Harold managed to make it through his morning with regard to getting things ready for his class syllabi and the book list needed for his classes. Unlike High School teachers that would often teach one or two specific courses and would have one textbook for each course, college courses often had several books to use. There would be a standard textbook or a selected book that would cover the core of the course's subject matter and there would then be additional selected texts that would aid in doing that. So, like any other college professor he had an extensive reading list that would be needed and would have to be divided up between the specific courses he taught, and they would need to be delivered now, so that the books could be on hand for the spring semester, particularly as the college may have to order the specially if they aren't already on hand.
And that is what took him most of the morning, as the house was quiet and he was able to focus. The only time he really paused in his work was when he calmed down enough that he began to transform back. His tail being painlessly being pulled back into his spine, his fur pulling back inside his skin, his fingernails rounding and flattening from claws to more human-like nails, is added muscle mass shrinking, though only slightly. He could also feel his manhood shrink down a bit and hang below him, rather than being held to his abdomen by a sheath. His face flattened out with his nose being pretty much separate from his mouth. In some ways it was an odd sensation as he transformed back, as he could hear what sounded like bones breaking and rearranging, but yet there was no pain. In fact the biggest thing was an almost sadness that he was changing back.
"Does the dean feel this way when he turns back?" Harold wondered to himself as he stood up from the couch. Being naked in his tiger form was one thing. He was too big in that form to were any of his clothes that he owned and they only just fit him in his human form, which was why he needed to find at least a few new items that he could wear and definitely professional attire he could teach in. As he stood up, he noticed his flaccid penis hanging down between his legs. It was easily three times the size it had been before, and while granted he wasn't all that large before, his transformation had definitely changed that now and that only spurred on another thought, "Does Virginia?"
His thoughts did quickly turn to her, and mostly because there seemed to be so much more they had in common and more "personal" between them. In a strange way it spoke to him that Eliza would like Virginia had she lived to come to Moon Lake with him and Melissa. And he figured that that was really what fueled his sort of fever dream during his transformation into what he was now that allowed him to finally began to accept that Eliza was dead and yet would want him to be happy. That only furthered his growing attraction to her. Regardless of were species, though, his interest in Virginia seemed to be more personal and not purely sexual. The thing that had frustrated him with Alice Decrux was that she seemed more interested in sex than anything else in that she didn't want to get to know him. And that wasn't how anyone started dating, which made him uneasy even before the dean had given him the warning.
However, for the moment, he couldn't really be with Virginia because of how Moon Lake was applying the situation. Even if they couldn't charge Alice Decrux with anything more than transforming during the day and causing a public disturbance, Harold was more than willing to accept a restraining order and having Decrux informed that she wasn't to touch him or his daughter, and a part of his mind was surprisingly willing to maul her if she dared harm Melissa in anyway that would rob Melissa of her own happiness. That part startled him a little and he seriously wondered where it came from. He'd never been the sort to wish physical harm on ANYONE, even those that had done him or his family wrong. He pondered that as he went upstairs to get dressed. He ended up settling on an old pair of gray sweatpants and a tee-shirt. It wasn't the most professional, but fit better than most of the rest of his wardrobe. He was still wondering on those thoughts when he came downstairs again and noticed it was now pushing noon and feeling his stomach rumble.
He was just about to head for the kitchen when the phone suddenly rang, and not expecting it, Harold managed a fairly decent jump before recovering. He turned to his phone and checked the caller ID. It read: Dean Myers. Harold quickly picked it up as this was the conversation he'd hoped to have earlier.
"Hello, sir," Harold spoke, "I'm sorry to trouble you after all the stuff from yesterday..."
"None of that was your fault in my book," Dean Myers answered, "No problem."
"But what about Virginia!?" Harold found himself asking, "it was an accident that I got clawed and I wouldn't be pushing any charges against her."
"I'm afraid there isn't anything that can be done about that," Dean Myers said slowly, "Statute 1A is something Moon Lake takes very seriously and doesn't give exceptions for. Partially because many of the legend and myths around were-beasts or the creatures were-beasts inspired have lead to the sort of perception that weres are wild and violent... such as werecattle inspiring stories of the Minotaur hunting and eating people in the labyrinth underneath Minos... or the sirens and other stories of mermaids and mermen, singing to lure people to their deaths... and then obviously the stories of the major predators... werewolves in Europe and North America. Werelions and wereleopards/panthers in Africa, werejaguars in South America, werebears in Russia, weretigers in India, and so on. All have had negative stories that normal humans would take as things to be threats to the point were Hollywood would even reinforce that notion."
There was a brief silence for a moment, but the dean did continue.
"As such, weres do not want to be in a situation where such behavior can be excused," Dean Myers answered, "and as such, turning a human against their will... is something weres take seriously and even if you don't press chargers, if the police find any evidence that Virginia either deliberately clawed you or had consciously knew she could force a fight with Decrux and thus set the circumstances for an accident to occur... the city will in order to demonstrate that weres aren't the mindless or villainous beasts of folklore."
William found himself nodding as he really didn't know what to say about that. After a few moments, he heard the Dean's voice again, this time asking a question.
"Anyway, my secretary stated you wished to speak with me," Dean Myers spoke, "I'd assume that it'd relate to the clothing allowance as you are now quite a bit bigger than you were before..."
"Yes," Harold spoke, "among other things."
"I can email you the certificate or you can come in and pick up," Dean Myers told him, "it's pretty standard for Normals that become larger weres, starting at the large breed weredogs and werewolves on the smallest end to werecattle on the largest."
"And all of it muscle or curves in the right places," Harold said slowly.
"Pretty much," Dean Myers answered, "anyway, the certificate is accepted locally and will be good for seventy-five percent discount off of any individual item bought at a Moon Lake owned retailer with a five hundred dollar limit... though I will also warn you that places like Awareness can be pricey... Your best source might just be the campus store. It doesn't have much, but we do try."
"Awareness?" Harold asked, thinking this odd for a sort of pun.
"It's a store downtown," Dean Myers answered, "they sell clothing that that would fit your new human form... but their main point is clothing that can shift with the were, and that only works the smaller weres who's physical growth when they transform isn't as big as ours. In that they sell to wererats up to medium sized weredogs."
Harold nodded and figured not to go there, as while he'd left his old job on great terms, in fact the University of Michigan had been begging him to stay and even offered councilors to help with his grief over Eliza and were still paying a decent pension for his years of service, that wouldn't be enough to cover everything especially with him becoming a weretiger and Melissa likely going to become a werecow. Both of them would need to retool their entire wardrobes and his old pension wouldn't cover it. He quietly listened as Dean Myers continued.
"With stores that are owned by those living outside Moon Lake, such as K-Mart, Target, Walmart, or any other clothing store," Dean Myers continued, "it is accepted as a specialized account that again goes up to five hundred dollars."
Harold nodded, even if Dean Myers couldn't see him do so, "okay... I'll probably come in to pick it up. Though with how much I've changed... that I won't look very professional."
"It's understandable," Dean Myers answered, "did you have any other questions?"
"Well... I have some things on... well... what I am now," Harold answered, "all these instincts and urges. There have been times where I've found myself more easily angered and even willing to use force..."
"Likely thinking of Decrux, I bet," Dean Myers answered, "that's fairly typical. We weretigers are by nature highly protective of the things we care for... be it family, our homes, our employees, our students, our friends. For warning it ISN'T the sort of protection instinct that would make for a good soldier of police officer. As a weretigers will take things personally... In a way it fits the sort of "king of beasts" mentality that circles around both weretigers and werelions. We know we're strong and powerful and if we're not in control of ourselves... we could take protection to the point of trying to control our charges in a rather imperious way, as that way we can then make sure no harm comes to them."
"That sounds rough..." Harold said slowly.
"It's only a problem if you let emotion control you," Dean Myers answered, "humans can fall into the same trap if they fall into too emotional a mindset. Just maintain your self control and you should be fine."
"I hope so..." Harold sighed slowly.
"Is there anything else?" Dean Myers asked.
"Well..." Harold said slowly, "Now that I'm a weretiger... do I need to join a... well a pride is a word for lions... but..."
"Pride works... in general," Dean Myers answered, "just about all of Moon Lake's were-felines use the word pride, even if they aren't werelions."
"I see," Harold said slowly.
"As for the rest... for the moment you ARE in your pride," Dean Myers spoke, "You. Weretigers, wereleopards/panthers, werecheetahs, werepumas, and werejaguars all generally tend to follow a very loose definition of pride, to fit the more solitary nature of the mundane animals. The base pride unit is the individual male or female while they're single. Once they marry, their pride expands to that mated pair. If they have any children, the child is part of their pride until they turn eighteen when they become adults and thus the head of their own pride. All their respective rules and such are left up to them..."
"But Virginia said you and she were in the same pride," Harold said slowly.
"And by a loose definition, she is right," Dean Myers spoke, "One a month all of Moon Lake's weretigers come together to meet. We swap stories, enjoy some games here and there, discuss any and all issues, and sometimes we hunt as pride... though that'll still have us split up into smaller groups with one killing the deer and all that group sharing it. We aren't quite as formal about this as werefoxes get and we may not jump into orgies as quickly as werewolves may... and in many ways, it lets us agree on general rules for ALL weretigers. And you're more than welcome to join in if you wish, though we've had our meeting for this month already... though you might prefer to wait... as by the time of our November meeting, the situation with Virginia will have been cleared up and you can come together..."
"I'd like that," Harold found himself saying, mostly thinking of Virginia.