"Abi was in your room."

Climbing out of his car, Kaz froze at Claws' voice. "What?"

"Your mate, Abi. She was in your room today. She seemed angry after she looked around." Jumping from the ground to the hood of Kaz's car, Claws bounced up to the roof with a single flap of his wings and then to Kaz's shoulder.

Worry slammed into Kaz. He'd been at college for six months now, and everything at home had been just fine. He'd taken extra precautions to hide all his magic stuff with wards, and he couldn't think how Abigail could have found any of it—but if she had it could be a problem. "Thanks, Claws. Do you know what she found in there?"

"I was trying to distract her, but she seemed interested in your closet. The warm place where all the soft things are." Balancing himself carefully, Claws sprawled around Kaz's neck.

᱿Wait! Did she find my things?᱿ Miaow wasn't sure if she were more worried that Abigail had found them or that she had screwed up her own wards. ᱿I swear I warded all my things!᱿

᱿I trust that you did, Miaow. Whatever happened, we'll deal with it.᱿ Walking up to the back door of the sharehouse, Kaz used his key to unlock the door and stepped inside. The sound of a muffled female voice from the front room were a worry, so he took a moment to steady himself and try to listen in.

"… a bra! Caelyn, it was a fucking bra!"

Caelyn's voice was too quiet to hear, but Kaz recognized an upward inflection that sounded like a question.

"It wasn't mine and it wasn't for me. I wouldn't fit that with fifty grand of surgery."

More muffled Caelyn reached Kaz.

"Hey, Kaz, Abi's pissed." Darrell walked up to Kaz, having spotted him from his bedroom. "Something about finding another girl's bra in your room, and not being able to take all the mysteries or some shit. What's been going on?"

᱿I'm glad I didn't try for that whole only ever tells the truth thing.᱿ Thinking quickly, Kaz tried to work out how he could salvage what was going on and not look like an asshole, but every angle he worked only made Abigail look bad instead. "Well, I don't even know. I guess I better go face the music and see what she's angry about."

᱿You still like her.᱿

᱿Yeah I do, Miaow. She was nice and I thought she was chill about me having my own secrets.᱿ Turning back to the hallway, Kaz gave Darrell a wave and walked into the other living room and an icy silence.

"Hey, uh, you need me to hang out here a bit?" Caelyn felt nervous. While she didn't expect Kaz to get angry, she also didn't want to leave two people who were her friends to shout at each other.

Glaring at Kaz, Abigail tried to feel angry but it seemed to drain away. Whatever else, she promised herself that this was over. "Who are you sleeping with, Kaz?"

"You." Settling on honesty, Kaz walked up and sat on the second couch. "And only you."

᱿Me too. It's been—well, it's been fine just sleeping with her. She was cozy and warm and spicy enough for me. It was weird, but for the first time ever I kinda just stuck with one person.᱿ The words surprised even Miaow, and she was the ones saying them.

Abigail felt some of her anger rise. "Whose bra was that? Don't you dare lie about—"

"I can't tell you who she was, but she wasn't my lover." It was truth in Kaz's mind and reality.

"How can you be so calm about this? You have all these secrets that you won't tell me—tell any of us—but then you expect me to take you at your word?" Building up to a shout, Abigail dug her fingers into the cushion beside her. "Just tell me the fucking truth!"

Putting his mind in gear, Kaz leaned back into the seat a little more and looked up at the ceiling. ᱿I gotta give her some more truth, but this will be cutting it fine.᱿

᱿Just don't go too far.᱿

᱿I'm not that stupid. I just don't want to be the bad guy here.᱿ Clearing his throat, Kaz said, "You haven't exactly asked, but haven't you noticed there's a lot of things you haven't learned about me? I'm not going to Stratfield U, I have meetings with strange people, you find odd clothes in my room. There's a lot you don't know about me, Abi, but it's not because I don't want to tell you."

"That's stupid. Why can't you tell me? Is it something to do with the police?" Without meaning to, Abigail had grown more curious. "You'd be able to tell me that, right?"

Caelyn opened her mouth to say something, then wisely closed it again. To her, Kaz sounded like he was laying down the absolute truth, even if there were huge holes in what he was saying—but at the same time she could see that wasn't fair on Abigail if she hadn't signed up for that. Keeping her thoughts to herself, she wondered if she could deal with that, then realized that the answer there was a big, fat no.

"Like, if I was in the witness protection program, or if I was an undercover cop? I don't think they'd let me tell you either, but it's not those—and I can't tell you what it is. I—I know this isn't fair to you, Abi, but it's how it is." It left Kaz feeling bad, regardless, to have to dump it like this.

"You're really not going to tell me, are you, Kaz?" It was less of a question in Abigail's head, but when she spoke it, she really hoped he'd answer it with whatever secrets he was keeping.

The resignation hurt Kaz more than anything. That Abigail would actually accept this stung him. "All I can tell you is, it's not illegal."

"At this point, hearing that it was something just a little illegal—like you were helping grow weed or something—would be a relief." Pulling her feet up and wrapping her arms around her knees, Abigail tried to see past not knowing this huge chunk of Kaz's life, but she just couldn't. "I can't deal with this."

"You don't deserve to deal with this," Kaz said. "Abi, you're an amazing woman—smart and hot."

Abigail tilted her head down to hide her face behind her knees so Kaz couldn't see her smile, it didn't change her opinion of a relationship with him, but she didn't hate him.

Kaz, still looking straight up, reached a hand up to Claws at his neck to rub the griffon's ears. "I've always told you the absolute and entire truth about that, Abi."

"That's not enough for a relationship, Kaz." The words cost Abigail a lot to say, but she had to say them. One thing her time with him had given her was confidence about herself. The dumpy highschooler was gone and Abigail felt possessed of herself enough to say, "It's not enough for a relationship with me."

The room was silent, and Abigail wanted to say so much more, but all she managed to get out was, "It was fun, though."

It was enough for Kaz to hear that he hadn't completely fucked up his time with her. He tilted his head down fast enough that Claws was shoved down into his lap—bearing his talons into Kaz's legs. "It was probably the best time of my life."

Lifting her head, Abigail looked over her legs and at Kaz—then at Claws. "We still have a cat to take care of."

Caelyn had felt the tense moment break and gave it another kick for good measure. "You're kidding, right? Everyone feeds that damn thing. I'm surprised he's not huge with all the lazing around and eating he does." She waited a moment to see if her distraction helped, but the silence in the room deepened.

Claws looked up at Kaz from his lap and said, "I might be cheating a little."

It was extra awkward for Kaz now because neither Caelyn nor Abigail had heard anything but a cat meowing. "Are you trying to tell me you aren't taking food from everyone?"

"No. I mean, not really." Claws decided that the best way to get out of this situation was to show respect to authority—he rolled onto his back and offered his neck and throat. "I found a mate. She needs food too."

Kaz, as anyone would do who had what appeared to be a cat in their lap, tickled at Claws' belly. "Well, I can't see any problem with it. Just be careful, okay?" Lifting one finger, he booped Claws on the beak. He looked over at Abigail and tried to keep his expression neutral. "So, what about us?"

"I don't know, Kaz. I can't keep up a relationship with you, if you can't tell me about your life. I just can't. Friends might work." Shaking her head, Abigail seemed completely at odds with her own feelings. "But, I don't know. The best I can try for is wait and see."

There were still more questions in Kaz's head, not the least of which was why was Abigail in his room. Ultimately, though, he decided to just let them go. ᱿The worst bit is I still like her. Ugh, maybe I should have just aimed to be the asshole and get in a good shouting match?᱿

᱿You could always shout now?᱿ Miaow herself felt a little sad—she'd liked Abigail in her own way, which was usually always in the bedroom. ᱿Can I pick up at clubs now?᱿

᱿Really? Not even broken up for an hour?᱿ Kaz wanted to be surprised that Miaow would be so fast to move on, but he couldn't really be. "Well, I've got some studying to do, so I guess we'll find out later."

"So you are going to some college then?" watching Kaz stand up with Claws clinging to his shoulder, Abigail realized she'd lost her cat too—part of her even admitted that Claws was always Kaz's cat.

"I'm studying, that's all I can say." Walking into his room, Kaz closed the door behind him, turned, and fell onto the bed while passing Claws to the pillow beside him. "Maybe I should move out. I could ask around, since I know people here now. Do you have any preferences on a place to live?"

"I like it here. There's plenty of food." Claws walked in a circle and then just flopped sideways on the pillow.

"I can buy you more food. You and your mate." Kaz sat up straight. "Where is she?"

Flicking a wing toward the window, Claws squirmed on his back to get more comfortable. "Waiting just outside the window."

"She just hangs around the house?" Walking around his bed, Kaz opened the window and looked outside. It wasn't particularly hard to spot a knee-high lioness with the front-end of an eagle of some kind. "Hey, you're Claws' mate?"

"No. Claws is my mate."

Kaz could see said lioness/eagle was also a bit pudgy around her lower belly. "Come on in and we can chat. What's your name?"

"Queen," Queen said, and jumped up to the windowsill without much effort. She looked at Kaz and narrowed her eyes a little. "A mage. Why would you be friends with griffons?"

Reaching for Queen's head, Kaz ignored her bite—since there was no power in the grip of her beak—and rubbed her cheek. "Because I like cats and birds, which makes you twice as interesting as most creatures."

It was a trial for Queen. She didn't want to appear to be enjoying the attention, but she was enjoying the attention. "What is it you want, mage?"

"Same deal as Claws. I'll help keep you both fed and comfortable if you keep an eye on my things." Gesturing to the door, Kaz put a magical lock on it that did nothing so hard as linking the static mass of the door to that of a nearby bridge. Stepping out of his clothes, he decided on something to put Queen and Claws at ease.

Kaz wasn't quite ready to go with a small feline, but a cheetah rear end and a hawk front suited him well enough—he pulled the shape over him and let his body flow into it. The most obvious first thing was having an extra set of limbs on his back, but that one change was followed by sharper eyesight, quadrupedal movement, and a tail.

᱿Ohhh. I like this. Could have just gone with cat, you know?᱿

᱿I know, Miaow, but I figure this helps me fit in a bit better.᱿ Climbing up onto his bed, Kaz stretched out and let out a soft whistle. "Also, I'm thinking of moving and figured you two might want to come with me."

Staring at Kaz, Claws ruffled his wings in consternation. "I like it here."

Looking disdainfully at Kaz, Queen walked around him and up to the second pillow to flop on it so she could rub beaks with Claws. "I do too."

"You'd have to rely on the others feeding you, then." Enjoying the moment, Kaz rolled to his back on the bed and caught the rays of sunlight coming through the window on his belly.

Claws squawked and sat up to look at Kaz. "But you get me sushi!"

"What's sushi?" Queen asked.

"The best food ever." Claws, seeing his mate relaxed, leaned down and nuzzled her cheek with a soft whistle. "Kaz, can we get sushi together?"

Miaow purred and squirmed a little in Kaz's mind, enjoying the form he'd chosen. ᱿If you don't, I will.᱿

"I've been outvoted. Okay, I already feel like crap. Let's go have some sushi." He didn't move, however, owing to the warm patch of sunlight still barely touching his belly.

Queen could easily see that Kaz had some sunlight and approved of his priorities. Stretching a wing out, she started to preen her feathers—even if they didn't need preening. She was unsure how long she spent like that, but when Kaz rolled off the bed and turned back into a pink-skinned mage, she let out a sigh. "I suppose you think we'll put on collars?"

"I'm a mage, I'll just make it so normal people can't see you." Kaz slipped back into his normal form, working the kinks out of his back and letting his wings pull back into his flesh.

"Invisibility?" Queen turned to look at Claws. "You didn't tell me he was a helpful mage. With that I could do all kinds of mischief."

᱿I like her. Tell her I like her.᱿

Sighing as he pulled on boxers, Kaz looked back at Queen. "So, one thing, I have a cat spirit living in my head. She says she likes you."

᱿Tell her I'll come out hunting with her tonight.᱿

"And she wants to go hunting with you tonight. She kinda takes over my body when I sleep. You almost met her a few minutes ago when I found that patch of sun." Kaz pulled a shirt over his head and a pair of jeans on.

Miaow giggled, the sound mixing with her purr into a very happy bakeneko sound. ᱿I wouldn't have moved anyway. That sun was wonderful.᱿

"That was a nice patch. I would have taken it myself, but this is your realm. Very well, make me invisible to the eyes of mankind and I will journey with you to this sushi." Queen gave a soft whistle and rubbed her cheek against Claws'.

Pulling some socks and shoes on, Kaz reached out his hand to rub Queen's cheek, then swapped to Claws. "Okay, that should cover both of you. Test it out here. Oh, I wonder if Abi took Miaow's bra?" He was mostly just pondering out loud, but Kaz heard an annoyed hiss in his head. ᱿I'll get it back if she did. Those were expensive—and yours.᱿ Purring was his answer from Miaow. "Okay, here goes."

Opening his door, Kaz saw the pilfered garment literally in Abigail's hands. He didn't need the hissing in his head to get annoyed about her having it. "I'll see that gets back to its owner." He walked out of the room with both griffons beside him. The sight of Claws was normal around the house, but seeing a "cat" as big as Queen, Kaz thought, should have created a stir.

"I didn't mean to—That sounds lame. I was angry, Kaz." Holding the bra out to him, Abigail had a sudden thought about Kaz. Her mind raced around it as he took the bra and returned it to his room before he made a show of closing and locking the door. Only when he was gone did she turn back to Caelyn. "What if it was his?"

Caelyn's eyes widened like saucers—she hadn't considered that either. "Would it have—Could it have fit on him?"

"Probably. I didn't really think to measure his chest. Oh, hell, that would explain so much." Caught between shock and giggles, Abigail tried to deny both. "What would that mean, though?"

"In the unlikely event that Kaz is cross-dressing, you missed a chance at having a boyfriend you could compare women's fashion with." Caelyn didn't want to think too hard about it. Given how forward Kaz was in a lot of things, she doubted cross-dressing was his big secret. She mentally crossed him off her own list of guys she wanted to have some fun with, if only because he seemed to have more things in the closet than just skeletons.

----------------------------------------

Kaz, like with the living room, walked confidently into the mall with Queen walking beside him and Claws riding around his neck. Not a single person batted an eyelash at them. Pulling out his phone, Kaz held it to his cheek. "See, Queen, no one can see you."

"So I could just walk over and steal food from their plates?" Ruffling her wings, Queen was feeling far more comfortable with Kaz. "What exactly is this sushi?"

"Raw seafood wrapped in rice." Kaz led the way toward the sushi restaurant he'd visited many times in the previous few months. Ordering a sample platter, he carried it to a table despite Claws trying to reach down from his shoulder to grab a piece. "Wait up."

Sitting down, Kaz wasn't surprised when Queen jumped up onto the chair opposite him. "Okay, here, try this piece, and don't make a mess with it." Using his fingers, Kaz put a salmon and avocado roll in front of Queen and then extended a new don't look this way field around the whole table.

Leaning forward, Queen sniffed at the rice/fish/avocado scent and she let out a surprised squawk, opened her beak wide, and in two quick strikes devoured all of it. She looked up at Kaz with newfound respect. "This is really good!"

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"See!" Claws jumped down from Kaz's shoulder, grabbed a piece with his beak and another with a talon, and rushed over to Queen's side of the table with his prize. Whistling softly, he released the one he held in his talon for Queen.

Kaz wasn't planning to let the griffons have all the sushi. Grabbing a piece up with his fingers, he used a little squeeze bottle of soy sauce to douse the end and ate it. Purring permeated his world along with the taste of fatty salmon. ᱿Someone's having fun.᱿

᱿I always have fun when you eat sushi.᱿

᱿You'd have even more fun if you ate sushi, right?᱿ Kaz asked.

The purring increased. ᱿Of course.᱿

Ripping away at the sushi, Queen gulped down the rice and seaweed before reaching the fish within. Her eyes narrowed to points as the flavor of the fish and avocado hit her tongue, and a moment later she was purring up a storm as she gulped it down. When she'd finished the whole roll, she looked up at Kaz and said, "I misjudged you, mage."

"You think that's good? Wait until you have some sashimi." Kaz soyed up a second roll and took a bite.

When Claws offered her another roll that he pilfered from the stack, Queen sniffed at it and carefully extracted the slivers of tuna from the middle. "What is sashimi?"

Setting half his roll down, Kaz opened another plastic tray that had six strips of salmon and six of tuna. Adding a good spill of soy over them, he picked one up with his fingers and said, "Help yourself," then put it in his mouth.

᱿If we weren't magical partners, I'd totally be in love with you for this.᱿

Claws showed no fear at all in approaching and grabbing some sashimi with a talon. He ripped the salmon strip in half with his beak and gulped the first piece down. "This is why I like Kaz. He likes griffons."

"Griffons are easier for me to understand, I think. Humans have been too hard today." Kaz grabbed another piece of sashimi before his guests could dive on it. "Maybe that's what I can do for the afternoon. Can you guys teach me a bit about being a griffon?"

"It won't be easy, mage, but this meal is ample payment." The truth was that Queen was eating better than she ever had before in her life. Not only did the humans at the house give her and Claws food, but she had decided that she was very partial to sushi.

"Nothing worthwhile in life is easy." Six words Kaz wholeheartedly agreed with. It struck him, then, how much time he'd been spending with Abigail. "Maybe some extra time in my days will be convenient."

They finished off the sushi and sashimi, and all three made it back to the house without any incident. Turning off his car, Kaz climbed out of it and held the door for Queen to leave as well. "I need to find somewhere that's less visible."

"Why don't you just use the spell you cast on us?" Queen asked.

᱿Ooh. She's clever.᱿ Miaow's tone spoke volumes for her approval of feline cleverness.

᱿Yeah. I hadn't actually thought of that.᱿ The spell to hide himself was easy enough to cast when he could hide what his hands were doing. Kaz worked the magic and draped it over himself. To anyone not relatively close to him, Kaz had walked off—their minds coming up with explanations for why he wasn't there anymore. "Thanks, Queen."

"Your form from earlier will serve admirably. It spoke of speed and combat combined—something that female griffons place almost as much importance in as ability to feed their mates." As she spoke, Queen tilted her head to look at Claws and gave him one of her hungry female looks. His reaction was immediate—standing a little straighter, raising his tail into a happy/relaxed position.

"But not too big, right?" Kaz started reasserting the griffon form he'd made before, but he waited for Queen's replay before finishing his change.

Queen had been spending the intervening seconds looking at her mate with admiration. She wasn't a kitten, she knew it was Claws who'd laid the ground work to establishing her rapport with Kaz. "Hrmm? Oh, size. A little larger than Claws. Not too much or you'll compromise your speed."

Claws watched Kaz shrink and become decidedly more cat and bird. His clothes seemed to fade from sight, though they didn't become part of him. Kaz being a human and taller than him was fine, but, when Kaz finished his transformation and was still a little taller, it caused Claws to growl.

"Hey, uh, what's up?" Kaz backed away from Claws, but he had nowhere to go once his back was against the wall. "He—"

᱿Get on your back unless you want to fight him!᱿ Miaow shouted the command into Kaz's head. ᱿Show him you won't challenge him.᱿

᱿Right. Okay.᱿ Trying to figure out how to flop over wasn't hard—it was just falling with grace. Kaz landed on his side and then wiggled his rear to get onto his back, only for Claws to rush forward and press his closed beak to Kaz's throat.

Breathing hard, Claws could smell and feel the blood pumping just under the skin of Kaz's neck. He kept his growl going for several seconds as his instinct demanded, then stopped and stepped back a pace.

"A-Are we good, Claws?" Kaz asked.

"You are a challenge to him. Listen to his breathing," Queen said. "Hear it slowing? He's not going to fight you."

Slowly rolling over, Kaz kept his belly on the ground and looked up at Claws. "Hey, that's cool. I can totally get that. He just needs to get used to having another male griffon around, right?"

᱿Right.᱿

"Yes," Queen said.

"I-I didn't mean to get all—Sorry, Kaz." Claws walked toward Kaz again, his instincts no longer driving him. "I've never really felt like I needed to do that before."

"It's fine, Claws. So long as we're good now, no harm done." Rolling his shoulders and shaking his whole body, Kaz looked back at himself from his left eye. "Huh, I got all the spots in the right place again. I feel fast, too."

"Why don't you have a race?" Queen was purring, clacking her beak with each syllable. "Say, around the block. No going onto any properties, though."

Just thinking about running made Kaz start to buzz with excitement. "And if we find anything to chase along the way, we hunt it!" The words tumbled out without him even thinking about them. He felt fast, dangerous, and excited to do everything at once.

Claws could feel the excitement bubbling through Kaz, and his own rose to match it. "Go!"

Racing down the street, Kaz could feel his body move like the wind itself. His rear paws provided plenty of push, and hand-like-talons guided him.

"Squirrel!"

The shout drew Kaz's focus into the tree they were approaching, and with his attention on it he saw the telltale movement in the branches high up. "Let's get it!"

To an ordinary human, seeing two felines run up a tree was a reasonably normal sight, but whereas a normal domestic cat might have trouble coming to terms with a squirrel's size, Kaz and Claws didn't hesitate to corner it, engage with it, and dispatch the hapless omnivore.

᱿You are way more cat-like today, Kaz. When did your head get so full of feline influences?᱿

His beak stained red, Kaz was a little surprised by how violent the encounter had become. He swallowed what he'd just torn loose from the squirrel and buffeted Claws with a wing. "You should take it back to Queen."

Claws, with most of the feathers around his face stained red, blinked in surprise at Kaz's suggestion. "That's a great idea!" Adjusting himself so that the dead squirrel was under him, he dug his beak into its neck and clamped down tight.

Spotting her mate and new friend returning at a far more sedate pace, Queen took careful note that both of them had bloody talons and beaks. That Claws carried/dragged a squirrel and seemed to be prancing was a bit more of a shock. "Is this for me?"

Walking right up to his mate, Claws dropped the squirrel at Queen's feet. "Yes. We didn't get to race much, but found this. It tastes really good!"

᱿Keep your distance. If you want to stay friends with them, let them have their space but be present.᱿ Miaow was purring very softly. It wasn't just being with other felines, it was a sense of belonging. ᱿You've made a good friend today.᱿

Kaz gave them their room, padding a little away while Queen and Claws shared the rest of the squirrel. ᱿It's strange. I feel more relaxed with them than when I spend time with ordinary humans. Is that normal?᱿

᱿You're literally asking the cat demon living in your head why you prefer cats to humans?᱿

᱿You have a good point. Okay, new question, how do I clean myself? Cats always make this look easy.᱿

It was impossible for Miaow to hold back her laughter. ᱿Okay, you're going to love and hate this. The best bit about cleaning is you get to taste your meal a second time.᱿

----------------------------------------

The next morning at school, taking a lecture on advanced witchcraft, Kaz started to form an idea in his head on what he wanted to do. ᱿I've always kinda thought it was neat, but I want to specialize in it.᱿

᱿You had fun with Claws and Queen yesterday?᱿ Miaow asked.

᱿Yeah. It wasn't anything remotely approaching a human-level interaction, but they're not the annoyances and pests that most people call them. How many other creatures are like that? I want to explore and find out all the secrets of the world, and what happened yesterday showed me how hard that is when you look like a human.᱿ It had become easier to split his attention between the real world and his internal conversations, but still Kaz used a simple bespelled page to absorb all the notes the lecturer was giving them. The hardest part of the spell was tuning it for proper voice detection.

᱿So?᱿

Kaz watched the demonstration the lecturer gave, syncing two items so that one can transfer its state to another to avoid harm, and pondered how well that would work in his car. ᱿So, transformation. It's the best way to literally walk in something else's shoes.᱿

᱿There are so many cat forms you could take for a start.᱿

᱿Cats are mostly accepted. It's really just the griffons that get a bad rap. Hey, do you think I could use this to make it so my car doesn't wear out?᱿ Dipping his head down, Kaz read over some of the notes.

᱿Your car wears out because metal wears down. If you get some other metal and transfer any damage to that instead, it should protect it.᱿ Miaow managed to express a little grumble after her thought.

᱿Miaow? You really have been paying attention when I work on my car.᱿

Hissing, Miaow did her best to show her dislike. ᱿There's literally nothing else to do while you're working on it. I even try to bring up sex and you usually just swing it back to making the parts work better.᱿ After a moment she added, ᱿The worst bit is, I'm starting to understand what all the little bits do, and it's all your fault.᱿

᱿Learning new skills is not going to kill you, Miaow.᱿ Kaz focused a little more on the lecture. ᱿What I want to do, though, is minor in witchcraft and wizardry.᱿

᱿I don't think you can minor in things here, Kaz.᱿

Pulling his jacket open enough to reach his hand in, Kaz activated the portable hole inside and reached deeper to pull out the handbook for second year. Splitting his attention again, he flicked through it to find where to pick minors and was surprised when he couldn't find anything. ᱿Huh. But regular colleges let you.᱿

᱿You're studying to be a witch and a wizard. What's regular about this college?᱿

There was a soft chime just as the lecturer put their chalk down. "We'll be having a mock exam next week at this time. Attendance is not mandatory, but is encouraged. Have a great weekend." Raising her hand, she dropped a sprinkle of chalk dust and vanished—leaving behind an ornate stool.

᱿Do you suppose,᱿ Miaow asked, ᱿they actually are the chair? I've never seen her outside this room.᱿

Halting the spell that took his notes, Kaz closed his notebook and slid it into his jacket's right portable hole. ᱿Does it matter? She knows enough about witchcraft to teach newbies like me.᱿

"Kaz!" Jaybird rushed over to where Kaz was just getting up. "Puff told me what happened yesterday. Are you alright?" The moment they touched Kaz's arm, Jaybird felt a shock of calm given he'd just been through a breakup.

Looking at Jaybird, Kaz didn't offer any resistance to their touch. "Yeah I—Wait, how did Puff know?"

Jaybird rolled her eyes. "She's on Facebook, TicTok, Youtube, and—"

"Don't forget Twitter! That's the best one, but only because of its name." Puff hooked a wing over Jaybird's shoulder and hugged them. "It's odd, though, Abi didn't seem all that freaked out over it. She was all 'Eh, we just didn't work together'. So, what's the gossip?" The gossip, of course, was Puff's topic of choice.

"Just like she said. She couldn't deal with me not being able to tell her the truth about this place or magic, and I just flat refused to tell her any lies." Kaz watched as Jaybird retreated to Puff's side. "Then I spent the rest of the afternoon playing around with Claws. Did you know he had a mate? Her name's Queen."

Jaybird, flooded with the confidence of her familiar, giggled at the turn in conversation. "Kaz, you're the only person I know who'd rather spend time with a bunch of griffons than with humans."

"Well, I needed to talk to them both. I want to keep my options open in case Abi can't deal with living in the same house as me. So, if I need to, I might move and just get out of everyone's hair." Following Jaybird and Puff, Kaz walked down the stairs to the exit of the lecture hall. "Hey, here's an odd question, but can you study minors here?"

"Digging or children?" Jaybird asked.

Kaz shook his head. "Like, second subjects. In normal colleges, you study a major topic as your primary focus, but if you can fulfill the requirements of a second one, you get an extra accreditation for t—And I think I've lost you."

"You can't study more than one topic at a time, Kaz. The info was pretty clear on that. You could study one after the other." Leaving the lecture hall, Jaybird stretched and rolled their shoulders. "Ugh, now I'm hungry."

"Good. You are too skinny. That's why I'm trying to skip snacks." Puff booped Jaybird on the nose. "Because if you touch me and I'm hungry, you'll get hungry."

Laughing, Kaz pointed to the little pizza stall they'd discovered together on their first day at college. "I could sure go a slice or two. Come on."

"That's totally underhanded!" Jaybird shook their head to avoid a followup boop, and in the silence after Kaz's laughter trailed off, all three heard Jaybird's stomach growl. "Ugh. Alright. Pizza it is."

"Two slices for Jaybird," Puff said, trying to land another boop on her mage's nose.

Walking up to the stall, Kaz reached inside his jacket and pulled his wallet out of the portable hole on his left side—his general-purpose one. "Two slices of my usual seafood mix, one special with extra sunflower seeds, and two slices of margarita."

"The usual. That's like your usual. Except for the double of margarita." While the seafood pizza had become popular enough to keep around all day, the seed pizza was stored in a stasis chamber so that they didn't have to make a new one each day. "Here you go."

Handing over some money, Kaz took his and stepped to the side. "Thanks."

"You can't keep paying for all of us," Jaybird said as they took the two slices of pizza.

"I talked to—Ugh, I can't say. The money's fine, okay? My mom arranged for a lot of stuff for me so that I wouldn't have to stress about college." Kaz stuffed pizza in his mouth and turned slightly away so he wouldn't get angry at the secrecy thing.

"Hey, Kaz?" Puff asked.

"Yeah, wha—?" Turning back, Kaz was surprised at how gentle Puff was with her beak when kissing.

Grinning, her head buzzing at the audacity of what she'd just done, Puff booped Kaz's nose with a wing-feather. "Thanks. You're awesome."

᱿Mmmm. Would you mind if I hit that? She seems cute.᱿

The question surprised Kaz a little. ᱿I… I mean, she's an adult. Go ahead, but make sure she knows it's you and not me.᱿

᱿I'll need you to ask her to wait for my message. I'll send it on Mager.᱿

᱿Here, I'll send it for you now. What do you want to say?᱿ Reaching into his jacket, Kaz pulled his phone of its portable hole and, with both slices of pizza put together like a sandwich, started to write the message that Miaow dictated to him.

When her phone beeped, it was literally an automatic reaction for Puff to reach for it and pull it out of the little holster she'd made under her wing. Unlocking it, she read the message and blushed clear through her feathers. "Ohmygosh."

᱿I think she got it." Kaz looked Puff's way and got an incredulous look from the harpy. When his phone beeped in his hand, he looked back down.

᱿Eeee! She said yes! What am I going to wear? Kaz! We need to go home and get ready!᱿ Miaow was bouncing off the walls inside Kaz's head.

"What are you two texting about?" Jaybird was trying to focus on eating their first slice of pizza. It wasn't that it was hard to eat, they just never felt like eating much.

"Miaow asked me out on a date and I said yes and now she's probably yelling inside Kaz's head." Puff held her phone close to her chest. "Wait, what am I going to wear?"

The rest of Kaz's day was spent sending message for Miaow that crossed the line into sexting on several occasions. When he got home, he walked straight to his room and made sure to lock the door.

"Okay, anything in particular you were thinking? Maybe match her form as a harpy?" Kaz asked.

Purring loudly, Miaow giggled. ᱿You just want to play around in a new form. Go on, try it out then.᱿

Kaz cleared his mind and slowly slipped out of his things. Standing alone in his bedroom, naked, had become a moment of excitement and possibility for him. He could become anyone and anything—or so he thought.

Envisioning Puff's body structure was a little more difficult than normal. Kaz had a natural affinity for humans and, with Miaow in his head, felines as well, but birds weren't even mammals. Just looking wasn't enough, he knew.

His first ever change had involved both sex and a magical species—something Kaz had discovered was not easy for new shapechangers to manage. Now, with the image of Puff in his mind, he started working at building her form up.

Bit by bit he worked, making legs, talons, hips, body, breastbone, wings, and head as perfect as could be. But, there was a problem. "It's not coming together, Miaow."

᱿What's the matter? What isn't fitting?᱿

Still trying, everything seemed to crumble as soon as he tried to assemble them. "Any of it. It's like they're all magnets repelling each other. Feathers, skin, even the legs don't want to attach."

᱿That's because they're teaching you the stupid way to do it. Forget all that construction. It's good for when you know a lot about a creature, but you don't know about harpies—you know a harpy.᱿ Miaow was working up to gathering a little magic of her own. ᱿Okay, fix an image of Puff in your head. Think of her walking around, looking sexy—᱿

"Miaow, it's you who finds her sexy. But I get what you mean."

᱿Okay, so you have that picture?᱿

"Yeah. What are—" Kaz didn't get anything else out. A stunning shock lanced through him and, in that moment of panic, he let loose his magic and the change poured over and through him. He'd been messing with a lot of almost-avian forms, but the combination of inherently magical and avian crawled through him.

When Kaz could think about anything but the oddness of his body, he realized he hadn't just turned into any harpy—he'd literally turned into Puff. This had a lot of complications for him as he'd never been in a body both male and female before. "Well I guess that worked. Now I should be able to refine because—"

᱿Because you know now how a harpy goes together now. Unf but she is hot, though. What sex are you going for?᱿ Miaow caught sight of the form in a mirror and purred appreciatively.

"It feels a little odd like this. I mean, sex is not something I feel all that strongly about anymore, except I think I'm still me-guy-straight. Not sure if that has a name or something. Maybe I should try to find out all the names for things if this is going to be a repeating pattern in my life?" Looking down, Kaz first focused on the solitary breast. "Einey, meenie, minie, mo—To heck with that, let's go with tallish but sexy girl."

᱿You think a harpy can be sexy?᱿

Kaz had to laugh at the purring in his head. "I mean, I can't help it. The first time I met her she was practically naked. I might not be into everything she has, but she's perky and likable enough to pull it all off without a problem."

Setting to work again, Kaz made a second breast grow from his chest and brought them both up to a size to fit Miaow's bras. This also meant he had to adjust his chest and shoulders. "It's weird having arms like this. I've seen Puff use her feathers like fingers—I wonder if I could do that?"

᱿Finish off this form. I'm liking it.᱿

Letting out a whistle of a laugh, something he didn't actually mean to do, Kaz set about changing the rest of the form. Vulva and vagina were kept, and he banished the penis and testicle. "You know what the oddest bit is, remembering exactly how she looked from that one time. She's always worn a jacket and shorts since then."

Tweaking and poking at various parts, Kaz enhanced his hips a little, tucked his waist, then started working on his beak and face. By the time he was done, the only part of Puff left in his form was that he was a female harpy. "So?"

᱿I repeat my earlier statement. Unf.᱿ Miaow was giggling away happily and purring up a storm. ᱿If I saw you walking down the street, I'd ask you out.᱿

"I'll take that as a compliment, Miaow. I wonder if I can fly like this?" Kaz, for a fraction of a second, thought about flapping his wings to test. One of the important rules of transforming was not to test a new shape somewhere you had precious thing. "Right, not here though. Come on, I'll use a look away spell and we can go and test it."

The spell was easy enough for Kaz to manage, even in an unfamiliar form. He walked to his closet and opened it to find something to wear. "You want to go with something to really show up these feathers?"

᱿You know I do. How about that red number?᱿

"You're reading my mind." Kaz lifted out red dress that had a long slit up one side. "Showing off the girls or want them to blend in?"

Miaow felt bubbly and a little giddy at how playful Kaz was being. ᱿You were the one who made them big enough to show off.᱿

"Right, so black bra." Slipping into the underwear and dress, he grabbed some shoes and started for the door. "Oh, right." He gave himself a prod with the right spell, grabbed his wallet, keys, phone, and a matching purse for the outfit, then walked out of his room, locked it behind him, and got all the way to the back yard without anyone so much as looking his way.

"Don't think I can't see through that, Master Kaz. Are you sure you won't change your mind?" Eisalu was sitting by his pond with his fishing line sinking into the water.

"Eisalu, not a million years. How're the fish today?" Walking over, Kaz stopped just out of reach of the garappa. Or he hoped he was out of reach.

"Good! Good! I no eat people, like you said." Eisaku tilted his head up and was captivated by the sight of such a gorgeous harpy. He was almost so besotted that he forgot how Kaz had threatened him at their first meeting. Inhaling the smell of female harpy, Eisaku was almost entranced by the scent. "Have you considered shapechanging into a garappa?"

Thinking about it, Kaz managed to smirk with his beak. "You know what, Eisaku, I'll take you up on that. We could do some fishing."

Looking up at Kaz, Eisaku still admired his form, but had to admit that Kaz always surprised him in strange ways. "I might have to make the pond bigger."

"Just don't make it so big the others might notice." Kaz stretched out his wings and gave them a little flap.

"Nice wings!" Claws called from where he was sunbathing on the warm hood of a recently parked car. "Why not be a griffon instead?"

"Miaow has a date. She wanted to go as the same species as them, and this is the best I can do." Kaz walked over and, careful not to get int Claws' sun, gave him a rub around his cheek and neck.

"The best you can do is pretty good!" Eisaku called.

Kaz rolled his eyes. ᱿He's not so bad now he knows to keep his hands off.᱿

᱿Yeah, but I think you still might want to use a male form if you go fishing with him. Keeping out of arm's reach is a good idea.᱿

᱿Or at least use a merman form.᱿ Kaz smirked along with the purring laughter in his head.

"Couldn't you just turn Miaow's mate into a griffon? Then you could be a griffon and do griffon stuff." Arching his head back against the hood of the car, Claws closed his eyes at how good a feather-rub was.

"They're not mates, they're just going to have some fun. I don't know what will happen, but you remember Puff, right?"

Lifting his head, Claws looked up at Kaz. "Miaow is going to court Puff?"

"Already started. She's purring away in my head right now in anticipation. How's Queen doing?"

Claws started making a sound somewhere between a purr and a soft whistle. Life, he had to admit, was pretty good. "She grows bigger with my kittens. Hungrier, too. We should hunt more squirrels for her."

"I think I'd like that. Hunting was"—Kaz rubbed a feather up each side of Claws' face, letting him rub his cheeks against both—"it was pretty good."

᱿The sun's getting low in the sky. Do you want to try riding along tonight?᱿

᱿You mean me be in your head while you go on a date?᱿ The idea intrigued Kaz. They'd been messing with trying to relax and even lucid dream, but so far it hadn't really worked all that well. ᱿Sure. What are we going to try this time?᱿

᱿I was thinking a distraction. We've tried concentrating on yourself, on me, on damn near everything. What about shock right at the moment of transition?᱿

᱿You think I could even get to sleep like that? Wasn't the point of meditation to let me reach a sleep state while being conscious?᱿ Kaz drew his feathers back from Claws. "I better go. Miaow wants to try something again."

"Good luck," Claws said.