Page 4 of Medium
We looked at each other, and I held out my fist. “Cal will be nice, and Ms. Jackson won’t be scary.”
“Cal will be nice, and Ms. Jackson won’t be scary.” He bumped his fist to mine.
We got out and headed for the elevator. All too soon we were knocking on Cal’s apartment door.
Greg opened it and ushered us inside. I managed to nod a greeting at Cal before my eyes were glued to the freakingfour-foot-tall hedgehogsitting on the floor.
“Uh, Ms. Jackson?” I squeaked out.
“That’s them,” Cal said. “They were trying to find out how small they could get, but as you can see....” He gestured at them. “Not very.”
The huge black eyes examined us as the long nose quivered in our direction. The spines—or were they quills?—that appeared cute on a regular-sized hedgehog had to be lethal at this length. Ms. Jackson stretched out one oddly naked-looking paw before their form morphed into the tiger we’d seen on Zoom a couple of times. The tiger form was disconcerting for a whole lot of new reasons.
They stalked toward us, and Ellis and I inched closer to each other. He was as tense as I was, but he grinned widely and said, “Wow, Ms. Jackson, I’m so happy to meet you!”
“Me too,” I managed.
Ms. Jackson sniffed our hands, then they circled us, rubbing against us like a ginormous housecat. Except a housecat couldn’t make you almost stumble off your feet. They had to weigh two hundred pounds or more.
Cal said, “Lunch is almost ready. Do y’all need some water or anything after your trip?”
Maybe it was cowardly, but I needed a minute to get used to Ms. Jackson. “Uh, the restroom?”
Cal pointed down the hall, and I edged carefully past the tiger. At least Cal didn’t seem so intimidating anymore. I threw Ellis an apologetic glance, but he was stroking the top of Ms. Jackson’s head. I didn’t know why they were triggering my flight reflexes. I’d met a lion shifter and a grizzly shifter in their fur forms before. They hadn’t bothered me at all.
Was it because Ms. Jackson didn’t have a human form? Did my brain think that made them more alien?
By the time I’d washed my hands and headed back to the living room, I felt more centered. I’d just treat Ms. Jackson like a shifted Wonder, and it’d be fine.
Except they’d manifested the Ouija board they used to communicate. On their chest.
I’d seen it on Zoom of course. But in person, the hard wooden board seeming to grow out of Ms. Jackson’s warm fur was much more disturbing.
My steps slowed until I stood next to Ellis again. I wanted to do my usual thing of shutting down and being quiet while I absorbed whatever was bothering me, but it wasn’t Ms. Jackson’s fault the way they were made. I didn’t want to offend them.
I forced myself to talk. “Uh, hey, Ms. Jackson. Um, did Ellis tell you we’re going to my house tonight? I hope that’s okay. It’s not nice like this or anything.” I swept my hand in an arc to take in Cal’s living room. He had eight—eight!—bookcases and a gigantic TV. The apartment was in good repair, with new-ish carpet and no obvious dents or scratches in the walls or fixtures.
Unlike my place.
Ellis scoffed. “I like your place. It’s nice and homey.”
I shook my head. “He means homely.” Ellis thwacked me on the arm with the back of his hand.
Ms. Jackson spelled out,I-S-P-E-N-T-D-E-C-A-D-E-S-I-N-A-R-O-O-M-F-U-L-L-O-F-D-U-S-T-Y-B-O-O-K-S-I-A-M-N-O-T-P-I-C-K-Y.
“Oh. Um, I get it. Just, you know, tell me if you need anything to make you more comfortable, okay?”
T-H-A-N-K-Y-O-U.
I felt better.
Cal called us to the table. I hadn’t noticed before, but the tether of Cal and Greg’s bond glowed super strong between them. I hoped I ended up with a mate bond like that.
He and Greg had bought a cowboy casserole from Central Market. Chicken, pasta, poblano peppers, and cheese—all good stuff. They’d also heated up a take and bake pizza, which had only cheese on one half and mushrooms and artichokes added to the other.
Greg sliced the pizza into smallish pieces and put the entire thing in front of Ms. Jackson. “We’ve been testing out different vegetables for them to try.”
They sniffed at the artichokes and mushrooms but chose to start with a piece of the cheese-only half.
