Getting used to things in Animalia proved a bit easier than Annie had first anticipated, though mostly due to running into Brawn. True, he was a Spanish Fighting Bull Animalian while she was a Zebra Animalian, but in many ways meeting him and working out with him had been beneficial. Particularly with the fact that like her, he had been adjusting to the fact that the "animal instinct" side of being an Animalian would mean that certain elements of his sexuality changing. That sort of thing, as it was discovered in Horizon's research, probably more from reports from converted gay/lesbian Animalians reporting it Horizon had been partly why some of the same people in the present US government that had tried hard to eliminate Horizon's right to do business with the Animalia Virus had then flipped with that specific issue because they weren't particularly tolerant of homosexuality either.
"They probably still don't understand what true love is beyond their own biases," Annie thought to herself as she came into a coffee shop in Animalia. It matched a similar shop in Lyre, but Annie could also see major differences that this shop was of a bit larger scale and sturdier construction, which would then allow for larger Animalians to sit with more comfort and less worry about something not handling their muscle mass.
There were also still some Chinese paper lanterns hanging from the ceiling vents for the Lunar New Year. However, while Annie found Chinese New Year interesting, she wasn't there for that. She had come because she had noted some of those instinctual urges here and there as she went about getting used to Animalia. At first it wasn't major, and was nothing more than noticing how well muscled Animalian males were. Even some of the Human males that lived in Lyre and frequented the gym at the Claw Coliseum were fairly fit and that had actually startled her when a thought flashed through her mind that one of those Human males would have been "nice." It startled her and reflected some of the instinct issues that made her nervous. Thankfully, though, Brawn had also proven correct that she didn't lose her attraction to females either. That was a good thing in Annie's mind, though it didn't fully remove her worries on the issue.
But she had to move forward, and the day's meeting was supposed to be the "next step" as it were. She was supposed to meet Brawn here at coffee shop in Animalia where he would introduce her to someone that might be able to help with that next step. In theory, it was supposed to give her the full option of helping her decide on what she wanted. Ultimately to stay as she was, and maybe to court one of the other lesbian women that had become Animalians for one reason or another or accept some of those instinctual urges and do what Brawn had done or was doing. For Annie, it might mean being with a man at times but it wouldn't necessarily mean giving up the attractions she'd had all her life either. Brawn had seemed comfortable with it, and that was why she was willing to give it try.
She eventually noticed him in a booth near the back. He waved to her and motioned to a male Zebra Animalian that was seated beside him. Annie waved back and nodded, though she then held up on and with her pointer finger raised to ask for some time. She spent that time ordering herself a coffee, privately surprised at how Animalia, Horizon, and various other companies had found ways to engineer foods and drinks o get around things that might otherwise give many Animalians trouble with regard to digestion. Things like coffee seemed to be among them. She placed her order and once it was handed to her, she then paid and made her way to the booth where she'd seen Brawn seated.
"Hi, Brawn," Annie said to him and then looked over to the Zebra Animalian, "and this is...?"
"You can call me Stuart," the male Zebra Animalian gave a smile and reached out to shake Annie's hand.
Annie hesitantly accepted the handshake as she sat down, "Stuart..."
"Yeah... I serve drinks over at the Meat Market and a couple of the other bars/restaurants in Lyre and Animalia," Stuart answered with a nod, "I may even perform a show or two... if you're interested."
Annie cringed a little bit with that, which drew a comment from Brawn. "Annie's still adapting to some of the instinctual side of being Animalian... making her more bisexual than homosexual. Get your lust in check."
Stuart blinked and then looked to the bull seated beside him. A low snort and the sharp look of his horns was enough to get him to back down. With an apologetic smile, he turned back to Annie.
"Sorry... it's Annie, right?" Stuart spoke, and waited for Annie to nod in the affirmative, "I don't mean to come off as too forward... Though... some of that could be an issue for me."
"You're like Brawn?" Annie wondered as she took a sip of her coffee. It actually tasted a bit like "liquid corn," but strangely to her taste buds as a Zebra Animalian, she liked it.
"No..." Stuart shook his head, "I've always been straight. My issue is with Regressive Hypersexuality Disorder... all the new hormones and things that got re-energized when I converted sort of had the affect that I was a bit more interested than I was even in my youth."
Annie blinked and then nodded. Regressive Hypersexuality Disorder was something had also hovered as a political issue over Animalia, particularly with the fact that many older Humans that became Animalians seemed to have their libido soar to levels that would be exceedingly high, even for Animalians. In fact that had been part of the reason she'd been given only one dose at first. It had made her younger than she was in terms of her physicality, but not so much that she was brought back to her physical prime, partially under the various theories that related to the disorder. Though, while Annie could potentially sympathize with Stuart for the fact that he had to pay more attention to his actions to keep himself under control, that wasn't quite what Annie wanted to be confronted with when it came to the fact that she was trying to preserve who she was while battling instinct driven desires that went beyond what she had normally been interested in before.
"And this was the best candidate you could think of?" Annie asked to Brawn.
"The other Zebra Animalians that were in Lyre Zoo have already paired off into bond-mated pairs," Brawn answered, "and from what they told me... those that hadn't have actually moved to Maelewano to work with the colony there. Stuart, here, is the only single Zebra Animalian available."
"And in the end... the choice on what you want to do is yours," Stuart said to Annie, "all yours."
"Thank you," Annie managed.
"You don't have to thank me," Stuart answered, "and I'll even admit that a real part of me would just love to have you come out and say you love me... You are strong, you are beautiful. ANYONE, male or female would be lucky to have you as a bond-mate. But that choice is all up to you. The Animalia Virus may provide instincts that could "cure" homosexuality... but the people who've sought to apply that sort of thinking have also been the sort to take people's choices away and simply justify the lack of freedom by the new gained instincts raising new desires. That isn't freedom."
"It's enslavement," Annie nodded.
Brawn and Stuart both nodded at that. That was something they all could recognize, and Annie had to respect Stuart's honesty about the whole thing. It had generally been her experience in the past that most people that had learned about her sexuality weren't as respectful as Stuart had been, unless they were homosexuals themselves. This had meant that many straight men had turned on her in some way, shape, or form. She'd managed to get through it all over the years, but it'd never been easy. And there had been some moments after her conversion where it seemed like some Animalians were uneasy with it, though nearly all of them were uplifted Animalians.
Thankfully, though, the Animalians were still truly friendly to her. Unlike most Humans who'd gotten offended when they found out about her sexuality, Animalians simply let it be known that they were straight and were happy as they were. Annie could respect that so long as there was no decision or attempt to try and either demand she be straight or make some claim about her being "sinful," and so far, no Animalian had done that. In fact she had made a few friendly acquittances who were happy to have someone new to work out with and so on. Even uplifted Animalians were openly willing to tolerate her on this, and that was good.
"And the point of this cooperation to help you adjust to your instincts and all that," Stuart spoke, "if it's something you don't want... that's fine. No one in Animalia will judge you. Some have been nervous with my... condition, but no one has judged me for it. And Doctor Jones and his partners has been helpful everything in relation to that. No one will judge you."
"No one here, anyway," Brawn nodded, to which Annie smiled.