Alex felt anger building up inside her. "Where's Mom?" she said, half-snarling. Her breath felt hot, and she thought she smelled a little smoke.
"I told you," her father snarled, his voice a little slurred - he'd been drinking again, hadn't he? - "none of your business. Go find some other freaks to stay with, and leave my wife out of this."
Who did he think he was? She was a dragon! Her kind were claiming mountains when humans were running around in skins poking things with sticks! He was just a weak, worthless little-
She balked at that thought. Damn it, she sounded like him! If she let her temper run away with her...argh. But...that didn't mean she was just going to give up. He couldn't just keep them out of their own house!
Mrs. Maple sighed. Bomb threat, two more students changed...what a day. Abbreviated or no, it had left her a bit drained. She smiled as she thought of her husband, still unchanged, waiting at home - he knew how to treat her after a day like this, and she certainly had some ideas on reciprocating...
She laughed softly to herself. They'd had a fairly healthy marriage before, but since her change...mmm. She knew what strangers assumed about her by her appearance, and...well, she didn't really care. She was in perfect control of herself, she was as committed to her relationship as ever...certainly she was nobody's "slutty bunny" stereotype. And having a strong sex drive was nothing she felt like being embarrassed about.
And...well, she was maybe a little embarrassed to admit that she'd been thinking of trying for a baby. She and Theo had put it off at first because she was still finishing her teaching degree, and they still hadn't gotten around to it, but...now it seemed more important to her than it had. Was this part of her change too? Either way, she didn't think she minded.
Thinking of children, her thoughts drifted to the Thompson...twins? Poor things. It was bad enough having their father as a neighbor - bad enough that he'd been harassing her and her husband ever since she changed, and giving poor Ms. Nagra a hard time just for being a different ethnicity, not even a different species...those poor girls had to live with him.
She shuddered to think how he would treat them now. He didn't seem violent, but that was hardly the only way to hurt and scar someone - especially a child. And with the way he viewed the changed...
He'd merely been annoying when the family had moved in a few years ago, round about the time she'd gotten married. Back then he was just the neighborhood "casual bigot," the guy who stood around at a block party emphasizing how he was "politically incorrect," which really just meant he'd found a way to make being a dick sound like standing up to the establishment.
But from what little she'd seen of him since the sun changed, things had been deteriorating pretty rapidly. She didn't know whether he'd always had alchohol problems, but he certainly did now...and his bigotry had carried over to the changed in even greater force. She'd seen even less of Mrs. Thompson...she wondered if she was all right.
Maple's attention was drawn to the sound of shouting and pounding in the direction of the Thompson house. She didn't have to think too hard to guess what that was about...and though she really just wanted to get home to Theo, she knew she'd better check in.
"LET US IN!" Alex yelled, pounding on the door. She was trying to make sure she didn't do any real damage, but the way her temper was flaring...oh, she harldy even cared at this point. He was just being so...ARGH!
"Sis," Sally said nervously, "maybe you shouldn't..."
"Go away, dammit!" her father snarled. "Get out of here before I call the police!"
Alex could hardly believe what she was hearing. How dare he! This was her house! "Let us in or I'll break this stupid door in!" she said, little licks of flame dancing within her mouth. "If you're in the way, you'll be-"
She stopped suddenly as she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned to look and saw Mrs. Maple, their neighbor. She...she looked so different - Mrs. Maple was always smiling and pleasant, but she looked quite serious now...it just seemed wrong, like their fighting had made the sun go away. "Alex," she said, "you know better than this."
Alex tried to ignore her, tried to keep her rage going, but the sound of the rabbit-woman's voice, the feeling of the gentle but very firm hand on her shoulder...it all melted away, her swelled pride deflating like a balloon, leaving her feeling weak and hollow. She'd just...she'd almost...
"Get off my porch, you stupid whore!" Mr. Thompson slurred. "I'll call the goddamn police if you freaks don't get out of here!"
Maple frowned, and all the softness left her face. "And what will you tell them when they get here and find an obviously drunk man locking his children out of the house?" she asked icily. "You know what they think when they find a situation like this? It usually winds up with CPS paying a visit."
Mr. Thompson remained silent for a moment, attempting to work up a streak of profanity, but only managed a sustained "fffff." There was a pause of a minute or two before the mail slot opened again.
"Wh-who's there?" came a woman's voice.
"Mom!" Sally said, her voice shaking. "It's me! It's Sally and Alex!"
"S-Sally? Oh thank God, you're all right...I'll unlock the door, just give me a minute to get clear..."
They waited, and then Alex nearly threw the door off its hinges rushing inside. Their mother looked in surprise at the identical dragon-girls before her...but she smiled through her tears and hugged them to her breast. "Oh, I'm just so glad you're all right!" she said.
She turned to Mrs. Maple. "I'm...I'm sorry for the things Andy said," she said. "He's...he's under a lot of stress, and sometimes he just..."
Maple held up her hand. "It's not your fault," she said. "But...Susan, we need to talk about this."
Mrs. Thompson sighed. "I'm...I've...well, I've got to get these two ready for...for...uh, can we talk about this another time?"
The rabbit-woman frowned. "It's important, Susan," she said. "Girls...I'd like to have you two over tonight to talk about your transition into the day school - would you please make sure your mother comes along?"
Alex nodded. "We will."
Karyn had settled pretty comfortably into her new routine. School, then swimming at the neighbors' (plus the swimming she got in during her time at school; she'd always enjoyed swimming, but now she was so perfectly built for it - and it was such great exercise!) Then home, where she'd lounge comfortably around her room.
It was pretty good lounging, too. The fact that her whole lower body lacked any bones meant that she could essentially arrange herself whatever kind of cushioning she needed - and any spare tentacles were handy for tasks where fingers weren't required. She knew even many of the changed students thought her transformation was freaky, but...the more time she spent this way, the more she decided that she actually liked it.
Her routine wasn't the only thing that had changed, either - she'd found herself eating as much seafood as she did anything else. She was grateful that her parents were okay with that - luckily, though they weren't in a coastal region of the country, with the specialty foods market booming, they'd been able to get decent-quality stuff for her for a fairly affordable price.
She did have to admit, though, that things got just a bit dull with it being so much trouble to spend time outside the house...she'd have to get Jon over this evening, maybe.
Karyn was distracted from her game when her mom entered the room, carrying a tray of snacks. She paused and turned to face her. "Hi, mom," she said. "...what's up?"
It wasn't too hard to guess, really. She'd seen her parents watching her leave for school, going out into the sun with nothing to fear...were they pondering...?
"Karyn, honey," her mom said, "your father and I have been talking, and...we'd like your advice. It's been over a month now and the sun still hasn't changed back. We're kind of wondering by now if it...well, if it isn't more or less inevitable that we'll be exposed..."
Karyn reached for a crab cake, hefting her water bottle with one tentacle. "And you're thinking of just cutting to the chase?" she asked. Her mom nodded.
"Not...we haven't given it very serious consideration," she said, "but...the thought has crossed both of our minds. And you seem...well, you seem quite happy. We'd like a view from someone who's actually been through this..."
The cecaelia-girl smiled. "Yeah," she said. "Yeah, I guess I am happy. But you should know, I'm kind of an outlier, Mom. I got a change that isn't very impairing, and doesn't freak me out, and actually enables some of the things I already liked - that's pretty rare."
Her mother frowned. "Oh, is it?"
Karyn nodded. "Most of the other transformees have gotten changes that are more something they don't mind than something they like. And there's quite a significant minority who are actually impaired and/or made uncomfortable by their changes...I mean, you know Jon not only became half-slug, but a girl as well. She's still dealing with that."
Her mom nodded thoughtfully. "I see. And there's no way to know beforehand what the results would be..."
Karyn shrugged. "It's a gamble, yes. I'm not going to tell you and Dad whether or not to do this, but...just be aware that you're risking quite a lot just to move back to a day schedule."
