Animalia had brought about many changes in the world, many of which came as positives for it. It opened up new ways of looking at studying animal behavior and ecology as uplifted Animalians could then tell scientists about life in the areas in which they lived and on the population numbers of their prey or rivals or predators, and so on. At times it also provided for means to discover on how crimes involving animals, be it smuggling or neglect or a freak accident, had happened as the new Animalian might remember the incident in a way that Human witnesses didn't see. There were also plenty of cases in which Animalia provided for ways in showing how animals that have been well cared for thought of their owners, as seen in how various pets or livestock after being uplifted fell in love with their owners and there were various couples in Animalia and its colonies that fit this category.
Among them was Harper and Dakota in Dino City. The two Dakotaraptor Dinotopians had had their own lengthy story with Dakota starting as an injured Osprey that was uplifted into a Dinotopian to both fully heal injuries and provide some means of testing how the hermaphrodite gene would work with Dinotopians. From there, Harper was converted, and the pair had bonded as a pair of hermaphrodite Dinotopians. That, however, brought about other surprises as Dino City began to find itself catching up with Lyre and Animalia in other ways as people came to become Dinotopians who would be wrestling with changing sex drives if they'd been something other than straight in the past, and others might be wrestling with greatly increased sex drives after converting.
"What is this BARA House?" Dakota asked to the man that was overseeing the new sign being put up over the door to an apartment building that was across from the home that Harper had bought in Dino City.
"I'm told in Animalia that it's an apartment building where a bunch of guys that were either gay or are dealing with Regressive Hypersexuality after becoming Animalians," the guy answered, "and while this is the most popular apartment complex in Dino City... it does have apartments, and many that have moved in had some of the same issues. I figured it might be something worth renaming the building to show that Dino City will be welcoming to them."
That was something that Dakota and Harper blinked at and then nodded. That was something they could understand and recognized was part of the troubling thing that had come with Animalia. Largely because conservatives had often accepted Animalia and Animalians under the idea that conversion would be a way to help "cure" homosexuality when it was found that homosexual Humans often became Bisexual when they became Animalians as the "animal instinct" to procreate came into play. It didn't stop those Animalians from retaining same sex pairings, but it didn't stop conservatives from trying. And Texas remained one of those states and this was something that both Harper and Dakota could recognize as hermaphrodite Dinotopians.
"Well... we would be welcoming," Harper commented, "though addressing new instincts wouldn't necessarily relate to all of that... let alone the new desires that come with it for some."
"That's all-instinctual knowledge, yes?" the man answered, "the hunting and territorial stuff?"
"That can be part of it," Dakota nodded, "but what my mate would be referring to is more in dealing with new sexual instincts. Those with Regressive Hypersexuality having things supercharged well above what most Animalians have for a libido. Those that were homosexual would likely be responding to changes in their sexuality that would actually give them a choice."
"It don't cure 'em of that?" the man asked with a puzzled blink.
"No," Harper answered, "the reproductive instincts that come along with the other animal instincts related to conversion... they can lead to the development of a more bisexual orientation, but it's not something that makes them straight. Largely as sexual orientation really isn't a disease to be "cured." A lot of the idea that it is... comes from people who seem offput by it being different from their own leanings."
"Which Harper and I can also understand," Dakota said in a firmer voice, doing hir best to be firm and potentially intimidating without being aggressive, "given that we are both hermaphrodites."
"What's that mean?" the man asked.
"Having both genders," Harper answered, "being both male and female. It's not common in vertebrates, but there are certain invertebrates that are known for it."
The man blinked again, though this time more like he'd learned something or had an idea. Dakota and Harper watched as he raised one hand with his pointer finger pointing skyward.
"Then you could help them adjust?" the man asked, "those that have already moved in? Or anyone new that comes in."
Dakota and Harper paused to look to each other as they talked with the man, who was most likely the superintendent of the apartments. It wasn't as big or as detailed as Skybax Heights, but they also knew that the building would need maintenance. And while the buildings built for Dino City all had a very neolithic design, as though someone had copied things out of old cartoons and scaled them up to suit the size of larger Dinotopians, there were many parts and systems in these buildings that still needed the same sort of maintenance that apartments everywhere else needed. And the man had seemed friendly and accepting enough that some of his lines weren't that bad, but there was still some measure of surprise to what he said, and in this, neither Dakotaraptor Dinotopian noted to male Dinotopians leave the apartment building. One an Ankylosaur Dinotopian and the other was another kind of Dromaeosaur Dinotopian, possibly a Utahraptor. Both walked together, and arm in arm.
"Help them adjust?" Harper and Dakota both asked.
"Like if they have questions or issues there," the man answered, "I can fix most things... and the people who built Dino City even gave me all the specs and other stuff to study in case something breaks, but I'm afraid fixin' social problems and instincts is somethin' I never figured out."
"We could talk with those that have trouble... at least with those adjusting to changes in their sexuality," Harper said slowly, "though, neither of us have Regressive Hypersexuality... and from the Animalia Ambassadoria reports... that often requires a more professional therapy to help that person adjust to things... and often some traumatic experience that they think might be part of the cause for that particular issue."
"Isn't that what you do?" the man wondered.
"I was a park ranger, not a psychologist," Harper answered.
"I was a mundane Osprey before I was uplifted," Dakota added.
"But what if they need help?" the man asked.
"We can always help if someone needs it," Harper told the man, "What we're saying is that we may not be professionally trained to help in that regard and thus we can't diagnose anything. And it should be noted that not everyone may actually need help."
The man seemed to look down for a moment.
"Do you think any of your new tenants are having issues where they're wrestling with something like this?" Dakota asked.
"There's some grumbling over some things... but I never paid too close attention," the man replied, "but... I still want to make sure that they ain't hurt or anything. They can't pay rent and they won't be happy if they're wrestlin' with somethin' inside."
Dakota and Harper only looked to each other. Having a welcoming atmosphere was always good, and that was probably what renaming this apartment building in Dino City the "BARA House" was for, but if it was in part to help those adjusting to a new sexuality or dealing with Regressive Hypersexuality, that would be something that would require someone like Doctor Jones in Lyre/Animalia. But so far, Dino City did not have a residential psychiatrist to fill the same role, and neither Dakota nor Harper knew of one in Glen Rose that could also fill in for the role.