Dear reader: To describe much of anything about the story's content would be removing what little suspense I can manage to create. Instead, I'll admit to being somewhat influenced by Daria in the previous story and influenced a good bit more for this one and the ones that come after. The only reason why most of my own high school experience was not drawn from is because I'm afraid you'd never believe me unless you've actually seen the inside of the school I went to.

It is a disconcerting feeling, to say the least, to look sidelong at a mirror in passing and wonder where your tail went. This thought occurred to Mike once again as passed Fredrich Von Brussels High School's trophy case and caught his reflection momentarily. He didn't have time to think too deeply, though, since he was on his way to algebra class. It was something of a comedown to return to school Monday after the con, but such was the nature of the beast. No matter how great the weekend, you always knew that there would be algebra on Monday. And lunch, gym, history, the works. It would have been a comforting constant if he were the sort of person who enjoyed boredom. Mike was turning the corner to enter the corridor of his destination when he almost ran into a pair of juniors. The crowd made such things inevitable, and he would have dismissed the incident immediately if one of the girls hadn't looked exactly like Jane! Mike shook his head, trying to clear the image of her with her head turned to talk to her dark-haired companion. Returning to school must have had more of an effect on him than he'd thought. He was starting to hallucinate.
Mike tried to put the thought out of his mind in class, but the drone of Mr. Briggs made him daydream. He thought back to his time with Jane at the con, and how great it would be to find out that she went to the same high school he did. It was possible, he guessed, but the con was big enough to draw people from miles away. He knew he shouldn't get his hopes up, but he still found himself running in the direction he'd seen her go after class ended in a vain attempt to see if she'd emerge from a room on that hall.
She didn't, and Mike headed up the stairs to the cafeteria. He sat at his usual table, where he tended to sit alone, and looked across the room. On the other side of the room, he saw her. It was Jane for sure, brown hair, big boots and all. She was sitting across from the same girl he'd seen her with in the hall, deep in conversation. Mike stood and crossed the room, unaware of the fact that he'd started swinging his hips a little and flexing his butt to sway a nonexistent tail.
Jane didn't look at Mike until he sat down next to the other girl and said, "Hi."
Jane did look then, and her eyes widened. She seemed unable to talk for a moment, and finally muttered. "God damn."
The other girl looked at Jane with a crooked smile. "Why, Jane! I don't think I've ever seen you taken so far aback. Is this little man part of a deep dark secret you've been keeping from me? If you were a normal person, I'd suggest a clandestine romance, but in your case I'd say he's your inside man on a plot to assassinate the Pope." She turned to Mike. "Am I close?"
Mike grinned back at her, noting her appearance for the first time. Black hair, black overlong t-shirt, black tights and a long black coat. The only contrast was her naturally light-colored face, green eyes and red lipstick. "I'd never try to take down the pontiff. He's got powers and nun ninjas. The Archbishop of Canterbury, maybe."
Jane, meanwhile, had turned pink. Swallowing hard, she said, "I thought- I mean, I didn't realize. How could you-"
"Go to the same high school as you?" Mike asked. "I was surprised myself when I saw you in the hall an hour ago. Imagine my shock to see you at the same lunch period as me. I guess we just never noticed each other because we didn't have a reason before."
The other girl said, "Well! Much as I find your discomfort a source of entertainment, perhaps it's time for me to insist on being told the identity of the guy who's horning in on our all-too-short lunch hour."
Jane steadied herself. "Right, yes. Susan, this is Mike. I met him over the weekend. He shares some of my unusual interests."
"How delightfully vague."
"Mike, this crow is Susan. We've been friends since elementary, when we both realized the other might be weirder."
Mike smiled. "I think I got the better end of that introduction."
Susan glared at Jane in mock indignation. "I agree. Before we let some bloke listen in on our girltalk, I want to know just how my socially inept best friend came to trust a person of the male persuasion in such a short time."
Jane smiled crookedly, loosening up. "Trust me," she said, "this boy is more likely to appreciate 'girl talk' than I am."
Mike returned the expression. "I wear a skirt once-"
"Three times in as many days by my count." Jane interrupted.
Susan looked at the clock. "Plain explanations! You've got five minutes to explain yourself while I still have soda to do a spittake with."
Jane replied, "I met him while wearing that wolf costume. He was similarly attired, including being crossdressed."
Susan calmly took a sip of her drink, swallowed, sipped again and sprayed Jane. "He's a furry?" She coughed.
Jane had known what was coming and had put a lunch tray between her and Susan as soon as her friend had taken the first sip. She lowered it and said, "I don't think they heard you in Ecuador. I know you've been trying to see if you can make a popularity meter register negative numbers, but please don't get the freshman ostracized on my account. He should become an outcast on his own merits."
Susan replied, "OK, OK. In the two minutes we have left, let me try to reconstruct this. You went cruising for chicks looking like a strapping male wolf, and he went cruising for guys looking like a - well, whatever it was, I'm betting he looked good or you wouldn't have set your sights on him."
"I wasn't looking for guys," Mike commented. "I just wanted to meet people."
"Either way," Susan continued. "You found one. Now, I know you, Jane. You two didn't realize the other wasn't quite what they seemed for at least a day."
"Approximately correct." Jane said.
"Normally, my shrinking violet here would run like her tail's on fire at the sort of embarrassment that discovery must have caused. The dear boy, here, seems to have a decently twisted sense of humor and managed to keep things from blowing up."
"I don't want to brag." Mike said smugly.
"Now, at this point, things break down. Apart from me, no one's been off-the-wall enough to keep the confused one's interest, though I think I can bet that at some point she proved to you that she could eat like a horse and not mind. One of the many guy things that she seems to have picked up."
"It was a good meal," Jane added.
The repeated tone stopped Susan from continuing. "I'm sure there was more, but you'll have to tell me about it after school. We take the west bus."
As she left, Mike looked at Jane. "Is that an invitation from both of you?"
Jane replied, "Are you going west anyway?"
"As it happens, yes."
"Then it's an invitation."
***
Jane and Susan were already at the bus stop when Mike arrived. "How'd you get here so fast?"
Susan smiled at Jane. "Isn't the freshman so cute?" Mike noticed that Susan had a squeak to the end of her sentences that would have made her sound like an airhead if her voice weren't so deep. "We've been doing this for a long time, little man. After awhile, you want to get as far away from the building as fast as possible and if you're lucky you get good at it."
"It's better than junior high," Mike replied.
Susan said, "I've heard of prisons that looked nicer than junior high. But enough chitchat. Muscles here," she poked Jane in the arm, "never gives me juicy details about being a crossdresser. Oh, and a person who finds it a source of pleasure to cover themselves in fur and pretend they're zoomorphed."
"Who says," Mike replied with a slow grin, "that we're not pretending we're someone else who's been anthromorphed? Nice vocabulary, by the way."
"Thank you. You didn't answer the question."
Mike's innocent expression mirrored Susan's. "I'm not sure what 'juicy' information you're after."
Susan replied, "Hah!" She elbowed Jane in the ribs. "You could learn something from the wee man. He's actually making a refusal to tell me interesting."
Jane finally deigned to respond. "Stop badgering him."
Susan said, "Fine. Keep your secrets, both of you. I'm sure, however, that you'd rather badger him." Susan's eyebrows worked comically.
One side of Jane's mouth quirked. "And you just love 'goating' me."
Mike piled in as they climbed onto the bus and put their transit cards into the slot. "Yeah, giraffe her back."
"Oh no," Susan said, as she sat next to Jane. "Another punster. I don't know if I'll be able to bear it."
Mike sat in front of them and turned around in his seat to continue. "I try not to be a boar."
Jane said, "It's not a good idea to provoke pundark heron the bus." As she spoke, the daylight dimmed as if a cloud had passed over the sun.
"Odd, even for today," Susan said, looking out the window. "You don't see people in hot air balloons around here much. Especially bright red ones."
Jane took the opportunity to lean forward to talk to Mike quietly. "You got lucky this time. Susan's in the know already. How would I have explained this to another friend?"
Mike replied, "As someone you met over the weekend who you didn't realize went to the same high school?"
Jane rolled her eyes. "And then they'd ask where."
"None of their business?"
Susan didn't look away from the window. "It's all academic. I'm your only friend. And one with excellent hearing, which you ought to know."
Jane spared a tongue out for Susan. "OK, fine, gang up on me."
"Don't mind if I do." Susan replied.
"Just don't tell her about the night we spent together," Jane said even more quietly.
"You what?" Suan cried, turning away from the window at last.
"Hm?" Jane grunted with an exaggerated innocence.
"You slept with her?" Susan said to Mike, not quite as loudly, but still with huge surprise.
"I have no idea what you're talking about." Mike replied, copying Jane's air.
Susan sat back, shaking her head. "You're pulling my leg. Jane's body shy and you're not girly enough."
Jane said, "Ho ho. You haven't seen him in a big skirt and boobs. He cleans up nicely as a girly girl."
Mike grinned again. "It's true."
"Besides," Jane continued, "I spent a night with him. We never shared a bed, and I know Michael M. quite well."
Mike said, "That's my Wortag. Quoting Supreme Court precedent when accused by her best friend of sleeping with a near-total stranger."
Jane said, "Well, it came as a bit of a shock, dear boy. Susan's nice, but she'd be scandalized by some of the stuff that happens in our world." She looked sidelong at Susan. "Well, not scandalized. She's mightily jaded. But unhealthily intertested. She's my best friend, and I won't hear a word against her, but she's a filthy pervert and I don't want to be her next 'case study.' I don't know what I'm more afraid of. Having her study me and be interested, or study me and get bored."
"Just for that," Susan said, "I'm going to pump your wee boyfriend for everything I can. You can resist my wiles, but I bet he can't."
Jane snorted. "Threatening to tickle him into submission or spray him with a high-pressure hose doens't count as 'wiles.' And if anyone's going to pump him, I am."
"Glad to see you're no longer embarassed by me," Mike said.
"Just a little surprised, dear boy." She and Susan got up. "This is our stop. You want to hang out at my place for awhile?"
Mike smiled up at her. "Much as I'd love to see the inner sanctum of the queen bee, I must decline for today. Being my age has the unfortunate requirement of being home when expected. I'll talk to the parental units about coming home later from here on in."
Susan looked at Jane. "You're right. He is a teenage girl."
As they left, Jane said, "I authorize you to bring pictures of Jamina."
Before they were out of earshot, Mike heard Susan ask, "Who's Jamina?"

"Well well." Victor said over dinner. "This is good news. I was hoping I wouldn't have to be an annoying parent and annoy you into staying connected."
Mike smiled with convention nostalgia. "I don't think you ever had to worry about that."
Nora called from the kitchen, "So am I going to see her at all?"
Mike called back, "I don't know. She seems to want me to go to her place before she comes here."
Nora walked in with a tray of food. "You told me some about Jane yesterday, but not everything."
Mike heaved a long-suffering sigh. "I don't know that much more than I told you. The parental questions routine is not likely to get you a lot this time."
Nora sat down. "Oh? What about how she looks?"
Mike replied, "Brunette, about my height with green eyes, bulky boots and not much of a figure that I could see. Dresses like a guy, if guys could wear skirts."
"And her friend?"
"Black on black with red lipstick. I didn't look at her shoes but if she wasn't wearing heels, she's taller than any of us. Judging from what she said, I'd guess she isn't a lesbian, unlike Jane. Happy?"
"Quite." Nora replied. "That held all the charm and emotion of a police report. I'm guessing, then, that you haven't been swept off your feet?"
Victor said, "If he has been, it's in much the same way I would have been."
"Oh, and how would you have described me to a friend at first?"
Victor replied, "Do I have to answer that?"
"If you want to eat." Nora said evenly.
"Shorter than me, slightly rotund. Significantly greater than normal intelligence and signficantly lower than normal social dogma. Brown hair, blue eyes with an inner fire and a direct manner."
Nora quirked her lip. "Better than I might have given you at first. I'm taking it that my son is not commenting on intelligence because he takes it for granted anyone he associates with possesses it in quantity."
"Quite right," Mike said. "Now, let's eat before dad asks what you would have said about him."
Nora reached over and put her hand on Victor's. "Real cute for a big, fuzzy weirdo."
Victor smiled. "Aww. You're so sentimental, honey."
***
As Mike sat down next to Susan, facing Jane once again, the taller of the two said, "So did daddy let his little girl stay out late tonight?"
"Hello, mouth," Mike replied in greeting. He nodded to Jane. "Muscles."
"Mouth, aye?" Susan said, rolling the name around in the aforementioned appendage. "Well, if we're going to be referring to one another with crude anatomical names, what to call you?"
"We should call him posterior." Jane said. "You haven't seen a nice ass until you've seen his when he's in drag." She gestured with her hand and made a kissing sound. "Perfection."
"So, has our prestigious posterior personage been passed by his parental units to join us post-class?" Susan asked again.
Mike sighed. "So I'm the butt, huh? I guess I deserve that. To spare myself any more of your alliteration, yes."
"Perfect." Susan said, and Jane bounced a roll off of her forehead, catching it and taking a bite.
"These things are a lot springier since we started here. There was a time that thing would have done you an injury."
"So," Mike said, looking at Susan. "I don't really know much about you."
Susan returned his gaze haughtily. "The same goes for me. I thought we were going to stay mysterious to one another, though. I find it so much more fun making up a past I think you ought to have. Not," she added grinning, "that I'll have that pleasure much longer. We rotate whose house we go to every day, and I wouldn't mind having a new venue. You have a large TV, right?"
"I do." Mike said, at a loss for anything else to say.
"Capital. We'll go to your place on Thursday."
Jane said, "You're awfully free with my schedule."
"And your boyfriend," Susan shot back. "I'm a voyeur, Jane. You know I can't pass up a chance to see how he lives. Aren't you curious?"
Jane shrugged one shoulder. "A little. I'm just not as pushy as you are."
"I prefer 'decisive.'" Susan replied. "You don't mind, do you, wee man?" Mike shook his head. "See? The pleastantly plump posterior is willing."
"Fine," Jane said. "Have it your way. I should know better than to argue with you."
"You really ought to," Susan replied. "Because I'm always right. What are you so afraid of, anyway? He's going to see your place first. I'd think you'd be the one embarrassed."
Jane smiled back wickedly. "Ah, but I know the dear boy better than you do. He's going to love it. I, however, have certain expectations for his that might scandalize even your perverted mind." She spared a fond glance for Mike. "I'm also not so sure I want to share Jamina with anyone yet."
Susan put her hand on Jane's shoulder. "I've met your girlfriends before." She smiled ironically. "The few you've decided were good enough. How can the wee man be much different as her than as he is now?"
Jane held Susan's hand. "You'll see."
"Oh yes, I will!" Susan grinned. "And if it's all you're leading up to, this will be fun!"
***
Mike looked up at Jane's house as they turned up her front walk. Two stories, painted red and green with a large front yard and a narrow path leading around the side to what looked to be an even larger back yard. "Does your family own this whole house?"
Jane nodded. "Yep. You're from a more urban setting?"
Mike replied, "Yeah. I guess you could say that. A little more urban. High enough rent that owning a two-story house is quite extravagant. Then again, dad's place probably isn't too much smaller than your house in terms of actual floor space."
Jane opened the door. "I hope you like books and stuff. My parents are the collector type."
Susan laughed. "Your parents are compulsive. Not that I can talk."
"No you can't," Jane said as they walked in.
Mike looked around. "I see what you mean." The front door opened into a living room with the requisite TV, couch and chairs along with a computer, various hanging items, tapestries and wall-covering bookshelves. "I am reminded of my dad's room at home. That's where he keeps the bookshelves. No tapestries, though."
Susan looked at the top of one of the shelves as she took off her shoes. "A scale model of the USS Pegasus?"
"Relativity in my case. I guess this is what happens when both parents are fen." He followed the girls' example and removed his shoes and socks.
Susan said, "Just wait until you see Jane's room. It's unbelievable."
Jane had gone down a corridor on the other side of the room. "Come on. You may as well see."
They climbed a staircase off the corridor and Jane opened the first door on the left. As soon as he entered, Mike realized why the other two had taken off their footwear. Jane's room was carpeted in a fuzzy shag. In fact, fuzzy was a good description for the entire thing.
"Impressive, isn't it?" Susan said. "If it weren't for the posters, you'd think she was a normal twelve-year-old.
What Susan referred to were the posters of shapely anthropomorphic animals, mostly from the lupine, feline and vulpine families. These combined with the carpet, hairy blanket on Jane's bed and the many stuffed animals to confirm the suspicions of any person with even the vaguest understanding of furry fandom.
Susan watched Mike's slow scrutiny with amusement. "So, dear boy, how do you rate the decor?"
Mike replied, "Oh, ace. Ace. This is the densest quantity of fandom I've ever seen. Which reminds me, where are your parents? I don't believe I ever met them."
Jane joined Susan on her bed and leaned against the headboard. "Presently. Dad's out at five, mom's out at five thirty."
Mike grinned at Susan. "And hanging around this for years hasn't converted you? Good gods, I was a furry within a year of meeting dad."
Susan replied, "I'm betting you were a geek before that, though. I may be incredibly brilliant, but I'm no geek."
"You just happen to recognize the USS Pegasus."
Susan nodded quickly. "Yup, yup. Not a geek at all."
Jane lay down with her head hanging off the side of the bed. "Now what?"
Susan looked at the television that was almost buried under a mountain of stuffed creatures. "It's almost time for my show."
Jane aimed a kick and missed Susan. "No. I remember the lead-in from the last episode. Not one I'm interested in seeing."
Jane got up and walked to the closet next to the door.
"Aww. I want to watch the freaks."
"I know you're taping it." Suan said from inside the closet.
Susan sighed deeply. "Fine." She smiled at Mike cheerfully. "I'll just interview the one right here. So, do you have those pictures?"
"And ruin the surprise," Mike asked, shaking his head. "Oh, no. You're going to see Jamina for the first time in person."
Jane closed the closet, now with wolf ears and strapping on a tail. She pulled on a pair of handpaws as she sat down on the bed. "There we are."
Susan jerked a thumb at Jane. "See this? She considers that comfort wear, and she doesn't mind wearing it in front of me. I can't nail her; she's got no shame."
Jane reached around and hugged her tail. "Why should I?"
"Because it is expected from social deviance. It also makes it much easier for me to get you to say something you'd wish you hadn't if I could make you nervous."
Jane lay back again. "I've seen what you do as a hobby. You can't make me nervous anymore."
"What's that?" Mike asked.
Susan grinned. "One surprise deserves another. You'll see the day after tomorrow. After our curiosity is properly sated."
"Are we going to do something, or just argue until homework becomes inevitable?" Jane asked the ceiling.
"Arguing is doing something. Verbal fencing is an old and established sport." Susan replied.
Jane sat up. "Nevertheless, dad'll be back soon and I want to test Mike before he gets here and I have to explain why there's a young man in my room."
Susan started rummaging around in her bookbag. "The test. Well, that's me reading a book for awhile. You put me to the test once, and I found it quite enough."
"You did well enough for being bored," Jane replied, getting up and pulling a game console out from behind her television. "Now, how to start? Halo, Smash Brothers or Mario Kart?"
"Mario Kart?" Mike groaned. "That's evil. And how do you intend to play in paws? My dad can hold his own in Smash with his handpaws on, but I don't believe a mortal man can play Mario Kart with anything less than their full capacity."
Susan laughed, "But I am no mortal man, dear boy. To paraphrase Aowyn, you look upon a woman. However," she said grudginly, "I admit the Kart is pure evil, and should be approached with caution." She ran back to the closet and for a moment only her tail was visible. "Here" she said, throwing Mike a pair of fox paws. "Try not to sweat too much. And feel free to bring your own next time," her eyes shone as she grinned, "I certainly will tomorrow. Even if I have to leave some of my books behind to fit my tail in there."
Mike got the paws on with difficulty-despite her height, Jane had smaller hands than he did- and picked up the controller. "Let's warm up with Smash, then. We'll leave Mario Kart for last."
Susan looked over the top of her book. "You guys are weird. She didn't test me with those gloves on. Thank god."
Mike looked back, "Are you reading the Dungeon Master's Guide?"
Susan went back to her book. "I can never remember how to grapple properly."
"And you won't when you're done with that. It's in the Player's Handbook."
Susan flipped to the table of contents. "I think you're right." She put it in her bag and pulled the Handbook out.
***
"She made you play Mario Kart?" Victor asked over sausage.
"Yeah. Said she needed to test me. I had to play Halo and Smash Brothers as well."
Victor clicked his tongue. "Dear me. How did you do?"
"I had to wear handpaws, but so did she-"
Victor laughed. "Very nice."
"But I managed to hold my own well enough. I think she's done that more than I have. The first thing she did once she settled down was put on ears, tail and handpaws."
Nora said, "Great. First my son gets me to marry one, now he's found a prospect of the same nature."
"Like mother, like son?" Victor asked.
Mike cut his mother off. "If I may continue. I did pretty well considering, and after she'd finished with me, I met her parents and came home. Both fans, like she told me. I got along with them quite well, mainly because they reminded me rather strongly of another pair of parental adults who I've met today."
Victor said to Nora in a stage whisper. "I think he means us."
"I'm not a fan," Nora said.
"No, but you're in love with one. And no matter how much you deny it, you're a geek at heart, mom. At least you are now."
Nora sniffed. "I wish you wouldn't analyze me. It doesn't seem right for a son to do that to his mother."
"I can't help it, mom. Besides, you didn't say I'm wrong."
"Have some more sausage, Mike. You could use the meat on your bones."

Jane looked at Mike's house as they went up the walk. "It's not so small." She commented. "Not bad for a planned community."
Mike shrugged. "I'm not a big fan of identical houses, but at least I'm sure the inside is unique."
Susan looked up and down the row. "I see your point. From here, it's like being in the Stepford Wives. I feel like someone's going to try to start brainwashing me at any moment."
Mike opened the door and put his bookbag in the corner. "Is that TV big enough for you, by the way?"
Susan surveyed the wall-dominating piece of electronics to her left. "It will serve."
Victor emerged from his and Nora's room. "Hello, Jane."
Jane waved. "Hi, Victor."
"And that means the crow is Susan."
"I see I've been talked about," Susan replied. "Under most circumstances, an animal reference would just be a cute metaphor, but in this case I'm going to have to warn you that if you produce a pair of wings or a beak for me, I'll be forced to decline. I am but a humble observer of human nature, and participation is against my code of non-interference."
Victor replied, "And talking to the natives isn't?"
"One must make an objective sacrifice in the name of completeness. There's no sense in going overboard."
Mike said, "Now that we've all met, perhaps the inevitable embarassing parental presence should be removed."
Victor replied, "In other words, 'clear off.' OK, but if you need anything, I'm here."
"Thanks, dad."
Susan's gaze was over Victor's shoulder. "Is that the Temporal Mechanics Manual?"
Victor turned around. "Yes. It is."
"Can I borrow that for the afternoon?"
Victor pulled it off the shelf. "Be my guest."
Susan opened it up and pulled a notepad out of her bag. "Temporal Warlock, here I come!" She looked at Jane and Mike as Victor closed his door. "So? Am I allowed to see this miraculous transformation, or is this private furry thing?"
Mike replied, "I don't really mind either way."
Jane said, "Let it be a complete surprise. I'll help you."
Susan went back to her notes. "More time to study this, then. Suits me fine, no pun intended."
"None taken," Jane replied.
Jane took her bag into Mike's room and opened it as he closed the door. She pulled her wolf ears, tail and handpaws out. She immediately put the ears on and belted on the tail, throwing the handpaws onto Mike's bed for later. "I would have loved to bring Wortag with, but there are limits to how much I can fit in this thing."
Mike pulled Jamina's carry box out of his closet. "It's too bad, but understandable. It's lucky that dad and I are so similarly built. I don't remember if I told you that all the suits are actually his. I just borrow them. He said I could have my own when I'm seventeen."
Jane sat on the bed, politely looking away as Mike changed to a lycra bodysuit. "I don't think you did, but it makes sense. No point in getting a custom-built suit until you're sure you aren't growing any more. Still, I'm not sure I want to think of your father as Jamina."
Mike laughed, "He introduced me to Jamina when I was eleven. He was afraid it would be the last straw for mom, but she rightly pointed out that a furry who dressed as a teenage girl was still a furry, and in terms of social acceptability, crossdressing was higher on the totem pole than fursuiting. Actually, her words were closer to, 'you're a furry. How can 'crossdresser' be worse."
Jane smiled as Mike finished getting changed. "We got good parents."
Mike pulled out the bodysuit for Jamina. "I think so."
Jane helped him get his tail situated and zipped the back of the suit up for him. "It feels like such a long time since I last helped you with your tail. It was Saturday night, for crimenys' sake! If you asked me last Friday if I could see myself helping a guy into his suit like a cheerleader helping her football player boyfriend into his uniform, I'd have laughed my head off."
Mike worked his feet into the footpaws and Jane knelt to pull the suit's legs over the paws' tops. "And I never thought that I'd meet such an awesome girl at my first con. Nor did I believe I'd fall for a girl in drag while being in drag myself. We're a mixed-up couple, alright."
As Jane pulled the suit's zipper down momentarily so that she could push the back flap of Jamina's head into the suit, she smiled softly. "Do you realize we're both referring to each other in romantic terms? That's another thing I wouldn't have believed. That I'd even consider going straight for anyone."
"But I'm not just anyone," Jamina replied, pulling on her handpaws. "I'm your girly-boyfriend."
Jane barked a laugh. "I hate to admit it, but when I hear that voice, I literally go weak kneed. I'm the most rough-and-tumble lesbian you'd ever not want to tangle with. My fursona is a colossal great wolf."
"Big Mad Wortag." Jamina observed.
"And yet I'm going weak in the knees for a boy!"
Jamina turned to meet Jane's blue eyes with her green. "The most feminine boy ever you'd ever want to drool over in a fluffy skirt. You're the one who wears the pants in this relationship."
"So you're saying you think it's consistent?"
Jamina said, "I think that my dad's become an expert in odd couples, and though he hasn't even hinted at it, I can tell he thinks we belong together. Then again, all parents want their daughters to meet a nice boy and settle down, though I'm sure they'd both want us to wait until we're older." She put her arms around Jane. "And I admit that I think we're pretty well suited as well. Pun intended."
Jane returned the embrace and pulled back. "You've given me a lot to think about. Let's go give the mouth something to stare at, dear boy."
Jamina turned back to her closet and pulled her most volumous dres out. "Ready to help your cheerleader get into her uniform?"
Jane grinned. "Now I think about it, I admit the comparison was the wrong way around."
Susan looked up as the door opened and Jane walked out. "Took you two long enough? So where's the girly man?"
Jamina emerged and said, "Here."
Susan wolf-whistled. "You definitely picked a pretty one."
As Jamina reached the end of the corridor and the greater space of the living room she twirled slowly. "Like what you see?"
Susan grinned, "I'd say we picked the right nickname for you. Yes indeed. And why our common friend took such a shine so quickly. Were I interested in females and saw you just as you are at a con, I might be tempted out of my non-interference."
Jane laughed. "Take that as the ultinmate complement on your appearance, sexy boy. This is the ice-blooded observer who once perched on a statue with her pad so she could take notes and sketch a mass pillow fight. A couple of us threw pillows at her, but she stayed there, drawing and writing for two hours."
Susan leaned over to look at Jamina's tail. "You can't sit on that, though, can you?"
Jamina shook her head. "No, I can't. I have one that doesn't stand up for when I feel like sitting."
"And when did you decide you wanted to wear that suit?"
Jamina said, "When mom and dad got married, I found myself living with it in the next room. Dad's always let me try on his suits whenever I wanted, so it was only a matter of time before I got over my gender issues and put it on."
"And the dress?"
"It went with the suit, really."
Jane flipped to a new page. "So it's part of the suit?"
Jamina shook her head again. "No. I've got a set of clothes for this suit. She likes skirts and looks good in them."
Jane yawned, "This is going to go on for awhile. I'm going to get a drink, if you don't mind. Do you have any long straws, dear? I'll bring you something."
Jamina replied. "Help yourself. The long straws are in the second drawer from the top to the right of the stove."
As Jane got drinks, Susan continued. "I note that you switch between identifying with the suit and referring to it as a separate entity. Is this a common behavior?"
Jamina replied thoughtfully. "Most suiters like to stay in character, but for the purposes of these questions, it's necessary to sometimes differentiate between the vixen outside and the boy inside. For the most part, I think you'll find that suiters will first identify with the character they're wearing, and then with the wearer when necessary."
Susan wrote while Jamina took a sip through the straw Jane gave her. Finally, she asked. "And why choose Jamina as your primary character?"
Jamina replied. "I've tried being a few people, and I find that Jamina is the most fun. I've never been the most masculine person around, and I identify a lot with Jamina. In the Chronicles she was actually a biological male for the first year of her life before being changed by a mother who wanted a daughter. I'm not saying I feel that I ought to be a girl, just that since I had a choice of alternate mes, that a female felt good and was fun. I have a lot of traits that are considered feminine, and it's nice to be able to give them free reign without having to worry."
Susan smiled. "I got an oddly similar answer from Jane when I was finally able to get her to answer some of my questions."
Jane added. "You wouldn't believe how much I want this vixen right now."
Susan looked at Jane with interest. "You're usually more circumspect."
Jane flexed her claws, "I'm usually with a lot of humans who seem to think it's unladylike to show desire like that."
Susan wrote something down. "It's interesting how closely you mirror each other. If I could get some more responses, I might get a correlation. Still, this will make a brilliant addition to my archives. Let's see, any other questions..." She flipped quickly through her pad. "Ah, here's one. Jamina's a fox, but is that your preferred species?"
Jamina said, "My dad's feline for sure, but I've never felt that kind of fierce independence. I'd definitely say I like fox better than most others. I don't have the canine friendliness or a skunk's sensuality. Yes, I think, I like fox best."
Susan asked, "Ah, those qualities are interesting. Are they the norm for furries, or just the qualities you assign to those animals?"
Jamina took a few seconds to think. "Everyone has their own qualities that they attribute to various animals and kinds of animals, usually reserving the best for their own preferences. There are so many that in the end I just have to say that fox feels right. It's a common choice, but one that fits me better than a zebra or a lemur would."
Susan closed her notebook. "Well, I think that's plenty. There are some interesting parallels in the answers I'm getting from you and Jane. I wonder if your father would be willing-"
Jane put her paw on Susan's hand and took the notebook from her. "I think that's enough for one day."
Susan sighed, "Fine, if you insist. So what now? I mean, are we going to hang out like this, or is the pretty little man going to change back?"
Jamina shifted from one foot to the other. "Actually, I think I'd like to switch tails to something I can sit on. If we're going to be hanging out, I'd like to be able to relax properly."
Jane got up. "I'll help."
As they went into Mike's room, Victor came out of his. He was about to cross the room to the kitchen when he stopped and looked at Susan. "Odd, isn't it?"
Susan looked at him. "What?"
"How things work out. You're the sort that watches this sort of thing. Isn't it interesting how there's always a compatibility no matter how strange the combination? It sort of gives a person hope. Although I'm not sure what kind of person would be compatible with the people who marry landmarks and buildings." Mike's door opened and Victor shrugged. "I'd better be on my way. Mike's far away from average, but even he gets embarrassed by parental involvement." Victor pulled a bottle out of the refridgerator and passed Jamina and Jane on his way back. "Remember that your mother will be home in about half an hour."
"I'll change back in twenty minutes." Jamina replied.
As Jamina sat on the couch, Jane taking a position right next to her with Susan on her right, Susan asked, "Your mother doesn't like to see you as Jamina?"
"Mom's had a hard time with my many quirks," Jamina replied. "And if you want my frank opinion, I think it bothers her to see her son in any kind of fursuit. That was part of what attracted her to dad and it hammers home my own sexuality. Plus seeing me as an attractive girl causes its own conflicts. She's been with dad for five years, but she still isn't quite used to this kind of thing."
"Interesting," Susan said, her hand straying to her notebook.
Jane gave her a flat look. "Susan. Enough, mouth."
Susan threw herself back in her seat. "Bah. You never let me have any fun."
"Enough interviewing. Here," she reached over to her bag and pulled out a newspaper, "have a tabloid."
Susan took the proffered document. "Ooh! Batboy's back! I wondered if they'd ever do a follow-up on the last sighting."
"I worry about her sometimes," Jane said to Jamina. "So, we haven't got long before I have to say goodbye to my sexy girl." She put a paw around Jamina's shoulder. "I wish I could think of something to do."
Mike was blushing inside of Jamina's head. "This seems pretty nice to me."
Jane put her head on Jamina's shoulder and snuggled into her. "Yeah. It does."
Jamina put her arm around Jane. "So I guess you're getting used to the idea that I'm-"
Jane put her other paw on Jamina's muzzle. "We've got fifteen minutes, and I think I'd like to spend it forgetting about that."
Jamina sat back and let herself enjoy the feeling. She kept one eye on the clock and a few minutes later, she stirred. "I'd better go change."
Jane disengaged herself and got up. "I guess so. Well, since I'm making you late, I'd better help you change back on time." She looked back at the newspaper that screened her friend from view. "And don't think I didn't see that camera. If you publish and those pictures are in it-"
Susan put the paper down. "Relax. Actually, I was filming that. I don't think I've ever seen you look so happy and I wanted to save the moment."
Jane sighed. "Every time I think you've sunken to a new depth, you do something decent."
"It's how I got my membership to the broken expectations club." She made a shooing gesture. "Go on, before mama bear gets home and mauls her little cub."
In Mike's room, Jamina quickly slipped out of the dress. Jane began to pull down the zipper to help Jamina's head off, but Jamina turned, "Jane-"
"Jamina," Jane interrupted. "Whatever you've got to say, I think you'd better wait until you're done." She had an odd look on her face and seemed to be trembling a little. "Because if I have to spend much more time alone with you, I'm going to throw you onto that bed and make out with you as well as I can given my mouth and your muzzle." Jamina turned silently and Jane continued to pull the zipper down. "It's bad enough looking at your cute little butt."
Mike laughed as the head came off. "Our relationship seems to have gone quite far in a short time."
Jane pulled the tail out and put it on the bed. "Not too far yet, but I was serious. If I'd have had to look into those foxy eyes any longer I would have gone to first base with you and to hell with my reputation."
Mike pulled off the handpaws and footpaws. "Then I'm glad I complied. I wouldn't want to be the one to do anything to hurt your reputation." He took a bottle out of the box Jamina had been in and sprayed the inside of the suit. "I'll let it air out a little." He retrieved his normal clothes from the closet and hung up the dress Jamina had been wearing.
Jane opened the door and turned to Mike. "I'll go and wait in the living room."
Mike nodded and waited for Jane to close the door before beginning to take off the bodysuit.
While Mike was changing, Nora walked in and put her briefcase on the floor by the door. "Hello. You're Mike's friends?" She asked, seeing Susan on the chair and Jane entering.
"Yes, ma'am." Susan said.
Jane looked at Susan with naked disbelief. "Ma'am?"
Susan replied, "I don't know what came over me."
"I do," Victor said, walking into the room. "Hello, honey," he said to Nora, kissing her. Turning to the two young women, he said, "My wife's a formidable matron in the old British tradition. Even if it isn't immediately obvious, she still manages to get people to stand to attention if they aren't expecting her."
Nora rolled her eyes. "I still say I don't look like Anne Widdecombe. So, I assume you're Jane?"
Jane smiled, "Yes, ma'am. Wow, it's true."
"The paws and tail gave you away. Plus, you're not the one wearing black." She looked around. "So, where's Mike? He knows better than to leave a guest alone."
Mike emerged from his room. "Here, mom." Just had to get something.
Nora picked a wisp of red fur off of him as he passed. "Hmm. Or getting rid of something. Well, since you're all here, I'd better feed you. I'm making a stir fry tonight."
Jane shook her head. "Thanks, Mrs. Falkner, but we'd better be going home. Homework and all that."
Nora nodded. "Good. Admirable." She turned to Mike. "Yes, you can say goodbye on the porch. It's tradition, after all."
It was Mike's turn to roll his eyes. "You can turn the cool down, mom. I think they're adequately cowed." He followed Jane and Susan out.
Susan said, "I'll go to the bus stop."
Jane watched her go. "It worries me when the mouth is discreet. It makes me think something is wrong. Sorry she grilled you like that."
Mike smiled. "I was going to apologize to you for letting her. We didn't have too much time."
Jane put a paw on Mike's shoulder. "Plenty of time next week. I intend to make this a habit. I guess I'd better take off the paws and tail or people might think I'm weird."
Mike reached up and pulled off her ears. "These might tip them off."
Jane smiled. "Ah, memories."
Mike looked down. "I'm not sure how to ask this, but..."
Jane laughed. "I love how shy you are. Is this by any chance about a cliched, terminally boring annual Halloween dance that our school holds in the misguided hope of raising spirit?"
Mike said, "Well, if you don't want to go-"
Jane put a claw on his lips. "I'd love to. We'll show those squares a real costume. I might even let you pay for my ticket and call it a date." She turned, her tail swishing in his face, and left him on the porch grinning.