"Have a good night sis," Shirley said. "And drive safe!"
I smiled, "Don't worry, I will. Thanks again for dinner! See you later Shirley, bye Wes!"
"See you Aster," he replied. "And Yuki, and Cara."
They both waved, before closing the door to their flat while I turned and headed out.
It was about a quarter after eleven and both Shirley and Wes had to work in the morning, so we wrapped up our visit with them and were finally on our way home. Cara was perched on top of my head again which wasn't my first choice, but she'd only be there until we got to the bike so I didn't bother trying to argue with her about it.
"That went really well I think," Yuki commented. "They believed us, they know who we are and how we got like this."
I nodded in agreement, much to Cara's displeasure. Then I added, "I'm still worried about how mom and dad will take it? And no idea yet what to do about work, or getting our ID updated."
The arctic kitsune pointed out, "We don't have to worry about work until Monday, that gives us tomorrow and the whole weekend to figure out how to handle it."
"Actually do you even want to keep doing that job?" she asked a moment later. "Maybe we can find something better. If we can figure out this magic stuff we might be able to do something with that, right?"
"Maybe," I shrugged. "It's something to keep in mind anyways."
When we got to our bike Cara hopped off my head and onto the seat while I took care of the padlock and chain. Then I did the thing with my ears again, before pulling on the helmet. And finally our raven friend got herself safely tucked away inside my jacket and between my boobs.
"I still want my own helmet and goggles," Cara reminded us as I sat down on the bike.
I started the motor then responded, "Not until I get a helmet that fits my fox ears."
The drive from our sister's place back to our own little one-bedroom flat was less than fifteen minutes, and normally it was a short fun ride. But after spending all day on the bike covering almost the full length of the UK I found myself really looking forward to just getting home and getting some more rest.
And even though dinner with Shirley and Wes went all right it was still a bit stressful, especially at first when we had to convince them it was really us. Now that the visit was over and the excitement fading, that stress combined with the long drive and literally everything else that happened over the previous two days left me feeling very weary. In fact by the time we got home I was basically moving on auto-pilot.
I locked up the bike then pulled off my helmet, and as I headed for the building I felt my ears return to normal practically by themselves. Cara was still inside my jacket as I headed into the building and up to our flat. The moment we were through the door I dumped our pack, helmet, jacket, and an indignant raven all in a pile on the coffee table in our living-room. Then I headed into the washroom to start getting ready for bed, while our angry bird friend extracted herself from the jacket and perched on the back of our sofa instead.
No more than five minutes later Yuki and I were in bed, and I had my tails wrapped around in front so I could hug them to my chest as I curled up under the covers. I slipped into our headspace and gave Yuki a hug as we wished each other a good night, and a few moments later we were both sound asleep.
"Hey Aster?"
I was still half asleep as I mumbled back, "Mhmm?"
Yuki's voice was quiet but she sounded anxious as she said, "I think I can smell something burning. Do you smell that too?"
That was enough to get me all the way awake. There was sunlight coming in through our window, and according to the clock next to our bed it was half past nine Friday morning. I pulled myself upright in bed and my head tilted to one side as I sniffed the air, while my tall fuzzy ears twisted this way and that.
"Yeah," I frowned. "Like toast maybe?"
"Did we leave the -" she started to ask, when we both heard a noise from the direction of our kitchen.
My ears folded back and I whispered, "There's someone in our kitchen."
"Be careful!" Yuki stated.
I kept quiet as I slipped out of bed, and looked around for something to use as a weapon. Our bike helmet would have been a good choice, but I left that out in the living-room with our pack and everything else. Including our phone, which meant I couldn't even call someone for help.
And as much as I loved my new kitsune body, I wasn't exactly an imposing figure. Especially not fresh out of bed, wearing nothing but a t-shirt and panties.
Moving as quietly as I could, I crept to the bedroom door and peaked out. Nothing appeared out of place in the main room, it looked like our stuff was where I left it on the table in front of the sofa. I couldn't see into the kitchen from the bedroom door, but I could still hear someone moving around in there.
With both ears focused on the intruder I quickly tiptoed over to the little table. I grabbed up our helmet in one hand so I was ready to swing it if necessary, then started digging with my other hand to try and find our jacket and phone. That's when the stranger suddenly started moving in our direction. My tails all dropped down between my legs as I forgot about the phone, but I held our helmet up at the ready. I took a couple steps back, just as the intruder revealed herself in the kitchen doorway.
I found myself staring at a tall attractive young woman. She appeared to be in her mid-twenties, right around the same age as me in fact. She was easily fifteen or twenty centimetres taller though. She looked slim without appearing skinny, and I was sure I could see some lithe muscle just under her flawless dark skin.
Her eyes were probably brown but looked almost black in the dim lighting of our flat. Her hair was definitely black, and it hung down just past her shoulders. Oddly, she seemed to have some large black feathers woven into her hair in a few random places.
What really caught me off-guard though was the fact that this strange attractive intruder was almost completely naked. The only thing she was wearing was my favourite denim jacket, with all the kitsune and fox patches and buttons on it. And she hadn't even done it up, it was just hanging open.
She obviously didn't feel the least bit self-conscious about her nudity either, she didn't even flinch or try and cover herself when she saw me staring at her in surprise.
"There you are," the woman stated in a voice I knew all too well. "I'm hungry and I have not had any success making food happen. I hope you appreciate that I graciously allowed you to sleep in this morning, but now I require my support fox to prepare breakfast."
Then she gestured at the jacket she was wearing and added proudly, "You'll note that I did manage to figure out how your clothing works, all by myself."
"Cara?!" I gasped as my eyes almost bulged out of my head, while my ears stood up and my tails twitched in surprise.
"Cara!" Yuki added happily. "You're human! How did you manage that?!"
Our not-quite-raven friend replied in a matter-of-fact tone, "Magic of course. How else would I manage it?"
"Aster, be a dear and prepare us some breakfast while Yuki and I talk?" she added.
I finally lowered our helmet then grumbled to myself as I set it back down on the little table. I moved past Cara and into the kitchen, where I found a lot of burnt bread on the counter next to the toaster.
"Did you have to make such a mess?" I complained. "And did you have to leave it all over the counter?"
Cara made a face and gestured at the toaster, "It is entirely the fault of this confounded machine, and my support fox for not being here to support me when I needed her. I accept no responsibility."
"For the last time I'm not your support fox!" I insisted, as my tails swished back and forth behind me.
Even so, I still began to clean up the charred bread and all the burnt crumbs. Then I found some bread our friend hadn't got to yet, and loaded up the toaster. While it was toasting I also got out some butter and jam, along with a couple plates and some napkins.
Meanwhile Yuki had several questions for our friend, "So you have magic too? You changed yourself into a human? Can you change back into a raven again? Or do you want to stay human?"
"I didn't turn myself into a human," Cara sniffed. "I merely made myself human-shaped. And I don't intend to remain in this form indefinitely. For one thing it's totally impractical when it comes to flying."
That got some giggles out of the small arctic kitsune. Then she asked, "Can you explain how you did it though? Like how you used the magic? Does it work like what Aster did yesterday, with her ears?"
Our tall attractive not-quite-human guest replied, "I imagine so. It wasn't entirely intentional the first time I did it. I was in here trying to get food out of the containers but neither my beak or talons were up to the task. I found myself temporarily envious of your dextrous paws, and somehow that thought combined with my desire for food and resulted in a magical transformation."
"I don't mind saying I was both shocked and dismayed at first," Cara admitted. "While these flexible fore-paws are convenient, I don't believe they're a worthy replacement for my elegant wings. And that line of thought allowed me to transform back to my normal majestic self. From there it only took a few more minutes of practice before I mastered the magic, and now I'm able to effortlessly transform between my proper appearance and this shape."
Yuki seemed fascinated by Cara's explanation. Her tails were all swishing around in excitement as she told me, "I wonder if this means you and I could transform ourselves even more? Like obviously our body switches depending on who's fronting, and you figured out the thing with your ears. But could you make yourself look like your old body? That might help deal with work or the parents, at least as a temporary solution."
"Oh!" she added as her tails swished even faster. "I wonder if we could do the opposite of Cara? Like she's normally a raven but can make herself look human, what if we can turn ourselves into full foxes? Temporarily, I mean."
I frowned as the thought of transforming myself back to my original shape sent a shudder down my spine and almost turned my stomach. My ears and tails all drooped down as I shook my head, "I don't think I could go back to my old body Yuki. Even if it would help with mom and dad, I just couldn't bring myself to do that."
"Ok Aster," she replied sadly, while her ears and tails all drooped as well. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have suggested that. I should have known it wouldn't be a good idea."
I gave her a sad smile as I replied, "It's ok Yuki. And it wasn't a bad idea, honestly it's a pretty good one? But I still couldn't bring myself to do it."
"As for the other idea..." my voice trailed off as I tried to imagine what it'd be like on all fours. I felt my tails start slowly wagging and a little smile settled on my expression, "It might be fun? I think I'd definitely want to try it at some point. But not right now, we have too many other things to worry about."
The toaster popped while I was talking, so I turned my attention back to that again. As I set about getting the toast buttered and spreading some jam ontop I continued, "For one thing we need groceries, we don't have much in the flat since we were away on vacation. And we're also going to need more clothes, I only got us a few things in that shop in Scotland."
Finally I glanced at Cara and said, "She's going to need clothes too, if she's planning on leaving the flat in that form."
"I'm wearing clothes," our friend reminded us, as she straightened her back and stuck out her chest. Except all that really did was make my point for me.
I blushed and looked away while Yuki giggled. Then I offered our bird-girl a plate with a couple slices of toast on it, "Here you go Cara."
"Thank you Aster," she said as she accepted the plate. Then she reached out with her other hand and pet the top of my head between my ears a couple times as she added, "Good girl. You're a good service fox."
My eyes widened and my cheeks were immediately red, while my treasonous tails all started wagging happily behind me. I tried to protest but the best I could manage was to sputter a bit. Then I turned and escaped out into the living-room with my plate, while a certain arctic kitsune giggled loudly in my head.
I sat myself down on the sofa and had a big bite of my toast, while a smug-looking Cara calmly sat down on the other end of the sofa and began eating as well.
After Cara and I were both finished our breakfast I got up again and took the plates back into the kitchen. Then as I got the kettle out I asked, "I'm going to make some tea, would you like to try some Cara?"
"Very well. I shall try your tea," our friend replied.
"Ooh!" Yuki exclaimed. Her tails were swishing around in excitement again as she suggested, "Use the water we brought back! Magic-infused tea has to be the best tea!"
"I'm still not sure it's safe," I sighed.
I did it anyways though, I went back out to the living-room and pulled one of the water bottles from our pack. Then I emptied the bottle into our kettle, and set it heating on the stove while I got out some cups and tea bags. Eventually it boiled, then I got the tea steeping, and when it was finally ready I mixed in a little milk and sugar before carrying the mugs back out to the living-room.
Cara and I sat together on the sofa and enjoyed our tea, while all three of us started making plans for the rest of our day. And it turned out Yuki was right, the magic mountain water really did make good tea.