The government had ultimately paid for the clothing needed for both Dean and Nzinga in the immediate aftermath of the outbreak of the Animalia Virus, first at the Brown Farm and the wilds near it and then in Lyre and all the residences within it. It cost money and it would be that that would help play a factor in the future elections, but at the time both Dean and Nzinga were grateful for the help. Dean, because he didn't want to be wandering around naked in public and because nothing he owned would fit him now, and Nzinga because of recognition that humans had different concepts of modesty from others. To stay with Dean, she was more than willing to accept those points of modesty. That left them capable of moving on to what was next for both of them.
For Nzinga, that was with the various education programs that Horizon set up in cooperation with Animalia to help Animalians integrate with human society, or at least with Lyre if the rest of the country didn't want to. There, she demonstrated that her years of observation from her enclosure and the fact that elephants had large brains and had been noted for behaviors that were initially thought to be exclusively human (even before her uplifting) that she was highly intelligent. Nzinga had also demonstrated good skills with organization and leadership, which made sense in that she had been the matriarch of the small collection of elephants that the Lyre Zoo had. Within a few days, Nzinga was freed to transfer over to Lyre High and go through what would be necessary for either a high school diploma or at least a GED.
For Dean it was returning to Lyre High School, where he found his welcome to be fairly friendly and with a fair amount of people accepting his opinion on things. Though, Dean figured that made sense considering that the largest land animals on Earth were bull African Elephants, and as a bull African Elephant Animalian. He was bigger and stronger than any other Animalian presently at Lyre High and even the human bullies that might have been there didn't want a fight with someone that had the strength to throw them like a javelin. The biggest difficulty that Dean experience was with his size. Just as Abby Brown had, his increased size meant some reduced dexterity in his hands and that things had to be built specially for him. Now, he could compensate for somethings with his trunk, which Abby couldn't as horses didn't have that anatomical feature, but things like chairs were something that his trunk wouldn't help with. And about a week after they became mates, both Dean and Nzinga figured out they shared the same frustrations.
"Careful..." Dean began as he lead Nzinga toward the front doors to Lyre High, only to watch as she bumped her head on the top of the metal door frame.
"Oh..." Nzinga grumbled and bent low enough to get under the door and look up to it before moving in, "Again with low doors!"
"Yeah," Dean said slowly and moved closer to provide her with any sort of comfort he might need, "things can be pretty tight... both regard height... and on occasion, I've even gotten my tusks caught on something. Usually because I wasn't paying full attention."
Nzinga looked down to the long modified teeth that all African Elephants, both male and female had. Dean's were certainly large enough that they could bump into things in front of him if he wasn't paying attention.
"It's the low ceilings and doors that are the problem," Nzinga grumbled, "Why couldn't they raise them?"
"Doing so would probably require major structural upgrades to buildings," Dean surmised, "it'd probably be cheaper to simply build a new school."
"I've already voiced that to the people running that catch-up school," Nzinga answered, "they said it would take time to get that done, particularly while Animalia was trying to get its little town and society up and running..."
"Understandable," Dean commented, "nothing happens overnight, Nzinga. We'll just have be patient with regard to the time it will take... and strong enough to endure the difficulties."
Nzinga glanced over to him and for a moment marveled at Dean's own muscles. He was now a double dosed Animalian and was built perfectly as far as she could see, with his broad chest, wide shoulders, and strong arms. And hormonal tests showed that he wouldn't go through the periods that mundane bull elephants went through when their bodies were supercharged with testosterone and making them dangerously aggressive toward anything near them. It was something that would let them bond heavily and had her figure that Dean would make a wonder father in the future.
"Hopefully it doesn't take too long," Nzinga commented, "as there are many things to do... especially to more fully help you adjust and be as strong as you can be."
Dean found himself smiling for a moment. There were issues with their size not easily fitting in many parts of the building, especially regarding areas that had been built for humans well before Horizon even lobbied for the government project that would lead to Animalia's creation, but they did do well together, and took some comfort in being together. In fact they walked together to their first class, not only holding hands but also holding trunks.