Will's evening was finally turning nice; she'd gotten the report on Collins finished and had headed out for a drink before turning in for the night. Not that she was having what she'd like to be having; it was still being hashed out how age-specific legal restrictions applied to transformees whose physical age was changed, and what with her being twelve or thirteen, they weren't going to sell her alcohol until that was well and truly settled.
But the management had decided that she could be allowed in for the time being, at least. They served a pretty nice non-alcoholic cocktail here, and the atmosphere was still pleasant. She was just settling in the corner with her drink, enjoying the way scents of the mixed liquids played with her nose, when she heard a conversation over at the bar start to heat up.
Some drunken jackass was shooting off his mouth about the two changed people at the bar, blah blah inferior blah. Will had heard this more than a few times before, as she suspected the bartender had, but this fellow was being pretty loud about it. Normally she didn't let this kind of thing get to her, but God, did he have to butt in on her evening?
Then suddenly, like blink-of-an-eye suddenly, he was on the floor, and another human man was standing over him. Will sighed; she was off-duty, but still...best to get this under control before it got any worse. She stood up, did her best to square her slender shoulders, and walked over to the bar, stepping between the two.
The drunk looked up at her from the floor. "Whoth' hel're you?" he slurred. She gave her best impassive-yet-civil stare and flashed her badge. "Will Fletcher. Police department."
That sobered him up a bit. (A bit.) "He hit me!" the man shouted, pointing at the tall fellow. "You saw!"
"Actually I didn't," Will admitted. "But I'll be taking statements. In the meantime..." She glanced at the bartender, who nodded. "...I'll have to ask you to leave the premises."
He scowled at her. "You can' do that!" he yelped. "Yur notta real cop!"
She frowned, one eyebrow raised and one ear laid back. "Would you like to find out?" she said. "Drunk and disorderly is still a petty misdemeanor in this state, you know. I could take you in, and it's a long walk back to the station...sun might be up by then."
There was a pause as he worked out just what she was saying. "You wouldn'..."
"Not just yet, I wouldn't, but don't try my patience. Look," the wolf-girl said, turning to the barkeep, "can you call a cab for this guy? The way he's looking, he might just collapse and wind up in the light on his own..."
The young man nodded and turned to the phone. "Now," Will said, "why don't you go wait by the door while I speak to this gentleman." She was none too subtle about the emphasis. The drunken man got up and staggered toward the door.
She turned to the tall man - merely tall in comparison to the other adults, he towered over her. "Look, I'm not on duty right now," she said, "but just so that I have a statement..."
He huffed angrily. "Yeah, I punched him," he said. "Did you hear what he said about my daughter!?"
She nodded. "I heard, and I understand. Given the circumstances, we'll say I'm letting you off with a warning. Just please, remember this: you don't lose your legal protection just because you're being a jerk. He's probably not even going to remember this in the morning, but if he did he could press charges for battery, and you did attack him."
The tall man sighed. "Of course...and he can just slander my Rachel and get away with it."
Will shrugged. "Like I said, I sympathize," she said. "But the law's the law."
She grabbed her cocktail from the table in the corner and headed over to the door, where the drunk was waiting. The cab arrived shortly, driven by a squat, sturdy man who appeared to be part armadillo and part Danny DeVito. "Try not to piss him off, too," she told the drunk. "He might not be so leery of exposing you to the sunlight."
It was rather late by the time Susan and the girls got back from Mrs. Maple's house, only a few hours from sunrise. Susan sighed; Andy was gone again, and she pretty much knew where. She helped the girls get ready for bed; Sally went right to sleep, eager to get back into a day schedule, but Alex stayed up for a while, not saying much but obviously weighed down by the events of the day.
She didn't want to just leave Alex on her own, but...she didn't want to press her, either. Finally, before she'd decided to move, Alex spoke up. "Mom?" she asked. "Just because he's my father...how does that make it okay?"
Susan sighed. She didn't want to talk about this; it hurt even to think about, and she had to admit that she was ashamed of herself for letting it go on this long... "It...it doesn't," she said. "I...I've been blinding myself to that for...far too long. That's not fair to any of us, especially not to you and Sally...I'm sorry, Alex."
"But you're blaming yourself again!" the dragon-girl said. "It's his fault, it's all his fault...but you still...why do you still want him?"
"N...no," her mother replied. "The things he's said, and the habits he's fallen into...those are his fault. But if I wasn't...if I wasn't playing along, things might not have gotten this bad...that I have to take the blame for. Alex, I know you don't understand why I still love your father, but...you know he wasn't always like this. I have to see that every day, that the man I love has fallen so far..."
She was crying again, but it wasn't the little trickle she hadn't been able to repress, like before - she was really crying. "I don't want to lose him completely," she said. "I want him back, back the way he was. I know I can't just make that happen, but if I just abandon him...I don't think it ever will."
Alex found herself tearing up now, the tears beginning to trickle down her cheek. Her mother was hurting so much...even if she'd been trying to hide it, it was obvious she had felt it all along...why did she have to go and tear this wound open? She hugged her mother, the unfamiliar feelings it generated completely lost in the moment. "I-I'm sorry, Mom..." she said.
"N-no," her mother sobbed, "you...you d-don't have anything to be s-sorry for, honey." She clasped her daughter to her, holding her tight. "You were...you w-were the one who s-saw this all along...you d-didn't p-pretend...I shouldn't have ignored you. I...I still w-want to bring your f-father back, Alex...but I'm not going to p-put that ahead of you and Sally anym-more..."
Alex didn't answer, just staying there, in her mother's embrace, until she fell asleep.
Steve sighed contentedly as the movie finished. Sitting here on the couch with her mom, munching popcorn and watching a movie...for a while she'd almost forgotten about her predicament. And it had been her mom's idea...even as much as she was talking about Steve not trying to hide from this, at least she didn't mean that the flower-girl should have to have being a flower-girl at the forefront of her mind every waking moment.
Of course, as nice as the respite had been, now that the movie was over her problems were rapidly coming back to mind. They'd gotten some clothes for her, at least...she didn't want a bra and she didn't think she needed one, but at least she had shirts that fit her right. And they'd picked up some pants that might work around her petal-skirt...they stayed up when she wore them in the changing room, but it remained to be seen if that would work in practice.
They'd got similarly-cut panties for her, too...that was almost as embarassing as the bra, but Steve had to admit that at least that was something she really needed - whether she was wearing jeans or just her skirt, this was something she definitely wanted covered. She thought of the things the saleslady had said about transformees not wearing clothes...how could they do that!? She was mortified by the idea, and she hadn't even grown up with all this stuff to hide!
She brushed her teeth, went to the bathroom, and then said goodnight to her mother, then went to go to bed. The flower-girl sighed as she looked at the nightgown her mother had bought...it wasn't that it was frilly or skimpy, (if anything it was a bit too heavy for this weather,) but...it was a nightgown. Boys didn't wear those, did they? But her pajamas were in the wash, and she didn't want to sleep naked...
Sighing, Steve slipped it on and went to bed. She stayed awake for some time, wondering what tomorrow would bring.
Kyle thought about what he'd heard, about being one of the last humans in his neighborhood - was there even a point in trying not to be changed? It was beginning to seem inevitable the more he read...but then, he had avoided it this far, hadn't he? Unless his stocks all tanked, there was nothing preventing him from just staying in here the rest of his life, if that's what it took...
Oh, this was too complicated to think about now. He'd make his decision in the morning, when his head was clearer. He needed sleep right now, only he couldn't get to sleep...but a little gaming session would help that. He went to his PS2 - not one of the ones in the cluster, his actual gaming machine, though it also had an Internet connection.
He popped in one of the better MMORPGs for the system - he wasn't actually that much of a fan, but the quests were fun, and grinding was a convenient way to keep his brain busy long enough for him to actually get to sleep. He felt himself growing bleary, tired, sleep slowly overtaking him...
Snoring loudly, Kyle's sizable body slumped over the PS2, illuminated by the moonlight streaming in from the open window.
