27: Deep Breath
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“Oh, shit,” I said, looking down at myself. Yup, those were little paws. I’d gotten so into the scritches that I’d lost control and slipped into fox form.

“You’re so cuuuute!” Eva squealed, reaching out with a shaking hand to run a hand through my fur.

Sitting down in her lap, I curled my tail delicately around my feet and looked up at her. Her big blue eyes were wider than I’d ever seen them as she carefully continued to stroke her fingers down my flank.

“This is very awkward,” I finally blurted, unsure how to begin explaining what had just happened.

Her expression widened further into a happy smile, and she leaned down to place a gentle kiss onto my nose. My heart stuttered and flopped around in my chest, and I let out a low whine of confusion.

“It doesn’t have to be awkward,” she breathed, looking me up and down with open awe. “You’re so pretty! Your eyes are gold, and your lashes… wow, I’m jealous. Your fur is so soft too…”

If I could blush in my fox form, I’d be red from hairline to boobs. Goodness gracious.

“I know,” I mumbled bashfully. “This isn’t the first time I’ve transformed.”

“And you didn’t tell me?” she asked, suddenly looking heartbroken.

“I haven’t told anyone!” I said quickly, putting my front paws up on her chest so I could get closer. “Except Saoirse, but she taught me how to do it in the first place.”

That seemed to settle her down slightly, and I pulled an expression that I hoped was a smile. I think it was. I’d practiced in the mirror.

“Okay, that’s fair…” she said quietly, a smile returning to her pretty face. “It’s so fucking cool though!”

She was still patting my side, but had to stop when I did a little circle in her lap, then lay down and stared up at her. It was sort of odd, but I felt much more comfortable about touching in this form than I did in my humanoid body. When I was just a small fox I didn't feel so bad about being close to her, instead of a girl who may or may not think about her friend’s lips.

Her eyes were so big and soft as she stared down at me. Her hands threaded back into my fur, starting again with the blessed scritches. “How does it work?” she asked, settling down a little.

"I have to alter my mental state," I replied. "I have to think a bit like a fox, and then poof. It's why I transformed while you were giving me scritches."

"What, like this?" She asked, going to town on my ears with her long fingernails.

A happy, trilling whine escaped my muzzle and I flopped out from my tightly curled ball and sprawled across her lap. "O-oh, wow. Yes. That," I stammered, eyelids fluttering.

She did that for all of five seconds before letting out a joyful squeal, and I found myself rather abruptly pulled into a cuddle. I didn’t mind though, she seemed to really really like the fox mode thing.

“Hey, careful,” I grumbled, trying to wriggle into a more comfortable position. “I’m breakable like this, okay?”

“Sorry, sorry,” she giggled, easing her hold on me slightly. “You’re just so cute! It’s so hard to stay still with that much cute energy in my brain.”

“Do I need to change back?” I laughed, licking at her chin with my big fox tongue.

Her expression went serious for a moment, and she leaned back so we could actually focus on one another. “Only if you want to. I know I’m playing a little rough but it’s your body. You can say no if I’m being too annoying, okay? We gotta remember that kind of thing, because we’re girls and everyone seems to want to touch us.”

I blinked at her, trying to compute all the disparate thoughts that she’d sent zooming around my brain. Trust was a prominent one. I could trust Eva, absolutely. Only someone who genuinely cared about you would say something like that while they were enjoying touching you. The next was that if she was saying that to me, it meant that she would have told me to stop if our cuddles had gone too far before.

All of that culminated in something completely unrelated popping out of my mouth like a fucking jack-in-the-box. “I’m Gauntlette.”

If I’d stopped to wonder why I said that, it would have been fairly easy to make the connection between the thoughts I’d been having and what I’d just said. I was lonely in my superhero guise. Nobody knew both, except Saoirse, but as much as I liked my cousin, she didn’t understand what it meant in the same way that Eva would. I think it was the split second realisation that she was undoubtedly my friend that had the words spilling out. I wanted to tell someone so badly, so I did.

She stared at me for several uncomprehending seconds before her eyes went wide with surprise. “You’re… what?”

Rather than go through the whole convincing shebang, I wriggled out of her arms and hopped onto the floor. From there, I transformed back into my Tia form and hoped that my experimental new enchantment would work.

I had a pair of new bracelets, unassuming little things made of brass that I’d picked up from a little antique shop. When I’d acquired them, they were nothing special, but after some careful carving and copying of a diagram that Isabet had drawn in her journal they were turned into something amazing.

Giving my friend a nervous smile, I carefully brought my fists up in front of me, wiggled my fingers slightly, then brought them together in a single, sharp movement.

There was a snapping sound, like steel giving out under pressure, and my gauntlets slammed into place over my arms. In the same moment, my glamour wrapped itself around me, completing the look. Although, I was still wearing the same clothes. I hadn’t gotten that part worked out yet, primarily because once I put the etchings in, I wouldn’t be able to change my look without a lot of work.

This was actually my first time using it outside of my testing, and the look on Eva’s face told me that all my hard work had paid off. She wasn’t even breathing.

“Uh, Eva?” I said in my huskier Lette voice. “I’m going to need you to take a breath.”

She shook her head, but did take a breath as she stepped off the bed and approached me. I was beginning to feel an icy fear grip my heart as she stared at me without expression.

“Why are you showing me this?” she asked, stepping up close to me.

I swallowed hard and glanced away for a moment. “Because I trust you, and because… I just wanted someone else to know. It felt shit, lying to you. Honestly, I just kind of blurted it out and then committed to it.”

“Tia…” she whispered, her hand coming up to cup my cheek. “You’re amazing. I know that this superhero stuff usually has you keeping it a secret and all that. Thank you for trusting me."

I bit my lip and let a huge smile take control. "Well, yeah. I guess. I can't think of any reason to keep it from you."

"Okay, because I'm like fifteen seconds from freaking the fuck out, and I just wanted you to know that," she told me, her tone rising in pitch as she spoke.

"Uh… why freaking out?" I asked, alarmed.

Eva took a long, deep breath, eyes closed and expression serene. Then, she screamed and threw herself backwards onto her bed again. "My best friend is the coolest person on Earth! The original real life superhero! My personal savior, my celebrity crush! This! Is! So! Fucking! Cool!"

Hitting the bed at speed, she bounced right back up to the sound of protesting bedsprings. The giggling, giddy, wild haired ginger girl then leapt into my arms and sent us both stumbling back against her dresser.

I couldn't hold back a laugh of my own as she leaned against me, breathing heavily while she babbled incoherently. Oh, Eva… she was so cute.

"Tia…" she breathed, suddenly going still. "Tia… were you at the protest because of me?"

"Yes," I said shyly. "You're the reason for Gauntlette. I was worried about you."

Her eyes softened, and she was quiet for a moment as we stared into each other's eyes, noses almost touching. "You're amazing," she whispered. "You… you put yourself between me and bullets… oh my god. I… Tia…"

"You're my best friend," I told her with a soft, heartfelt sincerity. "Of course I'd do everything in my power to make sure you're safe."

Her breath tickled over my lips as she gazed at me with wide eyed awe. We were so close, my heart was racing and my stomach was a riot of butterflies, but I didn’t pull away. I didn’t think she was going to kiss me or anything, but it was an important moment nevertheless. Pulling away might upset her or something. Maybe I was just overthinking everything.

“Everything in your power…” she murmured, finally breaking her silence. “That’s a lot. You’re like… a demigod, or something.”

I allowed myself a small, breathless giggle. “No, I’m definitely not that powerful. I’m just a mage, or maybe a witch. I don’t think there’s set definitions.”

“You’re still awesome,” she said earnestly, fingers gently caressing the side of my face. It felt so good, my stomach did little flips with every brush and flutter of her soft fingertips. Lips quirking in a smile, she continued, “And older. You could totally get us some booze like this.”

Laughing, I pulled her into a hug and shook my head. “I’d need some time to make a glamour for a card or something. Also another glamour for the booze buying because this one is… well, recognisable.”

“You look hot,” she said into my ear, a smile riding her tone.

Oh. Gosh. Those words, said right into my sensitive fox ear? Full body goosebumps.

“I am?” I asked nervously.

“Yup, like an older, more battle hardened version of yourself,” she said, still into my ear. God, the things that whispering was doing to me. I was glad to have her for support, otherwise I might have fallen over.

"I'm just me, though," I mumbled bashfully, dropping the glamour.

Eva burst out in a peal of giggles and stepped backwards to sit on her bed. "Cute. Is it okay if we sit back on the bed? I want to ask so many questions!"

I breathed a deep sigh of relief and nodded. God, what had just happened there? I felt all flushed and dazed! Plus… she'd called me hot. Was she being friendly or actually flirting? How did you tell the difference? I needed to find a lesbian guru or something to help me figure this shit out. Maybe an online message board or something.

"Tia?" Eva asked, snapping me back to reality.

I blinked. "Oh, right. Yeah."

 

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