For Karen and Mike, things were a bit easier with regard to acclimating to being Animalians. With the tests that made it clear that Karen's cancer gone and Mike's Parkinson's Disease also gone, they were left on their own, pretty much the same way Simon was, though given that they had started out a bit older, the two had found themselves staying fairly close before deciding on whether to actually move into Lyre or Animalia or to return to their own homes. For the moment, the two had actually struck up a fairly decent friendship as they got used to things.
"Whoa..." Mike said with some amazement as he watched Karen literally do back flips across an open area in one of Lyre's city parks.
Snow Leopards weren't quite known for the sort of acrobatics that many smaller cats were known for, as while they weren't as big as lions or tigers, they weren't exactly small and the mountains of their native home ranges in Tibet meant that jumping around might not always be a good idea. However, Snow Leopards were still cats and like all feline Animalians, Karen had found her senses, including her sense of balance improved. She guessed due to Snow Leopards needing to be able to maintain their balance when chasing goats and sheep across the Himalayas.
"Yeah... it's all amazing, I've never been able to do that before... even before the cancer," Karen said with pride as she recovered and stood before Mike as he followed along behind. The one area where she struggled a little was balancing on her now digitigrade feet. She'd never stood on her toes for so long before and essentially needed to relearn her balance to accommodate her new feet and legs, though, like many new Animalians, Karen found she was doing quite well with that. "So... have you learned anything new?"
"I've mostly enjoyed being able to be in full control and walk without weakness or involuntary spasms," Mike said with a shrug, "I'd never thought about trying cartwheels."
"It's rather fun," Karen said with a laugh.
"If you say so," Mike chuckled.
The two resumed walking along and continued their friendly conversation.
"So you really haven't learned anything new since becoming an Animalian?" Karen asked.
"No new physical tricks," Mike corrected, "What I've learned is more academic with mongooses than anything else."
"Academic?" Karen asked and looked over to him. Her ears were perked in curiosity.
"Yeah," Mike nodded, "You know how some mongooses are known for hunting snakes... like cobras."
"I think so... they're immune to the venom, aren't they?" Karen asked as they walked along.
"More resistant than immune," Mike nodded, "the big thing that enables them to have success is being able to attack and kill the snake before it can strike."
"That's fast," Karen commented, "you could get a job in animal control and deal with mundane snakes."
"Not my first choice," Mike said with a chuckle, "I was actually thinking at comedy."
"Your jokes aren't THAT funny," Karen told him.
Mike only chuckled as they walked along. Walking and talking with Karen had been the best part of getting used to his new body. He wasn't really interested in her romantically, but he did find her pleasant company and talk to. It felt good to have good friend that he could share experiences with. Both of them had, after all, gone through Project Phoenix. The two of them had gotten used to being Animalians and all the freedom of movement and control that doing so provided them.
"Well, I'm sure I'll find something," Mike managed after a few moments.
They continued walking along and Karen nodded as they came to a corner near the edge of the park. On the sidewalk, Karen's night vision picked up two canine Animalians, one a wolf and the other a dog. Both were female and walking from Animalia to Lyre. They'd likely come from the big baby shower that was going on in Animalia at the moment. Some things were interesting, but the only other Snow Leopard Animalian already had a mate and to Mike's knowledge there wasn't another mongoose Animalian available at the moment, but both had been aware of the baby shower's existence.
"Even they're talking about finding mates and having families," Karen whispered to Mike, her ears picking up some of what the other two Animalians were talking about.
"Well... on the outside we're certainly built to attract attention," Mike quipped and made a pose.
Karen only shook her head, "there is more to love than looking good."
"Yeah," Mike agreed, "and hopefully everyone remembers that... though from what I've seen of Animalia and Lyre... I'd think a lot of the people here would seem to live that way. They've been so polite and friendly. Maybe not perfect in every way... but it's been pretty hard to find things wrong with Animalia."
Karen nodded, "You thought about actually moving here? I know that Bennie's already made that decision."
"He found a mate though," Mike commented and then looked out into the night and added, "though... with how polite and friendly people have been... I don't think there's a major reason not to."
"That'd be great," Karen smiled, "we could be neighbors."
"You decided to move here?" Mike asked.
"Why not?" Karen asked, "in Lyre and Animalia... we're more likely to be accepted and everyone has been so nice... that's more than enough for me."
Mike nodded. He couldn't argue with that, as he'd been mentally debating that issue for the same reasons.