I awoke to the realization that a huge mouth just made for

  more space for the cotton to occupy. My head pounded, and the faint

  daylight coming into the room from the high, north-facing window was

  damnation to my eyes. I closed them again immediately.

  Rubbing my face with one huge, furry hand re-grounded me

  quickly in my new skin, but didn’t make the hangover any better. Fuck,

  why would this super-gal put up with hangovers?

  “Hey, Fee,” I muttered, wincing and immediately lowering

  my voice to a whisper. “Isn’t there any one of these locked-up powers

  that could cure or prevent a hangover?”

  :Minor Self-Healing will remove the effects of excess alcohol intake.: :Only ingested poison immunity will prevent such effects from occurring, and your predecessor had not gained that ability.:

  Huh. Seemed like a smart thing to have. Unless Ever could

  already cure or prevent poisoning. Or… “Does that ability prevent the

  immediate effects of alcohol intake as well?” I asked.

  :Indeed it does, Bonded.:

  Yeah, that answered that question, didn’t it? I’d never

  met her, but I was already sure that Kiri hadn’t been the sort to give

  up the ability to get drunk.

  “Okay, let’s try and unlock that self-healing thingy then.”

  #

  Half an hour later, I stumbled downstairs in my rumpled clothes from yesterday, squinting for all I was worth still.

  The smell of eggs and bacon lured me into the dining room

  despite mild nausea, and I soon found Fiddle at one of the tables, a

  half empty plate shoved to the side, scratching notes into a

  leather-bound journal laying open in front of him with a pretty feather

  pen.

  I pulled two ’chairs’ together and plopped down next to him, leaning heavily on the table’s edge. “Morning.”

  “Hello, Anne. How are you feeling today?” he asked without raising his head.

  “Mmm. Not great, to be honest. I’ve never actually drunk

  that much, and it turns out not only did I not think to open up Kiri’s

  healing spell yesterday, I can’t concentrate well enough to do it now.

  Feh.”

  He hmphed, nodding slightly as he continued to write.

  I left him to it and caught a waitress’s attention,

  ordering a big breakfast and a small glass of mead. When she asked if I

  wanted any ’café’ I changed my order, skipping hair of the dog for

  hopefully something black and a little bitter.

  My food and drink came about the same time Fiddle finished

  whatever he was writing and started putting his implements away. I

  wasn’t disappointed in the café, smelling exactly the sort of strong

  black coffee I’d been imagining.

  “Thank you,” I told her, wholeheartedly.

  She nodded and moved off.

  Fiddle pulled over his unfinished breakfast and joined me

  in eating, but he seemed subdued. Less chipper than he’d been yesterday.

  “You hungover too?” I asked, between bites of warm eggs and fresh bread.

  He shrugged.

  I let it be, concentrating on filling up my ’furnace’ and

  letting the steaming coffee ease my aching head as much as it was going

  to.

  By the time my food was gone, and my cuppa joe was down to

  the last couple of swallows, cradled in both hands to enjoy the

  remaining warmth, Fiddle had descended to shoving the remainder of his

  food around on the plate, staring at it as though it owed him money.

  “Is there something else bothering you, man?” I asked.

  His hand stilled. He took a deep breath and blew it all out before answering. “Nothing. It’s of no consequence.”

  I put my elbow on the table and propped my head on my

  fist, staring a bit harder at him. “Doesn’t seem like that, somehow. Did

  something else happen last night?”

  He flinched a teeny bit. Little enough that I might not

  have noticed if he hadn’t already had my full attention. But still he

  said nothing, going back to pushing the last bits of egg around.

  I frowned, thinking.

  “Oh, shit, did I do something?” My stomach dropped at the

  thought. Much of the late evening was a blur, but… “You were the one who

  helped me get to my room, weren’t you? Did I hurt you?”

  His dark eyes flicked toward me, then away. “No. As I said, it’s of no consequence,” he murmured.

  “Fiddle,” I straightened, and reached out to put my hand

  on his shoulder, but something warned me off. I laid my hand palm up on

  the table between us instead. “Dude, if something happened last night,

  and it’s bothering you this much, that’s by definition of consequence.

  Please, tell me, so I can try and make it right.”

  He still wouldn’t look at me.

  I shoved my dishes out of the way and flattened myself

  onto the table to get below his eye level, and tried again. “Fiddle, if

  it’s not enough that you deserve justice, then do it for me. If I don’t

  find out what happened, I’m going to go crazy imagining the worst.”

  He finally met my eyes.

  “You really mean that.”

  “”

  He heaved a deep sigh and pushed his plate aside. “Fine, but please unknot yourself first, you look ridiculous.”

  I sat back up, silent and attentive.

  He chewed on his words for a long moment, but I could see

  he was working up to it, so didn’t push him further. Finally the dam

  broke.

  “You used me as a snot rag.”

  I just barely managed not to laugh.

  “What?” I covered my mouth with both hands, partly from

  actual shock and partly to hide any suggestion of a smile that might

  leak out.

  He sighed from the bottom of his toes. “After we got to

  your room you said—you said you missed your husband, and started crying.

  And the next thing I knew you’d scooped me onto your lap and shoved

  your face onto the top of my head and just held me like a child’s toy

  and—By the time you nodded off and relaxed enough for me to get away my

  whole head was covered in tears and mucous. That’s all, okay. I had to

  go wash myself off, but I’m fine.”

  A snort slipped out of my mouth. “Oh, hon, I’m so sorry.”

  Sure, it sounded funny, especially the way he’d put it. But I’d

  obviously held him against his will for some time. That must have been

  terrifying. And being treated, as he said, like a child’s toy—like a

  teddy bear. That would have been incredibly insulting, especially for

  somebody who was significantly smaller than most of the population, even

  if not by all that much.

  I buried the rest of my face in my hands, feeling my stomach do flips. “Damn, that must have been awful for you.”

  I felt his hand on my shoulder. “Anne, as I said, I am uninjured. There is no need for you to be so upset.”

  I looked up at him again. “There’s absolutely need. Just

  because I didn’t get violent doesn’t mean I didn’t violate your

  boundaries, and obviously hurt your feelings.” I shook my head, then

  winced at what that did to the pain in it. “I never should have drunk so

  much.” I snorted again. “This is actually the first time I’ve ever had a

  hangover, you know?”

  “Oh?”

  “There are alcoholics not far up my family tree, so in my

  old life I was always very careful not to over-indulge. Never more than

  two drinks in the same day, and very rarely any at all. Didn’t bother

  me, none of my friends were big drinkers either. But last night—” I

  sighed. “A good meal, good music, that first big mug of mead. I finally

  started to really relax for the first time since I showed up here, in

  this body. And I guess a part of me thought as long as I kept drinking, I

  could keep relaxing. Maybe somewhere way down, I hoped that if I got

  really sauced and blacked out, I’d wake up back where I belong. Stupid

  huh?”

  Fiddle’s face was full of sympathy, and I sniffled, my eyes starting to water again.

  Impulsively, I reached out and playfully tried to wipe my

  nose on his face. He jerked out of the way, and I backed off and

  laughed, a little. He laughed back at me and swatted my shoulder. I

  smiled to see him starting to smile and wiped my eyes on the back of my

  hand.

  “I need to start carrying hankies in my pocket.”

  “Yes. You clearly do.”

  “Fee, what would it take to acquire that immunity to poison ability you mentioned?”

  :Immunities to injected and contact poisons are among

  the powers waiting to be reignited. Resistance to poisons is a

  prerequisite for any of the three, so we would need to reignite that, as

  well as igniting resistance to ingested poison. A total of fifteen

  orange motes.:

  “We’ve got more than that, after the bugs yesterday, right?”

  :Indeed, Bonded. Your store of unassigned motes includes thirty-two orange.:

  “Right. As soon as I feel well enough to concentrate, we’ll do that.”

  “Anne, if you’re talking about what I think, that will mean you’ll get no effect from alcohol at all.”

  “Yup. I figure that’s why Kiri didn’t bother with it. She really liked to party, huh?”

  “Indeed.” He nodded.

  “But like I said, it’s never been a big thing to me. I

  won’t miss it. And knowing I can never lose my self-control that way

  again will let me sleep a lot better.”

  He looked thoughtful for a moment, and then picked up his fork and finished the last of his breakfast.

  “So, that’s one half of the equation,” I said. “But we still need to sort out the other half.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “For an apology to be real, it needs to include both some

  form of compensation to the injured parties, and some form of assurance

  that the offense won’t be repeated. I’ll take care of the second one

  with Fee, but I still need to find some way to make it up to you for

  what I did. Can you think of anything?”

  Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

  “What, like some way to embarrass you the way you embarrassed me?”

  “If that seems appropriate to you, sure.”

  “Hm. I’ll consider it.”

  “Good. While you’re doing that, I think I’m gonna go back

  to bed till my head stops pounding. And then Fee and I still have a lot

  of work to do.”

  “Ah, yes. Ever intended to request that you get as much of that done as you can today.”

  “Great minds think alike, I guess.” I patted his shoulder with a chuckle, and headed back upstairs.

  #

  In my dream, I was back in the fairy grotto, sitting

  cross-legged on the floor surrounded by shimmering rainbow lights. As

  they had in reality, all the different fairies fluttered around,

  wandering closer and closer to me, but never quite getting within arm’s

  reach. Then the odd one arrived: shining no light that I could see, but

  somehow making the ones near her brighter by her presence. She moved

  around the cavern just as chaotically as any, but steadily closed in on

  me, even as the rest began to pull back. Moments later, the strange

  anti-glowing being arrived right in front of my face, and that’s where

  the dream changed.

  In the grotto yesterday, she’d landed on my nose, and made contact with me for the first time.

  In the dream, I opened my mouth and swallowed her. She

  slid down my gullet without resistance, and I stood, my body trembling. I

  opened my mouth again, snapping up a handful of other floating fairies,

  and then stretched out my hands, swinging through the gathered crowd,

  each little mote of light I touched sucked instantly into my skin,

  glowing and pulsing underneath the surface. The more I snatched them out

  of the air, swung about, soaking up more and more of them, the easier

  it became, the walls around me seeming to close in to prevent their

  escape.

  Darkness swelled in the grotto as I rampaged, fewer and

  fewer of the fairy lights free to lessen it, and my shadow thrashed and

  danced across the walls. Closer and closer the walls pressed in, until

  the back of my head touched the ceiling, and then my back as I bent

  down, still inhaling fairies, still grasping after each bobbing light

  before they could flee, and finally realized as the stone pressed harder

  and harder against my spine and head that the cave wasn’t getting

  smaller. I was getting bigger.

  I pressed my hands against the walls, claws digging into

  the dusty stone, and roared in rage at the confinement, shoving out in

  every direction, with all my will and all the power in my impossible

  frame, and the rock began to crack and crumble around me.

  As my head thrust up into sunlight, tons of stone raining

  off my back, my eyes shot open and I sat up in the bed, gasping for

  breath, eyes wide.

  “Fuck me. What the hell was that?”

  Fee bobbed into view from above me, dim orange in the dim

  room and unconcerned. I focused on steadying my breathing, one hand on

  my chest. There was a sliver of light shining on the bed, about where my

  face had been. Not from the window, but from a tiny crack in the roof.

  As I stared at it, the sun moved enough for the light to fade and

  disappear. That was probably what actually woke me. God what a weird,

  creepy dream.

  “Yeah, thanks subconscious. Power corrupts. I’ve never

  heard that one before.” I sighed and scrubbed my face with my hands,

  shaking off the last tremors of the kinda-nightmare. “And speaking of

  which, Fee, my head feels better, so let’s see if we can unlock some

  more magic powers, huh?’

  :Indeed, Bonded.:

  With another deep breath I lay back down on the odd round

  bed and made myself comfortable, closing my eyes. “Show me the chart

  again, would you?”

  In my darkened vision a forest bloomed: thin golden lines

  connecting brighter dots of various colors in numerous branching paths.

  “This is so a skill tree,” I muttered.

  :Indeed not, Bonded. Skill is your purview. This one can only facilitate powers.:

  “Literalist.”

  She didn’t answer that, and I let it be, honing in on the

  huge collection of slowly pulsing orange dots: the ones that Kiri had

  chosen before. I went straight for the poison resistance and immunity

  abilities that we’d discussed earlier, having Fee ’reignite’ the

  prerequisite, then pave over it again to claim it for ourselves fully,

  and then moving straight on to the very specifically named ’ingested

  poison immunity’.

  There was very little difference in the sensation between

  reigniting one of Kiri’s old powers and claiming one of my own. The

  latter felt a little more…effortful, as though in the silence of my mind

  Fee and I were reaching out to something and hammering it into shape,

  where the re-ignition was more like pressing a heavy puzzle piece into

  the spot it had fallen from. Either way it took a few minutes of

  attention, Fee leading as I followed quietly along behind, although

  there was the sense that I was doing some of the heavy lifting, at her

  direction. There weren’t really words that encapsulated the experience

  that was, in the end, adjusting my own reality in a way that could only

  be described as magical.

  Once the drinking thing was taken care of, to my great

  relief, we moved on to the other poison immunities, because why not,

  that’s a smart thing to have. And then I wandered around the forest of

  skill trees, sweeping up little things around the edges for quite a

  while, leaving the four towering pillars of Kiri’s greatest focus for

  last. Speed, strength, damage resistance, and the blood sword.

  When all the other little things were done—including a

  double-handful of abilities from the other colors—I took a bit of a

  break, opening my eyes and stretching some, checking on the one ability

  I’d so far gained from Fee’s own weird color of magic. The time is day, 15:07.

  So, right around four pm? It was so weird to get used to thirty-six

  hour days. I still wasn’t sure if their days were actually longer and if

  so by how much, or if it was just their timekeeping that was different

  and the length of the days was about the same. Yesterday hadn’t felt

  insanely long to me. But would it have? Ugh, I couldn’t tell, and the

  question probably couldn’t be answered, at least not without access to

  an atomic clock. Too bad I didn’t know the specifications for them. What

  was the atom whose vibration they used for it? I thought the name had

  started with a C.

  The light outside was heading toward sunset, but not there

  yet. I stood and stretched, unable to pace even one full step in the

  narrow space by the bed. I opened the door and stepped out into the hall

  to loosen up in a slightly roomier area, and the swell of music met my

  ears from downstairs. The lion minstrel was back, just getting into his

  ’smooth and sexy’ repertoire for the dinner rush. I thought I even

  recognized the tune he was playing, though they blended into one

  another.

  The sound brought back memories of my reactions to him and

  his music yesterday. Damn, had it felt strange to be so horny again.

  Not unpleasant, but honestly a bit unsettling. It made me think of the

  way that teenagers could be very bright and yet so overwhelmed by their

  blossoming hormones as to make utterly nonsensical choices anyway,

  sometimes wrecking their and others’ lives in the process. I hadn’t had

  much dealings with high school age kids—even back when I was in high

  school myself—but I’d gotten to hear plenty of horror stories from

  teachers I worked with over the years.

  I didn’t think Kiri was young enough to be

  affected by her hormones, but what if I was wrong? The idea opened

  another potential pitfall beneath my oversized feet, right next to the

  freshly filled-in “drunkenness” hole. There

  was no “be unaffected by sexual longing” power listed on the trees.

  Although several of the abilities I’d unlocked today had uses—direct or

  indirect—for boinking. The ability to control one’s own fertility was

  amazingly accessible, which said a bunch about why they might be so much

  more casual about sex and prostitution around here. I was glad to know I

  wouldn’t have to go back to messing around with periods, at least.

  “Hmm.” I worked my way through all the exercise adjacent

  stretches I could recall, short of jumping jacks or anything that

  required getting down on the floor. By the time I’d run out of ideas on

  that front I had one about the horniness problem.

  I closed my door and headed downstairs, Fee settling

  behind my ear again. None of my traveling companions were visible in the

  main room, but the old raccoon guy was behind the bar. As I headed for

  the front doors I caught his eye.

  “If you see one of my friends before I get back, can you let them know I’m alright? Just going over to the spa for a bit.”

  “Certainly, Esteemed,” he bowed his head to me, again as though I’d done him some courtesy by acknowledging his existence.

  I smiled and nodded back, sparking surprise in his eyes. “Thanks.”

  It felt good to step out into the street after ducking

  through the doorway, finally able to stretch up to my full height, and

  out to the span of my arms, if I wanted to, without feeling confined.

  That might have been part of the source of that dream, I realized.

  Ceilings were much closer than they should be now.

  Walking through the town on my own felt less scary than

  I’d thought it might, perhaps in part because of the wide berth the

  townsfolk gave me, not even seeming to think about it. Some glanced up

  at my face, almost furtively, some nodded their heads a touch, but no

  one came within arm’s reach of me if they could help it, and the streets

  weren’t so busy that anyone was unable to avoid me. It felt a little

  off-putting, but also empowering. I found myself standing straighter and

  walking more surely toward my destination. Not that it was far at all.

  “Approved by Madam Laufernay” read the fairy-illuminated

  sign. I ducked into the entry area with only a small flutter of

  butterflies in my gut.

  “Good afternoon, Gentle,” greeted the same pink-clad

  weasel woman who’d met us yesterday. “How may we soothe your spirit this

  day?”

  I took a deep breath. “I understand that your establishment offers…sexual services?”

  Her smile twisted slightly. “Indeed we do, Gentle. And what particular services are you in need of this evening?”

  “I’d like to spend some time with your most

  experienced…best teacher. Someone who can explain the basics, and walk

  me through any major—variations. Preferably a man, but I’m not too

  concerned about species or other particulars.”

  Her eyebrows rose a bit as I explained my request, but the

  smile only widened at the end. “I know the perfect gentleman for this.

  Please, follow me.”

  #

  The sun was just touching the horizon by the time I

  sauntered back to the inn. Kosal had been an adorable fox-fellow who

  embodied everything I could ask for in a teacher of practical sex-ed.

  And several things I wouldn’t have thought to ask for, but appreciated

  very much anyway.

  Ducking into the dining room, I caught sight of my three

  companions at a table close to where we’d been yesterday and navigated

  carefully between busy tables to join them, snagging an extra chair

  along the way.

  “What ho, adventurers?” I asked cheerfully.

  “Ah, good, we wondered where you’d gone off to, Anne.”

  Ever sounded like she’d been pretty anxious about it. I filed that away

  for reference.

  “Didn’t the bartender tell you I went back to the spa?”

  La’a chuckled.

  “Yes, but he also said that was around fifteen o’clock. It’s nearly eighteen,” the cat pointed out.

  “ it is.” La’a grinned knowingly. “You got laid, didn’t you?”

  “I prefer to think of it as getting educated,” I asserted.

  “Although the final exam was…thorough.” I finished with a smirk at the

  drake. “Thank you for telling me about that resource, La’a, it was

  really helpful. I have no intention of following in Kiri’s footsteps

  when it comes to promiscuous behavior, but now if I find myself in a

  situation where sex feels appropriate to me, I can handle it with

  confidence.”

  The drake’s knowing smirk soured a little at my overly

  logical explanation. “How did you manage to suck the fun out of having a

  tumble in the middle of the afternoon?” she demanded.

  “Oh it was plenty fun. Kosal is highly skilled and seemed

  very motivated as well. Ooh, dinner!” My eyes lit up as one of the

  waitresses approached us, carrying a single tray of small, fried

  pastries.

  “A bit of an appetizer for our honored guests,” she said

  as she set it down in the middle of the table. “So, what else can I get

  for you now that everyone’s here?”

  I requested a roast bird and a bowl of the yummy roast

  tubers to myself, and a mug of mead again, and relaxed on my haunches to

  enjoy the musician and the appetizer.

  “How is it going with reigniting the old powers?” Ever asked, in between tasty puffs of cheese and potatoes.

  “Well enough. I made a lot of progress today between

  shaking off the hangover and going out this afternoon. Just the really

  tall stacks are left. I can get more done tonight after dinner.” I

  paused to inhale another puff. They reminded me of pierogis, but the

  pastry was flakier. Absolutely delicious. “Although I think I might

  leave some of the strength locked for a while. Let myself get used to it

  in stages, you know?”

  “I’d rather you didn’t,” Ever said.

  “Why not?”

  “It doesn’t work like that,” La’a put in. “You’ll just be

  making extra trouble for yourself, having to adapt and then adapt again.

  You’re better off opening them all at once. Trust me, I’ve had the same

  concerns with increasing my speed.”

  I looked them both over, but they seemed sincere. “Huh. Alright, I guess I can probably finish it all tonight.”

  “Assuming you don’t overindulge this time,” Ever pointed out.

  “That’s not going to happen,” I said. “No more drunkenness

  for me, I guarantee.” And gave Fiddle a wink. “By the way, have you

  come up with an appropriate penance for me yet?” I asked him.

  “Oh.” He seemed to startle out of a thought. “Yes, as a matter of fact I have.”

  “What’s this now?” Ever asked.

  “Well, after he was kind enough to help me up to bed last

  night, I behaved most improperly towards our dear Fiddle, so today as

  part of my apology I asked him to choose something for me to do to show

  my contrition. What’s it gonna be?”

  “Well, tomorrow morning, when we head off again, I was thinking you could give me a ride.”

  Both Ever and La’a’s mouths dropped open at this. The cat

  seemed utterly scandalized, while the drake looked to be holding in

  laughter. I smiled.

  “That sounds excellent!” I agreed. “I’ll look forward to it.”

  “That’s completely undignified!” Ever choked out. “I can’t allow it.”

  “Allow?” I asked her, my brows raising.

  Ever’s jaw worked for a moment, clearly torn between

  backtracking and doubling down on her assertion. “Carrying a—another

  person around would be most unworthy of your station,” she said,

  choosing to hang on to most of the outraged energy.

  “What station?” I asked, tilting my head in confusion.

  Ever suddenly looked caught-out, her mouth falling open

  again. Fiddle seemed to cringe into himself, and La’a covered her mouth

  with a hand, still looking like she was holding in laughter.

  “Well, Ev?” the drake asked, leadingly, “What station are you talking about?”

  The cat shot her a murderous look, ears flattening almost

  to her skull for a moment, but then deliberately relaxed her stance,

  shoulders lowering and chin coming up. “Fine. Do what you want tomorrow.

  We can talk about the behavior standards of society once we’re on the

  road.”

  I watched the two of them in silence for a moment longer,

  wondering what was going on here. But it seemed I’d find out tomorrow,

  when we had more privacy. That was soon enough. “Well, then I guess it’s

  a deal, Fiddle. One woofy-ride out of town, coming up.” I gave him

  another smile and then turned it on the waitress arriving with our

  drinks and the first tray of food.