Santa's Secret Transfic Anthology Vol. 2 / Everyday Sweets #2 (Epilogue)

The Sable and the Statue

by rooibos_chai

Epilogue

A few months later…

“Charlotte? Two coffees for Charlotte?”

With a jolt and an “Eep!” sound, I jumped in place, my heart racing. As it had turned out, getting to have my perfect body hadn’t magically cured my anxiety, but it was something I was doing my best to manage, with help.

And speaking of that help, I felt a gentle hand rest on the top of my head, scratching softly behind my ears. I made a content little noise, looking up at Jackson.

“You know,” he said. “You could always wait outside where it’s quieter, and then I could bring you your coffee when it’s ready.”

“Yeah,” I said, “but I want to hear them say my name!”

He chuckled. “It is a good name. My favorite little Char-coal smudge.”

I puffed my cheeks out, pouting theatrically, but he just grinned at me. So then I had to poke him in the stomach in a place where I knew he was ticklish. 

“Ahaha!”

Seeing weakness I went in for the kill, intensifying my tickles fivefold--and maybe also just enjoying the excuse to touch him a lot.

“Lottie--Ahahah--Lottie, stoooop!”

Satisfied, I relented, but from his grin and the way his ear twitched, I knew I was going to pay for that one.

“Though you know, now that I think about it…” he said, affecting an air of thoughtfulness. “I’m not sure if I should be calling you Lottie.”

“What?” I said, suddenly worried. “Why?”

He blinked at me with big innocent eyes. “Because how am I supposed to call you Lottie when you’re so little!” Once again, his hand found the top of my head, ruffling my hair.

I gave him another glare, but it was entirely undercut by the blush spreading across my cheeks. I didn’t want to admit it, but every time he reminded me of just how small and cute I was now, it made me feel all… warm and tingly. Of course, he had figured that out, too, which meant that he did so as often as possible. It was really inconvenient! I hoped he never stopped.

I started to move off in a huff, but then found myself stopped as Jackson leaned over, draping his arms around me to hold me in a hug from behind. Oh. And, um, there was also this. Every now and again, Jackson would find some excuse to have us end up in the same position as that fateful statue, and well… then I obviously didn’t have any choice but to mimic the pose.

So I relaxed in his arms, enjoying his warmth, before turning my head and looking up, where he was waiting with a smile. My eyes fluttered shut as he leaned down even further, and then, our lips met and--

“Wow, get a room, you two,” an acerbic voice cut in, shocking me out of the moment.

When I looked up, a familiar shark was holding two cups of coffee, grinning at us. At their side, a foxgirl was tugging on their sleeve, looking a little miffed.

“I tried to get Sawyer to stop,” Snow said apologetically. “But you know how they are.”

“Well, at that rate, your coffee was going to get cold,” Sawyer said, raising one of the cups in our direction. “So I figured I’d help out.”

“Oh!” I said. “Right. Thank you!” I somewhat regretfully disentangled myself from Jackson’s arms, and then reached out to take my cup of coffee. Jackson did the same, and then sheepishly gave Sawyer a fistbump.

“Are we still on for D&D this weekend?” Snow asked, her floofy tail swishing back and forth as she looked at me hopefully.

“Yeah!” I said, wiggling a bit with excitement of my own. I had never played a game like that before, but from how Snow had explained it, it sounded really fun. “I can’t wait!”

Sawyer snickered at me, and I gave them a confused look, but they waved it off. “Sorry, it’s just… when you’re excited your hair kind of poofs out and you get all floofy and bendy and… well, it’s cute.”

I felt myself blushing, not sure how to take that, but then Jackson had his arms around me again, his chin resting on my head. “It is cute,” he agreed. “But don’t you have your own girlfriend to fluster?

Sawyer tapped one finger against their chin, slyly looking over to the foxgirl at their side. “You know, I do.”

“W-w-wait,” Snow said, fiddling with the fabric of the cute dress she was wearing. “Sawyer, not in public…”

“Did she tell you I made her a costume of her D&D character? And that she’s going to wear it to the game?”

Oh, now Snow’s face was bright red. “Sawyer!” she hissed.

The shark’s grin was wicked, but they just winked at us. “See you two on Saturdaaay.” They strode off, with Snow bouncing at her side, the two of them whispering furiously.

“Oh gosh,” I said. “That one is trouble.”

Jackson laughed. “Sawyer’s nicer than you expect though. And to be honest, I think they’re only like that because Snow likes it.”

“Huh.”

“Sounds like someone else I know, actually,” he said, but when I whirled around to swat at him, he had his most innocent smile on. Then I caught sight of the clock on the wall behind him.

“Oh gosh!” I said. “I’m going to be late to class!”

Jackson’s ears perked up. “Then we should get going.” He reached down to take my hand, and the two of us set off, making our way through campus as quickly as we could--though my legs were a lot shorter than his now, so while he could just take his long loping strides, I had to practically scurry to keep up.

This might be where you’re wondering why I still had classes. After all, I had completed my capstone project, and… well, Professor Tveit had said she was “more than satisfied” which probably meant more to me than the highest praise from any art critic in the whole world. It was only afterwards that I had the uncomfortable realization that I had to figure out what to do next with my life, but Professor Tveit had been there to help. She let me know the department was looking for assistant instructors for its community outreach and continuing education programs, and before I knew it, I was signed up to teach classes, even though I didn’t feel even remotely qualified. Despite my reservations, so far it had been going well--as long as I managed to show up on time.

Thankfully though, campus was quiet today and it wasn’t like the fine arts building was particularly far. Before I knew it, we were standing in the hall outside my classroom, and we even had enough time for one last goodbye kiss--just a quick one!

And it had to be quick, because we were almost interrupted a second time.

“There’s the boyfriend we had heard so much about,” one of my students said as he strolled up. He was an elderly gentleman whose peacock-feather hair was somewhat faded but still immaculately kept. “Doris, I guess you can stop angling to set her up with your good-for-nothing grandson.”

“Hmph,” the turtle lady at his side said, adjusting her glasses. “I keep telling you, he’s perfectly respectable, he just needs someone to give him a little ambition.” She looked Jackson up and down and her eyebrows floated up. “Though point taken, he’s no match for this tall drink of water. Hey there, handsome.”

“Um, hi,” Jackson said, his eyes round as he tried to figure out exactly how to respond to a flirty reptile four times his age.

I rolled my eyes, and gave his hand one last squeeze before stepping in front of him and facing my students. I put on a calm smile, clapping my hands together lightly. “It’s so good to see you, Mr. Beckett, Mrs. Duvall. We’ll be doing a bit of clay modelling today; I trust you’ve both brought sample sketches as I had asked last class?”

They shared a glance, and then hastily muttered some excuses, fleeing into the safety of the classroom. I smirked. Students will be students, whether they’re eighteen or eighty-four.

“Huh,” Jackson said. “You’ve really found your place, haven’t you?”

I paused, surprised by his words. I took a moment to consider that. Had I? I certainly felt a lot more stable now, and it was really nice finding out that the things I enjoyed were also things that other people would appreciate. But then again, I also didn’t know if this was exactly where I would be forever. I mean, eventually Jackson would finish grad school, and maybe I’d decide to open a small studio or something. Who knows? I found teaching to be fun, but there were a lot of options out there in the world. Maybe I’d stumble into some other opportunity just as compelling.

I glanced over at him, chewing on my lip. The funny thing was, I had created this whole statue of my ideal self, and even though I had thought it to be complete fantasy, somehow I had gotten exactly what I wanted. But now if you asked me to do the project all over again, it’d probably be slightly different. Not that I wanted a different body--and definitely not that I wanted there to be a different person with me, but… Well, now that I was happy and comfortable and supported, it’s like I could dream for the first time. 

Now when I thought about my ideal future, I had even more wild and fantastical thoughts, things that seemed just as impossible as they did attractive. I even had one particular little dream about a comfortable house, somewhere in a quiet neighborhood, with a nice garden and a small studio space and plenty of room for me and Jackson… and… and maybe even more than that, maybe even room for a family…

But the important thing was that it wasn’t just my dream any more. It was ours.

I smiled up at Jackson fondly, reaching to take his hand one more time. “It’s not so much a place that I’ve found,” I murmured. “But a person.”

He blinked back at me in confusion, but then his eyes lit up. “Oh! Because you get to be yourself now, right?”

I just smiled. “Something like that.”

Together, we’d carve out our own future, no matter how strange or improbable, and I was certain: it would be beautiful.

Ingredients for a good Rooibos Chai:
1 fresh egg, ready to be cracked
1 part comedic misunderstandings, as spice
1 part sappy romance, to sweeten

Stir vigorously and simmer over a low heat.

For more, check out her Scribblehub and Patreon! 

— rooibos_chai

Santa's Secret Transfic Anthology Vol. 2 / Everyday Sweets #2 (Epilogue)

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