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~!"