It was correct to say that Derrick and Julie still had the mentality of teenagers, at the moment. It was another thing that Abbie saw no reason to share with her new friends, since she felt within her that everything would turn out alright.
Jaali had agreed with Jabari when his younger brother pointed out it was better for business for people to be able to appreciate their changes. And Jaali knew, as much as he cared for his little brother's safety, that Jabari had the superior business sense, just as Jaali had the superior spiritual sense.
However, complications had risen up with the first volunteer guests. Having teenagers in the bodies of kids had proven to have some . . . undesired side effect on behavior and the consequences of that behavior. On the same side, many guests had said it felt 'too creepy' to have their mentality changed instantly as their bodies had. Others had said that having the body of an twenty year old or child with the mind of a old man or teenager created a sense of dissonance, and worse, many had insisted that not having the mind of a child or youth to go with it made it feel like a glorified costume party, or that the experience felt incomplete.
So Jaali had after a number of headache had reached a constructive medium. Those age regressed did indeed keep their normal age mentality, but over the course of the first day of their visit, their minds would become those of their current age. All their memories and knowledge would be intact, the guests had been quite insistent on that detail, but at the same time, priorities, attitudes, emotions, perspective, self-image, and outlook, would all change to fit their new age. The change back to human and their original age happen much faster, but still gradually.
Jaali heard the lion's love making through the tree itself, and idly wondered how long the resort had until they had a pregnancy on their hands. It was an inevitability, transforming the pregnant was a big 'no no' for what side effects it could have, and any child born, what they were born as would be their natural species, and unless they happened to have 'human' as their totem, Jaali couldn't make the new little life human. Another reason Jaali had focused so much on figuring out ways for the change to not raise any bells in the minds of any humans who interacted with them.
Abbie had experienced the transition from a teenage boy in mind and spirit, to a little lion girl in mind and spirit and back again several times as she had said, and grown to look forward to the change, and the release from the burdens of his regular life during their vacation visits in mind and body. Abbie hadn't told the other five about this transition, wanting them to experience it as part of the surprise. She giggled, PC and the other didn't likely even notice what was happening to them mentally, Abbie didn't during her first visit, no one really did, it was part of the fun. She had made it her own personal game to count down from the age they were on the inside, until they matched the age they were on the outside. Among other things, Abbie calmly accepted that as Abner, Jeremy was just a good friend, but as Abbie she found him cute rather than 'icky' as most boys were when she was this age. She wasn't all that shocked by it, surprised maybe after she arranged for Jeremy to visit with her on this trip, but she wasn't worried about it. She had a healthy respect for her life as Abner, just as she respected her time as Abbie. There was no conflict for her.