There had been many things that had often annoyed Nicole with regard to her mother over the years. Some of it related to how distant her mother had been regarding fashion for Animalians. She'd run her company to back designs and fabrics that would help with Animalian needs, to prevent mammalian Animalians or avian Animalians dealing with issues caused by having something hold their hair or feathers down, or would fit around things like the wings on flying Animalians, the dorsal fin on some aquatic Animalians, or the dorsal plates for the two known Stegosaurus Dinotopians that existed, but Joanne had still always been distant with regard to support for them. That had been part of Nicole leaving New York, coming to Animalia, becoming a Fennec Fox Animalian and getting a job at the Meat Market.
Of course, Nicole never expected her mother to attempt suicide and then eventually become a Fennec Fox Animalian, herself, as a means of an apology to her daughter. Nicole liked that, and was willing to accept some of the therapy sessions that came as a result of those issues. It helped get many of the issues where mother and daughter had had past disagreements out in the open and according to Doctor Jones, they were making some progress. Nicole took some pleasure in hearing that, but then came some of the other things that surprised her and even unnerved her a bit. Particularly now with her mother as an Animalian as well. Her mother was the sort that had looked down on modelling in the past, even with regard to modelling clothes her agency designed, and that had been part of Nicole's reason to leave and join Animalia, along with the job at the Meat Market. It was part of her idea to get even with her mother.
Then her mother joined in a competition that the Meat Market ran over the previous year, and Nicole wasn't entirely sure if that was because of her mother being drunk or some other reason, but Joanne entered and won the contest. It was something that Nicole never expected and to a degree was embarrassed by given their past issues and gave her the suspicion that her mother also developed at least a mild case of Regressive Hypersexuality Disorder. That was then soon confirmed and then Joanne brought a male Fennec Fox Animalian home with the announcement that they'd met at the gym.
"So... you're her daughter?!" Philip said with surprise as he talked with Nicole and while Joanne was busy discussing something related to dinner.
"Yes, both of us are originally from New York," Nicole answered, "my mother runs one of the design companies that has put a lot of time and energy into clothing for Animalians and has probably helped the small businesses here in having the infrastructure to produce things in larger numbers. Didn't she tell you?"
"Well... no, but you're her daughter?" Philip asked back, "the two of you could look like sisters... though you have more piercings."
Nicole smiled, "you DO realize that a double dose of the Animalia Virus can bring someone back into the prime of their youth... shoot, depending on how old one is, even one dose could do that."
"Interesting..." Philip managed, "but she did seem nice..."
"Even though she's old enough to be your mother and likely hornier than a normal Animalian would be?" Nicole asked back.
"Maybe... but my mom has been out of my life for most of my life when my dad caught her cheating on him," Philip answered, "and with your mom being younger again is that really a problem?"
"I suppose not," Nicole answered and managed a small smile as a plan began forming in her head.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Finding out the rest was fairly easy. Philip's father, Lars, didn't live in Lyre, but as Philip was happy to share that information, Nicole was able to get the address and even did so without alerting Philip or her mother to anything. Privately, Nicole knew this was coming from some sense of jealousy and attraction at the same time. Philip was well muscled and very tall, particularly for a Fennec Fox Animalian, the smallest fox in the world. That was what had Nicole jealous that her mother had found Philip first and that Philip seemed flattered by the attention. That then got Nicole even more concerned in that someone HER age might gain the position of becoming her step-FATHER. That was something she couldn't take, particularly after listening to her mother go on about polite and nice the "young hunk" was.
Thus, Nicole had hatched her own plan that would allow her to get back at her mother and prevent Joanne from getting a young man who'd more gotten lucky than worked for it to become her step-father and then likely pressure her to leave her job at the Meat Market. It wasn't as "high end" as fashion modelling was, but Joanne had been against Nicole even doing that in New York before Nicole came to Lyre/Animalia and became an Animalian. Of course, Joanne hadn't put too much of that kind of pressure, and Nicole figured some of that was due to the progress the two had made with Doctor Jones, but that didn't stop Nicole from figuring that there was some larger game that her mother was playing than just getting her claws into someone young enough to be her son. Thus Nicole figured she would drop in on Philip's father, Lars Sanford, at his home in Salt Lake City, Utah. It took some travel and a few days off from the Meat Market, but Nicole was fairly certain her plan was foolproof.
She arrived a relatively decent sized home where Lars Sanford lived and made her way up to the door. She wore something more concealing, as this wasn't quite the shameless seduction run that her mother had made at Philip as the introduction was to be tactful and to come off more as someone trying to protect her mother than anything else. If things went well, she might be able to convince Lars to convert himself, and preferably as a Fennec Fox Animalian, and thus set up a situation where if Joanne tried to flaunt her relationship with Philip, Nicole could essentially return the favor, but that would take time. She rang the doorbell and quietly waited. It eventually opened to reveal an older man, looking as though he was about her mother's age, with his hair being largely a rusty red color but was thinning silently. He wore a suit jacket, but the tie seemed rather loose for the moment and Nicole figured he'd just returned home.
"Excuse me, are you Lars Sanford?" Nicole began as she looked to the man and going over her starting point of her plan.
"Yes," the man said slowly, "and you are? If you're interested in my son, you should know he's been in Lyre/Animalia with the rest of them... learning about things and so on. I heard something about taking a step out into the world. If you're looking for him, I'm afraid you've come to the wrong house."
"I'm not here to meet your son, actually," Nicole spoke before giving her full name, "I am more here because I have met your son and it would appear that he has caught my mother's eye."
"Your mother...?" Lars wondered.
"Yes, Joanne Mabel," Nicole answered, "she runs a clothing design firm that is heavily involved in the fashion industry and has done a lot to help Animalia and Animalians."
She decided to leave out that until the previous year her support for Animalia was more business-like than anything else. Nicole knew her mother had changed in that regard and that going over old internal fights wasn't going to help with the present issue.
"I am her daughter, Nicole," Nicole finished.
"I'd thought I'd seen something on that in the news... some company in New York that did all that had its stock nearly tank completely..."
"Yes, my mother and I had had a small falling out over some personal things, a stupid argument, really," Nicole answered, "and she became depressed over it. From what she tells me, her response to the depression shook her company and it ran into trouble, and while she personally got better when she came to Animalia and became a stunning Fennec Fox Vixen, like myself, she also chose to move her corporate headquarters from New York to Lyre/Animalia. And she told me that hurt her stock as well..."
"Chaos and the like," Lars said slowly, "and what brings you here to me? I've run a pretty good insurance business here in Salt Lake and I've dabbled a bit in the Stock Market as well... but I've never followed things like Animalia that closely."
"As I said... your son catching my mother's eye," Nicole answered, "which I could explain... if I could come in."
The man nodded and stepped back. Nicole was then ushered into a decent sized living room and allowed to sit in a decent sized leather couch that faced a good sized entertainment center. It within the decent sized home that Lars Sanford lived in. It wasn't as big as the mansion that her mother had had built in Animalia, but Nicole also had the sense that the Sanford family, while reasonably well off, was not super wealthy. Nicole sat down on one end and waited for Lars to sit down on the other end of the couch.
"Now... you said my son has hooked up with your mother?" Lars asked.
"Yes," Nicole nodded and privately noted that while Philip likely looked rather different from how he looked when he was Human as a Fennec Fox Animalian, there were some things in Lars' visage that she could recognize in Philip's as well. It gave some hint that even with his more vulpine features as an Animalian that Philip took after his father in many ways. That had something hover in the back of Nicole's mind that Lars could be a very handsome male in his own right, assuming he converted and became a Fennec Fox Animalian, "It's not quite as odd as you may think... Physically, speaking, my mother and I could pass as sisters now. That's all part of how the Animalia Virus affects people and animals... Say if I were to convert you, you would get younger as I am physically younger than you. If you were an Animalian and were to convert or uplift a baby or a young version of that animal... it's aging would move it to a point where it would be physically older, though how far would depend on the age difference and all that... I'm not sure Horizon knows all the details on how that works exactly."
"I see..." Lars said slowly as he looked back to the young Fennec Fox Animalian. She was a young woman, likely somewhere in her twenties from what he could see, and he noted that her large cream white furred ears had holes along the lower lobe, indicating a large number of piercings for earrings, which Nicole was not presently wearing. He watched her take a deep breath before she spoke up again.
"And since my mother and I became Animalians... we've actually begun repairing our relationship," Nicole answered, "soothing out teenage rebellion against parental expectation, and all that. And it's actually been helpful and something I've liked and respected. It's something that if you asked me a few years ago... I would have said would be impossible. But it's happened and I don't want to lose that."
"And you think my son would take advantage of your mother?" Lars questioned his voice growing slightly hostile, remembering coming home one evening to find the woman who was supposed to love him and only him having sex with some stranger from elsewhere in the neighborhood.
"I would hope not," Nicole spoke, knowing some elements of the Sanford family's past but trying to keep her main goals in making sure that her mother wouldn't be able to use Philip as some means to manipulate her quiet for the moment, "but it would appear that she just happened to meet him at the Claw Coliseum in Animalia and took a fancy to him. I'm not sure if its love at first sight, attraction at finding a male Fennec Fox Animalian... and he is a striking male, or simply a passing interest... but it could become very serious, very quickly. And I'd like to make sure that your son and my mother would be compatible."
"Well... he's generally been the quiet sort," Lars answered, "more interested in games and all that... and got extraordinarily lucky with some computer or electronic game thing... GameStop, I think it was... but I could be wrong there. But he got out of it early enough to make quite a lot of money. In some ways I'm jealous, but that's more on the success he had than anything else. But other than that... he's not the sort to take advantage of anyone..."
"That actually sounds good... almost the sort that my mother could bond with," Nicole answered, "as despite her work in design for the fashion industry... there are times when she'd prefer things to be more quiet."
"Maybe," Lars said slowly, "but I'm sure she'd also prefer someone with some measure of business sense for it. Philip's never been that. He's a good man, and I'd hope I've taught him to treat people with respect and not run off someone else who's more attractive..."
"Being "attractive" is all relative," Nicole answered, "and in general... Animalians all seem to fit the same mold. Females are voluptuous and built to attract males... and males are athletic and muscular... built to attract females. And admittedly, your son became a VERY attractive Fennec... making me a bit jealous that my mother got him first. But she did... and I'd want to make sure that she isn't letting her libido rush her into a relationship to replace my deceased father."
"Well... I've always taught Philip to be respectful," Lars answered, "particularly after what happened with my wife... which I won't bore you with..."
"You're married?" Nicole asked.
"Divorced," Lars grumbled, "I thought I'd found someone worth keeping and well... long story short, she wasn't. Spent much of my life alone and raising Philip."
"Have you ever thought of starting over?" Nicole asked, "you could become an Animalian... get your youth again and go for a real happily ever after. And if what your son became is an indicator... you'd turn a LOT of heads."
Lars blinked at that, "Something in that tells me that there's a bit more to this than just protecting your mother for you..."
"Well... some of it could just be being jealous that your son became a very attractive male Fennec Fox and my mom found him first," Nicole admitted, "but making sure that he wouldn't be taking advantage of my mother was my prime objective. And talking with you has eased my concerns there... but that does also have my mind going that given how good your son looks, you could become just as striking."
"Even though I'm old enough to be your father," Lars commented.
"As said, the Animalia Virus would make you young again, so the difference in age wouldn't matter," Nicole commented as she stood up, "but that's a different part for you to consider... Though I thank you for answering my questions and easing some fears regarding what might happen between your son and my mother."
Nicole then pulled out one scrap of paper and then jotted down the address at which she and her mother were presently living. She'd had an apartment in Animalia, but since her mother had moved and built her present mansion there, Doctor Jones had advised that Nicole resume living under the same roof. In theory it was to help the two repair old wounds, and in some ways was working. She then handed the slip to Lars.
"This is where my mother and I are presently living if you ever have any interest," Nicole spoke while swaying her hips as she then made her way out and privately smiling in that she did hold Lars's attention.