Ava's first day at school was fairly fine and quiet. She'd thankfully gotten into the building before the fist-fight over the City Council meeting took place, though by lunch time she had heard of the decision and some of the talk about the fight. She guessed that would be something of a sore spot for many of Moon Lake's weres for awhile. However, as the school day ended and she made her way out the front door, she had her own mission to accomplish. She pulled her phone from her backpack and sent a text to her mother that read, "Made a new friend. Her name is Ashley and we will be at her house for a little while." After hitting send, Ava than made her way down the steps and found Ashley waiting for her.
"Hey, Ava," Ashley said to her as she approached, "have a good day?"
"Pretty much... though some of the stuff in the background sounds..." Ava began, largely referring to the talk of the fight and what happened at the City Council Meeting.
"Yeah... all that will be big, but it probably won't be as bad as people think it will be," Ashley agreed, "come on."
Ashley lead Ava down the street that ran in front of the High School and headed south. As they walked along Ava found that the road actually curved slightly and was one of those things that made Moon Lake very different from Quantico, Virginia in that unlike most cities, Moon Lake wasn't made up in square or rectangular grids. The closest thing to that was actually in the very center of Moon Lake. Much of the rest was made up on long straight roads that came out from Moon Lake's central point, like spokes on a bicycle wheel, or a wagon wheel. When they came down to Main Street, Ashley headed east while Ava followed. Ava noted there was some traffic, but not too much.
"Traffic doesn't keep you up at night, does it?" Ava wondered, watching a black car drive east and eventually vanish out of sight as it left Moon Lake.
"Well I can hear it..." Ashley admitted, "all weres have good hearing, sight, and smell... though it's to varying degrees and circumstances. You remember Julie Stovall, right?"
Ava nodded, remembering meeting a blond haired girl during her study hall period. The girl seemed to be almost romantically stroking a pearl necklace.
"Well... because weremers are so linked to water and so on... a lot of their senses out of the water aren't as sharp as mine are," Ashley explained, "but then as a trade off, I can't breathe under water, which Julie can. And I can't hear or see very well under water, which Julie can, and because I can't breathe underwater, I can't smell anything underwater at all. So... that's where her were-species has advantages."
Ava slowly nodded and followed along until they came to a modest home that was next to a small creek/stream that ran diagonally across the road and then up past the house before going into the woods behind it. Ashley then lead Ava up the pathway to it. They came inside to be greeted by a male voice as they came in through the front door.
"Hello, Ashley, how was your day?" the voice asked.
"It went fine... and I made a new friend," Ashley answered, "You?"
"I had a good day too... just getting some things started for you and your mother's dinner before I have to go on my shift at the station," the male voice answered and even Ava could hear some chopping noises coming from that direction.
The two came along and found a lone man in a policeman's uniform chopping some vegetables. He looked up from the wooden counter to see Ava and gave a friendly smile.
"Dad, this is Ava Ross, she and her family just moved here," Ashley spoke, "Ava, this is my dad, Charles."
"Are you a werecat too?" Ava asked.
"Well my fursona is feline... but no, I'm not a werecat," Charles spoke, "all werecats are female. Those that are male would be better termed as werewildcats."
"Oh," Ava managed, now remembering what Samantha had said to her in front of her home when Samantha left, "are you a werewildcat then?"
"No, I'm actually a weremountainlion... or werecougar... or werepuma, whichever name for the animal you want to use," Charles answered, "when fully transformed... I'd probably look like a greatly enlarged Abyssinian... but that's largely due to Mountain Lions largely being one color."
"Interesting," Ava said slowly and her mind thought on that. She knew she was straight and in that, she actually wasn't that keen on werecats because of that sexuality aspect, even with the recognition that Samantha Twist was beautiful. And a part of her mind even figured that being a weremountainlion would let her have a feline build, if a bit enlarged. And that would deal with some her questions, because she did also remember what Samantha saying about every werecat being at the very least bisexual, if not homosexual. She had nothing against them, but that didn't necessarily mean that Ava wanted to go that route herself. However, the biggest thing that had driven her curiosity in Ashley and werecats was something else that she'd overheard from her parents conversation with Samantha, that they thought that Connor might be gay. That was something Ava had never noticed and that only filled her with questions, and questions with the intent to help her brother in the long run.
"So, Ava, what do you think of Moon Lake so far?" Charles asked.
"It's interesting," Ava answered, "and I have a lot of questions that Ashley's offered to help with."
"That's my girl," Charles said with a prideful smile to his daughter, "well... I'll leave you to it then. Be sure to make sure you get your homework done, and Ava, if you need a ride home, my wife and Ashley's mother can provide it when you're done if you need it."
"Thank you," Ava answered.
"I didn't have too much in the way of homework... I think the school is in some shock over last week's city council meeting," Ashley commented.
"That will go on for awhile," Charles answered with a nod.
With that Ava and Ashley departed. Ava followed Ashley into the living room and soon sat on the couch, setting their backpacks on the floor in front of them. Ashley then looked to Ava as she leaned back against the back of the couch.
"So... what are you curious about with regard to werecats?" Ashley asked.
"Well... a lot of it is with weres in general," Ava explained, "most of the reference to werecats is that the only were I've seen transformed is Samantha Twist and my brother as Moon Lake's guidebook right now so I can't look at it. And Mrs. Twist did look beautiful in her feline form... but..."
"That sort of thing could really fit any were," Ashley nodded, "though all feline weres will fit around the same general body plan... Weretigers and werelions may be bigger and bulkier, but they're still fitting within the same general plan that werecats and werewildcats are built with... we're just a lot smaller than they are."
Ava nodded in acceptance with that, "the only real questions that I'd have with regard to werecats specifically... are... well... are there any that haven't been gay or bi? And how do you know which is which?"
"I don't think that there has ever been a werecat that was straight," Ashley said slowly, "it's one of the things that just makes werecats unique from most other weres. I really wouldn't know the reason why. As for knowing whether one is bi or gay... that's going to be up to the individual. They'll just know who they're attracted to. My mom knew she liked men as much as she likes women... and when my dad has nights off... they'll have some very adult parties that end in threesomes with some of mom's bi friends as well."
Ava blinked and raised one hand to scratch her chin for a moment, which gave Ashley time to explain some more.
"And as for turning normal humans... there is no real way of knowing," Ashley said slowly, "if you're straight, Ava, becoming a werecat WILL change your sexuality and will require girl on girl action to complete the transformation and before your new sexuality establishes itself... It's something that werecats and werewildcats have generally preferred to save for those who are already gay or bi. That way their sexuality isn't changed."
"So... if someone were already bi, they wouldn't become gay?" Ava asked.
"No, because that person's sexuality would already match the conditions for a werecat or werewildcat's sexuality, depending on the gender of the person," Ashley spoke, "why do you ask?"
She'd noticed a fairly nervous look on Ava's face, one that wasn't there when they first met at the start of the school day. And while Ava and Ashley only had one or two classes that they did share, Ashley was fairly certain that it was a look that Ava didn't have through the day. She noted that Ava's eyes drifted down to her backpack where the name "ROSS" was printed in capital letters on a tag just below the hand loop.
"This is from something else I overheard when my folks moved in," Ava said slowly, "and it's something that I'd never noticed... that my brother might be gay or bi or something... or was questioning it. My parents apparently caught something on their computer's history links and asked him about it. He said it was for school, but when my parents talked about it... they sounded like they didn't believe him. So... I really don't know for sure and I don't know what to do. Is my brother gay? Is he wrestling with something he's never shared before? How do I help him?"
"I'm not really sure if there is anything you can do to help him," Ashley said slowly and got the sense that this was something best kept between the two of them, "if your brother is wrestling with something... he either fears rejection or doesn't know for sure and is wrestling with the fact that he doesn't know. And ultimately that will be up to him."
"But we'd never reject him," Ava said nervously and Ashley noted some tears forming in Ava's eyes, "Mom and dad have always been kind and welcoming. Shoot... I think my parents were even a bit curious about being weres after Mrs. Twist and a friend of my brother's who'd moved here earlier than we did gave the sort of were demonstration… and thus before my brother volunteered."
"But this revelation about your brother troubles you?" Ashley asked.
"Yes," Ava answered, "privately... if I do become a were... I might lean more towards a weremountainlion, like your dad... assuming it doesn't have the sexuality aspects to it...as it would look more like an oversized domestic cat... so... I'd still look pretty and could still be me. But... being there to help my brother and showing him that I love him and will always look up to him will always be there and thus a lot of my questions with werecats and so on... that maybe a werecat could figure a way to help my brother recognize things and come out of his shell as it were."
Ashley nodded and looked up to see her father coming out of the kitchen. He was wiping his hands clean on a napkin and approached the couch slowly.
"I'm sorry to overhear..." Charles began, "but Ashley is right in saying that if your brother is conflicted... there isn't that much that either you or Ashley could do to help him. Becoming a werecat, yourself, couldn't help him, even if you consciously agreed to accept all the changes that would come with it. The best you can do is to show your brother love and support. You could suggest he see someone like Frances Twist, Samantha's wife, who is a local therapist and she could talk with him and help him figure out what is holding him back if there is anything... And if it's simply confusion on his part... about all you can do is wait."
"I don't want to lose him," Ava spoke, "Connor always stood up for me. Stood up to bullies when we were in elementary school. There has to be something I can do to show him that we'd still love him..."
"Just be kind and accepting," Ashley assured Ava, "you'd be surprised by how much that can do."