James sat back down on the couch after Isabella's faux pas. Her tail had long since recovered from its misadventure. But James still held it for longer than needed.

"Sorry for pulling on it," Isabella said. She handed James a cup of coffee, which finally had her release the fluffy tail. "But uhm, well, sorry."

James nodded. The smell of the coffee caused her to wrinkle her nose. It reeked, the smell foul, but she tried it anyway. She regretted it immediately. "Eww. What is in this?"

"It's just coffee," Isabella said, looking at the petite woman sticking out her tongue in disgust. "Uhm, you said you would explain."

James nodded as she put the cup of brown liquid onto the end table. She figured the lousy taste was due to her having a different tongue. She knew that she owed Paul an explanation. Isabella had now joined that club, even though their reasons were different.

"I guess I can start with the obvious," James said, gesturing at herself. She then began explaining her circumstances. She hadn't gone far before Isabella interrupted her.

"Wait, so you're not a fox person? You're not even a girl?" Isabella said, looking confused. "How is that possible?"

"Y-yeah," James said with a slight frown. "I mean, I am right now, both of those. I was going to explain."

"Sorry for calling you a 'she' before. I didn't know," Isabella said sheepishly as she looked away from James. Paul, of course, had already known and waved for her to continue.

"It's, uhm. It's fine," James said, her ears folding back. She hadn't considered the pronoun until now. Being called a 'she' felt odd, but she had been doing it this whole time without thinking about it. Being called a 'he' when like this felt worse, though. "I am female right now."

Isabella opened her mouth. She was about to argue, but Paul touched her shoulder. "Bel, let's just hear James out? Okay?"

"It's weird, but I'm used to it," James said, ears relaxing to point back at the two. She didn't want to dwell on that issue. It was a problem for future James. "Let me continue."

James resumed her story and told them about her vacation, her visit to the card shop, and the cards she got.

"Have you tried evolving your Illusionist Trainee?" Paul asked, suddenly more interested in the story with the discussion of cards.

"One tail is problem enough, thanks," James said as she patted her tail for emphasis. She shook her head and sighed. "With my luck, I would get stuck like that. I'm unsure if I could handle having... those kinds of assets."

"Do I want to know?" Isabella asked, eyeing the two friends. "It's not a sex thing, is it?"

"A little bit," James said. But at that same exact moment, Paul exclaimed, "No!"

"I'll show you later," James said, sighing. "Anyway, then a group of men attacked me for the card I won.""

"Attacked?" Isabella asked. "By who?"

"How should I know?" James shrugged. She then began to explain her back alley shortcuts and how she was being confronted by the three thugs.

"Then I took out my decoy wallet..." James started but trailed off. She felt like an idiot. "So that's how he knew how to find me."

"Who? The ninja?" Paul asked.

"What ninja?" Isabella asked.

"Yeah, the ninja," James sighed. She explained the rest of the encounter and her escape. The rest of her explanation of the past few days had only minor interruptions as she finished her story.

"After that, I decided just to go along with it," James said, pointing at herself. "I've gotten somewhat used to it. Well, that and being able to change back makes it much less scary."

"Well, at least that explains why you're not wearing a bra," Isabella said, pointing at James' chest.

"W-what?" James said, folding her arms over her chest and feeling self-conscious. "I-It's fine."

"Ah, sorry. I didn't mean it like that. But it's not fine if you're going out in public, or if you're going to meet... What was his name? Elias?" Isabella said. "It might give him the wrong idea."

"I have no intention of meeting the person trying to kill me," James said, shrugging. "I thought that was obvious."

Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

"Bel. James is wanted by the police," Paul said with a sigh. "That's the big problem here."

"It's fine. I didn't see that adorable face on the television," Isabella laughed as she gestured at James. "Besides, she already explained that she wasn't to blame for that."

"I don't really want to stay like this," James sighed as she folded her arms over her chest again. "But I don't have a lot of options."

"Well, are you going to stay like this?" Isabella asked.

"Paul hasn't given me many options," James said, looking at her friend, who was shaking his head at her.

"James, if anyone sees you..." Paul trailed off before changing his argument. "People are looking for you, and we already had someone stop by to look for you. You're asking for a lot."

"Yeah, sorry," James said, her ears dropping slightly and looking down. "I just don't know what to do."

"Aw, don't be sad," Isabella said. "You already have a plan."

"I do?" James said, looking back up to stare dumbfounded at the woman.

"Yeah, you go see Elias and see if he can undo what he did to get you in trouble."

"Wha- how am I supposed to do that?" James said, looking at her.

"Bel, she's wanted by the police," Paul said as he glanced at his girlfriend. "They aren't going to pretend nothing happened and stop looking for her."

"Do you have a better idea?" Isabella huffed, glancing over at him. Then she turned to James. "What about you?"

"I could just hide..." James said before trailing off, her voice filled with hesitation. She didn't know what else she could do. She didn't want to beg Elias to call off the hit on her human self, but she also didn't want to stay like this for the long haul.

For a long minute, the three sat silently. Isabella sat beside Paul, her gaze considering. Suddenly, Isabella clapped her hands, breaking the silence and attracting the others' attention.

"Well, either way, you'll need new clothes, a haircut, and a few other things. Let's go shopping!" She exclaimed as she stood up.

James looked down at herself and then back to the woman. She shook her head before she looked away from the excited woman, averting her eyes. "Even if I wanted to do that, which I don't, I'm kind of broke."

That doused Isabella's enthusiasm somewhat, and she slumped back to the couch. She sighed, "Well, okay. But you at least need the basics. I'll buy, I can't let you go around flashing people."

"I'm not flashing people," James replied indignantly as she folded her arms over her chest again.

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

Not long after, James sat in a chair in the small kitchen area with a towel around her neck. The bathroom had been deemed too small. Isabella stood behind her with a comb and a pair of scissors. Isabella had already forced James to wash her hair. But she was so unsatisfied that she did it herself. James was still annoyed at the water that had gotten inside of her ears.

"Don't go crazy," James said as Isabella began to fuss over her hair.

"Don't worry, I've done this before. But your ears kind of limit what I can do." Isabella said as she began to cut James' hair. It was rougher on her scissors than she liked, but a style began to take shape. As she worked, curiosity got the better of her. "Is it weird?"

"Yeah," James sighed and gathered her thoughts. "I feel like me, but that all disappears when I look at my hands or feet. I look in the mirror and see a strange person there. It's hard to equate them with me, even though I know they are."

"I guess I can see that," Isabella nodded as she moved around to James' front. "Are you doing okay?"

"Kind of," James said, resisting the urge to shake her head. "I know I shouldn't be. I get a small knot in my stomach whenever I look at myself like this, like I'm doing something wrong. But that's it, really."

"Well, don't worry, we'll sort this out," Isabella said as she continued her work.

They continued the idle conversation. Then, after another ten minutes, Isabella stepped back and looked over the fox-eared woman. "That should do it. I'm not a professional, so I went with a simple look."

"It looks good," Paul said as he looked up from his phone. "A bit... uhm... cliche, though."

"What does that mean?" James said, standing up and running a hand through her hair. It was cut flat in many places, and she could feel a slight breeze on her neck as she did so from the shorter hair.

"Well, go look," Isabella said as she corralled James towards the bathroom.

James entered the small room and looked at the reflection in the mirror. The woman she saw there was an even stranger sight than before. It wasn't bad, but she looked like one of the fox-folk from myth and popular culture. Her hair had blunt bangs that hung over her eyes. It had been cut short to her mid-neck and flat all around. It curled slightly at the ends, giving it a more rounded look.

It was a cute look that she didn't really think fit her. "It's weird."

"It's cute," Isabella corrected. "It's not perfect, but better than the mop you had."

"I don't really want to be cute," James said as she tilted her head back and forth, causing the hair to shift side to side. "Is this going to be hard to wash?"

"No more than normal," Isabella said. "Shampoo, conditioner, cold drying, a few minutes of combing to keep it straight, a trim every month or two. The usual stuff."

"What?" James said, turning to look at Isabella. "That's way too much. I've never really used more than shampoo."

"Oh right, I forgot you used to be a guy," Isabella said as she pulled a loose strand of hair from James' head. "You should shower. After that, I'll get out the measuring tape."

"I am a guy," James huffed as she waved away Isabella's hands from her head before glancing in the mirror again. "You know what I mean."

"Sorry, sorry," Isabella said, putting her hands up.

"What do you need a tape measure for?" James asked, wondering how her height was relevant.

"No, a measuring tape," Isabella corrected. "For your sizes."

"Can't I just wear a large shirt and sweats or something?"

"That won't work for your bra size," Isabella smiled magnanimously.

"Ugh," James huffed in annoyance, feeling consigned to a terrible fate.