Samantha stood by calmly and sipped from a plastic cup that she'd picked up. The punch wasn't too bad, but that really wasn't the big thing at the moment. On the whole, she and Frances were enjoying their time as chaperones at the High School's Halloween Dance and things in that regard were going fairly well. They had also brought Jen Decker along to get her out of the house and help her acclimate to Moon Lake again after being gone for so long and help her recover from her husband, Jeff Decker's murder. That part had worked out fairly well in that Jen did seem to be having a good time, though it did appear to have its fair share of surprises.
The main surprise at the moment seemed to be the run in with Harley Gregory and her friend Claire. Harley, Samantha wasn't too familiar with, but Claire, however, was more familiar. She'd gotten a job as a custodian/maintenance worker for the college and had moved to Moon Lake before the Andersons did. Claire, however, had no problems with Moon Lake's were law, but didn't quite explain why when Samantha spoke to Claire when the woman first moved in. She had been very interested in becoming a were, but seemed to be a cat person and thus had the interest in becoming a werecat. That in itself wasn't a problem, as being a woman would mean that the werecat strain of the were-virus could transform her easily.
The problem was that Claire was straight. That was reflected in Claire's comment in saying that she'd had trouble finding a straight male werecat. That related to all werecats, male or female, were at LEAST bisexual if not gay. And as their strains of the were-virus, a male werecat couldn't have sex with a normal human female without his specific strain of the virus could kill her and the same would go if a true werecat had sex with a normal human man. The only thing that protected the mates of bisexual werecats was that they were already weres and as weres, their own immunity as weres protected them. This meant that if Claire wanted to be a werecat, only a true werecat could transform her. And that would still have the issue of Claire losing her present sexuality.
"I hate to rain on the parade, but Claire is still straight," Samantha commented.
That made Jen blink and then look over to Claire, "You're straight...?"
"Well... yes," Claire answered, "but I've always liked cats or anything related to them. Catwoman in the comics... Shampoo in Ranma 1/2... and any cute cat video on YouTube."
Jen looked over to Samantha and Frances and then back to Claire, "Miss Claire... werecats and werewildcats are ALL at least bisexual or homosexual. If you're straight, you would see your sexuality change regardless of the form. Didn't Samantha tell you that when you moved in?"
"I did," Samantha spoke calmly.
"I still like cats," Claire answered.
"Why not pick one of the were felines that aren't mono-gendered?" Jen asked with a small frown. She was still recovering from her husband's death, but welcoming someone into were society in accordance with the mandatory were law was something that just about every were in Moon Lake had to do from time to time. Married weres weren't usually asked, but then she was a widow and if Claire was already a lesbian, or at least bi, she'd given the woman what would allow her to join were society and abide the law. But both werecats and werewildcats tended to be rather careful with regard to who they transformed because of the unique nature of their strain of the were-virus having an effect on a normal's sexuality. "There are weretigers, werelions, wereleopards, werejaguars, and werepuma. You'd be feline and your sexuality wouldn't be affected."
"But I'm not really a fan of the big cats," Claire answered, "there are too many fights and not enough cute playfulness. A house cat is cute and fluffy and the things it does are always cute..."
"The behavior between house cats and the big cats actually isn't all that different," Frances spoke up, "the only thing that really differs is the size."
Claire shrugged that off, as if she didn't care about that point or didn't believe it. Jen paused in her glance to Harley who only shrugged.
"I tried to talk her out of it, Jen," Harley answered, "but she seems dedicated to it won't change her mind. And in the end, I figure that so long as she's aware of what becoming a werecat would do and still agrees to it... Is there really anything we can say with regard to the law?"
Jen frowned and she could hear Samantha give a heavy sigh. Moon Lake had no laws that restricted the choices of what kind of were to be beyond health issues. That meant that Jen couldn't try to turn a man into a werecat, even if he wanted her to and a male werecat couldn't try to turn a woman into a male werecat, even if she wanted to. The health issues with regard to the mono-gendered strains of the were-virus were such that they couldn't allow for it. However, the present case didn't relate to that and thus wasn't regulated. By rule, if a woman wanted to become a werecat and knew the consequences that would go with it, there really wasn't anything to do to stop them.
"You do understand that if I do transform you you, you'll be at least bisexual as a result, if not a complete lesbian?" Jen asked Claire, trying to sound as serious as she could.
"If it means I could be a cute kitty... I don't care," Claire answered.
"Okay," Jen managed with a heavy sigh, "If that's what you really want... just so long as you know what the consequences are."
Claire smiled and was about to reach for Jen's hand when Jen raised it with her pointer finger pointing upward.
"But for right now, let's just enjoy the dance," Jen spoke, "we can handle your... welcome... on another night. A night when I'm not here with friends. If to let you think things over."
"Okay..." Claire commented in reply.