The moment Kaz was through the portal, and it closed behind him, he fell to his knees, then sideways to lay on the grass of his backyard. ᱿Miaow, I want to sleep for a year. No. Make that two years.᱿

᱿Want me to take you inside?᱿ Miaow asked, a moment before they both felt arms scooping their huge, armored self up.

Lifting his head, Kaz was looking at the underside of Eisaku's face. "What are—?"

"You smell of blood, poison, and you are covered in both." Eisaku had given himself a rub down with fish oil before picking Kaz up, not wanting to get any of what his landlord was coated in on himself. "Hold your breath and stay under for a minute or two."

The chill water didn't bother Kaz. He found himself floating barely below the surface before magic wrapped around him. He hadn't really seen Eisaku perform full magic before, but he was appreciative of the way the water scrubbed over him—even if it felt like a thousand years of erosion in five seconds.

Only, instead of five seconds, Kaz stayed under the water for five minutes.

When he eventually climbed out of the pool, Kaz could see his armor and shield were polished and his skin was a light shade of red. "Thanks. Would you believe me if I said it was Sleipnir that told me to clean myself off before I saw Jaybird again?"

"Sounds like a wise horse. You're clean now." Helping Kaz to stand, Eisaku had saved the obvious question for now. "How did it go?"

"Things are very different from what the Eddas foretold. Me being there, and what I did in advance, shook it all up. Loki lives, as do Fenrisulfr, Jormungandr, Heimdallr, Freyr, and Baldr." Rolling his shoulders, Kaz looked up into the overcast sky and laughed. "I saved so many!"

Satisfied that Kaz was clean and didn't smell of gods and blood anymore, Eisaku shrugged his shoulders. "What will you do now?"

The question made Kaz laugh. "Go and show Jaybird how much they mean to me, let Miaow do the same with Puff. Then I'll sleep fo—"

"I mean after that. What will you do now you have survived that event?"

Everything he'd been doing, Kaz realized, had been leading up to Ragnarok. Without that, what was he going to do, he wondered. "I need to call my aunt and I should probably talk to Mal, too."

"Don't forget Bacchus and Artemis. You were also training with Bellona and Freyja, yes?" Eisaku produced his fishing pole out of thin air and cast his line into the water. "But forget them for now, you have more important people to reconnect with." As Kaz walked toward the house, Eisaku wondered if he should mention the huge scar that ringed Kaz's upper left arm.

Walking in the back door, Kaz reached to the straps of his armor and started taking it off piece by piece. He realized, after removing the breastplate, that between Eisaku's cleaning and Jormungandr's breath, there was nothing left of his arming shirt and pants but a few shreds of oiled canvas.

His armor had saved his life several times during his fight with Thor, but now he wanted to have nothing to do with it. Setting it down by the door, he placed his blade beside it and walked further into the house naked.

"Kaz?" Lifting her head from the computer that'd been set up in the living room, Puff's eyes widened at the state of him. "Come in here and relax, please." She could see that every line of his body carried weariness. Making her way to him, she took up one side to support Kaz. "You're a bit heavy."

᱿Miaow, can you change me into something smaller?᱿ His size compared to Puff's changed greatly. One moment he was the towering warrior with broad shoulders, the next he was a slim vixen that she seemed effortlessly able to support. ᱿You're the best.᱿

Now with a much less Herculean task, Puff guided Kaz onto the couch and set him up so he was laying on her stomach, his head able to rest against her chest. Reaching down, she folded both her wing-arms over him. "Jaybird will be home soon."

Despite his love for the cold, Kaz needed to feel Puff's warmth. He closed his eyes and let her hold him, while Kaz focused on feeling safe again. "It went well," he said at last.

"You don't need to talk about it if you don't want to, but I'll listen, Kazuma." Puff leaned down and pressed her beak to his cheek, maximizing her contact with him to provide as much reassurance as she could.

"I freed Sleipnir, who aided Loki in battle. I talked Surtr out of killing Freyr. I sent Fafnir to save Fenrisulfr from Vidarr's revenge. But the big one was I fought Thor, distracting him from killing Jormungandr so Miaow could heal him." Lifting one dainty hand, Kaz let out a chuckle of mirth he barely felt. "I carried Mjolnir from Thor's body to his sons and accounted for their father's deeds."

Listening to his deeds, Puff filed each away for thinking about later. It wasn't easy for her, her nature tended toward speak-first-think-later, but with someone she cared so much about she could hold herself in check. It also helped she'd put her phone down out of reach.

Of course, Puff's phone picked that moment to buzz. Kaz, upon hearing it, tried to shift so she'd be able to fetch it, but Puff held him in place and, for the first time since he'd seen her pick a mobile phone up, she ignored it completely.

"Was that a call?" Kaz asked.

"No. That'll be Mager. Do you have your phone with you?" Puff asked, hoping she wouldn't have to disturb Kaz too much.

"Hrmm. It's somewhere. Yeah, it'll be inside the pocket of my bag. I think that bag melted when I was fighting inside the cloud of Jormungandr's breath. Uh, I could probably pull it out of the dimension it was in, but it would take some time."

Puff perked up and tilted her head down to look at Kaz. "You made a stable dimension?"

"Me? No. I suck at that stuff. Jaybird made it for me." Leaning back as far as he could, Kaz reached a hand up to guide Puff to lean down a bit so he could kiss the underside of her beak.

᱿Are you putting moves on Puff?᱿ Miaow asked, her tone betraying mirth.

"Miaow wants to know if I'm trying to seduce you," Kaz said aloud. "I don't know anymore. We all cuddle in one big pile in the bed, even if Miaow takes over for the sexytimes, I'm still in here, you know?"

"Yeah. I thought it would be weird at first, but you never bring it up and don't make a deal out of it. Dating a shapeshifter's second self is not easy." Puff shivered a little as Kaz kissed her neck now. "We should wait to talk about this until Jaybird's home."

Hearing the soft purring from Miaow, Kaz replied, "No complaint from us there."

Cuddled together, they waited for Jaybird to come home from their classes. Kaz had become so relaxed in Puff's embrace that he was almost asleep when the front door unlocked and didn't register it until Puff called out something. Opening his eyes, he spotted Jaybird and held out his arms.

Dropping their bags, Jaybird rushed over and dropped onto the couch, landing atop Kaz and hugging him back for all they were worth. "You did it? It's over?"

"Ragnarok is, yeah. It all went to shit, but I saved so many that it was worth it."

Watching the pair cuddle atop her, Puff reached out and around Jaybird to hug her closer. Letting out a few soft chirps, she squeezed them both tighter with her wings before giving back some slack. "Kaz was kissing me before."

"About time!" Jaybird couldn't help but laugh. "You two have been cuddling together, naked, basically every day you're here. How can you go so long and not realize you're both hot for each other?"

Laughing outright in Kaz's head, Miaow began to purr louder than ever. ᱿Ha! I can tell you didn't expect that! Ask them what they think of Puff!᱿

"So, what about you? You and Puff are always snuggling, too. Is there something between you two?" Kaz asked.

"Of course they're into me," Puff said.

"Of course she's into me," Jaybird said, at the same time as Puff. "But I don't think it's…"

"Yeah. We're snuggle buddies, but I can't do that strong guy thing you do, Kaz. I love Jaybird to bits. They introduced me to a wide world and we're so close that our magic is literally one and the same, but…"

"I think I'm Kaz-sexual." Jaybird giggled at the thought. "I've thought about other people before, but they never clicked like you do, Kaz."

That intrigued Kaz. It wasn't weird to him that someone would be that locked onto him as being their one sexual preference, but it was sincere and more than a little flattering. "What about Miaow?"

᱿Yeah! What about me?᱿

Closing their eyes, Jaybird sighed and focused on the whisper of emotion coming from deep within Kaz—Miaow. "There are not a lot of things better than curling up with Miaow, pressing my ear to her chest, and listening to her purr while I slowly scratch at her tummy. But sex? You know, I haven't thought about it before. Put that on a maybe list."

Miaow laughed. ᱿Woo! I'm on the maybe list!᱿

"She's excited to hear that. Expect more kitty snuggles, I guess. So, uh, what I'm getting from all this is that we keep talking about things and don't let our worries about what each other might think stop us from having fun. But, uh… Puff, you intimidate me a little sometimes." Kaz looked at the surprised expression on Puff's face and couldn't help but kiss the tip of her beak. "I mean it. I've never done anything with— This is a stupid hangup for a shapeshifter to have."

Kissing back by gently prodding Kaz's lips with her beak, Puff shook her head. "No it's not. You're straight, it's just I'm a little different from the usual girl, is all."

᱿There's an easy way to ease you into this, Kaz,᱿ Miaow said. ᱿Sit in on some fun between Puff and me. Feel what I feel, kind of thing.᱿

"Miaow suggested I stay more lucid than normal next time you two are— Yeah. I might try that. Right now, though, I guess I'm procrastinating about getting my phone back and letting various people know everything is fine." On cue, Kaz heard Puff and Jaybird's phones demand attention. "One Roman coin says that's Mal."

"No bet. She's like a mother hen with you, Kaz. Which is odd since she projects this harsh indifference at college." Pressing their face into Kaz's fuzzy chest, Jaybird reached down to their pocket and pulled out their phone. Pressing a thumb to the sensor, they passed it up to Kaz.

Tapping and swiping his way into Jaybird's notifications, Kaz found several messages from Mal:

"If you've seen Kaz, can you have him contact me?"

"I'd like to speak to him as soon as possible."

"Please, just have him contact me so I know what happened."

Groaning, Kaz tapped out with his thumb, "I left my phone in another dimension and then melted the opening. What's up? -Kaz."

Rather than a message, the phone rang. Kaz sighed and hit receive. "Hey."

"Kazuma," Mel said in reply, her tone slightly forced. "You know what I'm going to ask."

"Well, you know I survived. So did Miaow. So did a lot of friends who wouldn't have." Leaving her waiting long enough he could all-but-feel her ready to demand a response, Kaz said, "Loki lived. So did his children. Also, Baldr and Heimdallr survived, the first chose to side with Hel, the latter Loki took mercy upon. Anything else you need to know?"

"I have double chocolate, salted caramel, and chocolate fudge. You can have any two of them, if you come in on Monday to give me a better report."

The phone call ended a moment after she'd spoken. Kaz sighed and passed it back to Jaybird. "That went well. Hey, I need to drop in and talk to Mal on Monday, what day is it today?"

"Friday," Puff said.

"So we have two days to ourselves before you have to deal with Mal." Jaybird lifted their head from Kaz's chest and grinned at the vixen and harpy under them. "I have an idea…"

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

Leaving his car, Kaz shifted himself to his draconic form in the backyard of his home, gripped the satchel with his new portal that opened to the pocket dimension that Jaybird had made for him, and spread his wings. "Am I forgetting anything?"

"Something to hide you from normal humans?" Eisaku asked. He'd been happily fishing in the pool while Kaz sorted himself out, but now that his opinion had been asked for, he'd gladly given it. Many would be the Garappa who would berate him for looking to a mage as master of his domain, but to those he would gladly point out that his master was a dragon. That Kaz continued to hide himself, rather than show off the monster that he was, surprised Eisaku sometimes, but he was not going to gainsay Kaz.

Nodding to the sage advice, Kaz worked his mana slightly, wrapping a cloak of unsight around him to ward off prying eyes. "Thanks, Eisaku. Anything I can get for you while I'm out?"

Chuckling, Eisaku replied, "Redhead. Five-eleven. Chest out to—"

"I'll come back suitably dressed, but I'm not luring some pretty thing here for you to eat." Flashing his fangs, Kaz winked at Eisaku. Hearing the Garappa laugh at his joke, he spread his wings and took off.

The sky, even on an unseasonably warm Monday morning, was where dragons were meant to be. He took a scenic route, spiraling on warm air and letting the sun paint his scales with warmth. As much as he preferred cool weather, it was nice to have a little warmth on occasion.

Spotting the path before the administration building of the college, Kaz tipped his head down and half tucked his wings. The ground was rushing up toward him faster and faster. People, particularly complacent people, didn't often look up—but a bird familiar on a student's shoulders squawked in shock and then everyone noticed the stooping dragon about to land in their midst.

Before reaching the ground, Kaz wove air mana into an invisible pillow and tucked it under him. The landing, when he did halt, was entirely arrested by his legs, wings—but mostly the mana pillow. He dispelled the unsight and rolled his wing-shoulders to get the appendages to fold up properly on his back. "Is the president in?"

When everyone just stared at him, Kaz decided to ignore them back and walk to the entrance of the admin building. Reaching the doors, he paused a moment to think of what form to take—and settled on a fuzzy half-man half-wolf that he could shift further to maintain his modesty, and that's exactly what he did.

Once inside, and with a pair of shorts and a shirt over his modesty-preserving fuzz, Kaz shifted to his human. Only after the change did he realize he'd picked his warrior form. "Hey, uh, is Mal in? She asked me to see her today," he asked the receptionist, who typed rapidly on his keyboard and then looked up at Kaz.

His heart beat a little faster when he looked up at the Adonis of a man before him. It had been a normal day for him, and while he'd hoped Mal might reply back that she would need the hunk of beefcake to wait, instead her instructions said to send him through. "She's waiting for you mister… uh…?"

"Kazuma." Getting used to his full name again was a little odd. He had mostly internalized his shortened form and the rest seemed extra fluff. "Or Spakr. Maybe even Blasa or Litit Brodir. Who knows?" He let out a laugh and walked down the hall toward the president's office.

Mal didn't expect Kaz to knock. When the young man, looking burly and powerful, walked in and took a seat, she felt so much tension unwind that she closed her eyes and sighed. "I needed to see you, to know it was really you. If I'd known that contacting Hel to save your life would have put you in such a situation, I'd have called someone far safer to deal with—like Baron Samedi."

Settling himself more firmly, Kaz smiled at the camaraderie that let her be so open and make a joke too. "He wouldn't look as hot leading an army into a war, though. So, ice cream first and then spilling all the Norse beans?"

"I'll get the ice cream. What flavor do you want?" Standing, Mal approached her small freezer and opened it to reveal a well-stocked interior.

"Fudge. Fudge and caramel. You said I could have two."

Fetching a vanilla bean ice cream with chocolate chips for herself, Mal grabbed some spoons and walked back to her desk. "Here's your payment. Now, spill it."

Opening both tubs, Kaz growled in excitement at the feast. "Well, it started, as you know, with Hel…"

The ice cream lasted until mid-afternoon, when Kaz was winding down with the last details of handing Modi and Modri their father's hammer. When he finished with, "And then I went home, washed off, and found out I might be polyamorous," Mal seemed to have nowhere else to slump in her seat. She'd sat enthralled throughout his retelling, barely managing to finish her ice cream before it melted.

"That explains a lot about you, Kaz. You have a feel about you of a demigod now. Knowing that Loki all-but claimed you as family, and you killed Thor, it makes a lot of sense. You are cloaked in power." That Mal said it with a parfait spoon half hanging out of her mouth didn't change the import of the words.

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"I didn't kill him. Jormungandr did that. I just saved Jorm." The biggest advantage of becoming more aligned with ice, snow, and general cold was, in Kaz's personal opinion, the ability to not get ice cream headaches. "And cleaned up the mess. Thor was honorable, but stuck following the wrong guy. His sons didn't need to be held to the same standard as Odin."

"Some would argue that you fought on the side you did, and as part of that were responsible for all the acts of that side." Mal shifted and arose from her chair to make them both a drink. "Do you like coffee?"

"I'll take anything if you chill it first." Flashing a big smile, Kaz swirled the air with a little ice mana.

Laughing at the irresponsible use of advanced magic, Mal reached out with her own power, caught the magic, and steered it toward the coffee she was brewing. "This creates a good point for me to move on to other topics. Have you considered your plans from now into the future?"

When she brought the coffee over, Kaz lifted it to his lips and almost inhaled the icy liquid. "That's good, and not in any real fashion. Miaow, Jaybird, Puff, and me were talking over the last few days, though, and whatever is coming next for us, we'll stay together for it. You had an idea?"

"Daenerys has been pleading for a new faculty member to assist with practical lessons. You are not just local, but an exceptional example of a shapeshifter who understands every aspect of it." Alighting back in her seat, Mal lifted her own cup up to her lips and shivered at how sweet it was—perfect for her palate.

The offer was enough that Kaz stopped and took full stock of it. "I'd need a degree to—"

"She's prepared to give you an honorary doctorate in shapeshifting if you take the deal. I'm amenable to that too, given the degree of control you have shown."

"You're not going to take excuses, only a yes or no." Not needing an answer to his statement, Kaz pulled out his phone and sent a message to Puff and Jaybird: "Mal just offered me a job as a teacher. What do you both think?"

"Teaching shapeshifting?" Jaybird sent back.

"He certainly wouldn't be teaching interdimensional realization." Puff's answer had a winking emoticon beside it.

"Yeah, but what do you all think?" Kaz asked them.

᱿I like it. Make sure it's not too permanent, though. You may need to handle things of your own.᱿

᱿My own? Like what?᱿ Kaz asked Miaow.

᱿Like saying hello to your most recent mother. Queen is a vain feline and needs reassurance that you're an amazing kitten.᱿

Kaz laughed inside his head, the mirth even spilling to his lips. ᱿It won't take me a year to do that. I am sure she'll be fine with me cuddling up against her and purring until the whole house vibrates.᱿ He checked his phone again and saw a pair of thumbs-up emojis. "Okay. Why don't I try it for a year? See if anyone else wants the job who might be better at it."

About to congratulate him, Mal felt pinned in place by the intensity of his look. "Wh—?"

"And here's an offer." Reaching out one hand to Mal, to her dead side, Kaz took her skeletal hand in his own. "I could undo this. I could give you some time to find a better way."

Pulling her hand back took a lot of effort, but Mal managed not only that but also a shake of her head. "Kazuma, I appreciate the offer. You're probably one of the only people in existence I would accept help from, but I can't and I won't." Looking down to her skeletal arm, she pulled her thin lips into a smile. "This isn't about looking younger and alive again. I am the way I am because I don't compromise my freedom from influence for anyone or anything. Thank you, Kazuma. I doubt you would ever say the words to me, 'remember when I healed you,' but even the slight possibility of that is not something my morals can survive."

Kaz, who had been itching to fix Mal, had to ease back on his magic and think about what she said. He wasn't sure he followed what she was saying, but he did know he had to honor her request. "I don't really get that, but I won't change you if you don't want me to."

Mal was able to relax. That Kaz asked her permission first, then honored it, meant more to her than if he did understand her concept of freedom. "You don't start immediately, of course. The new school year starts in four months."

"I guess I'll go and see Daenerys to ask her what she wants from me?"

"You're not going to ask about pay or special dispensation?" Mal asked.

Shrugging his shoulders, Kaz asked, "Why, are you going to rip me off or pay me millions?" When Mal's hacking laugh was his only reply, he stood up. "Then I don't think it really matters. As long as my rent's covered and I can afford nice food and the odd raw fish, I think it doesn't really matter. Just one thing…"

"What?" Mal asked.

"Don't tell Fafnir I said all that. He already thinks I'm a terrible dragon when it comes to hoarding riches. If he heard I wasn't fleecing you for everything you had, I'd never hear the end of it." Looking at the empty ice cream tubs and his empty coffee, he let out a sigh. "You know, I think I appreciate ice cream more since I gained an affinity for cold."

Watching Kaz walk toward the door, and not bothering to stop him since she had no further business (or ice cream) for him, she did make one last comment. "Unsurprising. Can you please let Puff know I had fun?"

Stopping as his hand touched the handle, Kaz turned to look back at Mal. "Yeah. I can do that."

Only when the door closed did Mal slump back in her seat and start trembling. It had taken every ounce of her self-control not to surrender to his offer. Reaching her skeletal hand over to the intercom, she pressed the button down. "No more visitors today unless absolutely necessary."

"Of course, ma'am." Having never heard his boss actually sound worried before, the young mage working as her secretary took note of the order and the man that left her office. Whatever could unsettle Mal would probably make him pee his pants—even if he was still trying to shove down his appreciation of the man's features.

"Hey, uh… I didn't catch your name," Kaz said, returning the look.

"S-Steve. Err, Steven."

Kaz tried to ignore the signs of worry in Steven's demeanor. "Right. Steven, do you know if Daenerys is on the campus today?" And, because he needed to, he asked, "Is something wrong?"

"No! Uh, no sir. Let me just check on the head of transformations…" Steven was now acutely aware that Kaz had a sense of power about him. Lots of magic just seemed to want to be near him. "She's in her office." It finally clicked for Steven. "You're a dragon, aren't you?"

"It's what a lot of dragons call me, yeah. I'm kinda new to it. You're a mage; what's your familiar?" Seeing his words actually calm the guy, Kaz was thankful he'd stopped to chat. His question, he was happy to see, actually brought a smile to Steven's face.

"Tomey. He's usually quiet while we're at work." Reaching over to his magic book, Steven ran his fingers over the cover to trace the magic runes there. "That's probably why she hired me. It's not a common bond."

"Cool. Do they talk to you? Give you advice?"

"All the time. The worst is their need to deconstruct my grammar mistakes. Do you have a familiar?" The question slipped free when Steven wasn't thinking. He wasn't even sure if dragons could have familiars or if they'd be familiars.

"Of course. Hey, Miaow, your adoring public wants a chat," Kaz said, and with that, he started a shift into her preferred form while she surfaced from what he assumed was a nap.

Stretching, finding herself in a cozy body, Miaow yawned and looked around. "Oh, hi. Was Kaz trying to prove something or did he wake me from a nap just to show off?"

The loss of eye-candy was saddening, but Steven was fascinated by the transformation and, in particular, the change of personality. That's when it hit him. "You possess his body?"

"The latter then. Well, you got it in one. We have a timeshare on a single body, so while he sleeps, I get to party. We figured out this little trick a while back." Miaow wished she had a mirror to check her features. ᱿Why did you dump me in the middle of this?᱿

᱿Because he was nervous as anything talking to me. I only managed to calm him down when I got him talking about his familiar. Do you think I'm too aggressive or something?᱿ Kaz asked.

᱿I think you're—Wait… I bet he… Ahahaha!᱿

Not hearing their mental conversation, Steven pondered sharing his body with another being. "I don't think I could do that. The biggest problem would be personal time. How do you, and how does he, get time for someone special?"

᱿He's into you, Kaz. Trust me.᱿ Miaow smiled her best knowing smile for Steven. "It was a little concerning at first, more so for Kaz than myself. We eventually settled things when he started dating a gorgeous witch, and I dated their familiar. Life finds a way." She waited a few beats for that to sink in, or not, and moved on. "We're getting a job here, I think, so I guess we'll see more of you. Kaz, where am I taking us?"

᱿Daenerys. She's going to be our new boss.᱿

A little sigh left Steven. Hot, werewolf hunk, a little scary-powerful (but that was not exactly a bad thing), and not only was he taken, but he was probably double or triple-taken. "I think he wanted to see Daenerys."

Reaching a clawed digit up, Miaow tapped the side of her head. "We can talk to each other when we're not sleeping or otherwise out of it, but thanks. I guess I should go, apparently my new boss is a real dragon." Turning, she heard Steven's laugh before he managed to rein-in his mirth. "Bye!"

"Bye!" As the woman left the building, Steven was left with an odd feeling, like a tornado had blown through and left him among all the wreckage in its wake. Kaz was intense and made him want to press his face against abs and never move again. Miaow seemed like a complete inverse of him in every way. He wanted to date the former but spend a weekend talking to the latter.

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

Miaow could hear shouting as she approached the head of Transformation's office. The voices inside were muffled enough that she couldn't understand them, but she recognized Daenerys and Shenlong's tones. ᱿Nope. You get to deal with this, Kaz.᱿

Slumping his shoulders, once he was back in control, Kaz shifted his form to be more masculine. The chest of the shirt silently sighed in relief. ᱿Do you want to walk in together? You as a cat and me an arm down?᱿

᱿Absolutely not. That is for mingling with friends who appreciate me.᱿

Holding up his hand, Kaz knocked at the door, whereupon the muffled voices within went silent and the door opened, along with a perceptible snap of the spell doing that muffling breaking. Both Daenerys and Shenlong looked worked up about something, but Kaz was not going to let their surliness stop him from making a good impression. Walking in, he dipped his head only a little, but it was noticeable. "Mal said you needed someone to help teach transformation?"

Sitting back in his seat, Shenlong beamed in delight. "I told you he'd go along with it. Mal could talk a cherry tree into growing peaches."

"He's going to be insufferable now," Daenerys said to Kaz. "What did she offer you? The honorary degree, I hope? Given the stories circulating about Ragnarok, you would have earned one a dozen times over."

Kaz shrugged. "I didn't do much—"

"Liar." Shenlong sat up straight and looked Kaz over. "Your mana flows are tight and well protected, you're leaking not a single thread, and whatever form you're using there, I get the sense that it would be tougher to kill than any actual dragon form."

Kaz hadn't felt whatever Shenlong was using to probe with at all, which told him more about his own need to learn more draconic magic and less about the teacher. He shrugged. "I have learned a few tricks. Nidhoggr, Fafnir, and Hel were good teachers, but we were pushed for time so we focused on what would be immediately useful in Ragnarok."

"So your skills are mostly useful directly in combat?" Daenerys asked.

"I've also had a bit of practice breaking curses and mimicking other creature's abilities." His mind rushing back to his time freeing Vali, Kaz smiled a little and felt a bit more comfortable. He wasn't just a fighter.

"The first isn't all that useful, but mimicking abilities is. The only problem I have with all this," Daenerys said, flicking her huge mop of red hair back, "is you are a natural shapeshifter. You can't describe to students how to do the changes."

"But I can demonstrate creatures for them to shape-shift into. I can show their abilities, I can even show hybrids." Reaching for more of his combat form, Kaz wound up causing his shirt and shorts to strain once more by letting more redcap and dragon into his current shape.

"You said it yourself"—Shenlong turned to his wife—"getting a range of demonstrators from the community each year is getting harder. Kaz can fit any role in that. You could have him as a wildcard. And then he's also charismatic and smart. We can fit him in easily enough. The only major problem is that there's only one of him."

Miaow made a mental sound like coughing up a fur ball, mostly to get Kaz's attention. ᱿Kaz, Daenerys asked for you, but she's not showing that here. She's playing a game. Push to find out what.᱿

That fact had completely slipped by Kaz. With the pair still discussing what use they could make of him, he cleared his throat. "So, if you don't want me working here, I guess I'll go get a job somewhere else." He stood up and stretched, waiting for the shocked silence to wear off the couple.

Daenerys looked up at Kaz a little bewildered. "Somewhere else? What do you mean?"

"You can get all manner of beings here to teach students, but you asked specifically for me. You probably put the thumbscrews on Mal to get me. So, now that you have me, why are you making arguments why you don't want—me?" Kaz hadn't realized how worked up he'd gotten. With his combat form at least partially in place, he could feel his blood pumping and he was ready for a fight.

Recognizing his wife getting worked up, Shenlong raised his hands to ward Kaz and Daenerys back from each other. "Slow down, please, we can talk about this."

᱿Kazuma! Shift into something calmer!᱿

Miaow's shout startled Kaz enough that he did what she said. His form shrinking, the redcap haze started to fade and he slumped back in his chair again.

Sitting across from Daenerys now was a four-foot-nothing waif of a girl that was swimming in the shirt and shorts Kaz had been wearing. Turning her look on her husband, Daenerys growled at him once. "You said this would be the best way to get his attention."

"What?" Kaz asked.

Slumping, Shenlong was relieved that the pair were not about to go for each other's throats, but he hoped they weren't eyeing his. "The reason she wants you here is because I will be retiring mid-year. There are things stirring at home, and I need to spend a few decades there. I wanted Daenerys to shove you into my lap so I could test you."

᱿She's a powerful dragon, Kaz, but I wish Daenerys wouldn't take advice from her husband.᱿ Lashing her tail, glad she wasn't now engaged in a fight to the death with a dragon, Miaow tried to get back to purring—and failed.

"Cards on the table and all that. He's right. I need someone experienced with transformation and magic, who can demonstrate many forms, teach students how to attain them with normal methods—which I know you're excellent at, and I am so desperate I would call in favors from Mal and go along with my husband's craziness to secure you for the spot. Will you fill-in for him?" Daenerys looked up at Kaz, now ignoring her husband.

"No more games," Kaz said. "We talk like this and— Sorry, Shenlong, I know you helped us out with wards and things, but I don't like your manipulations." He looked over at the eastern dragon. "No offense."

Sparing a loving look for her mate, Daenerys turned to look back at Kaz. "Shen comes from a culture where manipulation and social positioning are an art form. I put up with him because, when he lets all that slide, he's genuinely nice and cares about people. This was my fault as much as his—I should have remembered that you have never been anything but straight with us. Now, are you still interested or has this cost us your assistance?"

"You know why I said yes to this? I want to help people. Every turn I took, when I came here, seemed to be a left one. I angered the vampires. I angered a local yokai. I got myself killed, mind-raped twice, and then killed again for good measure. Then I fought through the end of a pantheon. If I can give people a little advice on how not to do some of those things, I think it would be a good way to live.

"If you want someone to teach them as well as Shenlong, I will work my tail off to do that so I can help people. If you want me to replace him, and all the mind-games he uses to manipulate students, just tell me now and I'll find another way to help people." Feeling small in the normal size chair, Kaz nonetheless ignored his stature and focused on being as open as he could. ᱿I wonder if Tang Sanzang would have an idea for something I could do?᱿

᱿The monk? I don't know, he was very goodie-goodie. At least, what you mentioned of him. It was annoying that he didn't let me talk to him. I have never eaten a monkey before.᱿

Kaz ignored Miaow's thoughtful tone and, with Daenerys still looking at him, thought more about Tang.

"Curious as I am to find out other ways you'd help people, I will accept your terms. I don't want another Shen, I want to find out how you will make the position your own. Mal had nothing but good to say about you, about your strength and compassion. She also liked your ruthlessness. If you are willing to build up to the position, it's yours." When Kaz nodded to her, Daenerys let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you, because I had no idea who else I would get."

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᱿Thanks,᱿ Kaz told Miaow after he'd left the meeting with Daenerys. ᱿It feels grimy, all that manipulation, but I kinda see where he's coming from with it. He's not exactly a young dragon.᱿

᱿Doesn't matter. If your manners are that bad, in a thousand years, I'll manifest from your leg and kick your butt.᱿

Laughing, Kaz imagined himself petting Miaow and soothing her raised fur with slow, comforting strokes. "If I'm like that in a thousand years, I'll deserve more than a butt-kicking."

"Kaz?"

The voice was familiar. Kaz looked around for the source and saw Flo, from his orientation at college. "Hey, Flo. Still hanging around campus?"

"Picking up work as a T.A." Walking over to Kaz, Flo had her broom held on one shoulder while her other had a satchel bag with her laptop in it. "What about you? I heard you got caught up in some stuff and couldn't finish your degree?"

"Yup, though Daenerys is going to give me a degree for what I did do. She wants me to teach." Kaz eyed the load Flo was carrying. "Do you want a hand carrying all that?"

"This? Nah. Gonna say, though, I'm jealous. You got an actual teaching position right from the get-go? How'd you land that?" Well aware there was a lot more to Kaz's story than she'd mentioned, Flo nonetheless was fine letting him work up to it. She wanted the latest gossip, but she also wanted to remain his friend.

"It's a long story, but the short of it is I died a few times, found myself a patron who makes death less an end and more a journey, and helped her out with some family trouble. That left me with some neat tricks when it comes to transformation magic." Holding out his arm, Kaz laughed. "And I picked up this neat thing from a real trickster. It lets Miaow manifest without me giving up control to her."

Pushing out through Kaz's arm, Miaow increased her size as much as the starting mass of his limb would allow and then jumped up into his remaining arm to snuggle against him. "Mmmm, hello."

Flo had to snap herself back to the conversation. What she saw, Kaz splitting off part of his body, shouldn't have been possible without doing significant harm to him. "Hello there. Miaow, I take it?"

Stretching out to sniff the offered fingers, Miaow started purring. "There are few enough felines that are lucky enough to have a mage partner. You smell like Sev, the other guide Kazuma talked about."

Blushing, Flo was about to pull back but gave up any kind of charade under such olfactory scrutiny. "Yes. We started going out a few weeks ago. We—haven't told anyone yet."

"If you scratch my left ear, I won't tell anyone," Miaow said. When she got the appropriate scratch, she tilted her head into it. "This is a good tribute."

"Who did you say taught you how to do this?" Flo asked, not shying from giving Miaow plenty more attention.

"Well, uh, Loki." When Flo's head jerked up to look at him, eyes wide, Kaz tried to look guilty. "It's not hard to do, you just—"

"Kaz— Do you prefer Kazuma now? No? Okay. Kaz, transformation magic is not part of my skill-set. It would be like me trying to explain— It'd be like me trying to explain equivalency-fields in witchcraft."

Laughing, Kaz nodded. "Fair. Jaybird tried to explain to me how they balanced the pocket dimension they made for me. I can see the mana as they work it, but I'll be damned if I can figure out how it does what it does."

Sobering at that, Flo took a breath and centered herself. "I heard about some kind of dragon stuff. What's up with that?" She kept up petting Miaow, trying to keep her from making other observations.

"I blame Miaow for it, personally," Kaz said.

"What?!" Jerking her head up, Miaow glared at him. "Why me?"

"Because you made me think more like a cat, which is close to thinking like a dragon. And, once you start thinking like a dragon, it keeps happening." For a moment he considered changing into a draconic form, but with Miaow apart from him, that would mean being one leg down—and losing his clothes. "The company I keep doesn't help, either."

"Daenerys and Shenlong, right. I had one of his classes in first year. I wouldn't want to be working under him."

Kaz didn't want to get into the whole situation with Shenlong, so decided to leave that be. "Well, yeah. He's got this whole—uh, thing. But it wasn't them that taught me to be a dragon, it was Fafnir mostly. He taught me how to work mana and how to think like a dragon."

Being a witch involved a lot of important skills, and one of the most important was to look contemplative, yet accepting of anything. It was a struggle for Flo, but she managed it. "The Norse dragon, right?"

"That's him. Even if I have a lot of wolf in me, I still feel like I'm a dragon. It"—Kaz, even in his present form, could do a little work with mana and did so—"makes you see the world in a different way. With some of the work I've done on curses, they started calling me a curse-breaker. They are all fascinating, and the more complex they are the more like a living thing they are themselves. The last one I…"

"It's cute to see someone get so focused on something they love," Flo said, noticing that Kaz had snapped out of his nerd-focus to realize he was talking at her, not to her. "I'd love to discuss with you about making a curse that couldn't be undone."

"I don't think it's possible. Simple curses aren't useful, and the bigger they are the more area you have to find an opening. Use too much mana, and it makes it easier to pick out the strands of it, too little and I can shred the whole thing before any triggers will pick up that it's coming apart. I started off in the deep end, but I spent a lot of time figuring out more tricks to removing them."

"And?"

"There are no tricks to removing them. They take a lot of work picking apart and instinct is a huge part of it." Kaz shrugged and laughed. "Well, this is my stop. I guess I'll see more of you around campus?"

Flo, who was walking to the main entrance, stopped and looked at Kaz with a little confusion. "Uh, yeah. Wh—"

Jumping from Flo's arms, Miaow landed in the one free arm Kaz had and, when close enough to his empty shoulder, flowed out and returned her body to his form. ᱿You need to let cute girls cuddle me more often.᱿

᱿That explains why you jumped into her arms.᱿ Reaching up, Kaz pulled his shirt off and put it in his bag. Raising an eyebrow at Flo, he realized she wasn't going to turn away. Shrugging, he half turned and stepped out of his shorts. "Jaybird thinks I can figure out how to shift and stash my clothes, but it doesn't work like that."

Flo hadn't realized what Kaz was about to do, and as the scales stretched over his body and he reshaped himself into an entirely inhuman form, she got the gist of it. A rush of awe filled her when Kaz stretched his wings up, grabbed his fallen bag, and took off into the sky. "Huh."

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