"Practice ran a little long," said Sarah McMillan as she walked down the stairs, tossing her coat and a duffel bag embroidered with "LAKE POINT CHEER" into one corner of the basement.
"Aw, don't worry about it, sweetie," said Leonard. The two of them kissed briefly. "I've told you, you don't have to get all dolled up to come over here."
"But I like looking pretty for my man," Sarah protested, a tongue-in-cheek pout briefly crossing her glossy pink lips. She'd obviously taken the time to shower, change, and do her makeup and hair after cheerleading practice, given that she was dressed in a pink blouse, black ruffled skirt, black leggings, and black shoes with modest heels, plus earrings and a necklace. Her blonde hair had two pink ribbons in it, with a matching ribbon as an accessory tied around her tail.
"I was just telling Jon about my invention, the RAM," Leonard told Sarah. "I was saying that after I gave men ram's horns, I figured I needed to do something for the ladies, so I gave them all horse tails."
Jon chortled. "Okay, that's not kindergarten biology, maybe junior high, where we start talking about secondary sexual characteristics, and how human females kept their tails as they evolved because they serve to attract men from the back. What next, are you gonna tell me you used your machine to make Sarah your girlfriend?"
"Well, yeah," admitted Leonard. "I mean, I've already told her this, but I made it so hot girls are attracted to nerds."
Jon shook his head. "Of course they are. That's something else from junior high. Females consider the males with higher intelligence to be better providers."
"That's what I told him," said Sarah.
"So he's told you about this RAM thing?" Jon asked, just as his phone buzzed in his pocket. "Wait, hang on."
It was a text, another mirror selfie from Amy Jacobson, twisting herself at an unnatural angle to both thrust out her chest and thrusting out her ass to show off the chestnut-brown tail that matched the hair on her head.
Jon groaned. "Sarah, you're head cheerleader. Can't you do something about Amy bugging me all the time? She knows I'm dating Karyn."
"What a waste," Sarah said with a slow shake of her head. "Karyn's not even a cheerleader."
Jon shoved his phone back in his pocket with no response. "I knew you wouldn't be sympathetic."
"4-syllable word," Sarah pointed out. "No wonder Amy's hot for your brain."
"Anyway," Leonard interjected, "yes, I told Sarah about this 'RAM thing,' as you called it, just as I am doing with you now."
"I didn't believe a word he was saying. At least, of the words I could understand," said Sarah. "Until he did something for me."
"Really? You saw reality change?" Jon asked.
"Yeah, he basically told me to make a wish," Sarah said with a giggle. "I said he should be dressed more like Aladdin."
"That wasn't the wish, that was cosplay," said Leonard. "What she actually asked for was..."
