It was a surprise to get back to the dorm room Wednesday evening and
find that Logan wasn't there. But it was a much bigger
surprise when he finally arrived a while later, sporting the obvious
signs of having joined the ranks of the mystical! Two tails, even!
Julian had to know what had happened. Had he met a fairy in
the woods? Uncovered his mystical bloodline and destiny? Taken a
potion from a witch? He was awfully cagey about exactly how
the awakening had happened, which only made Julian suspect it had
been very special indeed!
It was a somewhat tragic turn that his friend and roommate of nearly
three years had all along known Julian's shoulder-length, bright red
hair to be matched by the feline ears and tail of a Neko, but had
staunchly refused to say so. It was, however, also very
impressive, and Julian let him know as much. The Ruler of Foxes
should surely appreciate such a feat! Logan only seemed nervous to
hear that. All the more mysterious was the fact that
'someone', and he wouldn't say who, had explained quite a bit of what
lay beyond the veil right after his awakening, with said explanation
supposedly being the very reason for his unexpected tardiness.
Putting the pieces together as he lay excitedly awake in his bed for
an extra hour that night, Julian concluded that his friend had found
a beautiful princess. Maybe her true-love's kiss had awakened him!
Sooner or later, he'd open up about it, and until then, well, Julian
was happy enough to continue playing a supporting role.
Ever since he was a kitten, Julian had been a little bit unusual. He
concluded quickly that if magic existed, then not every fairy tale
could be false. If fairies—the fae—existed, and intervened
sometimes in the lives of mortals, then could they not sometimes
bless people with a happy ending? If there were actually demons and
dragons, then there must really have been some points in history
where parties of heroes went on grand adventures to slay the evil
ones. And if there was a god of love, then under his purview, true
love had to be real.
He'd thought at first to weave stories of his own, but lacked the
patience for writing. Singing and acting were much more within
Julian's talents, and he found that he greatly enjoyed telling the
tales of others in that way. Besides, he thought, maybe he and those
he knew could weave a better ending together, out in the real world,
than anything a single writer might have the capacity to imagine!
Thursday evening held another surprise. Logan came in around the
usual time, but said, "Hey, I'm gonna get up early tomorrow
morning."
"I see, I see! Noted. To what do we owe such an early awakening? Are you having breakfast with a—"
"No, I don't have a date. And again, there are exactly zero princesses in America."
"In that case, I may join you for breakfast. But pray tell, could it be a surprise study group? Or, perhaps, you're embracing the nature of your kind, and making the lives of a few lucky mortals a little bit more interesting with a clever trick?"
"I see, I see! Noted. To what do we owe such an early awakening? Are you having breakfast with a—"
"No, I don't have a date. And again, there are exactly zero princesses in America."
"In that case, I may join you for breakfast. But pray tell, could it be a surprise study group? Or, perhaps, you're embracing the nature of your kind, and making the lives of a few lucky mortals a little bit more interesting with a clever trick?"
Logan frowned, his ears folding back. "You are way too
good at guessing this stuff. Yeah—a kitsune who did me a favor
right after I awakened, like, wants my help with some prank. So, I'm
helping, to say thanks. I don't really think I'm gonna enjoy
it."
"Ooh, give it a chance, my friend!" Julian said, clapping him on the back. "Just wait 'till you see the gormless expressions on their faces. The confusion! The realization! Hahah."
"I feel like you'd make a better kitsune, if you weren't born a cat-person," Logan pointed out.
"Maybe so, maybe so. But one must play the hand fate deals him! Really now, do try to enjoy yourself," he said with a genuine smile.
"Yeah, whatever." Logan just sort of shrugged. "Anyway, I need to get to my homework now..."
"Ooh, give it a chance, my friend!" Julian said, clapping him on the back. "Just wait 'till you see the gormless expressions on their faces. The confusion! The realization! Hahah."
"I feel like you'd make a better kitsune, if you weren't born a cat-person," Logan pointed out.
"Maybe so, maybe so. But one must play the hand fate deals him! Really now, do try to enjoy yourself," he said with a genuine smile.
"Yeah, whatever." Logan just sort of shrugged. "Anyway, I need to get to my homework now..."
Felix—that is, 'Fel'—went back Thursday night to the same place
as the Thursday before. She made sure that she put her clothes on
properly this time, and that there were no stickers left: A
short-sleeved top, thigh-high socks, a short skirt, and—conscious
of the risk that posed—some shorts under it. The week before
had been fun, and, maybe more importantly, Felix had started feeling
somewhat restless since then. Either 'uniting' with his wolf side, or
perhaps having what seemed to be a physically younger form to shift
to, gave him a bit more pent-up energy than he was used to. Sitting
at his desk all day at work wasn't helping, and his older leisure
habits weren't doing much for him either. Burning some of it off
again was a very attractive prospect.
She went in, and took a brief tour around the place before heading
for the dance floor. It was probably too much to hope for that she
might run into the two young women from the previous week, but Fel
had hoped to at least see some sort of friendly face. She was
able to let those thoughts go for a while, just letting loose and not
thinking much of anything, but once she'd mostly rid herself of the
excess energy and gone to sit down for a drink, a touch of uncertain
anxiety crept back in.
Everyone was friendly here...but at the same time, nobody was
really paying much attention to anyone they didn't already know. It
was an impression she'd had last Thursday too, and—not wanting to
intrude on anyone else's fun—she had only really approached Prama
out of concern. It would be ridiculous to hope or expect the same
kind of encounter to happen tonight...most people here weren't likely
to wear themselves out so completely, and it wouldn't be good for
them if they did. She slumped forward a little bit, staring into the
half-empty glass of drink for a long moment. Was this really
what she wanted out of being (or at least acting) 'younger'?
"Helloo~oo there." Fel sat up, her thoughts interrupted by
a very deep purr of a voice. Its owner sat down at the opposite side
of the table from her, grinning back: A woman with golden eyes, long
black hair, and cat ears—plus a matching tail, as a second glance
would find. "Say, a face as cute as yours ain't fit for that
awful expression. What's got ya down, don't like your drink?"
She was around Fel's height, with some good curves that her tight
shirt and pants made no effort to hide; her expression was a coy, if
not flirtatious, grin.
"Uh, n-no." Seeing that directed her own way made
Fel feel flustered more than anything else. "Just uhm..thinking
about things," the werewolf said a little lamely.
"Pffheheh..!" The catgirl giggled soflty. "Heck of a
place to do your thinkin'! You've gotta loosen up."
"Uh—I was out on the floor a minute ago. Just, needed a break, you know?"
"Uh—I was out on the floor a minute ago. Just, needed a break, you know?"
"Oo~oo, really?" She leaned up and forward a little bit,
wearing an energetic, eager smile. "Maybe ya know some of these
newfangled dances, then. Hey, if you're all rested up, how 'bout
teaching me some?"
"Uh..sh..sure." Fel sat up. "Let me just um.."
She took a long chug of her drink and set the glass back down,
deciding she didn't really need the rest of it. Anyway, she was
feeling rested enough by now.
Ever since her tail had finished splitting, Graham seemed noticeably
bolder and—for lack of a better word—wilder. Damon took a couple
of days to realize this, and then just a few minutes to conclude that
she liked it. Once they were alone in Damon's room, the catgirl would
often take a deep breath and grow up to the large, curvy, strong form
she'd taken right when her tail had first split, letting the breath
out in what sounded like a slight sigh of relief. Then, usually,
she'd shift her arms and hands back to lacking fur, probably finding
fully-human hands easier to use a controller with, and maybe not
wanting to shed fur into said controller. She'd sit up close
to Damon, and spend maybe half the time they were playing games
leaning on top of the smaller werewolf, putting an arm around her
neck, patting her head...
And then, of course, whether in the 'grown up' form or not, she'd
ambush Damon with petting now and then. The wolf-girl had never
contemplated it before, but even in the small, cute form Zotha had
given her, she seemed to have more physical stamina than the human,
boy-Damon had before that full moon happened. At least, it was hard
to imagine him keeping up quite so well with Graham back then. But
speaking of being male—only on a couple of visits since that
one, the Nekomata had shifted Damon's sex to pull him in for another
kiss. This was maybe the only way in which Graham seemed to still be
restraining herself, limiting it to just a couple of minutes at a
time, very occasionally. But it was still enough for Damon to start
to learn in that male form the same kind of self-control which
Zotha's 'restraint' had enforced for her female one.
Around the middle of Thursday afternoon, the two of them were just
chatting on the couch for a moment. "What about this one?"
Graham said, waving her free left hand and making the purple glow of
her magic pick up a cartridge. Neither of them had to get up this
way, which let Graham keep her arm around Damon, and let the
wolf-girl just lean into the big catgirl in return.
"Uh, sure. Hey um.."
"Yes?"
"S-so, Onida and Sam are planning on going out for a 'proper date' tomorrow night. I guess that means I'm free at supper time."
"Oh, I see. I could probably whip us something up, if you'd like. And.."
Graham turned her head to look right in Damon's eyes. "I've gotten a little curious, to be honest. Your more wolfish form...is it, taller?"
"Yes?"
"S-so, Onida and Sam are planning on going out for a 'proper date' tomorrow night. I guess that means I'm free at supper time."
"Oh, I see. I could probably whip us something up, if you'd like. And.."
Graham turned her head to look right in Damon's eyes. "I've gotten a little curious, to be honest. Your more wolfish form...is it, taller?"
"Mm-hm."
"Stronger, I presume?"
"Yep. Um—bigger uh." The wolf-girl cupped her chest with a hand briefly. "..You know. Too."
"Stronger, I presume?"
"Yep. Um—bigger uh." The wolf-girl cupped her chest with a hand briefly. "..You know. Too."
"Heehee. If you don't too much mind—maybe you could show it
to me then."
"S-sure! Though, um, I c-can't actually talk when I'm,
transformed," she said. "Just make..dog noises."
"Well, I'm pretty sure we can understand each other anyway, eh?" she said, gently patting the top of Damon's head.
"Rrfh..mm-hm."
"Well, I'm pretty sure we can understand each other anyway, eh?" she said, gently patting the top of Damon's head.
"Rrfh..mm-hm."
"Okay, then let's call it a plan for tomorrow. For now—"
Graham picked up her controller, and waved a hand to float Damon's up
in front of her. "You want player one?"
"Uh, s-sure!"
"Uh, s-sure!"
The brunette cutie was the first one Billie tried approaching who
satisfied two necessary conditions: One, she looked great; and two,
she responded to the approach semi-positively, rather than with
outright rejection, a confused look, or an annoyed glare. It seemed
like something of a coincidence that she was also one of the
few other people in the club with furry ears and a tail, but the
now-young woman kind of liked that too. And the blush she'd been
wearing since looking the Neko's way got a little brighter when
Billie started to get the hang of the strange, jerking dance everyone
was doing and used it to get a little closer to her.
This new dance partner gave out after a short while, slumping
slightly forward and breathing in heavily. "Whoo~oo!"
Billie cheered, then gently took hold of one of the other girl's
hands. "Had enough already? Lemme buy ya another drink, huh?"
she offered, starting to lead the way over toward the bar.
"Uh, ffh, s-sure.." She didn't seem to know what to do with
herself once her hand had been grabbed, other than follow along. Once
they were off of the dance floor proper, in a small empty space
between there and the bar—well, the catgirl really couldn't help
herself! She gently pulled herself up into a close hug, enjoying the
feeling of the wolf-girl's chest pressing against her own, and placed
a hand on top of her head.
"You're real cute, you know that?" she said, just barely loud enough for animal ears to hear over the music and noise.
"Uh—uhm." The other girl's ears folded back, her face a mixture of surprise and embarrassment.
"You're real cute, you know that?" she said, just barely loud enough for animal ears to hear over the music and noise.
"Uh—uhm." The other girl's ears folded back, her face a mixture of surprise and embarrassment.
Billie had mercy enough to let go right away, pulling a foot or so
back. "Pfft—heheh..!" Something about this young woman's
reactions just made her feel like teasing her, and had her giggling
like crazy when it paid off.
The folks that Valoz had pointed her toward were extremely helpful.
They seemed to have the whole process streamlined, like they'd gone
through it a dozen or more times recently. They gave her an overall
rundown of how she was a 'Neko' now, and did a quick magic-based
checkup to verify that she was physically young again in basically
every way. They told her that to people who couldn't see Bill's new
feline parts, she had been 'extremely sick' since last night while
her body physically changed due to a 'rare hereditary condition', or
something like that...they'd supplied some paperwork to that effect
to give her employer, anyway, which was more than good enough. And
they'd been kind enough to get her a fresh driver's liscense with the
slightly girlier name she'd chosen—all during that same visit. That
meant she wasn't going to have any trouble buying drinks tonight!
The wolf-girl sat down and leaned her arm on the counter, dropping
her chin into her forearm and huffing for air for a moment. Billie
came and took a seat next to her, then ordered a drink that looked
good, quickly pulling out and showing that shiny new license to order
with. "And one for my friend here, too!" she added.
"Uh—" This made her 'friend' sit up. "I uh,
can't actually um.." Whatever her objection was, the bartender
was off to make the drinks before she could finish it. She seemed to
give up pretty quickly, sinking back to her previous position and
continuing to try to catch her breath.
"Sooo~." The catgirl leaned forward onto an elbow, resting
her right cheek on that hand to face the wolf-girl with a bright
grin. "What's your name, eh? I'm Billie," she said.
She sat up slightly to turn her head Billie's way. "Oh, uh. I-it's Fel," she said after a brief hesitation. "Nice to um. M-meet you I guess."
"Heheh! Yep, I'm pleased as punch to meet someone as pretty as you are!"
She sat up slightly to turn her head Billie's way. "Oh, uh. I-it's Fel," she said after a brief hesitation. "Nice to um. M-meet you I guess."
"Heheh! Yep, I'm pleased as punch to meet someone as pretty as you are!"
"Errm." Fel's brief, flustered stammering was interrupted
by the arrival of the drinks. The catgirl downed half her glass in
practically one gulp, which made Fel sit up, her ears popping up
right. "A-are you sure you should um...?"
"Ahhh~. Don't worry 'bout me," she said, placing it down. "I've got plenty of practice handlin' my drink. Oh—were you tryin' to say you didn't want alcoholic before?" Billie asked, tilting her head slightly with concern. It would be rude to make someone else drink who didn't want to.
"Uh—not exactly. I-I guess just one wouldn't hurt, but—I do need to be careful."
"Ahhh~. Don't worry 'bout me," she said, placing it down. "I've got plenty of practice handlin' my drink. Oh—were you tryin' to say you didn't want alcoholic before?" Billie asked, tilting her head slightly with concern. It would be rude to make someone else drink who didn't want to.
"Uh—not exactly. I-I guess just one wouldn't hurt, but—I do need to be careful."
"Alright, alright. I'll get a virgin for ya next time,"
Billie offered. "I just thought it might help ya relax a little
more. That is what you're after, coming here, isn't it?"
Fel had taken a moderate sip of her drink at this point, and paused
to wince and cough a little bit. "Uh—that's a lot stronger
than I'm used to," she said. "I guess? I'm not really sure
what I'm doing here at this point. I've been, uh, feeling
restless lately. Needed something to do with that extra energy."
"Oh, you an' me both, Fel!" Billie said. Leaning in a little conspiratorially, she continued at a volume only Fel's wolfish ears would hear: "Would you believe I'm fifty-seven years old? Woke up this morning lookin' like this and feeling like I did in my early twenties. Heheh..!"
"Oh, you an' me both, Fel!" Billie said. Leaning in a little conspiratorially, she continued at a volume only Fel's wolfish ears would hear: "Would you believe I'm fifty-seven years old? Woke up this morning lookin' like this and feeling like I did in my early twenties. Heheh..!"
The wolf-girl sat up a little. "R-really!? Uh..I guess there
were some clues. Magic sure is um..something, huh?"
"Yeah! Couldn't be happier to bump into it, however it did
happen," the Neko said, and downed the rest of her glass. Fel
took a careful, polite sip of her drink in response, and visibly
restrained herself from wincing again.
"It wasn't as nice to me," she said. "Last
week, I found out that I'd been a werewolf for months and
hadn't even known it. Weird, right?"
"Reee-ally? That seems like the kinda thing a body ought to notice sooner, heheh!"
"Y-yeah, but the whole 'veil' thing messed my memories up or something. Anyway, it's better now, at least."
"Reee-ally? That seems like the kinda thing a body ought to notice sooner, heheh!"
"Y-yeah, but the whole 'veil' thing messed my memories up or something. Anyway, it's better now, at least."
"Hey, you feeling better? Ready to go out on the floor another
round?" Billie asked.
"Um..I guess so."
"Well, don't feel obliged to drink any more of that. I'll get ya something that doesn't burn next time, huh?"
"Yeah, thanks..." The catgirl hopped back onto her feet, and Fel moved to follow. She paused a second with an uncertain look on her face, then picked her glass and downed maybe twice as much as she had in total before then. Billie couldn't help but giggle again as this caused her new friend to have a brief coughing fit. Then they headed back out to dance again.
"Um..I guess so."
"Well, don't feel obliged to drink any more of that. I'll get ya something that doesn't burn next time, huh?"
"Yeah, thanks..." The catgirl hopped back onto her feet, and Fel moved to follow. She paused a second with an uncertain look on her face, then picked her glass and downed maybe twice as much as she had in total before then. Billie couldn't help but giggle again as this caused her new friend to have a brief coughing fit. Then they headed back out to dance again.
Do
you think we could meet up to talk some?
Not
long after leaving his meeting with three more experienced kitsune,
an angel girl, and a dragon,
Logan received a text from Prama. He thought about it for a moment,
considering what he had been through and thought through since then,
and then shrugged to himself. sure. where, when?
Can't
be today, I have work.
ok,
so?
I'm
off tomorrow. Afternoon? My dorm room maybe?
"Hmm." He considered this location for a long moment. On
one hand, a girl asking a guy to meet up in her dorm room—or
really, much more so the reverse—would usually raise a lot of red
flags...but on the other, they'd already met there once before. Prama
probably just wanted privacy, a place she considered 'safe' to talk
about anything. They could achieve a decent level of privacy by being
in some public area, like one of the less-used benches around campus
again, but her strange social anxiety thing would have her worrying
about the off chance of someone walking by and causing her to clam up
or start stammering again.
Besides, he had superpowers now. Nobody would question his
presence in the dorm if he used an illusion of that form he'd been in
right after 'awakening'. They certainly hadn't on "her"
first visit, anyway. So he answered: sure. exact time tho?
Felix drank wine only very rarely, always just one glass, and always
with food. He had never actually tested his alcohol tolerance, but
even as little as that would usually have him feeling
something. There was no telling whether being a werewolf, or
the female form itself somehow, might come with some different
metabolism that would handle that substance any better or worse than
before. But...
She kind of liked the way Billie was looking at her. Talking to her.
And that hug had been...nice, if very strange. Realizing that made
her want to be at least a little braver, and...that was one of
the things a drink was supposed to supply. Maybe it was a mistake,
but she told herself that just a little more of the one drink
couldn't possibly put her in knock-out, painful-hangover-drunk
territory.
Maybe going back out and dancing with the catgirl somehow caused it
to take effect faster. She was definitely feeling it by the time they
both went out toward a table for another break. And so..just near the
table, Fel boldly pulled her new friend into a hug like the one
before. "Whoa! Oh, hey there~..." Billie was surprised, but
not upset by the gesture, eagerly returning the hug itself. But
despite being the one to start it, Fel wasn't really sure how to
follow up.
"Uh.."
"Uh.."
"H-heheh..mro~owh." The catgirl just grinned across at her
and put a hand on her head, stroking some hair on the way to the base
of Fel's right ear before rubbing it for a moment.
"R-rfh..!" Okay, now this was getting a little too weird. Fel hurriedly pulled out.
"R-rfh..!" Okay, now this was getting a little too weird. Fel hurriedly pulled out.
"Awwh. You feeling okay there?"
"Uh, y-yeah. Just...a little unstable," the werewolf said,
quickly going and sitting down. Billie came and sat next to her,
instead of across from her.
"Pff, you weren't kidding about needing to be careful, huh?"
"R-right. I'm've...never really been able to hold my drink, I
guess. Becoming a werewolfffff, I think didn't help."
"Well, I sure wouldn't mind if you were a little bolder.
Y'know—it's awful loud in here, and nobody's really looking
our way," Billie said with the same coy grin as
earlier.
"Uh..y-yeah.." Fel's face was very warm...which probably wasn't just because of the drink.
"Maybe we could go somewhere quieter after, hmmn?" the catgirl purred. "Your place maybe, or mine?"
"Oh! Uh. Um." It finally occurred to Fel what kind of thing Billie seemed to have in mind, and she sat bolt upright, scrambling for a good excuse. "I-I really can't do that. I huh...have work tomorrow. Early—early morning, you know!"
"Uh..y-yeah.." Fel's face was very warm...which probably wasn't just because of the drink.
"Maybe we could go somewhere quieter after, hmmn?" the catgirl purred. "Your place maybe, or mine?"
"Oh! Uh. Um." It finally occurred to Fel what kind of thing Billie seemed to have in mind, and she sat bolt upright, scrambling for a good excuse. "I-I really can't do that. I huh...have work tomorrow. Early—early morning, you know!"
"Heh—well, I guess I gotta work tomorrow, too. Not this
Saturday, though. But if I don't know any better..you're more just
tryin' ta get away from me, aren't ya? Am I being too much?"
"Uh, well. It's just that I've never—I mean nobody's uhm. A-and this is re, really too fast."
"Hmmnh. Maybe we could just go somewhere for dinner tomorrow night, then? Not so loud, less dancing and more conversation? Action to come afterward, if we wanna?"
"Uh, well. It's just that I've never—I mean nobody's uhm. A-and this is re, really too fast."
"Hmmnh. Maybe we could just go somewhere for dinner tomorrow night, then? Not so loud, less dancing and more conversation? Action to come afterward, if we wanna?"
The way Billie leaned up toward her with her head tilted slightly as
she said that...it was extremely cute. Fel wasn't sure she
could say no to that look. Anyway, this offer sounded a lot
more reasonable. "Uhm...y-yeah. That'd work, a lh..lot better
for me."
"All right, let's call it a date then~. You won't mind giving me
your number then, would ya?"
"I-I guess not..."
"I-I guess not..."
A little while later, Fel walked outside with Billie next to her.
When the door closed behind them and shut out the club's noise, it
felt like the whole world had gone suddenly silent. "Hey,
Fel—make sure ya have a snack or somethin' before bed," the
catgirl advised. "Drink lots of water. Ya need to drive
home?"
"Uh, yeah.."
"Be extra careful, then, hear?"
"O-of course. Hey..." She said, just as Billie turning to head off.
"Mm-hmn?" she asked, looking the wolf-girl's way again.
"Did you just...go after the first person you saw, or..?"
"Well, you've got me there. I sure did." Billie stepped a little closer, smiling brightly. "First one I liked...and the second, third, an' so on...but you're still special, Fel."
"Um...how so?"
"Uh, yeah.."
"Be extra careful, then, hear?"
"O-of course. Hey..." She said, just as Billie turning to head off.
"Mm-hmn?" she asked, looking the wolf-girl's way again.
"Did you just...go after the first person you saw, or..?"
"Well, you've got me there. I sure did." Billie stepped a little closer, smiling brightly. "First one I liked...and the second, third, an' so on...but you're still special, Fel."
"Um...how so?"
She teased the wolf-girl's hair a little bit, and giggled softly.
"You're the first one to say yes!"
I've been holding back on publishing this one for a long while, despite having finished it, because it's kind of part of a "set" with the next two parts...those parts are kind of being written simultaneous to each other. But this one is done, so under the same "push it out the door" feeling as the last couple of BV episodes, I'm publishing it anyway.
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