At the diner, Karen Yuletide had a large chicken salad, while Peter Talbot had a double cheeseburger with all the fixings. Both noted that each other liked to have a well balanced meal, getting their greens as well as their meat.
"I guess you can't hunt vegetables in the wild, huh?" asked Karen jokingly.
"You can try, but the lettuce is always a head," replied Peter with a straight face, which made Karen laugh.
"You explained to me earlier that the average male lion doesn't hunt as often as the females, but what about you specifically?"
"I do go hunting occasionally. But for me, it's more about the sport and the thrill of the chase than anything else. On the off chance I ever do catch anything, I'm usually a catch and release hunter unless I'm really hungry. Besides, true game within the town limits is getting rare. You'd have to go nearer the town borders, which are very well marked, or beyond to have any hope of actually catching anything, and you'll find that most weres only kill game for actual need."
I'm certainly not a vegetarian or a vegan, but do I have what it takes to be a huntress? wondered Karen, as she ate her chicken salad.
"I've been thinking about your animation idea," said Peter, a little later into their meal. "Have you ever read any of the Lamina books by Trevor Gold?"
"I've heard of them, but the entire series was out of print long before I was even born," admitted Karen.
"Me too. Thankfully, one of my uncle's has a complete set, in part because Gold was a were-panther who lived in Moon Lake," began Peter. "He based the whole idea of a planet in another solar system populated with nothing but were-creatures, because their world always experienced a full moon every night because of some odd astronomy phenomenon, on Moon Lake."
"Really? I didn't know that. All I've ever seen is a couple of beat up copies of some of the later adventures in my public library back home."
"Well, the series started in the pulps of the late 1920s, but gained further popularity during the 1950s and 1960s paperback/science fiction craze. Gold was ahead of his time in some ways, like having one book deal with the ramifications of an inter-species marriage between a weredog and a werecat, long before the concept of interracial relationships were protested. But another reason I'm bringing this up is that, considering all his surviving kin still reside in Moon Lake, maybe you can talk to them about doing an animated adaptation."
"I'm surprised no one in Hollywood or from some overseas anime studio hasn't already tried. Do you think they would even listen to a budding Freshman animation student?" asked Karen.
"Your guess is as good as mine," said Peter, while shrugging his shoulders, "but I know I'd listen to one as beautiful as you," he added, which made Karen blush.
"How does a full moon affect weres, anyway?" asked Karen, afterward.
"The thing about having to change during a full moon isn't real. It just gives everyone a better night to be out and about," revealed Peter. "Except for common sense, which led to creating a few guidelines for when the best times to be in our fursonas out in public are, one could be in their were form 24/7 if they wanted to. If there truly is someone who must change, or can only change, during a full moon; I've never heard of them or met one."
After dinner, the young couple walked back to Peter's classic car, which he drove to Moon Lake College. Upon parking, instead of walking Karen back to her dorm, Peter escorted her into some of the surrounding woods. Once he looked around and sniffed the air to make sure they were alone, he began taking his clothes off.
"Don't get too excited," said Peter, as he smelled the growing wetness between his date's legs and saw Karen's nipple's harden under her top. "I promised to answer any lion based questions you might have, and have found show and tell is the best format to work with," he added, while assuming his leonine form.
Karen watched in rapt fascination as the six foot hunk of a man she was with turned into a taller, bipedal lion; complete with mane, tail, and fur. Yet, despite the sexual excitement she felt from seeing Peter's transformation, Karen knew she was still in control of herself AND her fur fetish, instead of letting the fur fetish run away with her actions. A small part of her still suspected her roommate and new were-vixen Jenny Harper had something to do with this, but how was beyond Karen's comprehension.
"I can tell you like what you see," said Peter, as he spread his arms and walked around in a small circle, letting Karen observe everything.
When he finished, Karen tentatively reached out to touch the werelion, when Peter said, "Careful. Accidental exposure to my more... personal body fluids might initiate your transformation too. Once you go were, there's no return, and I don't want to face criminal charges for violating Statue 1-A."
"I wasn't gonna aim that low," said Karen, as she reached out to touch his chest fur, knowing from her talks with Jenny that Statute 1-A was what the rogue were-vixen who changed her was charged with. "Shorter in some areas than others, but really soft," observed Karen, taking a step closer to reach up and massage Peter's shoulders.
"I've never really thought of my fur as 'soft', but you have a real gentle touch," he commented, as Peter felt his... peter stir in its sheath. Down boy!
After spreading his shirt out to create a relatively clean place for Karen to sit on the ground, Peter sat across from her and asked, "What would you like to know?"
"Does it hurt?"
"No. It's quite an emotional rush, especially your very first time, but the change is quite pleasurable, although not as much going back from were to human. I think of it as a sad parting with a dear friend until the next time I see them."
"That's actually kind of sweet. How much does the various media have correct about your kind?" asked Karen.
"About weres in general? Very little," revealed Peter. "The werewolves keep debating whether or not they should do something about that, but they never can seem to reach a consensus on a decision. Anyway, besides the fallacy about the full moon, all weres are allergic to silver to some extent, but it's more like the classic relationship between Superman and kryptonite. It can harm us and interfere with some of our abilities, especially healing, but isn't capable of killing us outright by itself. We'd be just as hurt if we were shot by a regular bullet. And other than the wolves, the mers, and the satyrs, most normal humans don't even know the other varieties exist."
"There are were-mer people and actual satyrs and satyresses?"
"The mers, yes. Our current mayor is a were-mer, married to a were-mermaid with a were-mermaid daughter. Satyrs exist, but that and their huge sexual appetites are the only parts any of the Greek Myths get right. There is no such thing as a satyress outside of some sexual fantasy websites, but nymphs do exist. Then again, a horny enough satyr would have sex with a bowling ball if somebody held it right to give him a fighting chance with the finger holes."
Karen smiled at the analogy before asking with great concern, "So a were can be harmed or killed?"
"Unfortunately, so can anything else. The were prefix in our case just means being more than human, not super human. But depending upon the circumstances, we are much longer lived. The average werelion who takes good care of themselves can easily live more than 300 years."
"WOW!"
"Now then, a couple of things you should know, if you don't already," began Peter. "Werelions are faithful to their mates, but like their pure animal counterparts, we are highly active sexually."
"Hence your father and uncles swapping wives," realized Karen.
"With the mutual consent of all parties involved," pointed out Peter. "Any male were is duty bound to make sure their partner is taking the species appropriate birth control pill, unless the woman announces her intention of wanting to become pregnant by a willing partner, or we're discussing a same gender couple. I do not intend to start my own pride until after I graduate college, but I want you to understand that it could have up to five other women in its membership, besides you. Only one woman would be my legal wife, with all the love, faithfulness, and everything else I have to give her and whatever children we have. Yet there will be times when I will go on the prowl to... scratch an itch, so to speak, but I will always come home to my wife and family."
"I see, and what about the werelionesses? Is there ever any... intimate moments just between them?"
Peter thought about it for a moment, before admitting he didn't know. "Why do you ask?"
"I've had a few close encounters of the female kind before, if you know what I mean," admitted Karen, "but I've never actually initiated any. While pleasurable at the time, they were just part of bigger events going on at the moment. I was just wondering if I would be expected to..."
"No one will ever make you do anything you don't want to Karen, especially not if I'm nearby," promised Peter, taking her human hand in his lion's paw.
As human and were stared deep into each other's eyes, the silence of the moment was interrupted by the Moon Lake College Courtyard Clock striking ten.
The werelion had a sad look on his leonine face as he announced, "It's getting late, and I've got an early class tomorrow."
"Me too," confessed Karen, "but I do have a couple of more questions."
"All you have to do is ask," Peter reminded her, before standing up to dust his fur off.
"Do you already have anyone in mind for joining your future pride?"
"Just one person so far," he said, smiling at her.
"If I'm out of line asking this, just let me know and I'll apologize, but what about selecting whoever becomes Mrs. Peter Talbot?"
The werelion looked at her more closely. "When I marry, it will be because I want to spend the rest of my life with that one woman above all others, regardless of who else might be in my pride. There is officially no one under consideration, yet, but it's been a marvelous first date," announced Peter, while moving to hold Karen in his furry arms.
"When the time does come, what kind of werelioness do you think I'll make?" asked Karen nervously.
"When the moment is right, if that is what you truly want, I think you'll make a great one," confessed Peter. "But it's very important to make sure your mind, heart, and soul are in total agreement on that before it happens," he added, before giving her a gentle kiss on the lips. "But now I think it's time for me to get dressed and walk you back to your dorm for the night."
With that announcement, the werelion became Peter Talbot once more, and started putting his human clothes back on.
As Karen Yuletide watched the man of her dreams get dressed, she promised herself tomorrow to look into getting a prescription for the birth control pill for werelionesses.