Conversions can have an odd way of creating reunions. It wasn't always about family members who have come together to support someone who's decided to become an Animalian. Quite often, when one younger member of the family has converted, it inspires an older member to get a double-dose. That was the case with Joanne and Lars with their respective children, Nicole and Philip. But the order of their conversions made for some rather interesting pairings.
When Philip converted, Joanne was quick to take notice of him, especially as he became considerably more muscular than was expected from a fennec fox. Nicole was rather annoyed that her mother would be dating someone as chronologically old as she was. Though when she heard about Philip's single father, she decided turnabout was fair play. Nicole visited Lars and eventually convinced him to become another fennec fox. Part of her plan was to make her mother jealous and part of it was to make Joanne more interested in Lars. But Nicole and Lars had unexpectedly hit it off rather well.
There was nothing official about serious commitments yet about these two interesting couples. But tongues tend to waggle regardless. Experienced Animalians noticed that couples that pair up tend to remain together until inevitable marriage. Animalians tend to not go through multiple relationships, except for the eternally flighty Mane Six + One. Everyone saw it was only a matter of time before they became official mates. Unfortunately, 'everyone' included Lars's first wife who decided she had quite a lot to say to her ex-husband on the matter.
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When Lars first got the call from his ex-wife, she was obviously wanting to have it out with him. But Lars firmly but politely told her that it would have to wait until after the Halloween season was over as he was busy with several things. Lars would have preferred to put it off even longer, but that would only make her angrier and more determined to get her hands on him. He would have preferred that Nicole be kept away from this, though she insisted that she showed her support for him.
But now Lars was waiting for the knock on his front door and with his large ears, he honestly couldn't say he wouldn't hear it. When he finally heard the knock, he turned to Nicole and said, “Well, she’s here. Let’s try to keep it civil.”
“I won’t be the one to start anything,” said Nicole.
Lars sighed before going to the front door and opening it. His ex-wife actually didn’t look too much different when he last saw her, about two decades ago. She had clearly been doing a lot of exercise and moisturizing to keep herself looking young. Philip hadn’t inherited much from asides from her darker hair. Lars couldn’t be sure, but he thought he smelled a little bit of hair dye on her. “Hello, Morgan,” said Lars in a level tone.
“I see you’ve finally done something with your body, Lars,” said Morgan, “Even if you had to take animal steroids to pull it off.”
“The Animalian virus isn’t a steroid,” said Lars.
“I’m sure it’s not,” said Morgan, sarcastically. She idly looked at Lars’s much improved musculature, quite visible even through his shirt.
“Would you like to come inside?” asked Lars.
“Oh, this won’t take long,” said Morgan.
“So what is this about?” asked Lars.
“Well, I just happen to hear that you’ve been seen with a new woman on your arm,” said Morgan.
“We’re divorced, remember?” asked Lars, stiffly, “I am quite free to pursue another relationship if I want to.”
“With a considerably younger woman?” asked Morgan, “And one who’s much more high class and richer than you can afford?”
Lars heard Nicole starting for the door and made a gesture behind his back to stay back. “The Animalian virus restored me to my prime,” said Lars evenly, “And if you’re insinuating that I’m dating her for her money, I’d have to say I’m surprised you’d think me so shallow.”
“You were never like this in your prime,” said Morgan, scoldingly, “And I’m thinking you’ve gotten too big for your britches, in more ways than one.”
“Look, I may be in a new relationship now, but I don’t see how it’s any of your business,” said Lars.
“Well, shouldn’t I be concerned about how much you’re taking advantage of the poor girl?” asked Morgan.
Nicole couldn’t hold herself back any longer. She walked up next to Lars and said to Morgan, “For your information, I came to him first. I was the one who convinced him to be converted. And I don’t think you’re on a moral high ground to be judging him, especially since you cheated on him before leaving him.”
“Oh, so this is your new squeeze,” said Morgan, giving Nicole’s multiple earrings a distasteful look, “Maybe I was wrong about this girl being high class.”
“If you want class, you can talk to my mother,” said Nicole, “Though I doubt she’ll have much to say to you.”
“So why aren’t you with her mother?” asked Morgan, “Surely you’d be better off with her.”
“Because my mother is already in a relationship,” said Nicole.
“With who?” asked Morgan.
“Philip,” said Lars, his voice getting an edge to it, “Our son. As in the one you left me to raise on my own. And who you haven’t even mentioned yet.”
“Oh, well, good for him,” said Morgan, “At least he’s moving up in the world.”
“So you think it’s morally scandalous for me to be dating a younger woman who’s upper class but you approve of Philip dating an older woman who’s upper class?” asked Lars, who was holding back a growl.
Morgan paused a moment before she said, “Well, obviously her mother is the dominant one, unlike you lording over this poor girl.”
“Oh, don’t try to use feminism as a defense,” snapped Nicole, “Especially since you don’t mean it. It doesn’t take super hearing to tell that was a lie.”
“Just because you don’t-“ started Morgan.
But then Lars held up a hand. “Morgan, enough,” said Lars, “I was only willing to hear you out because I thought you might have some legitimate concern for Philip. But if you only came here to berate me about who my new girlfriend is, then I don’t need to hear this. And I don’t want to hear from you until you’re ready to apologize. And I must ask that you stay away from Philip if you’re more interested about who he’s dating. He didn’t need you while he was growing up and he doesn’t need you now.” With that, he firmly shut the door in Morgan’s face.
“Wow, Lars, I had no idea your wife was such a bitch,” said Nicole.
Lars sighed and said, “She seemed so nice at first. I wonder where everything went wrong. She was Philip’s mother, for Pete’s sake.”
“Well, I’m glad that he takes more after you,” said Nicole.
“Right. The last thing I’d want is for Morgan to try to use her connection to Philip to leech off of Joanne’s money,” said Lars before turning to Nicole and said, “You will be warning your mother about Morgan, right?”
Nicole gave a not-very-friendly grin, “Oh, I’d like to see Morgan try to mess with my mother’s boyfriend.”