The old lady chuckled as the teen's cheeks went bright red. She knew all too well that strange wandering look. "So, it's a love across species, then. A gift for your little animal in exchange for her affections. Is that it?"
Max gulped deeply and sheepishly nodded.
"Hey, my young dude," Ralph put a hand on the teen's shoulder gently. "When we say we've seen it all, we've seen it all. You seem like a cool kid, so Annie here is gonna lay it on you."
Max turned to the old lady and she nodded sweetly, her wrinkled features lighting up.
"So, you want your pet to become your lover. You want human intimacy with a scaly reptile. Is that what you're laying down?"
"Uh... yes." Max looked down at the floor sheepishly, averting his gaze.
"You seemed taken with the idea of making your pretty little lizard a lady. We can make something that will turn her into a mix of human and reptile."
"Anthropomorphic, you call it now. I always called 'em animal folk."
"The thing is, that's not something to be taken lightly," Annie went somewhat more serious, though still quite gentle as Max gulped nervously, "if you care for your beloved pet, forcing her to become a beautiful lizard woman will make her an oddity to the rest of the world. What will you do if people react badly? Or... if your parents disagree with your lizard girlfriend? Will you throw her away? Get us to change her back? How horrible would that be to let her advanced body and mind be reduced back to a simple animal? Would you be able to live with killing what you've created? Will you stay with her? She'll need you in a world she isn't familiar with. And her lifespan as a humanoid will be lengthened to human measures. Would you be willing to take that away? Revert her if she isn't what you wanted? Could you bear her cries, fear, and disapointment as she realizes she's changing back? Because all of those things we've seen and heard from people who did this."
"So many things," Ralph smiled knowingly. "Big deep thoughts."
"I get it." Max nodded thoughtfully, deeply. "If I go through with changing her, what happens to her?"
"Can't be selfish," Annie nodded.
"Hmm." Max gulped. "I don't know if I thought this through."
"People seldom think of the consequences of such a drastic transformation."
Max stared at the old couple and felt a pang in his heart. He could do it. Somehow, he knew he could do it.
"Or it might turn out to be better than your wildest dreams," Annie smiled, knowingly.
"What can we make you, kiddo?" Ralph said quietly, waiting patiently.