Of being taller. Is all. Sh-she uh..." Ed blushed adorably again for just a second. "W-well, she offered to help make my bras fit so I wouldn't need new ones. It's, not too bad, anyway."

"Are you two gonna go on another date soon, then?"

She nodded slowly. "Uh-huh. We uh, agreed on one for tomorrow. No..details yet about when, or anything."
"Well—I'm really happy for you, Ed! I can already tell you're a little less stressed about being 'stuck' as a girl and everything, you know?"
"I-is it really that obvious?"
"As long as we've known each other? I know pretty well how to read your face. Plus your ears provide accompaniment that make it even easier," Jay said, making her own ears flap up and down a couple of times for emphasis. "Anyway~, I'm looking forward to seeing how Kyo turns out tomorrow! Maybe sheeee'll go on another date with me then."

"Just for the record—I still find it really weird how casual you are about all this," Ed said. "I guess uh, good for you, though. I'm..happy for you, too."

Jay awoke late enough Saturday morning for the sun to already be shining through the window. She sat up, yawned softly, and looked over to her roommate's bed to find the wolf-girl still asleep. Ed murmured out a soft, low "Mrrrfh" while the fox-girl quietly stretched; she wondered if, perhaps, her friend was dreaming of a certain demon-girl. At any rate, she didn't want to disturb Ed's beauty sleep, so she took care to be quiet as she got things ready and went to take a shower.

Once she was dressed, it was time to head off for breakfast. Jay was pretty sure Nancy had said something about picking up some donuts today in celebration of their three new members. Wherever she got them from was really good; Jay could still remember the previous Saturday's breakfast, and eagerly looked forward to a similarly sweet experience today.

She arrived in the kitchen to find two boxes full of freshly-bought donuts waiting right there on the counter—Score! While she was piling a few of them onto a plate, her ears picked up the sound of someone eating in the attached dining room. Walking inside, Jay found a short, curvy dark-haired girl with (for her size, anyway) a big t-shirt draped over her form. From the red eyes..and the tall vulpine ears covered in black fur with snowy white at the tips and on the inner tufts...this had to be..!

"Kyo! Is that you?"
"Yep, hahah. G'morning, Jay. Oh—hold on." Kyosuke hopped to her feet, and made a downward-sweeping gesture with both of her hands, going from her shoulders to her hips. Seemingly in response to this gesture, her clothes suddenly shifted: The shirt's lower third or so tore off, the lost cloth splitting in two as it made its way down past her thighs to wrap tightly around them as a pair of stockings. The rest of the shirt abruptly pulled tight against her slim frame, revealing a fairly big bust for her height; these motions together revealed some cutoff denim shorts hugging tight around her hips with only the barest bit of leggings to them. Kyosuke's two fluffy fox-like tails were waving about in the air behind her as she smiled across at Jay, looking satisfied with the results.

"That's a little more presentable, eh?"

Jay was silent for a second or two.

Kyo tilted her head. "Something...wrong?" She crossed her arms at an additional half-measure of silence. "Fox, got your tongue?"

"AaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAA that's sooo CUUU~UUTE!"

"O-oh! Heheh..." Her face flushed bright red at this declaration, and Jay running up to put her plate down and take a closer look.

"You look so good as a girl! A-and you can just—change your clothes whenever you want like that!?"

"Oh, well—yeah. Two tails," she said, a hint of pride to her tone of voice. "Not nearly enough power to transform the body, but a temporary clothes alteration is pretty easy. I uh, haven't learned how to 'make' a bra, though," she added a little more quietly, prodding her chest with an index finger as she sat back down. "Shall we—eat together?"

"Yeah!"

"So—like—what was transforming like for you?" she asked a little later, curious. Asking Ed a similar question had just earned her a wolf-girl glare.
"Very enjoyable~. I more or less woke up in the middle of the night to feel this place's magic pressing in on me, and it did its work very swiftly afterward."

"I kinda felt the change happen to me inside of a dream. It felt really real though, more than a normal dream, if that makes any sense?"

Kyo nodded. "It works through 'your own magic', more or less, so your mind would be much more aware of what's happening, even while asleep, than if someone else's power were doing it.

"...Gosh, you have a really strong sweet tooth, huh?"
"Mm-hmm!" The kitsune had made this observation while Jay's mouth was full of about half of her first donut. She finished swallowing to say, "My all-time favorite is milkshakes. But—can't do that for breakfast."

"I don't have any experience with that...but maybe you'd like some mochi sometime? It's, one of a few things I know how to make myself," Kyo said. "That said, I am pretty good at making them."

"I'd love to try it!"

"...Um, you know—I was pretty surprised the first time you said you were really from Japan," Jay said after a moment. "You seemed way too fluent in English, is all. But.."
"Heheh, starting to believe? I've got a British grandfather. My home life was bilingual from when I was a kit," Kyosuke said.

"That's cool! I'm a little jealous; I totally should've learned more languages before my brain set or whatever. I only know how to pronounce a tiny bit of Spanish or French from some choir songs."

"Oh, yeah—you've gotta tell me all about that song you did for karaoke! What's the band like? And what did the lyrics mean?"

Kyo seemed slightly surprised by this abrupt change of subject, but also happy enough to share. They chatted about music for the rest of breakfast. Jay had to take care not to start going full-fangirl about Ursa Major again; she knew it could start to get a little discordant for people who weren't quite so enthusiastic about her.

The kitsune hopped to her feet. "Phew—this height's gonna take some getting used to."

"Oh, yeah. Ed had some trouble with that, too." Getting up herself, Jay realized that Kyo's new height was about the same as the wolf-girl's old one. For Jay, this meant it'd be easy both to look down into her face and to reach across to ruffle her hair or rub her ears..at least, in theory. That last part had never been tested with Ed, of course. The two-tailed girl hurried around the table and on to the kitchen, then came back out again maybe a second later, coming up toward Jay.

"Hey, so—I'm gonna need to head off and buy some clothes that normally fit me. This enchantment will only last a few hours, after all," she said, tugging on the hem of her shirt.

"Nancy's supposed to pay for that kinda stuff still, right?"

"Of course—so I'll seek her out. But first, erm.." After maybe a sixteenth-rest of looking uncertain how to express her thought, Kyo blushed and lifted her arms, reaching them up Jay's way.
"Um..? You want me to, pick you up?"
"Please?" She tilted her head slightly (and very adorably), her ears lower a bit. "A-and a little bit of petting, perhaps?"

"Um, s-sure!"

Jay wasn't very strong, but she found the little kitsune girl to be incredibly light in her arms. Kyo returned the hug immediately, pressing her brand new bust up against Jay's larger pair, and looked across at her from just a couple of inches away with a red-faced, expectant smile. This soft body pressed against her own felt...unbelievably nice! And Jay thought she might die of a cuteness overload, too. She quickly swept her hands upward to gently rub the bases of Kyo's ears, and heard a soft, low churring start to rumble from the kitsune's throat. Then..!

Kyosuke's nose was right on her cheek. Pressing hard into it. Jay heard a note from beyond the reaches of the treble clef, like a teapot whistling, and realized only after a second or so that it was her own voice. She realized this might be a little bit shrill, and quickly muted it, letting out a soft, nervous giggle as punctuation. The girl in her arms giggled back, letting her know without a word that it was all right. Jay then nuzzled Kyo's cheek back for a moment, before jumping slightly at another unfamiliar sensation.

"Y-yip!" Something soft and warm had slid itself across both the top and bottom of the base of her tail, going in opposite directions. She realized after a second that it was two somethings, as they curled their way a little farther town her tail, and let out a soft "O-oh." This was the kitsune's tails both wrapping themselves around hers! It also felt...very nice. "Mrrr~rrrh..." She churred back without any reservation at this point, feeling a familiar fuzzy feeling settle in down between her legs.

After maybe a minute or so of this, Jay gently slid one hand back down to around Kyo's waist, letting the other one go past the base of the kitsune's ear to run through her silky hair. The small girl shivered briefly, then lifted her face slightly off of Jay's cheek. "Mnnfh..s-shyujeen-eh..."

"Uh, what?" From the accent she said it with, Jay guessed this was a word in Japanese.

"E-errmm...n-never mind," Kyo said quickly, pulling herself back enough for their noses to not quite touch. "That was as wonderful as I could've imagined. W-we should do it again sometime!"

Jay inferred from this that the kitsune wanted to be put down; however: "Your, uh tails are still..."

"O-oh, right. Heheh!"
Jay's tail proved just as sensitive to them sliding off as on. "Mrr~rhn." Then she gently set the little kitsune down.

Kyosuke smiled sweetly, her face still quite red (not that Jay thought her own to be any less so). "Thank you~. M-maybe, once I have a new wardrobe bought, I can show you an outfit or two."
"I'd love to see it," Jay said.
"S-sure! U-until then." Kyo zipped out of the room like she was afraid of something after that—but she'd still sounded and looked quite happy the whole time. Jay figured it was just nerves. After all..it seemed like both of them had just found out how much they really liked each other, despite having only met that very week!

Not long after this, Nancy's voice called out: "AAAATTENTION O-Z-K MEMBERS! If you can hear my voice, please come to the lounge for like a two minute informal meeting!"

The fox-girl looked to her near-empty plate, shrugged, and scarfed down the rest of the last donut. Then she headed for the lounge, stopping by the kitchen to drop off the dishes on the way.

Nearly everyone in the sorority was present by the time she got there. Kyo was still wearing the transformed clothes from a few minutes ago, and was sitting next to Nancy—far enough away to dull the awkwardness of the two of them having pretty much just said goodbye to each other. Ed's state of dress and messy hair likely meant that she'd literally just woken up. Rob was male and fully-dressed, sitting next to Camilla, and L'hoxifel wasn't far off either. The celestial came in at the same time as Jay, from another entrance.

Nancy hopped to her feet as these last two arrived, looking around. "Seeeeeems like we've got nearly everyone?"

"Mary is engaged in a mortal struggle with a simulated monstrosity at the moment," Polaris said. "I could pass the message along if apropos."

"Good enough," she said, shrugging. "All right, listen—I just wanted to make sure you're all aware of the score. Our agreement with the college is that this chapter of Omega Zeta Kappa will be officially recognized by them if we have at least ten total members." She held out her hands to show off a count of 'ten', then folded down one thumb as she said: "Right now we have, nine. So we only need one more! Now, we're not in any danger since we've been making steady progress so far, but it would be nice to overachieve. You know—show them a population comparable to any of the more established GLOs on campus. We also don't wanna give them any wiggle room to say the founder—that's me—doesn't count as one of the ten, or anything dumb like that. So I'm just saying: If you know anyone, or meet anyone, who you think might be interested in joining, please invite them over—even if it's just for a visit or a tour. There's no need to go all 'official recruitment drive' or anything, but if just a few more people decide they like the idea of living here, and they seem like they'll be a good fit for us, then we'll be in the clear and get to stay in the house. All right?" She clapped her hands lightly. "That's it, that's all, thanks for coming in!"

Jay went to meet up with Ed as everyone filtered out. "Nancy wake you up?"
"Rrrfh." The wolf-girl paused a second, visibly realizing that she'd made an animal noise instead of a human one, then shook her head heard enough for her ears to audibly flap against her head. "I mean—yes. Ugh."
"Pffheehee! Um, I already had breakfast, but I could sit with you if you want?"
"Mmh, that's okay. I'm'onna take a shower first anyway."
"'Kay." They were still headed the same way then, since Jay intended to get a little homework done that morning. After a moment, everyone else had scattered off in various directions, and it was just the two of them.

"So—I saw Kyo at breakfast already," Jay started.
"Mm-hm?"
"She's super cute! And apparently a kitsune can just transform their clothes whenever, too? It's temporary though, so she still wants to actually buy some stuff."
"Good, I guess?"
"Yeah! The thing is though—it's like, she's cute like a girl. But also, cute like a puppy? I get a little overloaded from feeling both at the same time, from the same person. I think I like it, though!"

"Hmmh." Ed's face flushed slightly red. "Wonder if that's how L'hoxifel feels..."

"Oh, yeah, I guess you haven't talked to her about that date yet?"
"No. Conversations after showering," Ed said. "Prolly breakfast, too." She wasn't exactly a morning person, after all.

"Sure, sure—just don't put it off all day, you know?" They arrived at the door to their room at this point. "I'm gonna get some homework done."
"'Kay."

---

The 'two minute meeting' was the first time Rob and Camilla saw each other Saturday morning. Since he stayed on the couch as everyone else began to leave, so did she. "Hey..is something wrong?" He had a slightly serious expression on, like he was or had been thinking about something important. This kind of expression was pretty rare for him, so she knew to take it seriously.
"Um..well, I don't know about 'wrong' exactly, but..." He held up his hand with the ring on it—the one whose enchantment was currently keeping him male. "I just...could you..?"
"Yyyeeeah?"
He sighed, and she waited patiently for him to find the right words. They were close enough by now that—at least she hoped—he knew he didn't have to walk on eggshells or anything. If something came out sounding insulting or upsetting, she'd give him plenty of time to clarify or apologize. "I..should really admit I don't mind being a catgirl, uh, f-for you. It's, weird having just fur, and purple hair, but..it's, it does feel nice. You...I l-like, being with you either way."
"That's...good," she said, nodding. She refrained from giving a full response since all of that was obviously a preamble.

"I...just..." He tapped the ring with the other hand before dropping both to his side. "Instead of stealing this ring off of me to make me transform. I'd like it if you'd—ask. If you'd ask me to take it off. I don't like...just, having it happen without my permission. Without—getting the opportunity to do it because I know that you want me to. I, usually—unless there's some reason I really don't wanna, I'll do it whenever you ask. So, please..do."
"Oh. Wow, I'm sorry," she said. "I really didn't know you felt that way about it. I was just trying to be 'playful'. To me you looked—annoyed, sure, but not really upset about it, y'know?"
"Yeah, I know. It's...I didn't really figure out exactly how I felt about it until, last night I guess."

"Okay, then. No more ring stealing for me," Camilla said, reaching across to gently rub the top of his head.

"Mm..mrrrrh."

"Oh—you don't, like, mind me touching you without asking, do you?"
"Uh. No. You can, surprise me that way all you want, heheh."

"That sounds like an invitation." Camilla pulled forward into a hug and kiss, which Rob more than happily returned.

The Next Chapter: 11

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The Next Chapter
Chapter 11: Shall We Talk?

Ed was not a singer.

Ed had no training or experience with music besides listening to it.

Ed understood the concepts behind how musical notation worked (thanks to Jay explaining it once or twice), but couldn't read it at all.

Despite all of this, the celestial's singing was, to the wolf-girl, an absolutely torturous experience. She was perfectly on-rhythm, with the right emotion and everything..but not. One. Single. Note. Was anywhere close to where it was supposed to be. Ed didn't know this song at all, but this fact was blatantly obvious by the fact that Polaris's voice unfailingly clashed, painfully, with the music she was singing to.

About halfway into what was probably the chorus, Polaris's face abruptly cracked and she started laughing, which mercifully made the tremendously awful singing come to an end. What began as a small giggling turned her doubling over in laughter, some tears coming out of her eyes, until she finally drew herself upright again, taking a deep breath or two while calmly going over to the computer to stop the music.

"I'm..terribly sorry to have such joviality at your expense. But—your faces! My goodness..pfheehee...!"

"Hh..hahah...!" Jay inhaled, and then giggled slightly along with the winged girl. She hopped to her feet. "B-be real with me. You...do know, that you uh, weren't singing that...very well at all, right?"
"If only by your reactions," she said, shrugging. "I am long-since aware of my being hopelessly tone-deaf, I confess. I made sure to learn several instruments that do not require a good ear for music instead. But this is the sort of caper that only works a single time with any given person, so I thought I ought to take the opportunity when I saw it."

"I guess this is why Kyo suddenly decided he had things to do," Nancy observed.

"Guess I can't fault a kitsune for not interfering with a prank," L'hoxifel added.

This more or less broke up the karaoke session of the afternoon. L'hoxifel headed off to "get started on dinner", and everyone generally headed back out to the hallway and scattered off. Ed shuffled out last, and found Polaris stopped not far outside, talking to Mary.

"If you'd only seen their faces, I wager even you would've at least given a mild chuckle."
"Maybe...oh, hey Ed." The goth girl noticed she was passing by at this point, and additionally gave a slight wave to get her attention.
"What?"
"I was curious..do you play chess?"

"Uh..I know the rules. I'm not, very good at it."

"Yeah, me either. Polaris always wins," she said, briefly pointing a thumb at the celestial (who was beaming proudly about this fact). "You busy right now, or, wanna play a game maybe?"

"I.." If she'd had something important to do today, it would've been used as an excuse to not come with Jay to the karaoke thing. "..Sure." Besides: While the amazing facilities of the OZK house had served as huge distractions, the entire reason the two of them had joined and gotten themselves turned into girls was to actually make friends at the college other than each other. Mary's emotionless demeanor and vampire-like complexion and fashion sense all creeped Ed out a little bit if she was being perfectly honest, but—given how friendly Polaris was with her—that had to just be because she didn't know Mary very well. So here was a chance to fix that.

Mary waved goodbye to Polaris, and the two of them headed to the room intended for playing board games. Upon entering, Ed discovered a small table with chairs on two opposite sides of it already set up with a chess board and all of the pieces in their proper places. The rest of the games, and most of the furniture, was all put away the same as it had been during the initial tour. She looked the goth girl's way, and Mary shrugged. "I hoped someone would say yes. You want white or black?"

"I, don't really care."

"Let's flip a coin, then." She produced a coin from the big pocket of her hoodie. "Tails you're white?"
"Sure." The coin came up tails.

After they'd each made a few moves in total silence, Ed was starting to feel a little awkward. She tried: "So...why'd you ask me to play chess in the first place?"
"Easy excuse to get someone alone and talk. I'd like to get to know who's living here, and...big gatherings can't really do that for me. I tend to just fall into the background instead."

Ed nodded. "Same..." Unless Jay shoves me forward.

"I guessed you'd be the most likely to agree to chess. Computer science major."

"...Makes sense."

"I know you've only just started, but, what're you planning to do with it?"

"Nothing...special. Something in IT just sounds stable, and working with computers is easy for me."

"Makes sense. You know, though, not having much ambition can really kill your motivation once things get tough. I know some people who dropped out of my major as soon as the math stopped being easy and 'fun' for them."

"Well..." Ed exhaled softly. "I'm still figuring things out."
"That's fair."

"I guess that means you have ambition?"

"Absolutely. I'm gonna win the Fields medal," Mary said. "Plus, math started being 'fun' for me when it stopped being easy. My advisor said that's what really makes someone a mathematician."

Ed sighed. "It seems like everyone else has big plans but me. Jay wants to be a famous composer, director, maybe performer."

"Maybe you'll find something you like better. It's what college is for. Checkmate."

"Wha—..!?" Ed had to look at the board two or three times, then go back through the last few moves in her head, before figuring out what had gone wrong. "..Oh. Yeah.."
"That was a classic opening. You want me to walk you through it?"
"...No. I think I get it," she said.
"Okay. Go again?"
"Let's swap sides."

"Alright." They didn't stand up; the swap was accomplished by just trading the white and black pieces to the opposite sides of the board.

While they were working on that, Ed asked, "Why specifically..the Fields medal? I mean, I know it's the big math prize, but—it wouldn't be enough to just do good math or whatever?"

"Maybe it would be. But—" Mary sat up slightly. "If I win the Fields medal, I go from being 'that freak who looks like a vampire' to 'that amazing genius who solved a problem people actually care about'."

Ed tilted her head slightly.

"C'mon. I'm seen myself in a mirror," Mary said. "I lean into it with my clothes 'cause it makes people freak out less. They'll assume these eyes are contacts. I mean, unless they're sensitive enough to magic to be afraid of me instead."

"Afraid of you?" Jay had said something about her having some kind of 'ridiculously dangerous magic power', but Ed hadn't been sure if that was something serious or she was repeating a joke as a fact.

"I was born with an unusual power. It's—you know how in some fantasy settings, powers or curses can pass down a bloodline? It's a little like that, but not hereditary. Instead, when someone with this kind of power dies, someone else born at around the same time gets it—and it's essentially random who. There are multiple distinct 'lineages' that work like that. Mine usually isn't all that dangerous, but being of a 'lineage' is determined completely independently from the intensity of a person's magic potential. If I hadn't gotten this power, I might have awakened as a dragon or something, apparently.

"...Your move."
"Oh—right.

"So..what's your power like, exactly?"
"Shadow and fear. Inky black, indistinct limbs or humanoid shapes that cause an instinctive fight-or-flight response on sight, at least if you don't manage to resist that part. Physically tangible, and strong enough to rip steel apart like tissue paper, in my case. Kyosuke's been terrified of me ever since we first met; he won't even talk to me unless Polaris is with me. I might've given L'hoxifel a pretty bad first impression the other day, too."

The strangest thing about this series of statements was that Mary said them with an essentially monotone voice, like someone restating dry, extremely boring facts out of a textbook. "...You know, as far as you seeming weird," Ed said. "No offense, but—the way you talk is..."
"I know." Mary paused to consider the board briefly and make her move on it. "Emotions can cause a person's magic to manifest. The stronger your potential is, the easier it is for leakages to happen. In my case, negative emotions—like fear, worry, or anger—can have extreme, physically dangerous effects. I've been practicing a special kind of emotional suppression since Polaris first taught it to me, to keep that from happening. I never feel very upset about anything, which keeps my power from hurting people, but it dulls positive emotions too. Basically, I can't help it."

"There's really no other way to keep your magic from hurting people?"
Mary shrugged. "If there is, Polaris hasn't found it, after years of looking.

"I have learned to control the power itself way better since then. I can use the shadows as extra limbs or bodies to go do things for me—as long as nobody's watching. It may be that I have enough control over it to keep an emotional outburst from being dangerous, but it's not a risk I'm willing to take right now. Checkmate, by the way."

"Wha—oh." Ed glanced at the board. "I...should've seen that coming. Your exposition is distracting me too much."
"Pfft." She made a brief noise which might have been almost the start of a very slight laugh. "Switch sides again?"
"Sure."

"I guess I should be glad that hearing about my dangerous power didn't make you run screaming or anything." Was that...a joke? Ed wasn't sure.

"Well—I'm. It's just that it's one thing for someone to say they have a gun in a safe somewhere, and another for them to get it out and point it at you."
"Makes sense."

"Besides...I'm used to being a weakling, I guess. I don't like it, but it's how things are. I like it even less now that I've gotten turned into a girl, and guys are...looking at me."

"I think you're smart enough to stay out of trouble," Mary said. "Keep Jay from doing anything too stupid while you're at it."
"Y-yeah..."

"If you just wanna feel physically strong, I'm pretty sure magic could do it for you. Like, you can ask Nancy for one of those rings like Rob has."
"I'm well aware. It's just..."

Ed was silent long enough for each of them to take a couple of turns. Mary's characteristic emotionless stare was almost comforting during this pause; anyone else might give some kind of expectant look, maybe get impatient or annoyed at the unfinished sentence hanging in the air. Instead, she had time to gather her thoughts, quietly sigh, and then try to explain.

"I wanted to stick with just this body until the end of this week. Before I have to deal with the bizarre feeling of maybe changing back and forth all the time, I thought I'd try to get used to looking like this. I've been hoping it would stop feeling weird..or, like Jay, I'd start to like it somehow. And, I guess I am getting used to it a little bit, but it's still really weird. I still hate feeling small and weak like this, and always being just...'cute'. But I'm also worried it'll feel even more weird if I use the ring to turn into like a big, strong guy—that might not feel anything like how I did before. Anyway, if I was gonna use magic to look like that, I could've just joined a normal frat in the first place instead of doing all this. So...I'm still not sure whether I want to go for an 'ideal body' or to 'go back to normal'. And...I probably only get one chance to decide how I'll look as a guy with that ring. I want to really think it through."

Mary nodded slowly. "You know, early on, Polaris offered to use some illusions to help me look 'normal', so people wouldn't pick on me anymore. Bright blue eyes, tanned skin, whatever. I tried it out for one day, and hated it. It wasn't 'me'. If people are gonna start liking and respecting me, it better be the real one, and not something fake."

"So, you've been bullied too..."
"Yeah. They're lucky Polaris was created before anyone got seriously hurt. But, it's not like your choice has to be either-or, right? Just a little bit of 'customization' wouldn't feel as jarring as making big, drastic changes. Apparently Rob looks exactly like he did before except for the cat ears and purple hair, and he didn't have any trouble adjusting to that at all."

Ed thought: A little bit of extra height and some physical fitness would be far less drastic than something like having a tail. "Maybe..."

"Dinner's ready!!!" Ed sat up, her ears turning in the direction that L'hoxifel's voice was coming from. It was a yell, but faint enough that she wasn't sure human ears could actually hear it at this distance.
"Supper?" If Mary couldn't hear it, she guessed what it was from context.
"Yeah." The wolf-girl stood up. "I was probably just gonna lose this game, anyway. You totally lied about not being very good, huh?"

"I only had Polaris to compare to." She got up too. "Maybe I can show you some tricks later."

"That'd be nice, I guess..."

Seeing the demon-girl at karaoke had dredged up some thoughts that had been stewing in the back of Ed's mind for a while now, and seeing her at supper brought them back even stronger. She'd even been kind of avoiding L'hoxifel because of them...but that was stupid. At that earlier meeting, she'd said Ed was 'looking great' and 'had a lovely voice', and those compliments had been sincere. And they felt nice, the same way that her saying things like that had felt back on Sunday. But...

The doubt wouldn't go away. The idea of turning 'back to normal' soon, or even mostly so, made it feel all the more pressing. Mary had said she wanted people to like the 'real' her instead of an illusion; that wasn't exactly what Ed was dealing with, but it still felt like something in the same area. This...was going to keep bothering her until they actually talked about it.

Once the meal was over, Ed started stacking some of the plates. "I'll, help clean up?" she offered.
"Oh, really? Thanks~," L'hoxifel said. There was no reason why she needed to be doing it in the first place, since she was the one who'd cooked, but it almost seemed to be an instinct of hers to start cleaning up the instant the meal was over. It didn't take very long for everyone else to clear out, leaving the two of them alone.

"How'd..you first learn to cook?" Ed asked. She had something serious to talk about, but just bringing it up out of nowhere was too awkward.

"My mom taught me. I'd just started middle school—so, uh, I was still a guy at the time—and she said 'every young man should know how to fend for himself!' She's actually a 'gluttony' type demon, so making good food comes super naturally to her."

"Does it, really work that way? Like, is it easier for a 'rage' demon to make people angry?"
"A little. At least in that I can tell when an attempt is working. And you can bet succubi and incubi find attracting people easy," L'hoxifel said. "Not to downplay my mom's skills, though; there's no real shortcut to getting good at cooking. I mean...unless, like, a fae decides to inject the skill into your brain, but they'd only do that in an unfair trade, or as part of some weird prank or something. Anyway—it's basically just a ton of practice."

They worked on the dishes for a couple of minutes before the demon-girl said, "Hey, Ed."
"Huh?"
"Something's really bothering you, right? I can kinda tell—just from your expressions, you know?"
"Oh. W-well, uh."

This was a perfect opportunity to bring it up, but Ed mentally tripped over a last-second realization, hesitating briefly as a result. "It's...I don't know if it's really fair," she said.

"What do you mean?"
"I mean—we've kinda barely met, and only been on one date, but..."
"But?"

"D-do you only like me because I fit your definition of..cute? Because of these?" she said, pulling on one of her ears. "Or...?"

"Ah. Well..." L'hoxifel put a finger to her chin. "I'm not gonna lie—I became more interested in you in the first place 'cause of your looks. I do have a thing for a fuzzy wolf-girl, and you do look great to me. But, you know, if you met someone you thought was super attractive, and went on a date with them, and then found out there was nothing else to them that you liked besides the body...well, what would you do?"

"I guess..probably, not ask her out again," Ed admitted.

"So—there's definitely more to you than a pretty face and some fluffy ears, as far as I'm concerned," L'hoxifel said. "Whether you stay a girl or not...I think you're a sweet, considerate person. And way smarter and more creative than you might realize."

"U-uhm..." While the wolf-girl felt a little defensive toward comments about her physical appearance or voice, it was something else entirely to have her personality complimented. Her heart picked up its pace a little bit, and her face felt kind of warm.

"Aaaand, I think I'd like expressions like that one on you either way," the demon-girl continued, smiling across at her. "Heheh, your tail's even wagging a little bit."
"Uh..hmph." Ed tried to make it stop, but that seemed to require conscious effort.

"My turn for an unfair question: Do you really hate being a girl that much? Or, like, having fur?"

"I...uh...n-not really. I mean, not necessarily that exactly," Ed said. "I've..started to get used to it, even the fur somehow. I-I guess, I'm actually a little curious what it'd feel like for someone else to run a hand through it...even though, I usually d-don't like being touched at all. B-but I...well, I really don't like, out in public—guys, strangers looking at me. It's—this, conflicted feeling where, it's nice that I'm attractive, but being so small and weak makes me feel vulnerable, and a little scared..."

"Hmmn. I guess I've never really had that problem," L'hoxifel said. "Back then...I tried to make myself as physically harmless as possible, knowing full well that I have enough power magic-wise to defend myself no matter what. Hey—what if, I just helped you be a little taller and stronger, then?"

"Uhm...how...are you gonna do that?"

L'hoxifel tilted her head slightly, her expression suggesting that the answer was trivially obvious: "Magic?"

"O-oh. Right." She had been able to transform 'himself' into 'herself' all the way back in high school, after all.

"Let's finish up here, and—maybe I can do a little work on you in my room after?" she suggested. "Cammy's out with Rob, probably for a while yet."
"O-okay.." It didn't help the excitement and embarrassment Ed was feeling to realize she was being invited into a girl's room, alone. But it made sense—that wasn't something to do in a public space, right?

A short while later, she followed L'hoxifel into her room, gently kicking the door shut behind her. The demon-girl turned around to face her, placing a hand under he chin briefly. "Hmmn..."
"Y-yeah?"
"Can I..feel your ears just a little bit? Before we make any changes?"
"Uh..s-sure, I guess..."

"Heheh, great~."

With that, L'hoxifel pulled slightly closer, reaching across and placing her hands across the top of Ed's ears. The wolf-girl flinched, finding the fuzzy appendages unusually sensitive to this touch. But—it wasn't bad. She didn't pull away, and when those hands gently rubbed their way around the fur, her heart started racing and a slight burst of pleasant, fuzzy sensation hit her down below. "Mmh—mmnngh....!"

"Awwh, wow...they're so soft and warm! You've been taking good care of all you fur and hair, huh?"
"Y-yeah...mngh..rr-ruffh...!" She couldn't help letting out a small bark when one of the demon-girl's fingers accidentally(?) touched some of the fluff of her inner ear.

"I know this is gonna annoy you, but that's really cute~," L'hoxifel said, letting go of one ear and moving the hand on the other one around through Ed's hair to her cheek.

This touch...! Was something different entirely. Ed's skin wasn't any more sensitive than usual, of course, but that hand on her cheek made her face burn with a blush, and her tail (which had already been wagging a little bit before) went whipping back and forth excitedly behind her. "U-uhm..."
"Heheh! I think...you might just like me. R-right?" Ed finally noticed that L'hoxifel was actually blushing almost as much as it felt like she was.

"Y-yeah...g-guess so..."

"I'm glad. I think I like you too," she admitted.

Finally, she let go of Ed's cheek, crossing her arms briefly (though still smiling and blushing)."So, uh—I'll make whatever changes you want. Shouldn't be too hard. What do you want?"
"Just...taller, and stronger. Uh..f-for now, at least."

"Any preference on how much taller?"

"I...really, I'd be happy if I was just as tall as I was as a guy," Ed said.
"Okay~, easy enough. Let's see...it's easiest to convey this effect through touch. If you don't mind."
"N-no, that's okay..."

L'hoxifel raised her hand up toward Ed's forehead, a bright purplish glow gathering near the palm of that hand, and then placed it there. The wolf-girl felt a rush of warmth spreading from the point of contact out to the rest of her body, especially downward, and by the time the demon-girl had let go of her forehead, she could feel the warmth settling into a strangely comforting burning and tensing sensation, just about everywhere one would expect to have muscle tone.

"Aah..mmnh..." She shuddered slightly as something raced down her spine, and then found herself leaning back slightly, half-involuntarily stretching. Her perspective rose rapidly upward, and at the same time...there was a feeling of her hips and thighs pushing out slightly. "Mmh—mrrrr~rfh...!" a soft bark came from her lips as the tensing and stretching eased off, and a brief burst of fuzzy sensation hit her between the legs alongside a slight forward push from her chest. With that, the strange feelings stopped, and Ed took a moment to look down at her new appearance.

"Well..what do you think?" L'hoxifel asked. She was...definitely taller; her shirt had been pulled up off of some visible, solid abs by the growth. However, it had also been pulled up a little bit more by a noticeable increase in her bust size, which accompanied her lower body's curves also being somewhat more pronounced. Ed slowly tilted her head back upward—to face the demon-girl, whose eye level was around her chin now. She was blushing and smiling up toward Ed, which made her feel...slightly giddy.

"A-ahahah..d-did you have to make my boobs bigger, too?"
"I didn't do that part on purpose. But it's natural for taller girls to be a little bit curvier," L'hoxifel said. "I can shrink them if you really want me to."
"Uh..n-no, I guess not. Though, I'll have to get a whole new set of bras or whatever..."
"Ed, clothes are way easier to transform than human bodies. I can fix them later, if you want. I mean—if you decide to stay looking like that."

"Uhm...I might." This did feel right; she felt stronger for sure, and could picture going around campus like this without worrying about guys looking at her. It'd be nice to be able to actually reach things, too! Although...right this second, she felt the most concerned about the person who was looking at her right now.

"B-but uh..what do you think? Ab-about this look?" she asked.
"I think you look gorgeous like that," L'hoxifel said, her face lighting up with another bright blush. "Plus, I could just picture you picking me up in your big strong arms~."

"Oh...mmm-mngh.." Ed's tail started wagging again. She noticed that her ears had sunk low, pointing out to either side of her head, too. "Y...you want me to? Uh, p-pick you up? Now?"
"I wouldn't complain if you did~. Fair warning, though, I'd go straight for your ears."

"I-I guess that's, only fair..."

Ed took a small step forward and tried reaching her arms out and gently lifting the demon-girl into a hug. She seemed strangely lightweight—probably just because of the all the new muscle tone. But more importantly, L'hoxifel responded by returning the hug, pulling herself close enough for their breasts to squish against each other. This was...definitely a new kind of feeling. It didn't take long to decide she liked it—especially with the other girl's face just a few inches in front of her.

"Mn~nh..rrfh..!" As threatened, L'hoxifel started petting Ed's ears after that. This was a...very nice addition to the feeling of the demon-girl's soft body pressed against her own. "Aah..y-yip!" After a couple of canine-like sounds, she couldn't resist leaning forward, pressing her nose hard into the other girl's cheek, and...nuzzling it? This wasn't something Ed would ever have thought to do, but her mind was mostly just along for the ride at this point.

"Awww~wwh..! That's so cuuute!" she softly half-squealed. For once, Ed didn't feel like she minded this word too much. One of her hands around L'hoxifel's waist was enough to hold her in place, so her other hand wandered, running through the demon-girl's hair a bit. "H-heheh...!" She seemed to like this well enough, too.

After a moment or so of this, something slid across the base of Ed's tail. "Y-yip!" Like her ears, that tail's fur seemed unusually sensitive right now, especially since this sensation was such a surprise. But it didn't take her long to figure out what it was. She turned her head to one side just enough to free her lips and be heard saying, "Uh—um...y-your tail?"

"Yeah..sorry~. My curiosity got the better of me, heheh~..."
"I-it's fine..j-just, surprised..."

They resumed for a little longer, L'hoxifel's tail twisting partway around Ed's and slowly sliding across it. Ed had thought the fuzzy feelings she could have as a girl were terribly strange, and maybe even uncomfortable..but right now, she definitely just liked them. This excitement was..kind of addictive, even. But finally, L'hoxifel released her ears and unwound their tails, and very gently pushed off—a cue which Ed correctly read, and so set her down again.

The demon-girl's face looked beet red, with very little of its usual purple. "I think...I like this new look of yours an awful lot~," she said. "Hey—let's go on a second date! Tomorrow?"
"Um..s-sure," Ed said, before making a brief mental confirmation that there was no possible conflict.

"Great! I've uh, gotta kick you out for now though—uhm. C-cammy's gonna be back fairly soon, I think."

"Right, uh, o-of course." Ed was pretty sure that L'hoxifel was having some very similar thoughts to her own: A strong desire to do that a second time, clashing against a fear that it might go a little too far if they did just now. So she hurriedly turned around and went for the door, stumbling slightly once or twice along the way. Strange: Her legs should be stronger now, not weaker...right?

L'hoxifel noticed this, and called after her through the bedroom doorway: "Be careful, silly! Heheh~!"