Thomas the for-serious, actual real-life dragon was back. Kyle was
still astounded that he'd gotten to the point of “friendly
acquaintance” with a dragon in his lifetime, much less that
he'd know them before they even were one. When she came in, he
went over to intercept, knowing that a lot of the staff wouldn't
understand her most probable request. Fortunately, Thomas was (and
had always been) a pretty sharp one; she was seeking him
out, too.
“Hey, morning,” he said.
“Yeah, same. So, some kind of elaborate prank by a Kitsune I think closed school for the day and I got the morning off.”
“Yeeaah, I heard about that,” said Kyle. There was some pride pulsing off of a couple of foxes he was pretty sure didn't even go to that school.
“Yeah, same. So, some kind of elaborate prank by a Kitsune I think closed school for the day and I got the morning off.”
“Yeeaah, I heard about that,” said Kyle. There was some pride pulsing off of a couple of foxes he was pretty sure didn't even go to that school.
“So, I thought I'd see about the uh, 'magic weights' you mentioned
last time?”
“Sure, follow me.”
She looked around as they came into the room; several of the magic
folk present weren't bothering to hide their nature quite as much as
some tended to in the presence of what they thought were normal
humans—which in Kyle's experience was at least a third other magic
folk in hiding.
“Hey, you still know whoever helped you 'hatch'?” He said while
taking her to find some unoccupied equipment. “How're they doing?”
“Pretty well, I guess. Why?”
“Ehh, well, depending on what kinda power they got, or how much
control—I wonder if you could hook me up with 'em,” he said. “I
guess it's a bit of a long shot..oh, here we go.” He indicated a
weight set. “So these, you first take this one attached to the rope
and pull on it until you feel like you're holding something heavy.
That sets how 'heavy' the rest of the stuff is for ya,” he said,
pointing.
“'Kay.” She picked it up effortlessly and held on to it as the weights on the rack all began faintly glowing. “So, what is it you want, anyway?”
“Weell, I gave it some thought since seein' you, and dude, I think I could use a cute girl-bod.”
“'Kay.” She picked it up effortlessly and held on to it as the weights on the rack all began faintly glowing. “So, what is it you want, anyway?”
“Weell, I gave it some thought since seein' you, and dude, I think I could use a cute girl-bod.”
The dragon-girl raised an eyebrow, but seemed not to react to this as
strongly as he'd sort of hoped. “Wwwwhyyy...?”
“Well, I told ya I'm a pride demon, right?” he said. “Dudes are way more likely to think about how great their fit bods are around a cute girl, is all. I'm startin' to try to figure out how to use my magic and stuff, and I could totally use a boost like that.”
“Well, I told ya I'm a pride demon, right?” he said. “Dudes are way more likely to think about how great their fit bods are around a cute girl, is all. I'm startin' to try to figure out how to use my magic and stuff, and I could totally use a boost like that.”
“I guess that makes sense. But, what, you're just okay with
it otherwise?” The weights were glowing fairly brightly by this
point, and she still didn't seem to be feeling much resistance from
the calibrator. One of the things that had made Kyle curious enough
to try and get to know Thomas in the first place was just how—muted
his pride seemed compared to most relatively fit people in the gym,
so it was a rare treat to feel a smidge of self-impressedness from
her at how 'hard' they were working to even make her feel something.
“Yeah. I'm all utility when it comes to that stuff. I mean—if I
had no reason I think I'd stay a dude 'cause it's more
convenient for some stuff, sure.”
“Well, I can give that person your number and let them
decide,” she said. “Answer'll prolly be yes anyway, but better to
ask.”
“Sweet.” Kyle gave a thumbs-up.
“Sweet.” Kyle gave a thumbs-up.
Eventually she did set the calibrator back down again—near the
upper edge of the weight set's capabilities, but still within them.
Then she went and picked up a couple of dumbbells, slowly lifting
them a few times and setting them down again. “Hey. That thing you
said about 'lifting the whole gym'? I guess I couldn't do that if the
weights in here are set this heavy, huh?”
“Weeeelll,” Kyle said. “It's not exactly that they're heavier,
like they don't have more mass. It's more like the magic pushes back
against a direct lifting force. That's why they don't, like, crash
through the rack or the floor, or collapse into a black hole or
something dumb like that.”
“Ah. I was wondering about the safety of this kinda thing,” she said, picking up a bigger weight to lift a couple of times and set down again. “Guess—if you hadn't told me—I woulda just thought 'magic, ignores normal—physics anyway, whatever'—though.”
“Ah. I was wondering about the safety of this kinda thing,” she said, picking up a bigger weight to lift a couple of times and set down again. “Guess—if you hadn't told me—I woulda just thought 'magic, ignores normal—physics anyway, whatever'—though.”
After she quit being Jess, tagging the real deal in, Anika went to
sit on a bench in the quad, and breathed a deep sigh. The burst of
energy she'd felt earlier proved to be a bit like a caffiene high:
Strong at first, but with a sudden drop-off once it wore off. Her
belly growled at her and, almost simultaneously, her phone buzzed. It
was Steph :You hungry?
It didn't take her much thought to reply: very
Come
to the dorm parking lot. I'll take you somewhere nice! My treat.
The Kitsune's heart fluttered slightly, thinking of eating 'somewhere
nice' with him. It was dangerously close to..going on a date with
him. But—she shook her head emphatically as she stood up—no, it
was just her roommate wanting to reward the both of them for a prank
well done. Surely...
Steph was waiting, and waved her to follow him to his car. “Hey, I
came back to the dorm and you were missing,” he said. “Dude, I
thought you'd sleep all morning!”
“Uh, well, I woke up and felt like I couldn't sleep anymore.
Just, restless. I felt like a had a ton of energy at first, but now
I'm just..'can't-sleep-tired' and starving.”
“Oof. Sounds like we came closer to magic burnout on ya than I
thought. Guess your energy did pretty much all the heavy lifting
today, huh?” He opened the passenger-side door on his way around to
the driver's side. It was perfunctory, like he didn't mean anything
by it, but Anika's heartbeat sped up again just a little bit as she
got in anyway.
“So, what've you been up to since you woke up, then?”
“Oh, uh..right.” She told him about the 'bonus prank' on top of their storm, and how Jess and Zotha were trying to do damage control for it.
“Oh, uh..right.” She told him about the 'bonus prank' on top of their storm, and how Jess and Zotha were trying to do damage control for it.
“Yeah, that seems like something the Ruler might do...and something
only a nine-tails or better could do,” Steph said. “I
dunno if I should be honored she wanted a part in it, or insulted she
didn't think it was good enough already.”
“Well, whatever the case, it caused some trouble for Zotha,”
Anika said. “Do, um..foxes regularly prank their friends and
allies, too?”
“Shhyeeah. I mean, it's practically a sign of affection sometimes,” he said. “That said, it depends on the person somewhat. There's usually some amount of back-and-forth on what's, like, okay with one person or another, and boundaries mostly get respected after everyone's done testing 'em. Not too sure that part applies between the Ruler and other gods, though. She's known for messing with 'em..just 'cause, sometimes.”
“Shhyeeah. I mean, it's practically a sign of affection sometimes,” he said. “That said, it depends on the person somewhat. There's usually some amount of back-and-forth on what's, like, okay with one person or another, and boundaries mostly get respected after everyone's done testing 'em. Not too sure that part applies between the Ruler and other gods, though. She's known for messing with 'em..just 'cause, sometimes.”
“..To be fair...I guess it's hard for me to imagine a god of
tricksters never trying to pull pranks on her fellow gods,”
Anika said. “It's just surprising she'd do this only a couple of
days after basically announcing she was totally on Zotha's side.”
They drove in silence—apart from Steph's radio—for a minute or
two before something occurred to Anika. “Um..speaking of that,
though..I didn't really ask where we were going, huh?”
“Oh, you got nothing to worry about. I promise this is sincere,” he said. “It will be something of a surprise, but a pleasant one. I can guarantee you've never been where we're going before, 'cause this place isn't even visible to people under the veil in the first place.”
“Oh, you got nothing to worry about. I promise this is sincere,” he said. “It will be something of a surprise, but a pleasant one. I can guarantee you've never been where we're going before, 'cause this place isn't even visible to people under the veil in the first place.”
“How do you hide an entire restaurant?”
Steph shrugged. “There are fields, forests and mountains hidden from 'normal humanity'; a couple buildings is nothing compared to that. And there're plenty of establishments, like alchemy shops, that already use that kind of magic all the time. So someone at some point thought, 'hey, it'd be nice to have places where no one has to worry about messing up the veil by being ''too conspicuous''.' They can serve magic-laden food at a place like this no problem, but there's a big warning for those items, so no chance of eating that by accident.”
Steph shrugged. “There are fields, forests and mountains hidden from 'normal humanity'; a couple buildings is nothing compared to that. And there're plenty of establishments, like alchemy shops, that already use that kind of magic all the time. So someone at some point thought, 'hey, it'd be nice to have places where no one has to worry about messing up the veil by being ''too conspicuous''.' They can serve magic-laden food at a place like this no problem, but there's a big warning for those items, so no chance of eating that by accident.”
“Well..that's a relief.”
“..There.” Lifting the large bottle of completed potion, Boreas
carefully filled a small vial precisely to halfway up and then set
the bottle down again. “That amount should last around a month,
same as the one I used. Assuming this works like it ought.” She put
the vial out toward Prama, who carefully took it.
“Just for the record, there's no chance of any weird side effects if it doesn't work..or even if it does, right?”
Boreas nodded. “Nothin' we did to make this should do anything other than the intended effect. Worst case, it don't work at all; second worst, the duration's much shorter than expected for some reason. The tough part here was finding something to replace the effect of werewolf fur control, and without that, nothing'll happen.”
“Just for the record, there's no chance of any weird side effects if it doesn't work..or even if it does, right?”
Boreas nodded. “Nothin' we did to make this should do anything other than the intended effect. Worst case, it don't work at all; second worst, the duration's much shorter than expected for some reason. The tough part here was finding something to replace the effect of werewolf fur control, and without that, nothing'll happen.”
“Okay.” She chugged the small volume of strange, magical liquid;
it tasted horrid, but the minuscule volume was gone from her mouth
before her tongue could even begin to complain. And she willed
herself to make no noise in in response to that taste, but it
probably still showed in her face.
Boreas just watched her, stone-faced, for a moment, and then said:
“Feel anything yet? It shouldn't take long to start working.”
“Um..” Her scalp did feel kind of strange. It was a
difficult sensation to describe, like something there was “listening”
to her nervous system the same way normal things like her arms and
legs did, but only a little bit. She tried “stretching” it, and
her hair gained an inch or so of length. Then she tried “pulling”
instead, and it grew shorter and shorter, losing its braids and
dropping a few ribbons off onto the floor, until it came off of her
shoulders; at this point she quit pulling it, and it stayed just low
enough to frame her face. “Wow. It does seem to work!
Weird..feeling it has, though.”
“Hmh,” the werewolf nodded. “Don't know what it's like to not be able to change at will. I suppose it's a matter of what you're used to. Distracting?”
“...No,” she shook her head after a moment. “I think I can ignore it pretty easily. But, do you ever..change that way unintentionally, while asleep?”
“Not unheard of. If it happens, you can put it back how you want it after you wake.”
“Of course,” she nodded. “But, one odd thing: Hair has stuff on it. Just ordinary dust, for one thing, but also everything you usually wash out with shampoo, or leftovers from shampoo right after it's washed. I suppose the stuff just, falls off when it un-grows? Which would mean, after growing back out again, it'd be dirtier at the ends, or more conditioned...”
“Hmh,” the werewolf nodded. “Don't know what it's like to not be able to change at will. I suppose it's a matter of what you're used to. Distracting?”
“...No,” she shook her head after a moment. “I think I can ignore it pretty easily. But, do you ever..change that way unintentionally, while asleep?”
“Not unheard of. If it happens, you can put it back how you want it after you wake.”
“Of course,” she nodded. “But, one odd thing: Hair has stuff on it. Just ordinary dust, for one thing, but also everything you usually wash out with shampoo, or leftovers from shampoo right after it's washed. I suppose the stuff just, falls off when it un-grows? Which would mean, after growing back out again, it'd be dirtier at the ends, or more conditioned...”
“More or less,” Boreas said. “Werewolves sometimes briefly
remove their tail and bring it back in place of cleaning it. Don't
feel as good, but works in a pinch. Not worth worrying too much about
the conditioner part, though.”
“I don't quite know how to feel about the idea of 'washing' my hair
by briefly going bald. Hopefully I'll never need to.”
“Right.”
“Right.”
The alchemist's head suddenly turned toward the noise of something
bubbling: A step in another potion's process that needed tending to.
She headed off that way, simultaneously directing Prama to take care
of something else entirely. It seemed Boreas had arranged the timing
of that other thing to coincide with the bubbling of this one, so
that she didn't need an actual timer for either of them. Perhaps
tricks like that came from times before people had very accurate
clocks—but it was hard not to admire the efficiency of such a
method, regardless.
Even though she was the one actively maintaining the illusion,
Anika had to remind herself that everyone saw two guys coming
into the restaurant. Coming in, sitting down, and looking through
their extensive menu, she couldn't quite keep her ears and one
presently visible tail from fidgeting around, all due to an
inexplicable nervousness that..someone would see this as a
date, including herself. But after they ordered, Steph seemed to
capably guide the conversation into a casual, normal-feeling one.
Sure, some of it wasn't what she would've ever considered 'normal'
before, as it included pointing out some of the enchanted decoration
and (very quietly) a few of the more exotic-looking magic folk
around, talking obliquely about some of his ideas for future,
possibly less extensive tricks the two of them could pull
together...but it drew her focus away from the idea of this being
some kind of romantic encounter. It was easy to forget she was stuck
as a girl at all and focus on what they were talking about instead.
It certainly helped that the food was delicious, too. Steph evidently
felt the same way, as once it arrived the conversation slowed to a
crawl as they both had their fill. If “spending” a lot of magic
made a person hungry, then Steph certainly appeared to have pulled
his own weight too, since the end result was a pair of totally clean
plates. And he didn't ruin it by even pretending to threaten
to leave her with the bill, just taking it up before the total price
could be seeing and handing some cash to the waiter right away.
They got in the car to drive back. While he was cranking it and
starting out of the parking space, Steph said: “I'm stuffed. You
had enough?”
Anika opened her mouth to answer, and an irritatingly cute, audible yawn came out inside. “Um..y-yeah,” she said, blushing all over again. “Guess I'm sleepy again.”
Anika opened her mouth to answer, and an irritatingly cute, audible yawn came out inside. “Um..y-yeah,” she said, blushing all over again. “Guess I'm sleepy again.”
“Hardly surprising. I could prolly use a nap myself.”
“Oh? W-well um, you're welcome to join me, I guess,” she said,
keeping the blush going. But it was a..happy one, somehow. A weird
contradiction seemed to exist where she really didn't want to
be seen as dating him, even by him, in public, but in
private...well, maybe part of it was that he turned into a girl too,
there? It was too much and too confusing to sort out when she was
still this tired, she decided.
When they got back to their dorm room, Steph did indeed turn back
into a girl once again, her second tail spreading out into view, and
Anika could feel the rest of her own tails revealing themselves as
she stood on the opposite side of their bed, exchanging her tight top
for a loose, male-sized t-shirt again. Their movements were almost
synchronized as they came to lie down on the bed, on their sides
facing each other, and pulled together into a close hug, tails
tangling all into each other. Anika squeaked softly as she got to
experience the feeling of her curves pressed close into Steph's
again, receiving a pleased “Mm~mnh” in reply, and then both of
them churred as they gently pet each other's ears and nuzzled for a
bit. This was nothing extreme, just some gentle cuddling, but it was
deeply satisfying all the same...and it left her with a deliriously
happy feeling as she drifted off to sleep again.
It was a bit before 2 PM by the time Zotha and Jess had tracked down
and helped every victim of the transformative rain, and the goddess
brought them both to the “worship center” rather than their dorm
room for a mild change of scenery while they ate. “So, I
guess..we're meeting Fox again this afternoon,” the little
priestess said between bites.
“Mm-hm,” she nodded, “but not terribly soon. Anika's taking
another nap, and I see no reason to disturb her so soon. Thomas sent
me the contact info of someone who wants a girl form, though, so
maybe I'll do that.”
Jess nodded. “Things've calmed down a bit with our followers for the moment. I'm not sure there's much else to do...” Still, she was trying very hard to think of some task for herself.
“Oh, just take a break,” Zotha waved. “Get some of your homework done, or play something. Maybe I'll take a break too, after these last couple bits of work. I don't seem to get tired, exactly, but I'm still very aware of how busy I've been lately. It'd be nice to take a little time off.”
Jess nodded. “Things've calmed down a bit with our followers for the moment. I'm not sure there's much else to do...” Still, she was trying very hard to think of some task for herself.
“Oh, just take a break,” Zotha waved. “Get some of your homework done, or play something. Maybe I'll take a break too, after these last couple bits of work. I don't seem to get tired, exactly, but I'm still very aware of how busy I've been lately. It'd be nice to take a little time off.”
Jess was now ready to offer to take care of Thomas's acquaintance,
but Zotha shook her head. “You actually do get tired, I
know. Anyway, it's someone one of my friends is introducing,
so it feels sensible for me to be the one who helps him out,
right?”
“Hmmh, I suppose so,” she nodded, somewhat reluctantly agreeing.
“Hmmh, I suppose so,” she nodded, somewhat reluctantly agreeing.
“Mrrnh...heheh...” Anika drifted partway out of sleep in response
to a sound and some motion. Her position of being in a close, tangled
hug with Steph was terribly comfortable, and she didn't want to leave
it—plus the fact that her roommate still seemed to be fast
asleep—so she didn't move an inch as she slowly put together what
had stirred her.
First, of course, the sound was just a soft, sleeping giggle from
Steph's throat. It was a happy sound, and made her feel happy,
weirdly enough. Second...the motion was from the dark-haired
Kitsune's body, not that it was moving, but rather...changing?
Her bust puffed out a bit, her curves subtly changing some, and she
gained the tiniest bit of height. Even these relatively small changes
came so slowly that they were just at the edge of Anika's awareness,
which made her question how they had woken her..until she realized.
The specific motion, which had actually stirred the white-haired
vixen, was some warm fur moving across some of her tails. It was easy
to mistake it for one of Steph's tails curling and threading itself
around through them—because that was what it was. Except, her
sleepy mind slowly registered, she already knew where both of those
tails were, and neither one had moved to wake her.
Steph was growing a new tail. A third one. Or, maybe it was more accurate to say that by the time this thought fully formed in Anika's head, she had grown a third tail, and gained a slight shift to her body's shape alongside it. As it ended, she giggled softly again and gently nuzzled Anika's cheek; the four-tailed girl ran a hand through Steph's long, dark hair in reply, nuzzling back, and then settled herself back into sleep, feeling a mixture of pride and whatever emotion was best expressed by saying (and really meaning) “I'm happy for you.”
Steph was growing a new tail. A third one. Or, maybe it was more accurate to say that by the time this thought fully formed in Anika's head, she had grown a third tail, and gained a slight shift to her body's shape alongside it. As it ended, she giggled softly again and gently nuzzled Anika's cheek; the four-tailed girl ran a hand through Steph's long, dark hair in reply, nuzzling back, and then settled herself back into sleep, feeling a mixture of pride and whatever emotion was best expressed by saying (and really meaning) “I'm happy for you.”
Onida turned the key to her home and came in, putting some things
away on her way to the living room, and soon found a small,
dark-haired wolf-girl curled up on the couch, in the beginning
motions of waking up. It had her thinking, as Sam pulled around to
face forward and sit up: The house had seemed so lonely and quiet
sometimes, ever since their parents' deaths—and cripplingly
so when her brother had disappeared. She'd considered getting a pet
once, but decided against it since the only thing she really wanted
was something waiting to welcome her when she came back from
work. Since Damon was often upstairs, and frequently busy streaming,
when she arrived, she'd told herself it was something of a shallow,
selfish desire; it'd cost money and effort, and it'd probably impose
taking care of the animal on him, too.
The wolf-girl yawned adorably, rubbing her eyes, and then smiled up
at Onida, her tail whipping across the back of the couch in a
friendly wag. “Hey, welcome back,” she said casually. “Work go
okay?”
“Yeah, no problem..”
Sam's head tilted slightly. “..Something wrong?” It took this long for Onida to realize she'd been staring for at least as long as the little werewolf had been looking in her direction.
“Uh, n-no.” She blushed just slightly from embarrassment at the trajectory of her recent train of thought, turning away to continue dropping things off. This was a person with a unique identity and thoughts of her own, and...trying to pet her was definitely wrong!
“Yeah, no problem..”
Sam's head tilted slightly. “..Something wrong?” It took this long for Onida to realize she'd been staring for at least as long as the little werewolf had been looking in her direction.
“Uh, n-no.” She blushed just slightly from embarrassment at the trajectory of her recent train of thought, turning away to continue dropping things off. This was a person with a unique identity and thoughts of her own, and...trying to pet her was definitely wrong!
Onida tried to deflect by elaborating on her earlier answer: “I'm
more or less caught up on what I missed those few days I wasn't
working, so..no real risk of needing to stay there late soon, I
think. I guess you two just slept the day away?”
“Pretty much.” Sam dropped onto her feet, following behind her into the kitchen. “Hey, I've basically got things set up to stream tonight, maybe. Just a couple of hours, but aah.”
“Pretty much.” Sam dropped onto her feet, following behind her into the kitchen. “Hey, I've basically got things set up to stream tonight, maybe. Just a couple of hours, but aah.”
“You'd like to be left alone for that, I guess? I'm sure I can keep
my brother busy that long, as long as it isn't too late into
the night,” Onida said, starting to get out something for everyone
to have for supper.
“Mm-hm. I was thinking maybe seven to nine or somethin' like that.”
“Can you hear whether Damon's awake?”
Sam paused (seemingly concentrate on listening), shook her head
slightly, and then clarified: “That is, I can hear, but
sounds like she's still asleep right now. Want me to wake her
up?”
“Not just yet. Actually, she'll probably smell food cooking and come down on her own, I'd guess.”
“Likely. D'you need any help with making it?”
“Not just yet. Actually, she'll probably smell food cooking and come down on her own, I'd guess.”
“Likely. D'you need any help with making it?”
Onida shrugged. “Not 'need' exactly, but help is...helpful. Do you
know much about cooking?”
“Aah, I pretty much live alone, so..'survival cooking' I can do. Basic instructions, simple meals. Helps I'm a werewolf, so a meatier diet isn't as unhealthy for me as a human. I go out to restaurants a lot, though.”
“Aah, I pretty much live alone, so..'survival cooking' I can do. Basic instructions, simple meals. Helps I'm a werewolf, so a meatier diet isn't as unhealthy for me as a human. I go out to restaurants a lot, though.”
With that in mind, Onida gave the wolf-girl one simple instruction at a time to help her prepare dinner: Cut this, watch that, help me carry. Sam was an eager helper with a steady hand; despite her talk of 'survival cooking' she at least knew how to properly use a knife. The one unfortunate thing was that every time she stood nearby, it took some effort not to stare down at her fuzzy ears and imagine reaching out to touch them...but Onida had enough restraint and focus to resist the temptation, to pull herself back before it could cause any trouble. The only problem was Sam definitely caught her staring like that a couple of times, and only seemed to (quite charitably) decide against questioning it.
Weird thoughts like this were far from characteristic of Onida.
Maybe...she was just tired, from everything. Hopefully. Acting so
strangely around a possibly long-term guest, a friend of her
brother's who was helping them both out, was very poor hospitality.
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