Some things had returned to "normal" for Jeff and Andrew since their respective conversions into Lion Animalians. The pair had been in Lyre to see Animalia bloom and grow and grow into something more than just a collection of anthropomorphic animals with a high sex drive. It was true that that was a big part of Animalia, and to a certain extent that was what had fueled a lot of the growth in businesses like the Meat Market over the years. People who had an interest in that sort of thing came to see in real life what they could only see in pictures before.
But Animalia had grown into more than that. It was something that Jeff could see in how many Animalians cared for their neighbors, be they Human or Animalian. It was one of those things that he figured would present some major question for sociologists trying to analyze Animalian society and culture for years to come. For as Jeff had observed, many of Animalia's actions when it came to helping friends and neighbors and cooperating together came in a way that seemed more biological than anything else, but that sort of thing would be impossible to test or confirm scientifically. There was no such thing as a "be kind gene."
Thus there would be questions on how Animalian society and culture had adopted such positions right off the bad and with minimal lessons from Humans. Jeff remembered some articles theorizing that some of it related to some of the odd ways in which uplifted Animalians picked up Human knowledge in that somehow memories of time spent with or near Humans made their way into the minds and memories of uplifted Animalians. That, however, wouldn't explain things when one considered that things like kindness was not something that was biological to Humans. Many of these things developed over time and often with a sort of carrot and stick approach that wasn't similarly present in Animalia's development.
All the same, Jeff was quite happy for it. The loss of his mother hurt him, but he'd seen that it'd really hurt his father. Despite being gay, Andrew had loved Jeff's mother deeply when in came to their emotional attachment. It had lead to something of an open marriage at times, and when Jeff's mother died, the loss had devastated Andrew emotionally. That had been why Jeff worked to convince his father to go through with converting to be an Animalian and use that to try and pull him out of depression, and seeing Andrew get a sort of spring in his step again was something that made Jeff feel better, though there were some times where it could be difficult.
"What if she doesn't like me?" Andrew commented nervously as he fiddled with the collar on his shirt, which seemed to be restricting his mane more than he'd liked.
"Aslan said this wasn't a truly a sort of dating situation," Jeff answered, "it could become one... as it would appear that homosexual Humans do become bisexual Animalians... but much of this was to help you adapt and adjust to things..."
Some of which was also needed in other ways because of the suspicion that Andrew might also be one of the few male converted Animalians that was also suffering from Regressive Hypersexuality Disorder. The condition was treatable through therapy to help the Animalian in question gain self control, but it was something that would also be something that Andrew would have to keep control over, regardless of whether or not he took a Lioness Animalian as his mate or took a male Animalian as his mate.
"So it could just be professional for the moment," Jeff said to his father, "if it becomes something more than that... that's up to you and when you are ready."
"Maybe... and while Doctor Jones says I am getting better... I don't think I'm quite ready to truly take a mate on full time," Andrew answered, "but it's not like I want to make a bad first impression. Come on too horny or too withdrawn... or make it seem like she's going to have to work... I mean... you aren't nervous..."
"Well... you wouldn't let me double dose, so for the moment, THAT isn't as big of an issue, isn't it," Jeff retorted.
"That's not," Andrew began to counter when the doorbell rang and then finished, "that's them...!"
"Okay... so relax," Jeff urged and ushered his father to the coach and let him sit there, "I'll get the door. Just be calm and everything will be fine."
Jeff then quietly made his way to the front door and opened it to find Aslan waiting quietly with a lone and mature Lioness Animalian. Jeff didn't recognize her, though the first things she said soon indicated that Andrew might know her already.
"This is not King Andrew," the lioness spoke as she glanced between Aslan and Jeff.
That had been a reference to the job Andrew had taken up and was one of the things that had been part of the Regressive Hypersexuality Disorder diagnosis. For while every Animalian had a libido higher than most Humans, that did not mean that every Animalian worked at the Meat Market. In fact from what Jeff had figured out at WSA so far was that most of the Animalian students there weren't interested in working there. The double dosed ones might enjoy some of the parties there or might "hang out" there from time to time, but they weren't necessarily driven to work there. But many of those people that had jumped into to working there after converting and often leaving other jobs to do so often did develop the disorder, and his father had been one of them.
"My dad is inside," Jeff spoke calmly too her, "if you'll come with me."
Jeff lead them in and into the living room where Andrew was waiting on the couch, twiddling his thumbs somewhat nervously. Jeff could see the look of surprised recognition on his father's face when he saw the lioness, which confirmed that the two actually did know each other from the Meat Market but didn't recognize that they'd ultimately be assigned together. There followed a brief series of introductions, though this was mostly for Jeff, as he wasn't employed at the Meat Market.
"It wasn't necessarily my first thought," Aslan admitted as he finished the introductions, "but I had figured that since the two were familiar... there wouldn't be unnecessary pressure try and conform with regard to some things. Your father won't be nervous around her as he does already know her and she will be familiar with regard to his issues between recovering depression from your mother's death and his developing Regressive Hypersexuality Disorder..."
"And I'm still surprised that someone as young as Andrew developed it," the lioness said slowly, "after all... he's only in his forties. Pretty much everyone that has developed the disorder were at least sixty, if not older."
"Doctor Jones thinks some of it was from years of repressing being gay," Andrew admitted weakly, "and then converting and having things awaken that were never there before... And well... there are times when I get the sense that he's right. As there are a lot of things that have made me feel better and more energetic about some things... and it can be fun at times too."
Andrew looked down for a moment, as he didn't want look as though he was playing to enjoying some of these things too much. It would make it seem like he'd been manipulating Aslan, which was never his goal and at the same time, converting had been more his son's idea. And because of that kindness, Andrew didn't want to be disrespectful to either Aslan or the lioness that was being assigned to him.
"And that's good," the lioness gave a warm smile, "that'll help you move forward. Doctor Jones may have come as something of a "love doctor" to help people find their soul mates or at least being open enough to talk on it... but he has proven quite exceptional at handling some of the surprises that have come his way. In this, if he thinks you're making progress, you probably are making progress. Which is a good thing. And as I'm sure Aslan has told you... I can help with some of the other things... changes in your desires, how Lyre/Animalia's pride organization functions. So when you're ready... you can be confident in whichever way you wish to go."
"Thank you," Andrew managed a small smile in reply.