Juliet quietly made her way into one of the various restaurants in Lyre/Animalia that had been build up to serve to some of the more specialized Animalian diets that were out there, as many Animalians were either fully carnivorous or herbivorous and there were only a handful that were omnivorous and could eat the exact same diet as Humans. She had stayed after her first meeting with Juan because of the agreement to foster his desire to help her with the private teaching and training that she'd put in place those that needed help with mental deficiencies in the area around her chateau and vineyard. Despite the size she remembered Juan being at, a part of her privately interested in that his stated desire to help and his past in education, albeit American education, touched a lot on her own personal interests and the sort of thing he'd always wanted in a mate even before her conversion. But most of the men that had come to court her had always seemed more interested in the money the vineyard made than in her.
She became even more interested when Juan said he was interesting in becoming a Fox Animalian. She assumed it would be a Red Fox, given how common that species was around the world and the various color phases it had also lead to various Red Foxes that weren't red in color. Her case was true of that as she brushed the silver-black fur on her arms as she entered the restaurant, as the Silver Fox was a color phase of the Red Fox, not a separate species. She scanned across the rather open room and then noted a lone male Fox Animalian sitting alone in a booth in a far corner. He actually raised his hand to wave to her, which gave her some awareness on specifically what kind of Fox that Juan had become. Based on what she could see of his fur, she thought he was a fairly standard Red Fox as the coat was largely a sort of golden-tan, which could be in the the color range for the standard Red Fox. However, Juliet also noticed that he he didn't have the black "gloves" and "socks" that the traditional Red Fox had. Those were actually white on Juan. He had also slimmed down a lot, which made him look healthy and one look at his bicep under his sleeve got some things in Juliet's mind humming in that it also looked like he'd also put on a bit of muscle in his conversion as well.
"You look good, Juan," Juliet said in friendly and perhaps overly eager voice and she only caught herself at the end, "I mean... Mr. Teroz."
"Thank you," Juan answered, "it does feel good to have all that excess weight gone. I'm down to somewhere around 190 to 200 pounds now... most of it is muscle. And it feels good."
"I can imagine," Juliet answered off hand as she glanced to his shirt.
It was a nice polo shirt and looked far more dignified than the orange prison jumpsuit he'd been in when she first met him. But it in a way, while it was no longer the over sized and baggy clothing needed to fit around all the fat he'd had on him before his conversion, it was now almost on the small side and that gave Juliet a fairly clear view on how his strong pectoral muscles were pressing against the shirt. It took a few moments for her to snap out of it and she found herself apologizing as she did so.
"I'm sorry," Juliet said slowly, "I've been dealing with some... shall I say "personal desires" since my conversion. Things that had passed me by in the past are back and a part of me is looking forward to that."
"It is understandable," Juan answered, "and I'm sure you'll find someone worthy of you and I will do my best not to be in your way."
That made Juliet blink a bit as that sounded more business like than anything else, which wasn't what she expected. A part of her figured that Juan would also have romantic interest in her and that would be part of his decision to become a Fox Animalian. She figured that could then be something she could use as a test for Juan to make sure he was not just another man interested in her money and "title" than anything else. That tone of voice though, didn't sound like he was interested in that. She was about to ask on that when the waiter came to take their order. Juan ordered two glasses of water and some of their grilled chicken. And gave an explanation that it would come on a decent sized tray that would serve the both of them, which sounded almost like a date, and this only served to confuse Juliet even more. However, she couldn't just come out and ask that question without embarrassing herself. So as the waitress left with their order, Juliet decided to work toward that question with as much tact as she could manage.
"So, how goes the related part of the punishments that you're having to go through as part of this "recycling program" that Animalia is running?" Juliet asked.
"I made it through the first one okay, mostly because the decision was to essentially engineer a sort of reenactment of the accident that busted up my leg in the first place," Juan answered, "they borrowed the mountain they used for the Year of the Ox race and rolled large exercise balls down the path and I was to race up the mountain to get a bottle of water. If I didn't do it in a certain amount of time I had to do it again. My guess it was to represent how much I'd fallen with regard to the addiction to the painkillers and how that became difficult when it comes to getting over it."
"Yes, it would seem that much of the program seems to rely on embarrassment," Juliet commented, "something that I think would only work with those who those who are repentant of their mistakes. The real test would actually be to see on how it works with those that are less repentant... but it is not my place to judge."
"Some of that may be seen on how they'll make out with the Black Sheep they converted," Juan commented, "but ultimately, it was no trouble and confirmed that my choice in becoming a Fox Animalian was right. I didn't lose my footing, I could dodge the exercise balls fairly easily, and those I couldn't dodge I was actually able to jump over. So it was good for me."
"Yes... and you became a rather striking Red Fox," Juliet commented, "bit lighter and more golden brown than I would expect... but not bad."
This got Juan to lower his ears in a rather submissive manner and look down for a moment, which Juliet caught. This puzzled her a bit as it also seemed to reflect over some of the statements that Juan had already made that did not sound as romantic as she would have thought they would be when they started.
"I'm actually a Golden Island Fox... or a Golden Fox," Juan answered.
"I've never heard of it," Juliet admitted.
"That's because it isn't a naturally occurring species," Juan answered, "it's a hybrid between the Red Fox and the Artic Fox, and requires very specific breeding between specific color phases of both species in order to occur. Most of the times when it has occurred has been more the result of breeding for the pet trade by Humans and thus purposely setting up the specific color phases of the two species together. In the wild... this is EXTREMELY rare because of natural competition between the Red and Arctic Foxes and the fact that even when such breeding in the wild does occur... there is no guarantee the specific color phases required for the specific hybrid that I am will be in the pairing."
"I see," Juliet said slowly.
"I figured it would be something that would allow me to help you and wouldn't give you any trouble in running your colony," Juan spoke, "and wouldn't raise something where some might think I'm taking advantage of you. As a hybrid fox... I wouldn't bring any shame on you as people then think that someone who is there assist you in your business... that people wouldn't think I was there because of some sexual situation. That I was there because I'd honestly earned the position to help with your school."
"I see," Juliet said slowly, noting that was a rather noble effort.
Of course, the nobility in that only frustrated her more. In that the part of her that was physically attracted to him as a Fox Animalian wouldn't have cared if he succeeded or not. That in turn only left Juliet clashing with that part of herself in that it wouldn't be right of her to look to a man who'd only asked for a shot at redemption as a sexual object. It would only make her just as bad as those who tried to have a house of prostitution included at her colony. Of course, she'd never expected Juan to actually check some of the boxes that she'd actually long looked for in a man and thus she wasn't direct about those things, and now there was no real chance to act on them.
For while the Red Fox and the Arctic Fox could breed, which was how this Golden Fox hybrid was created, that didn't mean that she as a Silver phase Red Fox Animalian could breed with him as a Hybrid Fox Animalian. The Animalia Virus could assure that Juan wasn't sterile, but that didn't change that they weren't the same species of Fox. Animalia's edict on breeding had some measure of interpretation to it, but many of those exceptions depended on the pairing producing viable offspring, something noted in pairings between Dogs and Wolves. They did not necessarily allow for breeding to occur just because the Animalia Virus made it easier for things to hybridize. The only thing that Juliet could think of was more to ask on this Golden Island Fox hybrid that Juan had become.
"So... tell me more about the breed of fox you've become," Juliet commented, "I will admit to being rather curious."
"Well, as I said... it's a hybrid between two specific color phases of the Red and Artic Foxes," Juan answered, "and is most common in the pet trade where man can selectively control the breeding."
"Can they sustain this process?" Juliet wondered, "I have heard reports on people keeping foxes as pets but not with hybridizing two species."
"Only by breeding the parents," Juan answered, "among the mundane animal... the Golden Island Fox is sterile. Now, the Animalia Virus seems to fix that issue... but it would mean that if I were looking to have a family, it would be limited to only another Golden Island Fox Animalian. With anyone else... there could be love, but by Animalia's edicts I wouldn't be able to have children with that partner."
"That wouldn't sound effective," Juliet commented.
"Not for the long term... and in some ways some animal rights group could well have challenges on this because of how these hybrid foxes are created," Juan answered, "but with the allowance for keeping foxes as pets allows for this to continue."
"I see," Juliet said slowly and inwardly sighed.
A part of her mind had also figured that ultimately she would be looking have children in the future. But given Animalia's edicts and the fact that Juan had not become a Red Fox, any romantic relationship was not going to be one that would lead to children. It gave her the knowledge that while they would be working together, romance wouldn't be in the cards. What made it frustrating was that she did find his new form highly attractive, and she was only just barely holding herself back from open flirting with him the way Eloise had flirted with the Jackrabbit Animalian working for Animalia Ambassadoria. But she put on her most polite smile and then moved on to business.
"Then I suppose we would best stay on to business at the moment," Juliet spoke, "how many more sessions does Animalia's program have for you to run through?"
Juan nodded and le the conversation turn onto the things that would relate to the job he wished to perform for Juliet and the things he would need to do to do that job. The stages of Animalia's steps at reforming criminals was one of them, and while he'd had the first there were others that would have to be filled. That would be at least the starting point to the proper working relationship that he'd intended to have with Juliet.