Cedric walked through the halls of the school. In his right hand, a broom, in his left, a mop. He was a janitor, but he was dressed oddly for the part. Rather than the typical jumpsuit, he had on an elegant white dress that flowed over one shoulder. A few of the female students admired it, while others just gave curious looks.

Once Cedric reached the bathroom, he set about his business, sweeping and mopping everything down with great attention. He didn't tolerate a single spot to escape his vision and nodded with satisfaction with every little bit he could see was entirely clean.

"Clean as can be," Cedric whispered, then smiled as he continued mopping. He worked his way to the far corner and began to work his way back to the door. As he reached the farthest corner from the entrance to the bathroom, he let out a startled squeak.

A hand came down on his exposed shoulder. "Aren't you in the wrong bathroom, even if you're dressed right?" The soft, silky voice came from a female student. She had a smile on her lips as she leaned close to the small rabbit.

"O-oh? Sorry, I'm cleaning this bathroom." Cedric tried to slip away from her and get back to work. "I was just finishing up here, so sorry to have disturbed you. I need to leave now." He gave the girl a smile, then started to walk away from her.

But her hand caught him just as easily the second time, pulling him back in a swirl to face her. "What was your name again? I feel like I've seen you a few times." The human tapped her chin thoughtfully. "See? Sedan? Something?"

Cedric gulped and shook his head. "I'm Cedric."

"Ah, yes, Cedric. That's the one. You have a different way of saying that letter." She placed her hand on his chest. "Now, Cedric, why are you here in the lady's room dressed like that? I do like what you have going on," she added quickly. "I just want to hear why from you. We all know why you're in here, really."

Cedric winced. "To clean?"

The student laughed at the very idea. "I doubt just that. You'd have to be a golem to not have anything." She cut herself off, noticing the way he winced anew. "What? Are you?" She raised a hand in a new spell.

"I'm a person," he assured, pushing away from her.

"I know," she said. "That wasn't what I was asking. What are you?"

Cedric gulped. "I'm..."

She finished her spell, making Cedric gold a strange purple-green with straight lines of blue. "You are a construct. Figures. No wonder you feel nothing." She gave him a light push on the chest. "Sorry to bother you, keep doing whatever your programming says."

"I have free will," he blurted, then winced, realizing what that meant he was.

She raised an eyebrow at him. "Really now? But I called it, you're a construct." She made her way to the sink, snickering softly. "A construct that knows when it's being talked down to. Not sure who thought that was a good idea."

He began to walk away, then paused as he opened the door to leave. "What did you expect me to feel?"

"What? Nothing, mostly." She hiked a brow at him. "Like most constructs. Get out of here." She made a dismissive shooing motion.

Cedric backed out, then paused as he watched her wash her hands.

She glanced over at Cedric, then rolled her eyes. "What now?"

"My girlfriend would beat you up for talking like that," he said.

She paused, blinking. "Your girlfriend?" One could see the thought working through her. "Oh, that's right! The mouse with the huge rack! I've heard about her. So you can feel things, after all? How nice of your master."

"Daisy isn't my master." He smiled towards the girl. "And yes, she would, because she likes me."

"One, she isn't here." The girl pressed down a second figure. "Two, I didn't mention her, you did. Three, you're here. Sounds to me like you're trying to start a fight."

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"No." Cedric smiled brightly towards her. "I just know how she feels and that she would be mad if she heard you." He continued mopping. "You really should be careful, what you say."

The door swung open as a few new female mages wandered in, chatting loudly about a class they had just escaped. Oblivious to any tension, they went right past Cedric.

Cedric waved to them, then sighed as he started out of the room. "Have a nice day," he called to the woman before leaving.

She caught up with him quickly enough, her hands clapping on his shoulders firmly. She easily forced him to face her out in the hallway. "I'm going to get you kicked out of the school. You grabbed me, and I didn't consent."

Cedric shrank in surprise, but caught himself quickly. "T-that won't work, um, Miss. I can't do that." He turned from her. "You can say that if you want, then they'll know you're a liar."

"And who are they gonna believe?" She smiled as she took hold his arm. "Me or you?"

"I'm a construct." He tugged himself away. "I can't go against what I am programmed to do." He swiveled an ear in a nervous tic. "Accosting a student is strictly forbidden. I would sooner self-destruct."

"Right, right, but you're a golem with free will." The girl smiled and leaned against him. "So who is it going to be? You can make a decision, right?"

"I can make many decisions." He let out a soft sigh, turning back to her. "But not that one. Violating my basic programming is not something I can do. You cannot hold your breath until you die, usually. I can, if I wanted. I do not. I would much rather spend time with my partners, who would play with me without making fun of me." He smiled and patted her on the chest, just over her heart. "You can do what you want, but I'm a very special construct. My master would notice me being removed."

She frowned, pushing his hand away from her. "Whatever." She rolled her eyes dramatically as she stormed down the hallway.

Cedric, at least, was free to continue his duties. After that and schooling, he returned home to find the others busy doing their own things, except Daisy, who looked bored. Discerning the best target, he sat next to her.

That was signal enough, and she grabbed him, pulling him into a hug from behind. "Have a good day?" She asked as she kissed each of his long ears.

"I did!" He leaned against Daisy, then winced, recalling his earlier encounter. "I, um, got accosted by a student."

Daisy raised a brow at Cedric. "Accosted?" She rolled a hand, other busy holding him. "Being accosted makes most people stop rating a day as good. Tell me more?"

"Um." Cedric wiggled under Daisy, then started over, his voice quaking with some nerves. "A student saw me cleaning the girls' restroom and started to make a fuss about it, then realized I was a construct and made a fuss about that. Um..." He glanced around at the others who were now looking towards him, listening in on his story.

Daisy's tail curled behind her, and her ears twitched. "That doesn't sound good to me, but you said it was a good day."

He sat up with a nervous laugh. "It was good! Besides that. Just one tense moment, then it was a lovely day." He clasped his hands together. "And I got to come home and be hugged by you. Hard to call any day bad that ends with that."

"Uh huh." Daisy stroked his head. "What did you do when they accosted you? Did you call security and get them thrown out for sexually harassing a staff member?"

Selena looked up from a book she was reading. "I doubt that."

Theo snorted softly. "I'm with Selena, doubt."

Cedric laughed tensely. "I did not." The two shared a high five. "I just, um, defended myself." He rubbed an arm awkwardly. "I might have—"

"—Were you still wearing this?" Daisy plucked at the dress on Cedric.

He winced again. "Yes. But it was just one girl." He nodded to himself. "And she stopped, so it was fine."

Daisy squinted at him, as if trying to bore into his brain with eye power. "Get out of that, unless you really like it, in which case, good for you? But I doubt it? You've been wearing mostly gender neutral since I met you."

"Ah! No!" Cedric sat up and began to pull the dress off quickly. "Just forgot. I felt safe here and wanted to get all close to you and warm you up. Your body is amazing, after all!"

She poked him right on his nose, making his whiskers twitch. "You can wear whatever makes you happy in here, but out there, probably best to not rock the boat just existing. Been there, not fun." She trailed a hand towards his clothed shoulder to work it off him. "Off with it, unless you like it?"

He blinked slowly, then nodded and allowed her to pull it off. "I don't really know. I didn't mind how it felt, but the attention wasn't great. That's why I tried to leave."

Selena looked guilty. "I was the one that asked him to keep it on. I just wanted to see if his body would reject it. Other mutagens don't work on him, but the clothing one does, which is amazing! It just feels soft and warm and good. And it fits so well!"

Theo sighed and leaned back in his chair. "You really do get up to weird experiments with people's lives."