October 8th, 2007
Penthouse, The Stratford Building, 1385 York Ave, New York, NY

Alex awoke slowly in his bed, feeling strangely out of sorts.

Yesterday had taken a great deal of getting used to. The feeling of Jak, which now he recognized as the vague sensation of being watched in Indian Cave, constantly being around, as though he would turn a corner or look over his shoulder and see the con artist he had met in the Dream version of Beanocchio's Coffee, leaning against a wall, idly flipping a coin and watching him. This had amused Jak who had assured the boy he would become used to feeling the spirit be around him.

Then there was his appetite.

His mother had returned with a bland tray of hospital food that he had wolfed down like a starving man and asked for seconds. This had alarmed his mother, but the doctor had calmed her, assuring her that between puberty and his mutant activation, Alex was going to be something of a big eater for a while. The second tray had disappeared as quickly as the first and Alex still felt a little peckish, but could ignore it now.

Alex had almost fainted when he saw Jak looking out from a mirror for the first time.

Relax, kid! The spirit had admonished him. I know how much you humans depend on expression to communicate. This just makes it easy without me having to expend myself projecting into your realm.

It had made answering the call of Nature more than a bit awkward, especially as Alex was becoming acquainted with this new body he had, seemingly overnight from his point of view. The hospital confirmed he had grown two full inches from his last checkup and was now five foot nine and still growing. His reflection now wasn't a gangly tennis player but a well defined, practically chiseled gymnast. While the muscles didn't bulk, they were hard, and having a six pack was a welcome addition. His once sandy brown hair was now a radiant strawberry blonde and his simple brown eyes were now the color of honey in sunlight and had vertical pupils.

There were also other changes he was very pleasantly surprised with.

He got a vague sensation of amusement from the spirit as he went to answer nature's call to find the changes he had experienced in his Dream conversation with Jak were true in reality. I'm glad you approve, the spirit had chuckled as the youngster took hold of himself to conduct his business. Of course, that led to wonder of how much larger it would get when that was called for and that brought him up short.

The feeling of confusion intensified.

Alex finished his business and turned to the mirror. “Are...are you...always...going to be around? Even when I...you know...”

The spirit grinned. I'm not a voyeur, laddie. Well, not in that sense.

Then, as if to prove the point, the feeling of the spirit vanished and he felt alone for a moment. There was a brief spate of panic, but as he cast about he found the connection between himself and the spirit that seemed to wander 'away' but not in anyway he could articulate. He knew Jak would know if he called, but he wouldn't have to feel embarrassed if he was 'entertaining a guest.'

Alex chuckled at himself as he remembered the previous day in bed before he sat up to stretch. If you couldn't laugh at being a teenager, it would probably drive you mad. He stretched and it was then that he became aware of a new weight on his chest that shifted. Looking down, he saw that his t-shirt was pushing out and looking down the collar he saw the swell of a pair of breasts. It took a full minute of looking before his brain processed the fact that he suddenly had breasts.

He, now she, nearly squealed in surprise.

What's the fuss? Jak demanded a bit groggily in her mind as she scrambled out of bed and over to the full-length mirror behind her closet door. In it he saw a damn sexy young sweetheart, heart-shaped face, cupid's bow mouth with his wild hair in his T-shirt and now very poorly fitting pajama bottoms. The breasts stood out under the cotton of the shirt and suddenly two well-defined nipples began to poke out. Didn't I tell you I'd share this power with you? What are you upset about?

The shock reduced Alex to stammering. “I...I...I'm a...a...a...” Alex closed his eyes and mouth, concentrating on his breathing before he opened his eyes again and found himself unchanged from the moment before. “I'm a girl!” he squeaked. His first impression was that the girl in the mirror was a softer, feminine version of himself, followed closely by the realization she was hot.

The red-headed bombshell from the cafe, only her face was unmade and her hair wild from the bed appeared in the mirror. So? the spirit asked. You can be lots of things. Control of my shape is one of the powers I share with you. You can be anything, anyone you want, it just takes practice.

“Why can't I change now?” she whispered, terrified of being overheard.

The bombshell smirked. Because there's a big chunk of your mind that wants to explore, she told the frightened young girl. It's alright, I promise.

Alex saw her reflection be hugged in the mirror by the older woman and felt the contact on her skin and the reassurance. The panic passed slowly and, she had control of herself again. Good, now just imagine how you were.

In the mirror, the amazingly sexy cute girl shifted and molded until Alex once more wore the body he woke up to in the hospital. A worried hand grabbed his crotch to reassure himself and he breathed a sigh of relief. These are your defaults, Jak told him. They will always be the easiest for you to change to. I'll explain more on the way. We have a long journey ahead of us, best to get ready for it.

Clean, after a long shower, Alex pulled on his favorite pair of jeans and a polo shirt before he followed his nose and the wonderful aromas he smelled into the kitchen. There he found Edwin, his cut away coat hanging from a hook by the door and the rest of his suit protected by a starched white apron at the cook top, gently poking at something that hissed from the heat with a spatula. “I don't know what that is, but it smells wonderful, Edwin,” he complimented as he poured himself a tall glass of orange juice.

“A staple from my departed mother, God rest her soul, Master Alex,” the butler replied, liberally dashing a spice onto the pan's contents. “With modification of course for the somewhat coarse American palate and the lamentable lack of proper bacon in this country. It is known amongst the working classes as 'Bubble and Squeak.'”

He removed the pan from the flame and began to scoop out a serving onto a plate that he then set in front of the young man. “Bubble and Squeak?” Alex asked, looking at the mass, which despite its name looked and smelled delicious. A rack of toast, butter and a tub of honey was added to the table.

“Indeed, sir,” he continued, quenching the pan and then quickly scrubbing it before a rinse and depositing it into the dish washer. “A hearty provision, comprised of mashed potatoes mixed with cabbage and the moribund scraps American butchers deign to call bacon crowned with a single egg and, of course, the requisite confidential blend of spices.”

“Well, whatever you call it it's delicious,” mumbled Alex around his mouthful.

“Thank you, sir. Of course, I would be more pleased to receive such praise from an empty mouth,” he said with a ghost of a smile as he hung up the apron to don his cutaway coat once more.

“Sorry,” the boy mumbled after a gulp of orange juice cleared his mouth. “Is Mom taking me to the train station?”

“Mrs Preswick-Walcutt sends her regrets, Master Alex, but unfortunate deadlines prohibit her personally seeing you off. The honor of starting your journey into the larger world has fallen to me.”

Alex tried and failed to fight off the crushing disappointment. It was not the first time he felt like he had not mattered to his parents, but the Gentleman's Gentleman noted the boys depression and laid a comforting hand on his shoulder. “May I remind you, that your mother did not leave your bedside for four days during your recent crisis? Hardly the behavior of a uncaring lady, if I might make so bold, sir.”

The youngest Preswick-Walcutt looked up into the Butler's face. “You always know the right thing to say, Edwin. How do you do that?”

The butler smiled while refilling the glass of orange juice. “Modesty forbids, sir,” he declared with a wink. “I have taken the liberty of telephoning a Miss Claire at the Academy for you, sir, and provided her with your sizes. A set of the institutions uniforms should be awaiting you on arrival. Shall I pack a bag of casual things for your off hours?”

“Oh, you don't have to do that, Edwin,” the boy said, scraping the last of his breakfast onto his fork. “I'll be ready in a couple of minutes.”

“Very good, sir.”

October 8th, 2007
Acela Express 2158 En-route to Concord, New Hampshire

Alex shut the door to his compartment, pausing to dump his duffle bag onto the rear seat before he flopped down on the forward-facing seat. It would figure his mother would have bought him a private compartment for the simple four-hour trip. Still, it would give him time to commune with Jak and get a better idea of his powers. He'd locked the door to the compartment on entry, that left pulling the shade closed as he sighed and got comfortable in the seat. Jak? He thought to himself.

He blinked and found himself sitting across from what he began to label Jak's 'male' form. A sharp faced New York wise guy in silver gray suit over a black silk shirt worn mostly open and a generous mop of red hair, slicked back from his face. “I thought you said projecting yourself into the real world was taxing?”

“Who says we're in the 'real' world?” the other asked, raising the shade to show the train rolling past a vibrantly green wilderness with a small herd of unicorns grazing in a clearing instead of the tunnel the train should be traveling through on its way to New Rochelle.

Alex looked out the window, then back at the spirit. “Those are real?”

“Kid, you're going to find that the word 'real' doesn't mean what you think it does.” The sharp featured face grinned and he got a bit more comfortable in the seat. “So, let's begin. As you found out this morning, you can control your shape. Like it?”

“Hadn't thought about it,” Alex replied truthfully. “Well, other than about peeing myself in surprise!”

The spirit chuckled. “You humans are so married to the shape of your bodies, it never ceases to amuse me.” He pulled out a deck of cards from his jacket pocket and began to fidget with it in his hands, shuffling it one-handed and making cards appear and disappear with what looked like simple sleight of hand. “What you have to understand, kid, is that this meat you're wearing, it isn't you. That body out there? It's just a thing.” He pointed at the boy across the compartment. “This is you.”

“Well, what is this?” Alex asked. “My soul?”

“As you understand the word? Yes. I could get technical, but that's just boring theory stuff.” The blue eye winked. “So, let's concentrate on the practical; more fun anyway.”

“Ok,” Walcutt agreed. “So, I guess I was a little, uh, shocked, I guess this morning. Why did I wake up as a girl?”

An eye brow rose on the hustler's face. “You don't remember what you were dreaming about?”

Alex shrugged. “I don't remember my dreams. I never have.”

A narrow finger was held up by the spirit. “Rule number one, kiddo, we don't lie to each other. I cannot lie to you, the Contract forbids it, and while you can try to lie to me, I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't. We're going to be together the rest of your life. That's a long time to be at odds, kiddo, and definitely not what I signed up for. Cool?”

“Sure,” Alex declared. “But I don't remember my dreams!”

“No, you suppress them,” Jak replied.

A frown pulled at Alex's face. “Suppress?” he demanded. “Why would I be afraid of my dreams?”

Jak shrugged. “Beats me, kid, I just moved in, so I'm still getting unpacked here. But, if I hadda guess, I'd say something...risque? Shall we say?” The wise guy smiled a knowing smile. “Hey, don't be embarrassed, that meat you're wearing is drowning in hormones and you got a case of the hots something fierce. It's natural.” He stood and stretched. “You know what? Speaking of natural, why don't you give the new body a spin while I make myself scarce? Get it out of your system.”

Alex's face threatened to catch fire from blushing. “I...I...I mean...”

The fox waved it off as he turned up his collar. “Relax, kiddo!” he declared with a grin. “Like I said, it's natural. You got a nice private place here. I think I'll go mingle for a bit. Call me if ya need me.” What that, Alex's eyes popped open as the train left the tunnel and was out in the sunshine, winding its way out of the city north.

He sat for a moment, looking at the door where he had last imagined the spirit having been, and again felt a little embarrassed to have been given 'permission' to test drive his new body, as it were. That brought a frown to his face, as he recalled the conversation and the odd choice of words the spirit had used. “Contract forbids it?” Alex muttered to himself. “What contract?” Curious now, he dug his laptop out of its bag and got it situated on the fold-out desk, made a few searches and started reading.

He quickly found the signal to noise ratio of the internet was ridiculous.

Wild conspiracy theories, secret societies, cabals of homosexual amphibians and mystics offering to sell the secrets of the cosmos for the low, low price of $19.95 plus shipping and handling were the order of the day. Alex rolled his eyes and after a moment of thought, turned his browser to the Department of Paranormal Affairs website. There, he found a link to an entire collection of informational and self-help sites. That led to the What is Magic page on the Mystic Arts section of MIT&T's website.

“The western occult tradition traces its linage to Charlemagne and his Codice Iuris, by which the legal foundation of the tradition was laid and is recognized as the first step in moving the practice of magic from hedge practice and mystic trapping to a legally recognized profession,” he read, furring his brow as he scrolled through the somewhat dry historical summary. “What does that have to do with Solomon?” he asked, clicking a few links fruitlessly.

Finally a new page opened that caught his interest. “Solomon, King of Israel or Solomon the Wise was a noted magician and ruler (c)970-931 BCE and the author of the Contract with the metaphysical world that bears his name, governing the interactions with spirits and beings not native to the Prime Material Plane. What is...? Oh,” Alex muttered, following a link then back. “Use in warfare...Forbiddance of Attainder...Primacy of Cost? What the devil is...”

“Primacy of Cost?” a familiar voice asked. Alex looked up to find Jak sitting across from him again. “It means I can't give you something for free. And I can't take from you without offering something in return. Call it the 'no free lunch' rule,” the Spirit declared. “Not exactly what I would call erotic reading there, kiddo.”

Alex closed his laptop and fixed his gaze on the spirit. “So, what do you get out of our partnership?”

“Exactly what I promised you,” the Fox replied. “I share my power, you share your hallow.”

The young man frowned. “What good is that to you?” He expected the spirit to be surly at catching him reading up on their arrangement, but as near as Alex could tell, Jak still seemed pleased and amused by him.

“Quite a bit, sport,” the Fox declared. “First and foremost, you are in what the highbrow types call the Prime Material Plane and it is where essence is generated. The stuff of life itself. That is what we spirits feed on, the way you humans need air and food and water. You suck it up and fritter it away in day dreams or fantasies your whole lives. From addicted gamblers fervently hoping for their big break to grandma's prayers to the Creator, it's all essence. We can only collect it in our hallow and to stay in our hallow all the time is dangerous. We can be captured and subjugated, just like you read about Solomon rounding us up and binding us to any and everything he had laying around. Until the Contract.”

Alex rubbed his chin. “Well, with you in me, doesn't that mean I captured you?”

Jak leaned back, making a pillow of his hands behind his head and stretched out to cross his legs. “Nope!” he declared. “You don't own me, and I don't own you. Everything we do is in trade, just like the Contract says. But while I am here, I can't be summoned away from you or bound to something else. That means I can't be turned into a slave, or made the mystical battery to some magical gewgaw.”

Walcutt made a face. “People do that?”

“You have no idea,” the fox growled. “So I'm protected leaving me free to suck up all this essence you humans are wasting, and for services rendered, I let you use my powers. Nothing underhanded, nothing rotten.”

“That sounds too good to be true,” the young man declared, crossing his arms, but the fox only grinned.

“Don't take my word for it,” he drawled. “Read up there or talk with any number of the Wise at this school you're headed to.”
Alex looked at his spirit askance. “Spirits know about Whateley?”

“Do humans know about New York?” The fox stood and stretched. “Look, Alex, kiddo, I know you probably got a little worried about how quick we made a deal, and, as a general rule, as a New Yorker, you should know better, but you lucked out with me. Don't worry, I got your best interests front and center. After all, the longer you live, the more worry-free essence I soak up. And don't feel like you gotta hide this. Ya really can't for one, we will get so close you'll be able to read my thoughts and ditto the reverse. Two, I like sharp cookies; it's my thing, sweetheart! So feel free to wise up because the more you know you can trust me, the less time we waste because you don't.”

“You're not mad?”

The wise guy melted into the bombshell and leaned forward to pinch Alex's cheek. Not that he noticed with a Grand Canyon of cleavage in his face. “Silly boy, I don't get mad, I get even. The sooner I convince you of my way of thinking, the better.” She stood up and looked back out the car at the door. “Now, if you want some...amusement...there are several sweet young things that would love to share this lovely compartment with you, if you're interested?”

With Herculean force of will, Alex controlled his hormone addled brain and frowned. “You mean, lure some girl in here and use her...?”

The bombshell arched an eyebrow. “Oh? You'd rather have some studly sir, come pop your cherry? There are several of those, too...”

“No!” Alex declared. “I...I'm not...how could you...!”

She leaned down, nose to nose, a fire dancing in her blue eyes. “You don't know me very well yet, so I'll let your former comment slide, this time. If some little miss out there wants a memory, well me taking care of my host is win/win for everybody. But compelling is cheating. There's no sport in making anyone do anything. You, of all people, should know that.”

Alex frowned. “And that 'irresistible something' isn't cheating?”

The bombshell stepped back, a look of cunning admiration on her face. “Not at all. Giving someone what they want is fair play. Just make sure you know what you want.” She grinned and winked at him. “Enjoy your reading, kiddo. If you change your mind about some company, let me know.”

She strolled out with enough hip sway to hypnotize a standing room only theater. “Oh, what have I gotten myself into?” the young man whispered.

October 8th, 2007
Amtrak Berlin Station, Berlin, New Hampshire

Alex stepped off the train to get his first look at Berlin.

As it might be imagined, the young New Yorker was not impressed. The station was just a little brick building trackside, not much more than a handful of offices and a waiting area. The platform was covered, but that wasn't saying much and the 'town' beyond the station barely was worthy of the sobriquet. “Isn't this...quaint?” he asked himself as he got the strap of his duffle bag comfortable on his shoulder where it wouldn't catch on the straps of the backpack that held his laptop.

He looked about, his itinerary stated that someone from the school would be waiting, when his eyes fell on the biggest, broadest man he'd seen recently. Maybe even ever. He was six foot six if he was an inch, easily head and shoulders above everyone around him, but not gangly like a basketball player. This man was built like a linebacker with hands the size of Alex's head. He had a wide, square face with not gold, but yellow eyes under a great shaggy mop of deep brown hair. He was wearing a black polo shirt with a school crest on the left breast in gold over jeans and was holding a cardboard sign with Alex's name on it.

“Great,” the young man muttered, getting a distinctly dangerous vibe from his 'bully' sense. “New school, same as the old school.” Alex screwed his courage to the sticking place and walked over to him. “I'm Alex Preswick-Walcutt,” he declared.

The big young man actually smiled and extended a hand, casually destroying the sign one handed with the other. “Wyatt Cody,” he declared in a surprisingly pleasant baritone. “You wouldn't be related to Tansy Walcutt, would you?”

Alex brightened a bit. If he knew Tansy, that might mean he could make some inroads. Having a friend this large definitely couldn't hurt. “She's my cousin,” he admitted. “Do you know her?”

The big man effortlessly relieved Alex of his duffle. “Tansy? Sure do, she's a good, good friend. Come with me and we'll head to the school.”
“Funny, I'd think if she'd mentioned you, I'd remember it,” Alex replied as he followed the senior towards a black minivan with the school crest in gold on the door. His bags quickly put in the back, the two climbed into the front seats and fastened their seat belts.

“Oh, we don't really talk about the school outside of it,” Wyatt replied as he looked over his shoulder to back the minivan out of the space, casually working the steering wheel one handed. “It's important to keep things discreet, if you follow me. Actually, Tansy is best friends with my fiancée.”

Alex blinked. “You're a student?”

The big man grinned as the minivan merged into the traffic pattern and turned north. “Senior,” he replied, urging the somewhat sluggish van to the speed limit. “Well, Senior Emeritus,” he added with a chagrined shrug.

“You got held back?” Alex, who was quite well read, asked.

“Got a new power at the end of last year and Mrs. Carson, that's the Headmistress, wanted me to repeat the year to get extra training in it,”
Wyatt replied without rancor. “Fine by me, I like Whateley.”

Walcutt rubbed his chin. “And they have you playing chauffeur?”

“I'm only taking a couple of specific classes,” Wyatt said, tisking between his teeth as he had to stop for a traffic light. “No skin off my nose to help out where I can.” He looked over at the younger man sidelong. “So, just activated, huh?”

“Sorry?”

“Your MGC?” Wyatt prompted. “Mutant powers?”

“Oh!” Alex exclaimed, trying to recover quickly from the mental slip up. “Uh, I'm not really sure what all I can do, but I wasn't this in shape before, and I have a spirit...”

Wyatt grinned as the light changed, and he started moving again. “Me too! Nice to have another avatar up here. Mine is Kodiak, what's yours?”

“Uh, a fox,” Walcutt admitted, wincing internally a bit, but the big man didn't seem to either be dismissive or disdainful.

“Good,” he just said as the van finally cleared the edge of town and began to climb up into the mountains. “Tansy can give you some pointers and once you're settled, she'll probably show you around. She know you're coming?”

“Uh, I don't know. Her dad made the arrangements for my parents.”

Wyatt nodded. “He'd know,” was all he said. “Probably a lot for you to get used to?”

“I have to say it's been the strangest couple of days of my life.” That struck Wyatt as funny and he chuckled good naturally.

“The first time I woke up after it happened, I was in my bear form.” Out of the corner of his eye, he caught Alex looking at him and elaborated, “One of the powers my spirit grants me is the use of his form and strength. We can spar sometime and I'll show you. Scared the piss out of my mom!”

Alex felt his heart sink at the thought of 'sparring' with Wyatt Cody as he was, let alone bigger and stronger. “Oh, well, I grew two inches and I'm starving. Can we stop...?”

Wyatt pushed the speed on the van up a bit. “Trust me, there isn't much worth eating in Berlin. There are some OK places for dates and what not, but the best food for miles is the school cafeteria, believe it or not.”

That wasn't so much of a stretch for Alex. He was actually a bit melancholy about never eating at Benjamin Franklin Academy again. Their kitchen staff was excellent. He hoped that the reality of this cafeteria lived up to the big senior's praise. “The doctor said I'd probably be a big eater for a bit,” he said a little nervously.

“Most new actives are,” Cody assured him. “Don't worry, the Crystal Hall is eat all you want.” He opened the armrest of the console between
them and Alex saw it was full of food. Wyatt reached in and pulled out a candy bar. “Here, see if this won't tide you over. We'll be there in just a minute.”

Walcutt wasn't a fan of chocolate bars, but was suddenly too hungry to care and ate the sickly sweet confection eagerly. The van turned off the main road through a gate that had a pair of stone lentels, crowned with strange-looking gargoyles that sent a shiver up Alex's spine. The road wound, somewhat needlessly to Alex's thought. For some reason New Englanders were positively obsessed with roads that meandered everywhere. “Do only other, uh....”

“Mutants?” Wyatt asked with a raised eyebrow. “Yes, all of the students are gifted in some way. And a bunch of the teachers too, so don't be surprised.” The road turned a bend and Alex got his first look at the school grounds.

The road went straight to a large, two-winged building with a gigantic glass dome behind it. The other buildings framed the road on either side and were a bizarre mishmash of architectural styles. This first one was Brutalist, then New England colonial next to it, but with a tower and what looked like an observatory dome behind it. On the other side of the road was a round building that looked like waddle and daub construction but was certainly concrete as that style of construction was completely wrong for a round tower. Then off to Wyatt's side of the car was a hill that was crowned with a glass curtain wall building of eight stories with a second building like it tucked into the little dale behind it.
Wyatt parked the car in a little lot between the main building, which Alex could now read from the black letters on the white semi-circular balcony was Schuster Hall and Kane Hall catty corner to it. His bags were cleared out before the car was locked and Wyatt led the way inside and up a grand staircase to the second level and into a set of offices labeled 'Administration'. “Here he is, Miss Claire.”

Alex took in the youngest woman in the office, who was quite pretty, with auburn hair wearing a teal blouse and sweater over black slacks.
“Welcome Mr. Walcutt,” she said with a smile. “I'm Elaine Claire, Student Services.”

The young man smiled. “Pleased to meet you, Miss Claire.”

She presented him with a small plastic sack, full of papers and a few bound pamphlets. “Here is your new student kit. You'll want to go over those when you get a moment. You strike me as a young man used to private schools, so some of this will be quite familiar.”

“Yes, thanks,” Alex replied.

“We have you assigned to Twain Cottage, Wyatt, would you be so good as to show Mr. Walcutt the way?”

“Sure,” the big man replied. “Then I think we'll get started on lunch,” he told Alex which helped him quiet his stomach a bit. “Does he have a student advisor yet?”

Miss Claire consulted a small device in her hand. Alex was struck by just how much high technology was in evidence in what he would have taken as a very staid and conservative school from its outward appearance. “Mr. Lord. He has his study period after lunch, so that will work out nicely,” Miss Claire replied.

Cody easily hefted Alex's duffle and led the way back they had come. “Funny,” he remarked once they were outside once more and began walking north, back through the parking lot. “I would have figured you for Emerson or even Melville.”

“Sorry?” Walcutt asked.

“Cottages,” Wyatt told him with a smile. “Twain and Emerson are the boys cottages. Twain is usually guys who are, well, outdoorsy types. Sports, hiking, stuff like that. Emerson is generally the more book...er...studious bent. Or my cottage, which is Melville.” He jerked his thumb over his shoulder to indicate the glass building on the hill. “It's co-ed.”

“Oh, well, I guess Ben Franklin Academy sent my transcripts,” Alex told him. “I was trying out for the Tennis team.”

Wyatt nodded. “That's probably it, then.” They walked in silence for a few minutes, Wyatt being greeted by just about everyone they passed, which cemented in Alex's mind he was obviously one of the popular kids and becoming friends with him would likely stand him in good stead at the school.

“So, Wyatt,” he asked after a little group of girls greeted the big man, some very obvious in their desire to be...friendly...engaged or not. “How well do you know Tansy?”

The big man smiled. “Oh Tansy has been in the Alphas with me for a while.”

“Alphas?”

“Short for the Alpha Council of Campus Leaders,” Cody explained. “It's the organization that oversees the campus clubs and sets up activities, mediates disputes, things like that. We even dated for a bit, but I'll let her tell you about that if she wants to, no offense.”

“None taken.” After a pause, he looked up again and asked, “And she's best friends with your fiancée? I guess that's a little awkward?”

Wyatt chuckled again. “It has its moments,” he declared ambiguously. He opened the door to the cottage and held it for Alex. “Hey, Mr. Filbert?” he bellowed, his voice echoing off the walls and easily over the conversations of a few students in the hallway.

“In my office, Wyatt,” an equally loud voice replied. Alex followed the big man over to a dutch door that was half open, glancing at a bust of Mark Twain as he did so, and realizing where the cottage got it's name. On the hallway side of the door was a young man, about Alex's height, with very short, dark brown hair and a ruddy complexion, wearing his school uniform with the tie quite loose and the top two buttons of his shirt undone.

Behind the door was an extremely fit older man, somewhere around six feet or so, in a shirt like the one Wyatt was wearing with a whistle on a lanyard around his neck. He had a tanned, weathered face which was square shaped with a sharply defined jaw. “Mr. Cody,” he greeted. “And you must be Mr. Walcutt.” He turned to the other boy. “Alright Adam, if you're so keen to move, you can room with Alex here,” he said, handing a key with a tag with the number written on it to Alex. “Adam Lambert, meet Alex Walcutt.”

“I should say Preswick-Walcutt,” Alex declared, extending his hand to the other boy. “To make my mother happy, but I guess that's too big a mouthful, so Alex is fine.”

The other boy grinned as they shook hands. “Adam, but everybody calls me Greasy. You got one yet?” He turned and led Alex and Wyatt to the stairs, and they began to climb.

“One what?” Alex asked.

“Code name,” Wyatt supplied. “Mine's Kodiak, but everybody just calls me Kody.”

“Oh, I guess I'll need one now, won't I?”

“You don't want one assigned to you,” Wyatt warned him. “My girl got stuck with Loophole and she hates it.”

Adam laughed as they arrived at the room. “Cause everybody calls her Loopy, but she knows we don't mean it.” Alex opened the room to find a pair of desks facing the wall the door opened between. Then there was a pair of wardrobe lockers and finally a tube steel framed single bed. “We could stack the beds and make more room on one side if you want?”

“Either way is fine,” Alex replied. “I don't have a preference.”

“Well, I'll go get my stuff.” The other boy left while Wyatt opened the wardrobe and put the duffle in it.

“Gimme your backpack,” he told Alex. Alex looked at the older boy quizzically as he shucked off the back pack and handed it to him. “I can tell you're hungry. Lock it up here and we'll go eat so you can unpack later.”

“Thanks!” Walcutt replied, genuinely grateful. He felt a twinge of conscience and asked “But, shouldn't I help Adam...?”

Distantly, Alex heard Adam's voice shout, “Her name is Elaine!”

Wyatt cocked his head, then shook it. “No, I think it's best we get some chow. Come on.”

October 8th, 2007
Crystal Hall, Whateley Academy

Any fears Alex had about Wyatt exaggerating about the quality or quantity of the food to be had in the Crystal Hall were put to rest by the assault on his nose as soon as they walked in the door. Once the initial impression of the architectural feat that was the building itself gave way, Alex followed the big man into a servery that would have been at home anywhere on the Las Vegas strip. The sheer amount and variety of foods was a little dazzling. Alex helped himself to a plate that was a mini-buffet all by itself before he followed Wyatt over to a little clutch of what looked like pay islands.

“Senor Cody,” greeted the older woman who was standing at the counter. She was a very attractive woman of Hispanic origin. “And who is your friend?”

“Good afternoon, Maria,” Wyatt greeted as he waved an ID card next to a scanner. “This is Alex Walcutt, he's just transferring in, so no ID yet.”

“Ah, bueno!” she declared with a smile as she weighed Alex's plate and tapped at what looked like a cross between a computer and a cash register. “Bienvenido señor Walcutt!”

Alex blushed a bit. “Gracias señorita.”

Maria arched an eyebrow. “¿Tu hablas español?” She asked.

Walcutt decided to be a bit bold and to try and impress Wyatt. “Sí, solo en la más grande de las lenguas latinas puede un hombre verdaderamente profesar su amor a una mujer hermosa!”

Maria actually blushed a bit. “¡Ve a comer tu almuerzo, pequeño pícaro!” she scolded him, waving a finger in his direction. “And it is señora to you, hombre!”

Wyatt looked at Alex askance as he led the way over to an elevator. “What was all that about?” he asked.

Alex grinned. “Oh, just complimenting a lovely lady.” Was that approval? Alex wondered to himself about the expression on Cody's face as the big senior led him over to the elevator and pressed the button to the top floor.

“You'll fit right in,” Wyatt told him as the car rose. “Normally you'd have to hold a leadership position to sit on the Alpha dais, but you're my guest today.”

“Thanks,” Alex replied as he followed the older boy, man, really to a circular dais next to the artificial waterfall that took up most of the wall that faced into the courtyard between the two wings of Schuster Hall. There was a single large table and several smaller ones here, all with the pleasant background noise from the water cascading down the concrete, molded to look like natural stone, to the small pool below.
Wyatt led the way to the big table and Alex lost all interest in the architecture. Waiting for Wyatt were a pair of breathtaking women, one he realized was his cousin Tansy. Alex knew she was beautiful, but she had always been aloof at family gatherings and he'd never seen her be anything but casual at them. Now she was dressed to the nines in a miniskirted version of the school uniform that had obviously been, if not cut to her measure, tailored to it. Her hair and makeup were flawless and he had never seen her so...amazingly beautiful.

“Alex?” she asked, coming over as he put down his tray of food. “What are you doing here?”

Alex blushed as he was swept up into a hug and that magnificent body was pressed against him. “Oh, hi, Tans, how are you?” he managed through the hormonal haze his mind was soaked in. “I, uh, I guess I'm a mutant...”

“Well, it's the in thing,” her red headed friend piped up. “Everybody's doin' it! Nice to meet ya! Ah'm Elaine, but everybody calls me Lanie.”

The younger Walcutt noted her enthusiastic greeting to Wyatt, and the ring on her left hand and sadly pushed her as far mentally into the 'friend' category as he could. “So it looks like the MGC runs in the Walcutt line too,” Tansy said as she sat down, next to Alex and across from Lanie and Wyatt. “I bet that makes daddy dearest just spit.”

“Uncle Ted?” Alex asked. “He set up everything for my mom to get me up here.”

“I'll bet,” Tansy declared darkly.

“So, how did your activation go?” the red head asked.

Alex shrugged and cut off a piece of steak that had his mouth watering. “Oh, I got chased by some bullies, and the cave where I would lose them was...”

Don't tell them about my hallow for the love of all that's holy! Jax's voice hissed in his ear.

“...was a trick that worked every time,” he continued, but none of his listeners seemed to notice his slip up. Chewing the excellent steak gave him time to gather his thoughts to steer things away from the Indian Cave. “And as I was going home I got noticed by my spirit I guess. The doctors say the stress of the chase probably activated my MGC and here I am.”

“Just like that?” Tansy asked.

“Well, I was out cold for a couple of days,” he admitted. “Mom was really scared and she had me in the hospital, that's where I woke up.”

Lanie chuckled as she peppered her salad. “Been there, done that,” she declared. “What can you do?” At Alex's blank expression, Wyatt chuckled and leaned over.

“What are your powers is kind of a Whateley version of what band do you like or things that so-called normal people ask in high school.”

“Oh, well, um I'm not really sure,” he said, for some reason feeling the need to be cagey. “I, well, I seem to be stronger, maybe? But maybe more stuff, I...”

“Well, you've certainly grown since I saw you last,” Tansy declared with a smile. “I'm glad you're here, Alex.”

“Thanks, cousin.”

October 8th, 2007
General Classroom 206, Schuster Hall, Whateley Academy

Alex hadn't believed that a staid, conservative private school would have enough people to form a club of teachers who had ascended Mt. Everest, but Richard Lord, his advisor, had waxed eloquent about the experience of climbing the mountain and showing off the picture of him at the summit. Not to mention his framed membership to the Roof of the World Club hanging on the wall. As if that was not sufficient to stun him, the dizzying array of classes was certainly up to the challenge.

Wyatt had dropped him off at his counselor's classroom to get his classes picked and an idea on what his academic time at Whateley would be like. Walcutt had decided to trust Mr. Lord, somewhat to the disapproval of Jak and confided in him that shape shifting was one of his new abilities. The Teacher acted as if he was told such things every day and got him into a basics class for shifters and morphers. The remainder of his classes were fairly generic, though he was looking forward to the class he would have Mr. Lord for; England through the Lens of Shakespeare, which would be both an English and a history credit.

His classes sorted, he was headed back to Twain to get settled when the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. A trio of boys was blocking the path, the 'leader' wearing a motorcycle club leather vest over his uniform jacket and fingerless gloves. His bully sense went into red alert, but he realized he wasn't entirely confident of the school's layout yet, and they were between him and Twain.

The moment of indecision cost him and he was suddenly surrounded by the three boys. “Hey, you're new,” the boy in the vest declared. “You're not a faggot, are you? You look a little light in the loafers to me...”

The larger one to Alex's right declared, “Hey look, he's actually wearing loafers!”

“Do you suck dick, kid?” the one behind him asked with a shove into Alex's back.

“I don't want any trouble...” Alex started, but the boy in the vest's face turned ugly in a way all too familiar with the youngest Walcutt.

“Well, that's too bad,” he growled. “Cause we don't want fags in our dorm.” He struck his palm with his fist as adrenaline flooded Alex's body.
He knew that look, and he knew what was coming.

What are you waiting for, boy? Jak practically shouted in his ear. Strike! Of it's own volition, Alex's knee came up hard into Dump Truck's groin. The Boston born bully's eyes crossed as he squealed with pain, doubling over and clutching at his abused genitals. Alex made to take off through the gap as Matt rolled on the ground in agony, but a fist from his left crashed into his jaw, knocking him side wise. Alex tripped over Thatcher on the ground and fell to his back, stunned.

“You dirty fag!” someone shouted and a vicious kick landed on his kidney. Alex shrieked in pain and curled into ball, instinctively trying to protect himself.

No! NO! Jak shouted and suddenly Alex was positively boiling with anger. He frantically rolled to dodge the kick from the other boy, even as he heard odd, tearing sounds. All he knew or cared was that he could move freely now and launched himself at the biggest boy.

“What the fuck!” he shouted as Alex's claws raked his jacket and shirt, ruining them and suddenly blood was seeping into the fabrics. Alex tried to get his teeth on his attackers throat, but he was punched hard in the ribs that knocked him sideways away from him. Scrambling back to all fours, Alex jumped again, but this time the world went dark and he couldn't see.

“I said Hold!” a girl's voice shouted. “Security auxiliary! No one move!”

“Oh God! I'm bleeding! I'm bleeding!”

“Wallflower to central! I need back up and EMS on the path between Kane Hall and Emerson Cottage, Code One!”

October 8th, 2007
Headmistress' Office, Schuster Hall, Whateley Academy

Alex stood staring at his feet, his arms still handcuffed in front of him, but the burly Chief of Security was in the process of removing them. His clothes had been destroyed and he was wearing an ill-fitting orange jumper that had DETENTION across the back of it in block letters. He wasn't sure what he'd was more ashamed of, having needed the jumper because of the state of his clothes due to the attack, or being hauled into the Headmistress' office on his first day. Even free of the handcuffs he couldn't look the Headmistress in the eye. The look of coolly suppressed fury on her face was one he knew quite well from other administrators.

So, he looked at the floor and wished it would open up and swallow him. “Mister Walcutt?” she asked. It didn't help that she was so beautiful, truth be told there seemed to be an endless supply of beautiful women and girls on this campus. Alex swallowed and tried to find his voice.

“Yes, ma'am?”

“Look me in the eye,” she commanded. It took everything Alex had to raise his head and look into those terrible eyes behind the glasses perched on her nose. “How long have you been on my campus?”

“Uh, I'm not sure, Ma'am, I think...”

“I am sure,” she replied, holding up a piece of paper with a series of notes on it. “Mr. Cody signed you in at eleven forty eight this morning. At two twenty seven you were detained by the security department for fighting. Two and a half hours sir, that is how long it took you to commit an offense severe enough to warrant my attention. Your infamy on this campus is assured, that is a new record.”

Alex winced and tried to apologize, but Mrs Carson would have none of it. “Your cousin,” she interrupted, rising from behind the desk and walking over to him. She seemed to tower over him, not only by being taller, and even without those Prada heels she would be taller, but because Alex Walcutt felt about two inches tall. “Miss Walcutt has been a thorn in my side her entire tenure here,” she declared. “It is only now, in her senior year that she has finally seen fit to pull that lovely head out her rear end. Do I get a moment to feel like I have done a good job, Mr. Walcutt? A small, fleeting collection of seconds to take pride as an educator before I am handed another Walcutt who is in my office his first day on my campus? No. Here you are. Do you have any idea what you have done?”

At the enthusiastic shoving of his spirit, Alex managed to look the Headmistress in her eyes. “Ma'am, I defended myself from...”

She reached behind her and swung her monitor around where a video could now be seen of the entire fight, captured by one of the school's
security cameras, it was playing in a loop. On it, he watched himself knee Matt in the groin, then when he was punched and kicked, saw his form blur into some kind of monstrous half-man, half-fox that leaped a good ten feet to slash Thud's chest so deeply there was a little flash of rib bone showing before he was encased by a telekinetic bubble by a young lady in a black and white super hero outfit. “I'm sorry, what were you saying?” Mrs Carson asked icily. “Something about how defending yourself justifies coming within inches of murdering another boy? That a shove somehow allows you to risk permanent reproductive harm on another? I'm waiting, Mr Walcutt.”

“I...I have no defense, Doctor Carson,” he whispered.

“No?” she demanded. “Why not?”

Alex's confusion momentarily overrode his sense of shame and he searched her face for some clue of how to continue. For years he had been used to being hauled into lectures by administrators because of being bullied. First they were sympathetic, and suggested evasion, then they began to ask what he was doing to set off them. Finally they hadn't been interested in what happened or why, merely handing out punishments and quoting 'zero tolerance' policies. “Ma'am?” he asked, confused.

“Let me explain something to you, Mr Walcutt,” she declared. “It may not have sunk in just yet, but you are a mutant, a registered paranormal or, rather, you will be during your tenure here and for the rest of your life. Because you have ability above and beyond the rest of humanity, you will be treated differently from the rest of humanity. Therefore it behooves you to have a reason for everything you do that may result in conversations with the law! Had this altercation taken place anywhere but here, you might be facing charges ranging all the way up to attempted murder. Do you comprehend what I have just said to you, Mr. Walcutt?”

“Yes ma'am...”

“No you don't!” she declared. “I just told you that you came within inches of spending the rest of your life behind bars! And you stand here meekly like a petulant little boy and tell me you comprehend a concept like losing your entire life?”

“I've been bullied my whole life!” he shouted at her, confused and more than a little frightened by this strange conversation. In his experience, headmasters didn't act this way. They prattled on about traditions and learning and then handed out punitive tasks. Elizabeth Carson seemed to want into his head and that terrified him. “You think I didn't know what was coming when they surrounded me? That I wasn't about to be beaten to a pulp?!”

“Lower your voice,” the security chief ordered.

Alex blinked, amazed he had been allowed to shout, let alone that nothing else than a simple, but commanding order to lower his voice had come of it. He turned back to Mrs. Carson whose expression hadn't changed. “Go on,” she commanded.

“I...I was going to run,” he admitted, feeling his eyes fill with tears he desperately tried to hold back. “You can see, right there I was going to run by him towards my cottage and then the other two knocked me down and kicked me. Then my spirit was afraid for me and...”

Mrs Carson sighed. “And you gave your spirit control and it mauled a boy so badly if he were not a few dozen yards from a Level I Trauma center it might have killed him.”

Alex's eyes couldn't take her stare and returned to the floor. “Yes, ma'am.”

Her hand reached up and took his chin. For a moment, he thought to resist, but she was much stronger than he was and he was forced to meet her gaze again. Was that sympathy behind her eyes? “Mr Walcutt,” she started in a much less stern tone of voice. “I cannot speak to what you have endured before you came here. What I must demand from you is decorum, obedience to our rules and measured responses to...difficult situations. Because when you leave here, you will be answering to people far less inclined than me to be charitable in judging the aftermath.”

Genuinely confused, Alex asked, “What should I have done, Doctor Carson?”

The stern left her features and she almost smiled in a way that had him feeling warm all over. “Well, perhaps I will finally get some benefit from all these odds manglers attending my school and get a Walcutt who can be taught.” She leaned back against her desk and winked at the security chief. “Thank you, Franklin, that's all.”

“Ma'am,” the big chief replied and quietly left the office.

She sank into one of the two chairs that faced her desk and motioned him into the other. “Mr Walcutt, you're going to find that many situations in life do not have a right answer, but most, not all, but most, have a least wrong one.”

Alex sank into the seat, now mesmerized and intensely curious, despite the nervous feeling of treading unfamiliar waters. She looked at him sidelong and finally asked, “What do you think your mistake was?”

“Giving my spirit control?” he asked hesitantly.

“In this instance, that was a mistake, but it was not the mistake. Look again,” she said pointing at the screen. The characters jumped back to him walking and first catching sight of Dump Truck and his crew. She paused the video. “Right here. Your eyes were down on the map, but you were walking. You look up, see trouble coming your way and froze. You weren't aware of your surroundings, which let Mr Thatcher and his friends target, then close with you. Awareness buys you time, time buys you options. The time to look at your map was before you left your appointment with Mr. Lord.”

Alex thought about that for a long moment. He hadn't really thought about the encounter that way before. Ben Franklin Academy was like a second home to him, he knew it inside and out, and already had proven avenues of escape. He was unsure of where things were on the campus and that he needed to remedy. Looking back up at her, he nodded, having processed and comprehended her wisdom. “You're absolutely right, Doctor Carson, I will make knowing my way around the school my top priority.”

“Good,” she declared, standing and crossing her arms. “Now, actions have consequences, so let's discuss yours. From a simple mistake, you cascade down a set of bad decisions. You knew instantly what Thatcher intended, you should have retreated or changed course to avoid the situation. Once surrounded, a physical confrontation becomes certain. Having decided to use violence, you focused on the attacker in front of you, forgetting about his two friends, allowing you to be blindsided. This means relying on your spirit is now your only defense and it, as you will find many spirits do, overreacted. You have used an inordinate amount of luck today, Mr. Walcutt. I would not write further checks on that account in the future, lest the Bank of Karma decides you are overdrawn.”

“Yes ma'am.”

“So, you have a laptop?” she asked and waited for his nod. “Tonight, you will write a one thousand word plan for how you intend to learn from this encounter and steps you will take for corrective action, on my desk first thing tomorrow morning.”

Alex nodded. “Yes, ma'am. And, Doctor Carson? I'm sorry about all this.”

For the first time in the encounter, she smiled and it was a lovely smile that made him almost feel like he hadn't been in trouble. “Don't allow an accident to become a habit, Mr Walcutt,” she told him.

“No, ma'am.”

I like her, Jak whispered in his ear.

October 8th, 2007
Room 112, Twain Cottage, Whateley Academy

Back in his room, Alex got his things unpacked in the wardrobe and settled. Greasy's things, were already here, prominent among them was a poster on the wall of group of desperately beautiful women, in towels angrily pointing at a red head dressed as a plumber in a ruined bathroom. Alex got a bit of a chuckle when he realized the red head was Cody's fiancée and that his cousin was in the picture. Across the bottom, it read
Venus, Inc, 2006-2007.

Alex could certainly understand why Greasy had that poster, though he wasn't entirely sure he was comfortable with looking at his cousin in a towel. Adam wasn't in the room, likely in class, Alex decided as he got his things put away then, sat down on the bed and closed his eyes. Jak? We need to talk.

He opened his eyes to find the anthropomorphic fox, standing upright on his hind legs looking at him. He was standing before Adam's bed, wearing a short sleeved green tunic that fell to his mid thigh, with a wide leather belt and green shoes. On his head was a yellow bycocket hat with a red feather in it. Alex stood and looked out the window, seeing the bleachers of the track and field arena that was a little ways off like normal. Turning back to the fox, he asked, “Are you here, or am I there?”

“I am here,” the strange half-man, half-fox replied producing his coin from behind Alex's ear and flipping it. “Whateley is a very special place. It's funny, warded up the wazoo, but easier to reach from any plane; if you have a host to anchor to. So, what do you want to know, son?”

“What happened out there, with...”

The creature rolled his eyes and began to walk the coin on his knuckles in a way his paw shouldn't allow. “Come on, now, kiddo, you know what happened. And not to worry, I'm already considering things we can do to make sure the three stooges find less tempting targets than us...”

“I don't want to land in Dr Carson's Office again...!”

The fox man darted over and took him across the shoulders in a one armed hug as his other hand made a sweeping, dramatic gesture. “Ah, but remember! Faint heart, never won fair lady!”

“Jak...”

“Relax, kid!” the creature scolded him. “Whatever we decide to do, we will decide together!”

Alex sighed as he looked at the strange creature and scratched his head. “Are you always so bent on getting even?”

With melodrama dripping off his form, the fox pantomimed shock so as to make a silent film star blush. “Oh 'tis ignoble death and mummery that consigned to the doom of fickle fame should I be reduced to this!”

Alex crossed his arms. “Was any of that English?”

Jak harrumphed with much long suffering and put his hands on his hips. “English? English? By the Foreigner's white beard! Why should I be mocked so? Did your mother tell you no stories boy? Do you still claim ignorance of me? Why I chilled Chaucer's blood when I larked through his tale of the Nun's Priest and they called me Sir Reynard when I played tricks in Canterbury! On a lark I strolled through Europa's park and they whispered Reynard The Fox was on the ferry! With a New World to explore I set out once more and lit fire to Coyote's Tail. And the Shaman's draw back when they fear an attack of the wiley Whiskey Jak!”

“Are you going to burst into song?” Alex asked with a side glance at the spirit. Much to his relief, the fox found that funny and wagged a finger at his host as he laughed.

“There's hope for you yet, boy,” he admitted. He clapped his paws and rubbed them together. “So! What say we make fools of these cretins?”

“You know there's three of them and only one of us, right?”

The Fox's eyes gleamed. “That makes it fun! Now, nothing makes a man stop thinking faster than the sweet coo of a woman's voice, and those three don't have a single brain to share between them.”

“You want me to change into a girl?” Alex asked hesitantly.

“Patience my skeptical host!” the fox soothed him. “First, to practice the feminine wiles, you'll need a teacher. And I know that cousin of yours is la femme fatale of the first rank. Let's pay her a visit and see if she knows blood is thicker than water.”

“I don't know...”

“Oh, stop complaining!” Jak replied, urging him out the door. “She's family, isn't she? What harm in a little visit between relations?”
 

 
October 8th, 2007
Room 502, Dickinson Cottage, Whateley Academy

“Kiss me,” sang Tansy softly as she sat at her desk, working on a paper, whose painfully boring subject had set her mind to wandering. Worse, the music she listened to through the headphones on her ears, in a vain attempt at sharpening her focus, was actually contributing to the distraction. Still, it was one of her favorite songs and she couldn't help singing along softly. “Strike up the band and make the fireflies dance, Silver moon's sparkling... So kiss me...”

She closed her eyes to find herself in a smoky jazz club that would have been at home in any number of cities with a vague kind of audience that the spotlight that shown down on her made indistinct and hard to make out. At the table closest to the stage, she saw a long-faced, large-nosed fellow hold up his beer and with a smile at her spirit she gave herself to the song and gave full throat to the wistful words that spoke to her heart.

Around her on the stage were a collection of familiar musicians, a shaggy headed bass player with a soul patch that was wearing a green t-shirt and jeans with a tremendous Great Dane at his feet. Beside him was a somewhat flamboyant drummer in an expensive banana yellow silk zoot suit complete with a matching fedora and a bean pole brunette, with tremendously large lips, who was dressed in a rainbow hippy chick cliche who was strumming a guitar while swaying back and forth. Tansy just shook her head at her spirit's sense of style and enjoyed the song and feeling alive. She held the last note for a bit, letting it fade into the slight hum of the amplifier, basking in the enthusiastic applause of the crowd and letting her empathic power soak up all of the wonderful emotions of the crowd and giving her a slight buzz with all the positive feelings. She curtseyed to her audience before telling the hippy chick, “Keep the crowd warm for me.”

“Fer sure,” she drawled in a thick Valley Girl accent.

Tansy stepped down from the stage to sit at the table with her spirit and a glass of wine waiting on her. “Music brings out the best in you,” Mustang told her as she slid into the seat and took a sip of the wine.

“Mmm, I think this wine does it better,” she quipped as she savored the perfection of the spiritual representation of the sweet German vintage. “What brings you out tonight, Mustang?”

“Do I need a reason to spend quality time with my host?” the spirit replied. Tansy shook her head around her sip and made a calming gesture.

“Not at all, just making conversation,” she assured him. “To be honest, I'm still getting used to this arrangement of ours. I'm not used to having someone else in my head so... permanently.”

Mustang chuckled and smiled an ironic kind of little smile. “Well, you knew the job was dangerous when you took it,” he quoted, before taking a sip of his beer and letting a heartfelt sigh escape. “That said, I did want to... advise... you about your cousin's spirit.”

Tansy blinked in confusion at the odd turn in the conversation. “Alex? He's got a fox spirit, so what?”

“He doesn't have just a fox spirit! I thought you paid more attention to... no, wait, that was your lover.” He sighed again and became a bit stern. “Which brings up another point, the way the two of you are using your power, the way you remember things that happened to her, it's confusing.”

“Again, I say, 'So what'?” Tansy replied with a dismissive gesture. “I had a shitty childhood, and Lanie had some trauma, but she never, ever doubted that her parents loved her. I help her through her fears of abandonment and she shares the feeling of having parents who loved her, we both win. Anyway, what business is it of yours?”

Mustang made a placating gesture. “I'm on your side, Tansy. You're my host, and your safety is paramount to me, but the way you and your lover... intertwine... yourselves, I worry about you. Never mind her issues with her past lives and...”

“Hey,” Tansy interrupted, snapping her fingers before the spirit's face. “Come off the tangent. One, it's not your business. Two, it's not your business, and three as much as I appreciate the sentiment, I don't need or want you playing gate keeper to my friends or lovers.”

The spirit frowned, crossing his arms over his chest. “Have it your way then, but don't say I didn't warn you when you find yourself in the jaws of Reynard the Fox! Pride was Chauntecleer's doom as well!”

The blonde psychic blinked and cocked her head to one side. “Chauntecleer outfoxed Reynard,” she protested. “Using Reynard's own pride against him to escape!”

“Were you there?” demanded Mustang. “I was. And as the rhyme goes, winner, winner, chicken dinner.”

Tansy finished her wine, then held up the glass for a refill. “Mustang, what does this have to do with anything?” Mustang's long face went to one side as he listened to something Tansy couldn't hear.

“He's here,” he declared, then ominously added, “You'll find out.”

A knock startled Tansy's eyes open to find herself in her room again, her report still not finished and someone knocking at her door. Her awareness expanded from her body and she found a familiar presence on the other side. Placing the headset in its stand, she stood and walked over to the door and opened it. “Hi Alex, what brings you?” she greeted her cousin as she did so.

Alex seemed a bit sheepish, and while his mannerisms were familiar to Tansy, the boy's body was quite different. He was noticeably taller and filled out the sweater he was wearing that he used to all but hide in. “Hey Tans,” he greeted. “Um, can I come in? I kinda have a favor to ask.”

Tansy raised a perfectly sculpted eyebrow. “You sign in downstairs?  I have a reputation to worry about after all.”

“Yeah,” Alex replied. “Reputation? Even though I'm your cousin?”

The blonde laughed and shook her head.  “In joke. Come on in, what can I do for you?”

The young man entered, looking about and rubbing one arm with the other hand. “I like what you've done with this. Reminds me a bit of mom's Florida Room.”

“That was my inspiration,” Tansy remarked as she shut the door and wandered over to the fridge by her desk. “Can I get you something?” Alex shook his head, so she helped herself to a diet soda and joined him over by her conversation arrangement of chairs. “Make yourself at home,” she invited.

“Thanks,” he said as he sank into the chair next to hers. “Look, I don't want to freak you out, or anything, but I'm new to this whole 'mutant' thing.”

The can opened with a hiss of escaping pressure and she took a sip before setting it on a coaster on the coffee table. “Actually, 'Paranormal' is the polite term,” she corrected him. “It does take some getting used to, but no judgements, Alex. We're family and we're both here, after all.”

“Your dad says, 'hi' by the way.”

Her spine stiffened and her face clouded at the mention of her father. “Does he?” she asked coldly. “Why would he care?”

Alex was obviously confused. “He's the one that told my 'rents about this place. He set everything up for them. He asked me to keep an eye on you...”

Tansy's ice blue eyes narrowed. “He tried to get you to spy on me,” she declared flatly.

“What? No!” Alex exclaimed. “What would make you say such a thing?”

The blonde leaned forward and took her cousin's hands in her own.  “Alex, my... father... is... slime.” Had Tansy not been so angry, she might have been alarmed at how easily her power reached out into her cousin's mind, looking for treachery. As it was, she was in his thoughts and memories faster than she truly realized. First, to her immense relief, she found his confusion to be genuine.

“Uncle Teddy? He...”

“He whored me out to use my powers against his rivals for him,” Tansy told him forcefully, but sensing no guile in him, she had softened her tone considerably. Alex's face paled as he processed her accusation. “And I do not use that word figuratively, Alex. I mean he ordered me to go have sex with his business rivals to gain information from their minds.”

“I... I... my God, Tansy, I...”

She smiled and gently squeezed his hand. “It's ok, Alex,” she assured him, and her aura sent out a gentle wave of reassurance. “You had no way of knowing. You need to be very careful around him.” Tansy sighed. “Your dad, well, he doesn't seem to be like his brother...”

“Dad would never...!” Alex sputtered but was cowed into silence when Tansy's eyes seemed to bore into his soul.

“You don't know what people are capable of, Alex,” she warned him softly, and he wasn't sure if she meant her father or herself. “But, some of us, some of us realize just how bad we've let ourselves become and try to do something about it.” She rubbed her palms on the thighs of her jeans and was just cousin Tansy again. “You might as well hear it from the horse's mouth,” and she had to suppress a sudden giggle, but was quickly serious again. “My time here? Well, let's just say I wasn't a nice person, Alex. You'll probably hear a lot of ugly things and, I have to be honest, most of them will probably be true.”

“I don't care what anyone has to say about you to know what kind of person you are, Tansy,” he assured her and the solidarity brought a smile to her face.

“You're sweet, and I appreciate it. Anyway, when someone tries to use my past against you, just know that no matter how bad I was, I'm trying to be me now, the person you're thinking of that I never really was, to be honest. But I'm trying to be, now.”

“How do...”

“I know what you're thinking? I'm a psychic, Alex. No, don't do... fine, red, 42, nice book, by the way.” She started and demanded, “In front of Edwin? Jesus, I thought I was a slut!”

“Ok, you're freaking me out, Tansy!” Alex declared, only to be met with another wave of comfort.

She shrugged and grinned a sheepish grin. “I'll give you some pointers on how to control your thoughts if you like, but anyway, power bragging aside, what did you want to ask me?”

Alex's eyes fell to the floor and his cheeks went red, which was enough of a clue for Tansy to grab tightly onto her power and not again invade his privacy. “Whatever you're afraid of,” she told him softly, “just know you're safe with me.  I won't judge you, and I won't let anyone hurt you.”

His eyes darted up and he forced a quick smile that was rather obviously forced. “It... it’s one of the powers my spirit gives me,” he managed around his obvious discomforture. “I, well, I don't really know how to deal with it...”

“I heard about your little adventure with the Bad Boyz, and Wyatt will be making it known you are not someone to fuck with unless they want to go ten rounds with him...”

“Aw, shit,” he swore softly.

“What?”

“You and he will be gone next year!” he protested. “Do you know what me being 'protected' will mean then?!”

“I was bullied too,” Tansy reminded him. “I'll make sure you meet people you can count on and trust! Believe me, I'll take care of you. But, look, having a bestial form, it's a very common power with avatars, you should see Lanie when she channels Grizzly and...!”

“Oh, that?” he interrupted her. “That's nothing. This is what I'm worried about...” Tansy blinked and suddenly her surprisingly buff younger cousin was a young teen wetdream. She was still blooming, but her b-cup breasts would likely do wonderful things to that sweater with the right bra, and her mane of strawberry blonde hair accented her heart shaped face, cupid's bow mouth, and those honey-colored eyes became big and soulful.

“You're a complete shape shifter?” Tansy asked, astonished.

The young girl nodded shyly, her eyes fearful. “Jak says this is my 'default' female form, but that I can shape it however I want.”

Tansy nodded sagely. “Yes, most shifters have a home form and I can see your old self in this. What are your limits?” The young girl shrugged.

“I dunno. I'm just scared of being this way and I have no idea how to act like a girl if I needed to...” She trailed off as the look on her cousin's face was partially concerning, but there was a cunning behind it that took away any doubt she had about Tansy's earlier comment about not knowing what people are capable of.

“I know exactly how to help you, Alex,” she said in a way Alex immediately believed. “I have to make some phone calls and get permission, but yes, not to worry, little sister, I can absolutely help you. Are you stuck like this or...?” Another blink and Alex was male once more and adjusting his clothing from how his female form had altered it.  “My goodness that's quick,” Tansy complimented. She reached down and caressed Alex's face in encouragement. “I'm going to introduce you to my mentor. You're going to make some very good friends.”

Alex smiled. “Ok, great.”

Why am I worried all of a sudden? Jak asked in the back of his mind.

October 9th, 2007
Room 112, Twain Cottage, Whateley Academy

Alex's alarm woke him sore and stiff from the single wide bed. It wasn't a particularly cheap bed, but one of the great things about Ben Franklin Academy acquiring the Seaman Ave campus was that he could commute daily to the school on the subway. That meant sleeping in his own bed every night and not one of these boarding school torture devices pretending to be one. “Ow,” he muttered, rubbing his neck and stretching so much it popped. “This is going to be a long term.”

“Come on, it's not that bad,” Adam told him as he sat up and stretched himself. “To be honest, Alex, it's the start of a great day!”

Alex stood from the bed and quickly scrambled for his slippers thanks to the cold of the floor. “What has you so cheerful?” he demanded.

Lambert rubbed his short hair and grinned. “That's a long story, my friend! Suffice to say I earned my codename of Greasy. Say, what did you pick?”

Alex shrugged as he ambled to his wardrobe and opened it, digging for a towel and his Dopp Kit bag. “Didn't give it much thought,” he admitted as he fell in next to the other boy towards the showers.  “Got in Dutch with the Headmistress and that kinda spoiled the day to be honest.”

“Yeah, I heard,” Adam replied with a smile. “Congrats on busting the record!”

“I'm not proud of that!” Walcutt countered as they found they were lucky and had beaten the rush into the showers. “I guess I need to come up with something pretty quick. Any suggestions?” Alex stripped off his shorts and shirt, feeling for once that he had nothing to be ashamed of in the locker room anymore and proudly picked a stall to wash off the night's aches and cramps.

Greasy slipped into the stall next to him and they talked over the privacy partition. “I dunno,” he replied. “What can you do?”

Alex dunked his head under the water and then got a handful of shampoo to wash it. “I'm not sure of the whole list,” he admitted. “I can shape shift, and my spirit shares his form with me.”

“I heard,” Adam replied from his own shower. The boys didn't get long to enjoy the hot water as the other boys began to pile into the showers and the bench along the wall where people were waiting quickly filled. “We can talk about it at breakfast, I guess.”

“Yeah,” Alex replied, more than a little subconscious at the now casual nudity around him. Alex couldn't help seeing things, it was a shower after all, and then wasn't sure how to deal with it. The stalls for the shower heads had no doors, just privacy partitions that were open at the top. He quickly found there were two classes of boys in the dorm, those, like him who all looked like professional models at some kind of personal care product commercial, and boys who were most definitely not.

Some had fur, or some form of bestial bits to them, horns or tails, some less, some more. Most of those boys were very self-conscious and were wearing towels around their waists, but the exemplars, well, they had no shame. Alex had been pleasantly surprised by the 'gift' of his new body, and not just the chiseled physique either. As large as certain parts of him had grown, he thought he'd find himself the envy of the locker room, but now, he found even being a 'show'-er put him rather comfortably 'average'.

If boys this far at the end of the Bell Curve could be 'average' in any way that let the word still make sense.

He gave up his stall to a walking tall, dark and handsome stereotype who was having an animated conversation with a young man who looked like a male version of Wyatt's fiancée.  He was taller than Alex and just as chiseled and that made the young man feel strange. Alex turned away and hid his embarrassment in his towel as he dried off.

Back in their shared room, he got a better look at the school's uniform and found it a standard, if slightly more formal version popular with schools in this range. Though, it struck him as a little odd they had not modified the uniform to something more casual. Fortunately, Edwin had known his exact measurements, so even though all of the clothing was new and picked by someone else, they fit well.

Alex smiled at his reflection, confident even Edwin would approve and find no fault with his appearance, then turned to find Greasy's take on the uniform... unexpected. Greasy's tie hung four full inches from his neck and off to one side, rather like the air hose of a fighter pilot might on a flight suit. Even if it were in the correct place, it would look odd as the young man's shirt had its top three buttons open. And, in place of the dark blazer he was wearing a dark gray lab coat that had more pockets than normal, to include the sleeves again of the type you'd expect on a flight suit.

All of that was lost as he was in the process of buckling on what looked like a Policeman's duty belt, covered in pouches and gear.

“What is that?” Walcutt demanded.

Adam clicked the belt around his waist and chuckled as he closed his wardrobe. “My utility belt, it's a Whateley thing,” he intimated as the boys left their room and fell in with the crowd heading towards the Crystal Hall. “At the end of term, there's a set of final exams, one of which is called the Combat Final.”

“Are you serious?”

Lambert rolled his eyes. “I only wish I was kidding. In the Final, you don't know when you'll be called, or what you'll face and you're only allowed things you 'commonly carry', so...” he gave a gesture to indicate the belt.

“What kind of school is this?”

A very attractive girl yelled out Greasy's name and detached from the group of girls on the path that was converging with the one the boys were walking on. “The best kind,” Adam assured him, as the girl embraced him and they shared a kiss. Once their lips parted, he gave a gesture of introduction. “Alex Preswick-Walcutt, meet Prudence Tavori. Pru, this is my new roomie, Alex.”

“Charmed,” he assured her.

“Pleased to meet you,” she declared, holding out the most graceful hand Alex had ever seen. “Say, are you related to Tansy?”

“My cousin,” Alex replied.

“Well, any relation of Tansy's is a friend of mine!” Pru assured him. “Alex you certainly are a snappy dresser, have you given any thought to clubs?”

Adam laughed again. “Pru is a member of Venus, Inc, the school's modeling club,” he intimated. Alex looked around the crowd of students they moved with, making their way to the Crystal Hall and shook his head.

He was probably the only student wearing the uniform correctly. “I'm many things, but I'm pretty sure a model isn't one of them,” he shot back.
“Oh, don't sell yourself short!” Pru advised him as they entered the Hall and fell into the line to be served.

“Excuse me, Pru.” Alex looked over his shoulder to see Tansy standing behind him, looking resplendent in a simple white polo shirt with the school's crest over her heart and jeans that hugged her hips. “Can I steal Alex?”

“Sure thing, Tansy!” Pru replied.

“Do I get a say?” Alex quipped jocularly and got a 'No' from both girls in chorus. “Well, off to the gallows then!” He fell in beside Tansy as she led him across the Hall towards the door that led back into Schuster Hall. “Morning, Tansy. You're looking good, as usual.”

Tansy looked at him side long. “That fox spirit has certainly given you a flatterer's tongue, Alex!”

Flattery isn't all it's good for, doll, Jak whispered in his ear, causing Alex to blush fiercely.

Quiet! He mentally shouted at his spirit. She's my cousin! Out loud, he cleared his throat and said, “So, what's up?” She opened the door and held it open.

“Oh, introductions, as promised,” she confided. “My mentor...” Tansy stopped as the screech of a chair on the floor silenced the hall. Alex looked over his shoulder to see the boy he'd taken as a male version of Cody's fiancée standing nose to nose with the three thugs who'd beaten him up the day before.  Alex knew he would have been more than a little scared, staring down his three tormentors again, but if anything, the boy seemed confident.

In the quiet, he heard the red-headed boy ask, “What's your name, friend?” in that tone of voice that usually served as the hiss of escaping pressure as a can of ass kicking was opened.

Behind him, a blonde girl whose blouse was soaked shouted, “David Archer, you god damned asshole!” Alex felt Tansy's hand on his chest and heard her mutter,

“Oh, shit.” Then the redhead balled a fist and swung. It was a peach of a sucker punch, hardly telegraphed at all, and showed the boy didn't just know how to fight, he knew how to win a fight. The swing connected with the other boy's chin, right where his jaw met his head. Then Alex Walcutt's world was forever bent. The redhead hit Archer so hard he didn't fall over the table, the force of the blow picked him up and was in the process of throwing him but his toe caught the bottom lip of the table.

And the table rose up a bit.

That altered Archers trajectory, so that he tumbled across the table and fell off on the far side of it, much to the unhappy exclamations of the people whose breakfasts he'd ruined in doing so. Then the red-headed boy leaped over the table like some kind of action hero movie star and the fight was on. Alex tried to move around his cousin to get a better view, but the pressure of her hand on his shirt increased.

“No, no,” she warned him, taking him by the shoulders and turning him about. “You don't want any of that!”

“Does this happen all the time?” he asked as Tansy led the way down the hall.

“More than our share,” she admitted, as they arrived at the main foyer and turned to go up the grand staircase of Schuster Hall to the administration offices. There, Tansy led the way in and waved to a very attractive, but hard-faced woman sitting at a large desk before the Headmistress' Office door. “Morning Ms. Hartford,” Tansy greeted as she held open the little swinging door through the half-wall rail that separated the foyer of the offices from the actual working desks. “I have someone I want you to meet.”

The woman, who didn't look to be out of her twenties and was trying to look older by her fashion choices and glasses that had no distortion that Alex could see, looked up with one of the most calculating gazes the young man could remember seeing. “Ah yes, our new record holder,” she drawled. “Are you making visiting this office a habit, Mr. Walcutt?”

“No, he hasn't done anything,” Tansy replied before Alex could muster the courage. He looked at her, a little surprised at the boldness of her tone. “Doctor Amelia Hartford, may I present my cousin, Alexander Preswick-Walcutt. Alex, meet Doctor Amelia Hartford, Assistant Headmistress of the school.”

“The pleasure is all mine,” Alex declared, remembering his manners.

Dr. Hartford arched an eyebrow, but presented her hand to be shook. “Charmed,” she drawled, turning back to Tansy. “And to what do I owe this pleasure, Miss Walcutt?”

Tansy smirked and crossed her arms over her chest. “Show her, Alex.” Instead of answering, he looked over his shoulder at the other ladies working in the office and, sensing his hesitation, Ms. Hartford stood and beckoned the two teens into the empty Headmistress' office and closed the door behind them.

“What if...?” he started, but Amelia shook her head.

“She won't be in until after breakfast,” she assured him. “So, what is it... eep!” Amelia's question turned into a squeak of surprise as suddenly the boy was gone, and his twin sister took his place. Quickly gathering her wits, she took the glasses off and leaned forward. “Are you stuck like this?” she demanded. In answer, Alex shifted back and began to rearrange his suit to fit properly again. “That is the fastest shape shift I've ever seen!” she declared, then turned to Tansy. “What are his limits?”

The blond shrugged her ignorance. “Alex doesn't know yet. He came to me to ask how to act if he has to use this form, and then I knew you'd want to meet him.”

Alex let his gaze drift between the two women, their expressions giving a fair amount of worry as he did so. His cousin was proud of herself, though he couldn't think why, but the Assistant Headmistress' expression was decidedly unsettling. Alex had seen that expression before, on his father's face whenever he had managed to gain some form of leverage in his business dealings. “I most certainly do!” she declared. “After breakfast, take him to Dr Aranis and have him get a full work up for powers testing.”

Tansy was thoughtful and laid a protective hand on Alex's shoulder. “Should we move him to...”

“No!” Dr Hartford declared as she opened the door and swept back to her desk, snatching up a pad and scribbling on it, then presenting the note to Tansy. “Next year, maybe, for now I don't want to draw attention to it. Here's a pass for whatever classes you need to skip for this.” There was a pregnant pause and she added, “Don't abuse it. Good work, Tansy. And you, young man, I think we can definitely help you with your future. Go have breakfast.”

October 9th, 2007
The Crystal Hall, Whateley Academy

It was apparent to Alex he'd gotten back to the Crystal Hall just in time to have missed the last of the fight. There were very angry teachers outside, dressing down the three bullies and the redhead, but to his surprise, there was an amazon of a girl who despite her considerable muscles, managed to be hot. Next to her was another boy who was naked to the waist his olive skin was rippled and cut showing off each muscle group.  “Oh, Sayyid,” Tansy muttered beside him. “What have you done?”

Alex, blushed and used that as an excuse to stop staring and got back into the line for breakfast. That accomplished and his tray scanned, Alex finally got to step out and full-on gawk at the space that was the Crystal Hall. Over his head, there were two additional tiers that ringed the outside wall, each of which had a pair of large, circular balconies, offset from each other. The top pair were closest to the waterfall and actually had a flying bridge between them. The waterfall itself was molded to resemble stone and blocked the view of the courtyard and Schuster Hall behind it. It fell down to collect into a circular pool in the exact center of the dome up from which rose a black obelisk like something from ancient Egypt.

He heard Greasy call him and, snapped from the awe of the architecture, wandered over to his table where he was eating with Pru. “May I join you?” Alex asked from habit, but Adam just waved him down into a chair.

“Everything cool with your cousin?” Pru asked him and Alex nodded, reigning in his impulse to try and be charming, knowing that she and his roomie were an item.

“Yeah, I have to see a Dr. Aranis after breakfast...”

“To get classified,” Adam finished around a mouth full of scrambled eggs. Pru mock slapped his arm with much put on indignation.

“Don't talk with your mouth full!” she scolded him. Adam grinned at his girlfriend, then became serious.

Turning back to Alex, he said, “This is a big deal. And now you have to have a code name. The classifiers can only refer to us that way and they can't know our real names.”

Alex blinked in surprise. “Why?”

Pru shrugged, immediately drawing his attention back to her. “Tansy says it's better for whatever reason they have. The fewer people that know your real name, the better.”

“Better eat up,” Adam warned him. “You're definitely going to need the energy.” Alex considered his two new friends, and decided to take them at their words and tucked into his meal with a vengeance.

“So, what can I pick?” he asked.

“Anything that isn't already taken, or a famous character from the comic books,” Pru told him, taking out her phone. “I've got the App still from my choice. What do you want? I'll see if it's taken.”

Rossel, whispered Jak in Alex's ear.

“Rossel?” demanded Alex. Pru tapped in her phone.

“It's not taken,” she declared, “but I miss the reference?”

Adam chuckled. “That's awesome, Alex!” Turning to his girl, he explained, “Rossel was a fake name Reynard the Fox used in The Nun's Priest's Tale. We read Canterbury Tales, last year in English Lit. It also means 'Red' so it's kind of a double entendre as Alex has a fox spirit.”
Pru raised her orange juice in toast. “Well played, Mr. Walcutt!”

Who's got your back? Jak's mental voice was smug, but Alex sent him a mental shrug of acceptance at his quick wit.

Don't break your arm patting yourself on the back, Alex cautioned him. “Well, Rossel it is then. I guess I can take 'Red' as a nickname?”

Adam laughed again as he washed down his latest mouthful with orange juice. “Well, that depends,” he hedged. “Are you a man who knows how to get things?”

“Morgan Freeman I'm not,” Alex admitted. Pru, however, only tsked between her teeth and gave her boyfriend's arm a playful shove.

“Oh stop,” she ordered him. “I think 'Red' is a fine nickname for Alex! Look at that beautiful strawberry blonde hair! I'm so jealous, it's so gorgeous on you!” Alex blushed and realized that habit would get him nicknamed 'Red' and for all the wrong reasons. “But you should eat,” she opined. “Adam is right, you'll need every calorie.”

***

October 9th, 2007
Powers Testing Lab E (Exemplar)

Alex sat on the bench in the locker room and shower, just off from the torture chamber that this school euphemistically called Powers Testing Lab E. The plain black and gold unitard with the school's crest on the left breast was soaked in sweat, both armpits, a river down his chest and back even a fair bit in his groin. He was still panting after his breath despite the two bottles of water he'd tossed back as if they were merely cold sips.

In his hand, fortunately protected from his sweaty palms by the gloves that went with the unitard was a little paper the exuberant Doctors Hewley and Aranis had given him with the results of his testing, he was going over it, trying to suss out the unfamiliar words.
It helped that they were defined for him on the paper.

“None of this makes any sense,” he muttered to himself.

“No?” an almost musical tenor asked from behind Alex. “Maybe I can sort it out some?” Alex turned on the bench to find an absolutely magnificent specimen of male beauty for lack of a better word. The young man had a mane of sandy blonde hair wild about his head, blue eyes and a smile that made Alex uncomfortable in an unfamiliar way. He was wearing a white polo shirt with the school crest on the breast and white slacks and shoes. He stood with a cart of clean and dirty linens separated in the hopper and had been in the process of restocking the towels. He was tall, taller than Alex at least, and his muscles were sneaking through the polo in a way that could only be described as sexy. “I'm Ben, Ben Hardew. Most call me Benny or Flux, out there.” He put out a hand to be shook and Alex took it.

“Alex Preswick-Walcutt,” Alex told him. “Or, I guess, Rossel out there.”

The boys' handshake was firm, but not a strength contest. “Rossel? What does that mean?”

“Red,” Alex told him. “You're a student and you're working here?”

Benny laughed it off with a dismissive gesture. “Work Study Scholarship,” he elaborated. “This place ain't cheap and my folks are not made of money. So, lemme see if I can shed some light on this,” he offered, taking the sheet that Alex handed him. “Ok, Exemplar 3, pretty middle of the road meta-human. Solid weight stats, you got the EMP, so looks like Eidetic Recall and Direction Sense, nice perks to have. Avatar 3, that's sort of up there and you've got a pretty big hallow and a spirit. Shifter through Avatar means it's not your power but the spirit loaning it to you.”

Haven't I said that? Demanded Jak in Alex's ear. Still, not hard on the eyes, is he?

Alex desperately suppressed his blush response at the direction his Spirit's thoughts had taken. “So,” Benny smiled, returning the paper. “You're not tip top of the cape crowd, but you're not a push over either. Any questions?”

“I, uh, no. Thanks.”

“Hey, I didn't offend you, did I?”

“No,” Alex assured him and the other boy shrugged.

“My buddy Risk and I made something of a jerk of ourselves last year. Mrs. Horton, our House Mother, made it clear we needed to tone it down this year, so, I wanna be sure.” He turned and reached into the bin and produced a fresh towel. “Here, on the house.” Alex stood and turned to take the towel just as the other boy’s eyes dipped down and came up, a sardonic smile on his face. “Is that a banana in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?” Alex looked down to see his manhood had escaped the supporter that was built into the unitard and was rather plainly printed against his thigh. Ben immediately noticed his blush and chagrin and reached out to put a comforting hand on Alex's shoulder. “Hey, don't let it get to you. Hell, I walked around this place with a permanent boner my first year.”

“I... I... I'm not...”

Ben only smiled. “Hey, if I'm not your cup of tea, no sweat. If you're still trying to figure yourself out, I can suggest some of the more... ahem... discrete councilors who can help. Nothing says you can't bat for both teams, am I right?”

“You...? I mean, it's none of my business...!”

The smile on Ben's face became somewhat sly. “It can be if you want, Alex. But hey, no pressure.  There's soap and what not in the showers, and I promise, I'll stay out here.” The boys eyes met and he gave Alex a little nod. “You're safe in here, I promise.”

“Thanks,” Alex whispered. “I... uh... I got bullied a lot and...”

“Say no more,” Ben assured him. “I got your back and if you need something...” and his grin turned salacious. “Anything, I'm right out here.”

Alex's mouth opened and closed several times, but he couldn't make any sound come out, so he gave up and shuffled into the showers, choosing the stall furthest from the door and deposited his book bag that had his uniform in it on the waiting bench. He couldn't help looking back when he heard Ben begin whistling a tune, but the other boy wasn't visible through the door.  What's the matter with you? Jak demanded.

“What do you think?” Alex spat back in an angry whisper. “I got bullied at Ben Franklin for just looking a little girly, do you know what will happen to me if it gets out I even thought about... about... with another boy?”

You could let your inner woman out for a bit, Jak replied with a saucy tone to his voice. The boy seems to be not so picky in his partners if I had to guess.

“You're not helping!” Walcutt hissed as he reluctantly stripped out of the unitard and darted over to the stall and its shielding wall from the door. Soon steam was rising from the water spray and he carefully got his head and body wet without letting it hit his face so his eyesight wasn't interfered with. Once he was wet, he turned his back to the nozzle and let the heat ease some of the tightness of his muscles. Looking down, he licked his lips slowly, then reached down and took ahold of his treacherous manhood. He realized he hadn't touched himself since all of this had happened and his erection impressed him.

It was longer than both of his hands in addition to being thick.

How would you like me to help? the spirit asked in a surprisingly softer tone of voice. I make no claims to understanding Human sexuality, well, not beyond using it to make clods look like fools, but I will try.

Alex let go of himself to watch it sway slightly in the steam. It was so... erect, in a way that demanded the attention of his mind. “It... it's not you, Jak,” he admitted softly. “I... I just... why do I feel like this?”

A spiritual hand took his chin and raised his eyes into the beautiful face of Jak's female side. And while there was tenderness in her expression, it didn't help that she was also naked and those luscious curves and the bright red patch of hair at the bottom of her torso made his predicament worse. "Tiger, learning the feminine wiles might mean you learn what it's like to enjoy the company of an eager gentleman like Benny Blue Eyes out there. And there's nothing wrong with doing it."

“I... you...” the boy sputtered.

The bombshell smiled at him and looked over her shoulder. "In point of fact, Benny back there might be very good for you. Help you relax." She turned on the shower next to his and stepped into it, letting the water beat on her while she leaned on the divider which hid all of her charms except her face. "Alex, my boy, you need to relax. If you keep bottling yourself up like this, you're gonna pop!"

“Don't you get the kind of trouble I'll get into if it gets out I'm even one percent gay?”

"No," she told him flatly. "I've never understood the tendency of you lot to come up with reasons to kill each other. What by the Foreigner's Beard does it matter who you let touch your genitals, or whose genitals you touch?"

Alex turned away from his spirit and pumped some shampoo into his hand from the dispenser that was hard mounted on the wall. “You think we understand it?” he muttered angrily. “Hell, we don't really understand why sometimes men like other men or women like other women!”

"Or both," Jak told him. "But if you really want to know, ask your cousin."

That brought a pause from Alex and he turned back to her. “What is that supposed to mean?”

The bombshell smirked at him. "Let's just say I have intel, from... the Horse's mouth so to speak that she probably can give you some insight. If not, hey, it's not really any loss, right? I mean, she is waiting for you to shower and come out. Ask her."

“Oh, I could never...!” he started, but Jak just leaned back into the water and soaked her red tresses in a way that had her nipples playing peekaboo over the privacy wall.

"Sure you can," Jak assured him. "I can feel what this form does to you, and I can feel all those feelings you're desperately suppressing right now about Benny there. Nothing wrong with... how did he put it? Oh yeah, being a 'switch hitter'."  Alex worked the shampoo into his head as his thoughts went in wild circles. Finally, Jak broke the silence just before she faded away. "Ya know, liquid soap isn't a bad lubricant. Why don't you take care of business? Help you think straight."

Alex stared at the stall where she'd been, then down at his manhood and back up, still not seeing Benny through the door. Slowly, he turned to the dispenser and loaded his palm with a generous glob, then made sure his front wouldn't be hit by the spray and reached down...

As Alex, back into his uniform, was walking out of the showers, he found Ben waiting for him. “Talk to my House Mother,” Ben told him quietly. “Mrs. Horton, she's in Poe. She can help. Scouts honor.”

“Tha... thanks,” Alex whispered, ashamed at where his imagination had gone in the shower.

“Any time,” Hardew assured him.

October 9th, 2007
Kane Hall Foyer, Whateley Academy

Alex held the stairway door open for his cousin, before following her out into the main Lobby of Kane Hall. The current instruction period was active, so there was no one in the foyer and the door into the campus police station was closed against the chilly air let in by students coming and going through the doors. Seeing they were alone, Alex screwed his courage to the sticking place and reached out to touch her on her shoulder. “God, it looks cold out there,” she muttered, turning to face him. “What's bugging you, Alex?”

The young man swallowed and managed to look Tansy in the eye. “Cousin, can I ask you something? Something none of my business and super personal?”

She crossed her arms over her perfect breasts and canted her hip to one side. “See? I told you the rumors would get to you, Alex,” she said with only annoyance, not insult.

“No,” he corrected her. “Well, not rumors of other students. I, God, this is so hard!”

Tansy's expression became worried. “Alex, what's going on? What has you so stirred up?”

“My spirit,” he managed. “Fox, well... Reynard the Fox,” he whispered urgently.

“I know,” Tansy assured him. “Mustang told me.”

Her cousin's posture instantly changed from hesitancy to cocky self-assurance as he swept a dashing bow despite the Private School Uniform he was wearing. “Honored to be remembered, especially by such a paragon of beauty as yourself, my lady!”

Tansy smirked. “First, I'm his cousin, so don't get any ideas. Second, I'm in a relationship, so put that sass to work on someone else... for him.”

“Oh, I endeavor to do so, dear lady! It's just your help with that which bothers my hesitant host.”

Alex clinched his fist and turned his head to the right, to speak at the empty corridor. “I'll ask her!” he snapped. “Stop pushing!” Tansy reached out to touch Alex's shoulder and was nearly recoiled by the violent emotions battling inside his mind.

“Wow! Alex, what's going on? What has you so stirred up?” A series of images and intense emotions blasted through Tansy's mind too fast to follow, which was a rare situation for the psychic. Calm! She forced the emotion through the touch to blast apart the mental hurricane that was raging in Alex's mind. The boy sagged, staggered and would have fallen if not for Tansy's exemplar strength. She gently guided his back to the wall and used it to hold him upright. Peace, she mentally whispered to him. Speak your mind and know I will not judge you or take offense.

Alex looked up at her, his face almost slack by the emotions she had projected into him. “Can... can't you read my mind?”

“I would never invade your privacy like that,” Tansy assured him. “Well, not anymore, not on purpose anyway. Tell me, what's going on?”

He sighed and closed his eyes, letting Tansy feel he was practically huffing on the peace, probably the first truly calm moment he'd had since he manifested. She waited patiently for him to gather himself, then the honey-colored eyes and their vertical slits opened again. She felt him muster all of his courage and in a whisper, forced himself to ask, “You and Miss Nalley are more than friends, aren't you?”

Tansy's head drew back, but through her hand, she knew it was worry and concern that spurred the question, not some prurient interest and below that, was something else. Something with the bitter, rancid flavor of terror. The kind of terror she had felt when she heard Hecate's Master threaten Don Sebastiano within an inch of his life and immortal soul. She shivered and got control of herself to look her cousin right in the eyes. “Yes,” she admitted and it felt like a boulder had come off her shoulders.  She was out and there was no turning back. “Lanie and I are lovers. She saved... not just my life, but my soul. And you might as well know Lanie isn't Wyatt's only fiancée. We're... we intend... to spend the rest of our lives together. She will be my Sister Wife and Wyatt will be our husband. For now, I'll ask you to keep that to yourself.”

“I wouldn't dream,” he assured her in his half high sing song voice.

She sighed and gave another glance over her shoulder at the cold New Hampshire school yard and made a decision. “It's way too cold for this conversation out there,” she declared, then reached past him to re-open the stairwell door. “Come on, we'll take the tunnels and you can tell me why you asked that question.” She paused and made a point to look him in the face. “I can feel how afraid you are about something that made you ask that question, and I'm not angry with you. Ok?”

He stepped up off the wall and wrapped his arms around her. Instantly Tansy was assaulted with a feeling she was only just coming to understand and remember; Familial Love. Tansy hugged her cousin back hard enough that his back popped. “Alex, you can't know what this means to me!” she whispered, her eyes filling with tears.

“I'm scared, Tansy!” he whispered into her shoulder and his own hug got stronger. “I don't know what to do! Who to trust! And I have no idea why I feel this way!”

Slowly, Tansy withdrew and dried her eyes, before holding her index finger over her lips to indicate the need for discretion and tossed her head at the stairwell. “Let's get back underground and we'll figure it out, kay?” He sniffed and forced a smile and gave a 'you first' gesture, so she trotted back down the stairs until they got down to Broadway. “Okay,” she declared as she began to walk to the tunnel that would take them to Schuster Hall. “What's going on?”

He fell in beside her, his eyes downcast. “Tans,” was all he managed for a full minute, before her curious glance at him let him continue. “Tans, why are you... why do you like boys and girls?”

“I... I don't know,” she admitted after a moment of walking quietly. “You might as well hear it from me, Alex, I was the complete whore of this school...”

“You're not...!” he started, but she cut him off with a sharp gesture, as she then caught his shoulder again and made him look at her.

“I. Was. A. Whore, Alex,” she commanded. “I don't even know how many boys I've fucked on this campus, all to get my way with them, to abuse my power to make them do things for me! I'm not who you think I am! I'm not! I love that you think I'm some pure...” She sniffed the tears back into her sinuses. “But I am trying to be what you think, Alex. Wyatt, and Lanie, when I say they saved me... You need to understand exactly what I mean. I was...” She took a deep breath and looked into the shock-widened eyes of her cousin. “Evil, Alex. I was evil. But Lanie looked into my black soul and made it her personal mission to turn me into... well, what you see before you. A terrible sinner who's trying to do better. That's why I love her. I won't say I'm attracted to all girls, I'm not. There are plenty of bitches on this campus I wouldn't give the time of day to! And I used to be the queen of them!”

She sighed again and turned back to the tunnel and started walking again. “So, that's me, and that's why. And I'd really appreciate it if you kept this between us. My mom, my real mom, works on campus.”

“Aunt Marissa?” he demanded, stunned. “But she...”

“Was committed,” Tansy declared with an iron will. “By the bastard I have to call father. But I freed her! I got her out and we will make him pay.” She caught him out of the corner of her eye and grinned. “You can say it, I'm a Bad Ass, Bad Girl.”

“I'm not worthy!” Alex said with a tone of voice approaching humor for the first time.

“Well, enough about me,” she told him. “Why do you ask, Cuz?” He stopped, and she didn't notice for a few steps, then turned back to him. “Alex?”

With great force of will, he brought his eyes up from the floor to meet her gaze. “Tans... I think... I think I might be...”

She blinked in amazement and whispered, “Gay?”

“Not, well not completely,” he admitted. “I... I like girls too, but now I can be a girl, and I'm confused and...” She laid her finger over his lips.

“Oh Alex, I get you, little brother,” she assured him. “Is... has someone... stirred feelings...?”

He swallowed a lump in his throat the size of an iceberg. “F... Flux,” he admitted as if it would scald him. “He... he was changing the towels... and... it... and he saw...”

Tansy leaned down and gently touched his cheek, sending soothing encouragement through her touch. “Alex, Benny is... well, he's kind of a complete horn dog. And he's bi, so...”

“He didn't judge me,” Alex whispered. “He wanted me to talk to his house parent, Mrs. Horton...”

Tansy stood up with a genuine smile on her lips. “I think that's a perfect idea,” she declared. She took his elbow and started walking until they came to a junction. Pointing down it, she told him, “This tunnel dead ends in Poe's basement. I want you to go straight there, tell Mrs. Horton both I and Benny suggested you talk to her. Tell her why. Tell her the truth.” She paused and caught his eyes again. “The whole truth, Alex. You can trust her. You have my word on that. Talk as long as you need and don't fret the time. She'll give you a pass.”

He looked down the tunnel and then back at her. “You're not going?” Her blonde hair whipped from side to side as she shook her head.
“If you need me to, I will, but it's almost third period and I really need to attend that class.”

He shrugged and forced a smile that was almost real. “No, I guess I can talk to her by myself.” He paused for a long moment, then looked at her again. “Should I... I mean, I don't know her, and this is personal stuff. Real personal.”

“She knows me,” Tansy told him. “She's one of the very few people who know about me and Lanie; who I absolutely trust with that knowledge. You can too. And she's never given me bad advice. She can help, Alex.”

“Really, Tans?”

She nodded gravely. “Really, really Alex. And, little sister, I think you might have given me the courage to come out myself, to mom. So, thank you for that.”

“I won't say anything until you tell me it's ok and to who.” Her face split into the most beautiful smile Alex had ever seen on her face.

“Off you go, and tell her everything. She knows what you're going through,” she said with enough emphasis to pass that secret to him. He squared his shoulders, nodded his thanks, and went down the tunnel with a determined stride. As she watched him leave, Tansy wiped a tear from her cheek. “God, Alex, I wish I was who you think I am,” she whispered. Then, finally sighed and turned her steps towards Schuster Hall. “Time to go work on becoming her.”

October 9th, 2007
House Parents Apartment, Poe Cottage, Whateley Academy

The door was split horizontal in the middle so it could be opened as a barn door, revealing a quite fetching older woman of indeterminate age. She had a round face that was jolly but not fat, with sparkling eyes and black hair that was shot through with gray that was up on her head in a strange manner that didn't seem remotely modern, in either style nor the amount of hair she had in that braid. She blinked and her expression became puzzled. “You're not one of mine, young man. What can I do for you? Visiting someone?”

There was something motherly about the woman that made Alex like her instantly. “Uh, no ma'am,” he replied. “I, well, my name is Alex Preswick-Walcutt...”

Her face blossomed into a knowing smile. “Do I behold a relation of Miss Walcutt? I believe I see some of her in you.”

Alex nodded again and actually managed a smile. “Yes ma'am, my cousin. My father is her father's brother.”

The other woman smiled and leaned against the barn door while propping up her chin in her hand. “That would be the classic definition of cousin, Mr. Preswick-Walcutt. So, again, I ask, what can I do for you?”

“I, well you can just call me Walcutt. My mom hyphenated her name and I know it's a mouthful. I... well, ma'am, Tansy and Benny, uh, Flux? They both want me to come talk to you.”

Some of the mirth left her face as if she noticed something that she'd overlooked and stood up. There followed a quick look up the hallway to be sure they were alone. Then her eyes glowed slightly. “Dic verum quod petis!” she commanded.

Spell! Spell! Jak screamed in his ear, but the heavy sounding words only made Alex feel safe and before he knew it he was talking without the slightest hesitation.

“You see ma'am, I'm a shape shifter and I can take on female forms. This has started making me kind of attracted to boys as well and I'm absolutely terrified people will find out and I'll be an outcast from the whole school and bullied wherever I go.”

Run, boy! She's a sorceress! Run! Jak yelled, but the kindly smile returned and she opened the door and gave a gesture of invitation.

“You poor boy. Come in. I know what you're going through. Let's have some nice hot chocolate and we'll have a talk to see if we can't set you to rights.” Alex, against the panic of his spirit, stepped across her threshold and suddenly Jak was standing next to Alex, his paws full of the boys jacket. “Well, well, well,” Mrs Horton chuckled as she swung her door shut. “What do we have here? Reynard the Fox! You've bound yourself to this poor boy?”

Jak bared his fangs. "I am bound with Alex under the accord of the Contract of Solomon! You cannot separate me, Sorceress!"

“Why would I want to?” Bella drawled, then she drew herself up to her full height and a crescent moon neckless glowed brightly at the base of her neck. “I am Bella Horton, Maga Concordiae, invested in the realm of Oak and Ash, and those under my roof are under my protection. So long as you honor The Contract, you have nothing to fear from me. But beware, trickster, you are old, but so am I! For more than eighteen hundred moons have I practiced my art. Harm any here and I will not rest until you are rooted out and laid low.”

Jak let go of Alex's jacket, then smoothed the wrinkles from it before he declared, "God bless all in this house."

The necklace stopped glowing and Bella Horton was just a sweet little older lady who was pretty hot for her age again. The smile was warm and inviting as she gestured a bit deeper into her apartment. “Well, let's see about that hot chocolate then!” She led the way behind her into the kitchen, where to Alex's confusion, she got a sauce pan from the cupboard and put it on her stove. Alex couldn't decide if it was an antique, as it appeared to be, or was just one of those new retro designs. From the refrigerator she took a glass bottle of milk which she shook as the cream had actually started to separate from the whey then poured a generous amount into the pan without measuring it.

“I... I thought you said we were having hot chocolate?” he asked in confusion.

“We are,” she assured him as she took a little faded metal tin with the Hershey logo on it from the cabinet and used a spoon to pop the metal stopper off and began to scoop heaping spoonfuls into the sauce pan. She looked at him out of the corner of her eye. “You've never had real hot chocolate?”

Alex shrugged his confusion and stepped a bit closer to the stove as she lit the burner under the pan to get a better view of what she was doing. “Depends on what you call real, I guess?”

That brought a new smile to her face as she added sugar to the pan and then a splash of vanilla as well. “Oh, you're in for a treat,” she promised as she started to mix the concoction slowly. “So, while we wait, let's have a chat first about rules.” She turned to face him, a somewhat contradictory expression on her face. “As a member of the faculty of this institution of learning, it is my duty to inform you that relations of a... ahem... sexual nature between students, regardless of the genders of the participants is strictly forbidden and an expulsion offense. Do you understand me, Mr. Walcutt?”

“Uh, yes, ma'am? Should I not say...?”

The smile returned to her face. “We're not fools, Alex,” she told him. “We know this and that goes on all over this campus. But, that is the rule if you're caught.”

“Oh, so, don't get caught?”

She winked at him and turned her attention back to the pan whose contents were beginning to smell wonderful, with a richer, some how more chocolatey scent than anything he'd ever smelled before. “You can speak your mind to me as it enjoys counselor-client privilege. There are certain facts that I am bound by law to report, but if that comes up, there will be no consequences to you because of it. Don't concern yourself with that.” She turned back to Reynard who was wearing his red-headed bombshell guise in a tight cut, slinky dress with her arms crossed over her impressive bosom. This completely failed to have any effect on Mrs. Horton who only asked, “Would you like some, dear?”

"No, thank you."

“Your loss,” Bella told her, then with a sly look on her face, added, “You may get this young man falling all over himself with that look, but I'm not young, and I'm wise to you and your wiles. Peddle those wares to someone who's buying."

For the first time, Jak seemed to have the upper hand on the conversation and her sly expression matched Mrs. Horton's note for note. “Oh I see, you're making fine progress with the widow Savage on your own, are you?”

“You mind your own business!” Bella snapped. “This is about Alex, so keep your thoughts there.”

“Who?” asked Alex, his confused face looking back and forth between the two. Mrs. Horton gave him a mildly disgruntled look and went back to stirring the chocolate.

“Well, with a conversation this pointed, I suppose I should put my cards on the table,” she said mostly to herself. “I... greatly admire another house mother here on campus, and as I keep your secrets, Mr. Walcutt, I'll thank you to keep mine.”

It was an odd feeling for Alex to have an adult take such a deep confidence in him and it endeared her to him for the trust. He began to understand how this woman held such a high place in Tansy's regard. “You may depend on my discretion, Mrs. Horton. And please, don't feel like you have to call me 'Mr. Walcutt.' I'm Alex.”

“Bella,” she replied, but held up a finger. “But that's just here in my apartment. Out there, it's proper and formal.”

Alex smirked. “The dignity of the office must be maintained, I understand.”

“You're a very clever young man,” she complimented him, waving at a cabinet closer to him. “Set me out some cups, Alex and we'll have a sit down.” Alex retrieved the cups and placed them on the table. There, she came over with the saucepan and poured steaming chocolate into both cups, then returned it to the stove with the eye turned down considerably. A bag of marshmallows accompanied her to the table that she opened, dropping two into her own cup as she gestured for the young man to sit with her. “So...” she drawled after her first sip. “What do you think?”

Walcutt was not prepared for the riot of flavor that exploded in his mouth, that was as far from powdered hot cocoa as could be gone and still be liquid chocolate. It exposed his entire experience with the beverage for the shoddy substitute it was. “Mrs. Horton, this is amazing!”

Bella smiled and gave a gesture to the tin still on the counter. “It's an old recipe, but a good one.” She took another sip, then sighed and give him an unflinchingly direct gaze. “So, let's have an... adult... conversation. Your power, you say, is giving you these thoughts? Are you sure they weren't as new as you suspect?”

The question made Alex squirm and had his thoughts going in unpleasant directions. “I... don't remember my dreams sometimes. Most of the time,” he corrected. “I... well, I've had to change my sheets sometimes,” his eyes darted up at her face for any sign the trust would be abused, but there was only sympathy on her face. “I... I never remember those dreams.”

"He suppresses them," Jak interjected pointedly. It didn't phase Bella Horton at all.

“It's embarrassing, but completely natural, Alex,” she assured him. Her eyes went far away and her mind long ago, but she admitted, “I had nights like that myself as a young woman. Though, things were much stricter back then. I didn't dare admit to my mother why I took to making my bed myself.” She sighed and brought her attention back to him. “But I do remember the dreams, and yes, they sometimes featured girls I was fond of.”

“But...” he swallowed and forced himself to ask, “You're Mrs. Horton.”

“I am,” she replied with a smile. “He... well, Jake was a very special man. And I loved him very, very much. And, when he was gone, none of the men I met ever seemed to clear the bar he set. Life isn't meant to be lived alone.” She winked at him again. “You're a clever boy, I know you know what I mean.”

“Is... is it... wrong to...?”

“Is it wrong to lust?” she countered. “That depends on your morals and your beliefs.” She took another sip and held her cup off the table as she considered her words and used the cup to punctuate her thoughts. “Some of my beliefs are very old, but they're not so different than the more popular flavors of Christianity. Even so, lust isn't healthy if it lingers. It's perfectly natural to see someone who truly catches your eye. But if that's all you feel about that person, no matter how much time you spend with them, that's never healthy. That's just using someone. No one likes to admit it, but lust is where love starts. And if you truly love someone, there will always be just a little sprinkle of it in your feelings, but it should never be all that you feel.”

Alex considered that for a long moment. “I... I've always been taught that it wasn't... right... for a man and another man...”

She arched an eyebrow. “And what about a woman with another woman?” she asked.  He thought for a moment, the shrugged. “Funny how that is, isn't it?” she asked pointedly. She sighed and shook her head. “No, I apologize. This isn't a theological debate, and I shouldn't snark about things you might believe.”

“I, well I didn't take offense, Bella.”

“Thank you, Alex.” After another sip, she added, “And now you know, if you didn't already, adults make mistakes too. We don't especially have this life figured out, but we have the advantage of having more experience to base our judgements on. Sometimes we're right, sometimes we're too prideful to admit we're wrong.”

“What do your experiences tell you about being with someone who is your sex?”

She returned the cup to the table and clasped her hands together before her while favoring him with a kindly smile. “That it can be very difficult. That you have all the challenges of adapting to someone sharing your life, while also dealing with a society that has preconceptions that you and your love don't meet while suffering from a staggering lack of being able to mind their own business.”

Jak snorted from where she was leaning against the wall. "Ain't that the truth!"

“Now,” she said with a smile. “Ask me if it's worth it?”

Alex chuckled as he gestured to Jak to take the open seat at the table. The redhead rolled her eyes, then pulled out the chair and slid into it. “Is it?”

“It can be,” Bella told him. “I've had loves that made even the worst of times better.” She shuddered and shook her head. “The less said about The Depression the better. But I would be lying to you if I didn't tell you even in those times there were gossips whispering behind your back, and every now and then, busybodies with the guts to get into your face and try and make you ashamed. And, as a woman, I had it pretty easy. It's always harder for a man to deal with this, Alex.”

“That's what I'm afraid of.”

“Don't let fear cheat you from being happy, son,” she told him earnestly. She paused and tilted her head as if to appraise things from a different angle. “You mentioned Benny told you to come talk to me? Do I take that to mean he caught your eye? Or you caught his?”

Alex felt his face burn from blushing. “I, well, I was in the locker room at the Powers Testing Lab and, well, I guess, the uh, uniform, slipped a bit, and he noticed and...”

Bella surprised Alex by actually chuckling. “Lord, I will never get used to being around Exemplars. Well, stand up straight and be proud of what you were born with,” she advised him. “Never be ashamed of how you are and only change what you want changed. Now, a word of warning. Benny has been much better this year, but it's only October, and he made quite a fool of himself last year. He, well, be sure of things should you consider taking him up on his overtures.”

“Is he a bad person?” Alex asked softly.

“No,” Bella answered quickly, which gave a certain solace to Alex for some reason. “He's young, and his blood is full of hormones and he can be careless.” She paused significantly. “As I'm sure the same can be said of you.” Alex nodded with a rueful grin and a sheepish shrug as he took a sip of hot chocolate. “So, you know. Now, you said you can shift? Does it require a trigger or... eep!” Suddenly the young man at her table was a lovely young woman and trying to get her male attire to sit better. “Goodness, Alex, that startled me! And aren't you absolutely lovely! This is your base female form?”

"It is," Jak assured her. "I haven't taught him how to alter it yet."

For the first time in some minutes, Bella addressed the spirit directly. “Is there a reason you chose to make him look like you?”

“I'm going to look like that?” Alex demanded in a voice that couldn't decide if it was terrified or impatient.

"If he's going to be a woman, who would ever want to be an ugly one?" Jak demanded. "Besides, the boy is going to be an eyeful, no matter what gender he wears. And I didn't make him look like me, I chose to look like he will. In addition, I've already gotten him arranged to take decorum lessons from his cousin..."

“God help us,” Bella retorted with a smile.  “With Tansy coaching the girl, she'll be the hottest thing in shoe leather on this campus by the time she graduates!”

Jak spread her arms with a salacious grin on her face. "Can I cook or what?"

Bella opened her mouth to answer, but was cut off by an odd tone that blared throughout the building. “Attention, may I have your attention please? This is a weather alert broadcast. All students except those in Hawthorne cottage should stop what you are doing and immediately report to the Crystal Hall. Take the tunnel system to do so, do not go outside. Faculty and staff follow contingency W1A. Thank you.”

Bella immediately rose from the table while urging Alex to her feet as well. “What's going on?” Alex asked.

“Oh, just some stormy weather,” Bella assured her. “Now, do you need time before you change back...?” she trailed off as once again, Alex was male and adjusting his suit. “Well, that answers that. We'll have to put a pin in this conversation, Mr. Walcutt, but we'll take it up again and my door is always open to you.”

“I'm very grateful, Mrs. Horton.”

Bella opened the door to find Rosalyn Dekkard outside it, about to knock. “Mrs. Horton... who's this?”

The young man extended his hand, “Alex Preswick-Walcutt, at your service.”

Rosalyn's face twisted into a smirk. “Oh, you are a saucy little boy, aren't you?” She took his hand to shake it, but he brought it up to his lips and kissed it. She used that contact, when he released her hand, to ruffle his hair. “Come see me in a year or so, Casanova.”

“It's a date,” Alex assured her.

“Alright you two,” Mrs. Horton scolded them. “Rosalyn, get any of the other RAs and sweep the cottage, then when you have everyone, take the basement tunnel to the Crystal Hall. We've got some kind of weather issue and it's the strongest building on the campus. Alex, please give her a hand.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Right this way, Casanova.”