=::= Tally's PoV =::=

I frowned as I stared at my phone. More specifically, at the text I just received. "Hey Beth? My brother Dylan wants to come over and talk with me. What do you think I should tell him?"

My girlfriend frowned and started to respond, then she frowned harder and looked over at me with a puzzled expression on her face.

"Your brother?" she asked as if she wasn't sure she heard me right. "Dylan wants to come here? To talk to you?"

I nodded, "Yeah. I don't know what to think about that."

"Aren't we going over there for dinner on Friday?" she asked. "What's he want to discuss that can't wait a few days?"

I shook my head, "No idea. From the way he worded his text I think he wants to talk in private though? Or at least, away from mom and dad."

Beth frowned at that, then after a couple seconds she shrugged. "If you don't mind seeing him then I guess it's fine? Just remember we're going to be busy tonight, and we'll need time to get ready too. So whatever he wants to discuss it'll have to be wrapped up in a couple hours. Probably by three-thirty or four?"

Today was Monday the twenty-first, it was the first day of our winter break, and my girlfriend and I had been spending the day being very lazy. We were laying atop her bed, just sort of hanging out and cuddling and stuff.

I'd been playing a game on my phone and she was reading some sort of textbook on her tablet, which seemed weird since we had like two and a half weeks before any homework was due.

"Yeah I haven't forgotten about the coven stuff," I responded. "Winter solstice today, full moon Wednesday night, so the coven's doing a big thing tonight. Anyways I'll tell him he can come over but he'll have to go by three-thirty."

After I sent Dylan my reply I sighed, "We're going to have to get up now. And we should really put on something more than just our nightgowns."

"Or at least I should," I added with a grimace. "You don't have to meet with him, you can hide out up here."

Beth shook her head as she put her tablet aside, "I'll keep you company. I know he's been acting better lately, but that's with your parents around. Even if he can't physically hurt you, I still don't entirely trust him yet."

That made me smile, "Thanks Beth. It's kind of wild when I think about it? First we got those protective tattoos so he literally can't hurt me, now we know enough magic that if he tried I could totally put him in his place."

"It's definitely wild," she agreed. "But if that ever happened you'd have to explain it to my mom, and probably the rest of the coven. So let's hope it doesn't happen."

"Yeah I know," I said as I rolled my eyes.

We both finally got up off her bed, then I went into my room and quickly pulled on some black leggings and a large grey long-sleeve top. I was tempted to stay barefoot but even with the heat on the floors were a little cold downstairs so I pulled on some thick black socks as well. Then I took a few minutes to brush my hair and my tail, before I finally met my girlfriend at the top of the stairs.

Beth was definitely the opposite of me. She was wearing some light grey shorts and a tight white t-shirt, leaving her arms and legs bare. And she was barefoot too. She wasn't exactly immune to the cold, but since becoming part arctic fox it definitely bothered her a lot less than anyone else I knew.

We'd only just got comfortable again on the living-room sofa when there was a knock at the door, so I got back up and went to answer it. Sure enough it was my brother, and I couldn't help feeling a little wary as I motioned for him to come in.

I hung up his coat while he got out of his winter boots, then I led him into the living-room where he sat in one of the chairs while I joined Bethany on the sofa again.

"So what did you want to talk about?" I asked. "We've got a couple hours, but like I said in my text we've only got until three-thirty before we have to stop."

Dylan nodded, "Yeah I saw that. So uh, where's everyone else?"

"My mom's at work," Beth responded, "And Jenny's out with a friend. It's just me and Tally here."

"I hope you don't mind that Beth's here too?" I asked my brother.

He shook his head, "Nah that's fine."

After a couple seconds I realized he wasn't going to follow up with anything else so I asked again, "What did you want to talk to me about?"

"So one of my classes at college," he finally started to explain, "It's a social sciences thing? I only took it because it was supposed to be an easy credit and it satisfied the humanities requirement on the course I'm taking? Only it turns out the prof's a big fan of that stupid spell you used, and she's making it a big part of the class right now. Like because of how it's impacting society or whatever, I don't know."

He made a bit of a face but continued, "So anyways I have to interview someone who's used it? And you're the first person I could think of."

I couldn't help feel a little disappointed that's all he wanted to talk about. I was also a little confused, since I knew he had to know people at college who'd used the spell.

Then Beth asked what I'd been thinking, "You don't have any friends who've used it? I'd have thought half the students at college might have at least tried it, even if it's just some minor cosmetic thing like hair or eye colour."

"Yeah I know a couple guys who've done that," he shrugged. "But nobody who's used it for real? Like I mean, for big serious stuff like you did. So what do you say, can I ask you some questions about it?"

I took a moment to think it over, then finally nodded "Ok Dylan, you can interview me. Are you going to record it or something, or are you going to take notes?"

He pulled out his phone and set it to record audio, then started a kind of clumsy and not very well thought-out interview.

The first few questions were pretty easy, like how'd I hear about the spell and what made me think it was safe or a good idea and stuff. Did I know other people who'd used it first? Did anyone try and coax me into using it, or was it my own idea. That kind of thing.

It wasn't until we'd wasted almost a half hour that he finally started asking meaningful questions. The first serious one was, "How'd you decide to turn yourself into a foxgirl?"

"I didn't," I told him, even though he'd already heard the story a dozen times the day it happened. "It was an accident, I used the spell when I was sleepy because the full moon peaked really early in the morning? And instead of focusing on what I meant to do, my mind wandered and I turned myself into what I really wanted deep down inside."

"Right," he nodded. "But um, so how did you know you wanted this deep down?"

I rolled my eyes again, "I'm trans Dylan, I was AMAB but my actual gender is female. So my body didn't match how I felt inside, and Cindy created her spell so trans people could fix their bodies. If you want to talk to me about trans stuff that'll probably take up another hour or two, but you wanted to discuss the spell so I'll leave it at that."

"Ok," he frowned. "So um, that's why you wanted to be a girl. What about the fox stuff?"

"I just really like foxes," I replied with a shrug.

He was still frowning as he commented, "Huh."

"So um, ok what was it like? Using the spell I mean? What did that feel like?" he asked after a long pause.

I smiled, "I'm honestly not sure? Like I said, I was half asleep when I did it. I kind of dozed off, then woke up to discover I was a whole lot shorter, had fuzzy ears and a fluffy tail, and oh yeah I was a girl. It was honestly pretty amazing, but also kind of scary when I realized how you and mom and dad were going to react."

"I was wide awake when I used it," my girlfriend spoke up. "It doesn't feel like anything, really. You don't feel yourself change, if that's what you're asking."

She went on to describe it in detail, "When you finish reciting the spell there's a pause of about a second? That's when you should be focusing on what you want to happen. Then some people feel something inside, others don't. Some folks describe it as a shift, like the magic stored inside them gets released? Then you're surrounded by swirling light, the light fades, and it's over. There's no sensation of changing, but after it's over you notice the differences. Like in my case, as soon as the light faded I could feel my tail."

"Huh," Dylan said again. "So um, what's that like? Having a tail I mean? Or having your ears different?"

"Honestly, it's feels really awesome!" I replied with a wide smile. "And it's super hard to describe? Having a tail is a little like getting an extra limb. You can't control it like another arm or leg, or at least fox-kin can't? I can control mine a bit when I focus, but mostly it does its own thing."

Beth added, "Ears are a little easier, but it still takes focus. Otherwise they'll just move around on their own, focusing on whatever noises happen."

"And they're always broadcasting our emotions," I grimaced. "Ears and tail. If you're happy, sad, scared, angry, whatever? They just tell everyone around you how you're feeling."

My brother frowned, "That kind of sucks, doesn't it? What if you want to keep stuff to yourself?"

I teased, "I know it goes against the whole 'tough guy' thing Dylan, but boys are allowed to have emotions too you know?"

"Seriously though," I continued, "It took me a little while to get used to that. But now I think it's better this way? Hiding your emotions or bottling them up isn't healthy. It's better to be honest about them, with yourself and with others. If you spend too much time keeping stuff like that hidden from everyone, you can end up hiding them from yourself too. And that's not healthy."

All that left him with a thoughtful frown, and he was quiet for another half minute or so. I couldn't tell if he was still thinking about the emotions stuff or if he was trying to come up with another question, but eventually he moved on to the next thing.

"So um, sorry if this is insensitive or whatever," he said, "But like, you were a guy before? And now you're a girl. But you're still into girls? Isn't that gay or something?"

I had to force myself not to laugh, but I was grinning as I replied, "It's very gay. I'm totally gay. The gayest girl who ever gayed with girls."

Then I gave him the serious answer, "Sexuality, gender, and the physical junk between your legs are three different things Dylan. And none of that's new, it has nothing to do with Cindy's spell. All the spell lets you do is easily change your junk. And the rest of your body. Gender is how you feel inside, if you're a boy or a girl or something in between. Or something completely different. All or none of the above."

"And sexuality is who you're attracted to," Beth took over. "Some folks are into guys, some folks prefer girls, and some folks like all of the above, or none of the above."

My brother asked, "So let's say someone's gender is boy, and their junk is boy, but they used the spell and turned themself into something else. Like a girl. What would that do to them?"

"They'd probably feel gender dysphoria," I replied. "That's what I was dealing with for most of my life, until I used the spell. That person's body wouldn't match what they felt inside, and honestly it's an awful feeling. They'd probably use the spell again the very next full moon to put things back again."

"Would that mess them up?" Dylan asked. "Like would it mess up their head or something? Or after they were back to normal would it all be ok again?"

"They should be fine after they reversed the spell the next month," I replied.

He frowned again, "So uh, last question then. Same scenario, but what if when they changed into a girl they didn't hate it? Like what if it didn't bother them? Or what if they liked it?"

I shrugged, "Then maybe they were really a girl all along? Or maybe they're gender fluid? Or gender casual. Some folks are comfortable as either a boy or a girl. But if this person discovered they really liked being a girl, and changing back to their normal body made them feel worse, then they were probably a girl all along and just didn't know it."

"Actually now I'm curious," I added as I looked at my brother. "Do you know someone who's done that? Like experimented with the spell and discovered they liked another form better?"

He shook his head, "Nope. Like I said, this is just for my social sciences class."

Then he picked up his phone and got to his feet as he stated, "Anyways I think that's all my questions, so I'll get going. Thanks for the uh, interview. I guess I'll see you on Friday."

His denial and the way he suddenly wanted to leave made me think I was right, that maybe some friend of his was experimenting with the spell and unexpectedly hatched. I didn't bother pushing for more information though, I figured it was none of my business.

So I walked him to the door and got him his coat and stuff, then watched as he hopped in his car and drove away.

"That was weird," my girlfriend said when I went back into the living-room. "I hope it's not going to make things awkward when we have dinner with your parents on Friday."

I shrugged, "I'm sure it'll be fine. Anyways what do you think the coven thing's going to be like tonight? Fun party or boring business meeting?"

"Probably boring? But there'll be free food so you know Amanda and Sadie will be there with their girlfriends again," Beth replied with a smirk.

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