"You're kidding," Lisa said, staring slack-jawed at the fox-woman. "He...he promoted you, just like that?"
Jay nodded. "Took me by surprise, too. I thought this was just going to be a sort of apology meeting for the harassment."
The deer-taur shook her head in amazement. "Wow. So what's this head honcho like?"
Jay shrugged. "I'm not quite sure what I think of him," she said. "He's not doing this out of altruism, I'm sure - sounds like he's wanting to cut ties with Anderson, and this is a good way to go about it, he thinks. You know, reinforce to the public that speciesist behavior isn't sanctioned by the company. He's definitely financially-minded - he though Toby wasn't smart for passing on the promotion. Strikes me as...not quite a schemer, but one of those people who like to have all the options planned for. Still, he seems like a better sort than Anderson, at least."
Lisa nodded. "So you're Toby's boss now...that's going to be a change."
The fox-girl frowned. "I hope not! Look, if this starts going to my head, you have my explicit permission and request to whack me with something until it stops. I wasn't even planning on this..."
Her friend regarded her curiously. "If you didn't want the job, why'd you take it?"
Jay shrugged. "An opportunity presented itself, and I was worried it wouldn't last. I'd have suggested a better candidate, but I think he was willing to go as far as he did because of the whole issue with my treatment by Anderson. As it stands, I've got a stake in ownership of the station, 15% over Anderson's salary, and he's agreed to take a somewhat hands-off approach, assuming I don't screw it up."
Lisa smiled. "That's nothing to be sneezed at, you know. Especially if some of the figures that were rumored for Anderson's pay were accurate..."
The fox-girl nodded, looking up at her co-worker in barley-contained disbelief. "Oh, they were accurate, all right. Honestly, I don't know what I'd do with it, myself."
The deer-taur laughed. "There are worse problems to have, Jay. Or are you trying to swear off material possessions?"
Jay grinned. "Oh, I'm not saying I won't set some aside for a rainy-day fund and a few toys, but really...these corporate power-players live in their own world, separate from us mere mortals. Interesting to observe, but I wouldn't want to live there."
Lisa smiled. "Well, you could hand it out to the rest of us mortals...I don't think any of us would complain."
"You're not too far off," Jay said, tails twitching eagerly. "I'm thinking of reinvesting it in the station. There's a lot we could use it for, and especially..." She laughed.
"Go on," Lisa said.
"Well," the little vixen said, "if I can buy out more of the station's stock...he's still the majority shareholder, but with only 49%. I believe he was telling me the truth when he agreed to let me run things my way, but even so...any assurance I can get that we won't get another situation like we had with Anderson would be a good one. That's a long-term plan, though...if I go too crazy with it, he might figure I'm trying to sieze power for some megalomaniacal reign of terror."
Lisa grinned. "You are a cunning little fox, after all. But you know, you're an idealist...which I respect, but it might not be the best strategy for business."
Jay nodded. "Maybe so, maybe not. I honestly think there might be a niche to be filled for honest, un-sensationalized news coverage these days. But even if that's not the case...I'm sure this Bernardelli guy will step in if I start to really screw things up. And if that happens, worst case, I'm back where I was...I think I can live with that."
"So if you're going to run the station your way," Lisa asked, "how're you going to run it?"
"Delegation," Jay said emphatically. "Really, I'm not management material - I'm just one little fox who likes to dig things up and write about them. My only real plan is to see that my den's protected. So I figure I'll hand the actual 'boss' stuff off to someone more suited...with proper compensation, of course."
"Have anyone in mind?"
Jay grinned. "Well, there's this lady I know who's more of a desk-job type, pretty good with organization, and has good people skills. Plus, I've known her a long time, and I know I can trust her."
Lisa gawked. "Y-you mean...?"
"If you're okay with it, absolutely."
"Who was that?" Terri asked, as Toby hung up the phone.
"Police department," she answered. "They wanted me to know...for some reason, Anderson came into the station, and apparently managed to communicate to them..."
Terri turned to his husband-turned-wife, surprised. "He...she did? What about?"
"Well, apparently she confessed," the anime woman said, staring off into space. "To hiring my assailant. They wanted to know if I wanted to reopen the charges..."
Terri gasped. "You're kidding. I wouldn't have thought she had it in her...what did you say?"
"No."
He stared at her, wide-eyed. "What? Toby, are you really sure you want to just let her...?"
The blue-haired young woman nodded. "Hon...it was one thing to not let it go by without protest, but...I don't want to get caught up in a vendetta over it. When you get right down to it, I'm fine. This is...still strange, but I have you, I have my health, and we have Riley...I just don't think it's that important."
"Like the job offer, huh?" Terri took his wife in his arms, and she smiled and returned the embrace, ruffling his already-disorderly hair. He still thought she might have been a good fit for the job, but...he had to admit, he was happy she wasn't going with something that would take time away from their family life.
"I guess you're right," he said. "It's just...for her to get away with it..." Honestly, he still wanted to lay into that bastard for trying to harm Toby...
"Well, it's not like she's gone unpunished," she said. "Honestly...I think she may have gotten more than she really deserved. Besides...I wasn't so far from her attitudes, myself..." She thought back, ashamed, to the paranoia she'd felt as it seemed more inevitable that she'd be changed...in a way, her transformation was kind of a relief, just to no longer have to fear the sun...
"I don't think you're really being fair to yourself," Terri said. "But...yeah. I guess karma caught up with her..."
Toby nodded. "She'll have enough troubles of her own; we don't need to add to them. I'd rather just work on dealing with our changes."
David looked nervously around the restaurant. Nobody seemed openly hostile, that she could tell, but she was getting a lot of odd looks. And it was just kind of weird, after a week at school with dozens of distinct species of transformees, to be in a place full of one kind and no others.
Not that the devils themselves were homogenous. Even discounting individual differences, there were multiple variants on the basic look, some quite significant. Just like the different sorts of, say, cat or dog-people, she mused. Some were small and spry, some were huge and brawny, some had wings, some didn't... Many of them, like Rachel, were naked, guys and girls alike. She felt embarassed by it, but at least they were strangers...that made it a little less awkward. And all of them seemed just as casual about it...
She felt awfully shy...nearly everybody in the restaurant was taking furtive glances at the angelic interloper, or just staring outright. Were all of them as...eccentric as Rachel? One of her was enough...what would she do if one of the guys came up to her and started...?
There was a solid thump on her shoulder that almost made her spew coffee across the counter. She turned to see that a towering, BrÃŒnnhilde sort of woman standing over her. She was clothed, but not especially comprehensively.
"Look at you!" the amazonian demoness chuckled, her voice booming yet nothing less than womanly. "A light in the darkness, yet timid as a mouse. Don't worry, kid, we don't bite...unless you want."
David shook her head, lost for words and more than a little nervous. This was all so weird...and she had no idea how to react to any of it.
"Aw, you're shaking!" the woman said. "You oughta eat something. Try the ribs, they're good...might want to stay away from the sauce, though. We here like our food pretty zesty."
David was hungry, but she wasn't entirely sure that was why she was shaking. "O-okay," she said. "S-sir, could I get a...?" The imp behind the counter nodded and went off to place the order.
The demoness turned to Rachel. "You're new here, I think?" she said. Rachel nodded. "Nice to see a new face," the older woman grinned.
"Um," David stammered, finding her voice again, "do you really get here...by being a...?"
"Seems like it," the demoness said. "At least, we've never seen any other kinds here that didn't come with one of us."
"Are there really that many of...us...around here?" Rachel asked. She had actually yet to even hear of another devil transformee...unless she counted Tiffany, which she didn't. Tiffany was...something else, something she didn't like.
"Well, see," the brawny devil-woman said, "'here' isn't quite where you probably think it is. Actually, we're not sure it's anywhere at all. We get folks from all over...seems like you can get here from about any...suitable neighborhood."
David's mind boggled. A restaurant for devils that was removed from normal space!? In itself, the idea was hardly stranger than many of the other things she'd seen, but did this mean that the sun could change the world as well as just the people in it? Or had this place always existed, and it was just that there hadn't been anyone to find it until now?
She looked around, taking it all in. The light in the restaurant was low, but still enough to see by. She realized that, with her halo, she really must be a "light" as the woman had said...no wonder she'd attracted so much attention. Even its glow seemed muted to fit the atmosphere, though.
Now that she looked again, the angel-girl noticed that the woman hadn't been kidding. The clientele had features of many different ethnicities, and if she listened to the babble of the crowd she could make out conversations that definitely weren't in English. There was variation in hair and skin color, too, but that seemed more random than tied to whatever they'd been before - everything from glossy pitch-black to green to blue, though Rachel's red skin and black hair were the most common. David wondered what the changed from countries where the standard "demon" conception wasn't like this thought of it...
Their food arrived shortly, and she turned back to the counter. Rachel had already torn into her porkchops. David took a look at her rib...it did look good, she had to admit. She checked on either side of the plate, but there were no utensils provided. Shrugging, she picked it up and took a bite.
It was good. Hot, juicy, firm but tender...definitely good meat. Thought she was a bit taken aback to find that even the glaze it had been brushed with was a bit spicy...good thing she hadn't gone for the barbecue sauce.
Anneza was trying to wrap her head around whatever Ellen was trying to convey to her. She really wished her sign language was better...she'd have to work on it as much as she could...and her "Angliss," too - not only did she need it for everyday use, but being able to work with finger-spellings for words that didn't have a sign or that she didn't know the sign for would be very helpful.
As best as she could figure out, the police wanted her to go home and wait to talk to them later...maybe in case they had any other questions. Except they were going to send the wolf-girl with her...and something about "play" and...one she didn't recognize. Ellen clarified it as "sister," "daughter;" so..."niece," then? "Play niece..." but she didn't have one.
Did they mean she was supposed to pretend that the wolf-girl was her niece? What purpose would that serve? Why? she asked.
If attack... wait, did that mean they were offering to protect her? From what, the voice? The voice was gone...it seemed to have no interest in her once she'd decided not to go along with it. Heck, it had even made fun of her before it disappeared...
Not that she minded the idea of having someone there to protect her. But...this girl? Granted, she was a wolf, but she couldn't be more than thirteen years old...what was she even doing in the police department? And how could even a more intimidating cop protect her from what, as far as she knew, was just a disembodied voice?
Still, at least they didn't seem to be sending her to jail. She knew she probably deserved it, but...she did not want to go to prison. To be locked up...to never be among the stars again...she couldn't even bear to think about it. Even though they apparently wanted her not to fly off for a while...it would still be a million times better.
The space-girl had a sudden thought. Ellen was here not because she was sick, but because she was unable to take care of herself in a world of people many times her size...but Anneza was, if nothing else, perfectly capable of handling day-to-day tasks in the human world. And Ellen could provide help with what Anneza couldn't handle...
Come home? she signed to the doll-woman. You help me, I help you?
Ellen smiled and nodded, but Anneza wanted to make sure she understood. Maybe danger. Maybe attack?
The doll-woman sighed. From what she'd gathered, this strange woman had gotten herself tangled up in something even the police didn't really understand...maybe it would be dangerous. Still... Okay, she signed. Friends.
Muriel watched as Jenny and the squirrel-girl chased each other across the playground. She was proud of her little girl. She'd noticed the argument forming between the two over the swing; her first impulse was to intervene, but she knew she couldn't go bursting in to solve all of Jenny's problems for her, much as she wanted to.
And the little white-haired girl had handled herself very well - she stood her ground without getting unnecessarily aggressive, and then she'd put herself at risk to help her adversary...and now they were laughing and playing together. Muriel had been a little worried that being a...a magical girl would lead Jenny to be violent, but...that didn't seem to be the case.
She still wasn't sure what all awaited her in the adventure of parenthood, but...good or bad, rain or shine, she was glad that she'd get to be a part of Jenny's life.
Aaaand there went the squirrel-girl's pants. That was hardly surprising, since they appeared to be shot anyway; the weird part was that she hardly seemed to notice, and kept running as if nothing had happened. Oh well, she had fur and a long shirt. Muriel didn't feel the need to interrupt their game for it.
Yes, this was going to be an interesting adventure.
Jon still wasn't sure what she thought of the idea. Drink from the waters of a woman who was made of water? There were so many potential subtexts there... Yet the naiad who was Tim's father hardly seemed like she was insinuating anything - she was merely offering refreshment for her guests, as she had provided for Karyn. It was almost...matronly, in a way.
"Why don't you come in, and I'll show you around?" Tim said.
"Good idea," the naiad said. "I need to talk to your mother about supper anyway...I don't suppose you girls want to stay for dinner?"
Jon and Karyn looked at each other, then at her. "Um, do you mind if we think about that for a bit?" the slug-girl asked.
"Of course," she said. She began to sort of pull herself together, loose waves and drops joining back into her body, until she looked almost solid. She was the same blue-green color as the creek which was her home, with little ripples of variation across her "skin" and a darker swirl of green for her hair. The fact that she was naked became only more apparent as her shape solidified - but like the offer of her waters, it seemed casual and polite.
They followed Tim inside. "Um, if you don't mind my asking," Karyn said, "you eat?"
The naiad smiled. "Oh, strictly speaking I don't have to eat at all. But I still enjoy the taste, and more importantly it's part of keeping company with my family."
Jon nodded. Interesting...
When they arrived inside, they were greeted by a human woman in her early forties, lightly built with short brown hair and horn-rimmed glasses. She smiled. "Oh, you've brought guests! Welcome, girls, it's nice to have you. Would you introduce us, Tim?"
The dark elf nodded. His mother was a little eccentric, but he was used to it. "Yeah. Mom, this is Jon and her friend Karyn, from school. Jon, Karyn, this is my mom."
The slug-girl and cecaelia-girl said hello. Jon thought she caught a bit of a smirk and a curious reassessment on the part of Tim's mom when he mentioned her name, but she wasn't sure on that, and didn't know what it would mean anyway.
The human woman then greeted the naiad with an entirely decorous kiss on the cheek, though Jon had a feeling this was mostly due to the presence of guests. "And what brings you in here, dear?"
Tim's transformed father smiled. "I was just going to see what you were thinking of for dinner...I invited these girls to stay, but they haven't decided yet."
Jon noted with interest how her waters remained confined to her human shape; she didn't even leave a trail of moisture behind. Which was more than she could say for herself, she realized - she hoped the people she'd visited didn't find that to be too much of a hassle.
His mother nodded. "Do either of you girls have any special dietary needs?"
Karyn shook her head. "Don't mind us, we're good for pretty much anything," she said. "Thanks for asking, though."
"Mm. Well, I'll have to see what we have," Tim's mom said. "Tim, make sure to give Melody a little space. I don't know if your father mentioned, but she's been..." She looked at the guests. "...um, dealing with personal problems."
"It's okay," Jon said. "One of our classmates is a harpy...it's not hard to do the math." The human woman nodded.
"So, let me give you the tour," Tim said. They followed him, leaving his parents together in the kitchen.
