3. Uninhibited

"Ok but I'm not smiling that much!" I insisted. Then for good measure I tried pouting instead.

Nia just giggled then had another sip of her punch, so I did the same. That's when I noticed my glass was almost empty, and I ended up giving it a suspicious frown.

"Ok what's the deal with stuff always disappearing around here? Those tin cups. That big heavy mirror. And now my drink's started to vanish!" I complained.

That led to another burst of giggles from my best friend, "Your fruit punch is disappearing because you keep drinking it silly!"

I was positive that couldn't be true, but instead of arguing I puffed my cheeks out and pouted harder.

"And the cups didn't vanish," she continued. "I gave them back to the bartender once we were done with them. You just couldn't see that because the veil hadn't opened for you yet."

"What about the mirror?" I asked grumpily as I gave her a suspicious look.

Nia cringed slightly then admitted, "Yeah ok that one did disappear. It was just a temporary conjuration though, so it faded away as soon as we stopped paying attention to it."

"Hmph," I huffed, then drained the last of my punch. I was just setting the glass down on the table when her words finally hit me, "Hold on! You conjured up that mirror? As in you created it out of nothing?! Does that mean you can do magic? Like actual real magic?"

My best friend looked embarrassed as she shrugged, "A little bit? Nothing special though, nothing too fancy."

"That's one of the reasons my folks keep bugging me to move back here with them," she added with a sigh. "They think the mundane world is stifling my magical talent or something. Whatever. It's just them getting uptight because I'm not a great powerful witch like my mom."

I stared at her with my eyes wide in wonder, "Your mom's a powerful witch? Didn't she used to work at that high-tech hydroponics farm at the east end of town?"

Nia shrugged again, "Yeah she's a witch. And yeah she was at the hydroponics place. She was one of their lead botanists or something. I think she also used the place as a way to grow a bunch of witchy plants and magical reagents and stuff."

"That sounds really cool," I smiled. That faded a moment later as I demanded, "How come you never told me any of this stuff before? How long have you been able to do magic?!"

"Can you show me some now? I'd love to see it!" I added as my excited smile returned.

She sighed, "I'm sorry J, I wasn't allowed to tell you any of this stuff. The whole fae thing's a secret, for obvious reasons. As for the magic..."

Her voice trailed off for a second or two then she shook her head, "Maybe I can show you some magic later on? We've got all weekend. I'd rather not do that here though, it'd be weird. Magic's not that special on this side of the veil, so everyone would be wondering why we're messing with it in the bar."

"Aww," I pouted, but that soon shifted back to another frown. "Are you serious that magic's no big deal here? How can you say that? Or is it like smartphones? Wild if you haven't seen one before, but now everyone's got one. Oh! Does that mean everyone here can do magic?"

Nia sighed again, "Not everyone, but yeah it's a lot more common over here."

My eyes widened in excitement again as I asked, "What about beastkin? Mousekin? Can we do magic? Could I learn how to do magic?"

"Yeah," she shrugged. "Well not exactly. Ok sort of? But it's different. Actually you know what, it's just complicated."

Before I could shower her with more questions she added, "Can we please stop talking about magic now J? It's probably going to be all my mother wants to discuss when we get there, so until then I'd prefer not to have to think about it."

For just a moment I was about to protest, but I finally realized all her sighs and shrugs and everything were because the topic made her uncomfortable. And that I was being insensitive about it.

"I'm sorry Nia," I apologized as my shoulders slumped "I didn't mean to upset you. I just got a little carried away, but I should have been paying closer attention to your feelings."

She gave me a sad smile, "No worries cutie. Blame it on the fae punch, you're probably a little tipsy after drinking it so fast. And I know all this is a lot to take in. Add that to turning into a mousekin and I'm sure you're probably overwhelmed. Or at least overstimulated."

"I dunno about that," I shrugged. "I'm totally fine, not even a little tispy."

That made her giggle, "No, you're not 'tispy' at all."

This time her laughter was infectious, and I found myself smiling as I stuck out my tongue at her. Then I giggled too. I giggled again when I realized how cute I sounded, although that time it ended with a hiccup.

"Hey here's a question," Nia spoke up. "Seeing as you're a little mousekin cutie right now, what do you think about trying out another name? Something more suitable for an adorable mouse-girl like you? No pressure though, I can keep calling you J if that makes you feel more comfortable."

As soon as she suggested it I felt a thoughtful frown settle on my expression, and I ended up sort of staring off into the distance as I tried and failed to come up with some suitable name ideas. Not that I didn't already have a bunch of femme names I liked, there were a dozen I could have easily listed off on the spot. None of them felt right for a cute little mouse girl though.

"J?" my friend asked after a few seconds. "Are you ok? You're not saying anything."

I blushed, "Sorry! I was just thinking about names. It's hard to pick something though, like I can't decide on anything that feels right for a mousie me."

Then I focused on her again and asked, "Or actually it was your idea, so what were you thinking? Do you have any suggestions?"

"Well," she responded as her expression shifted to a mischievous smile, "I might have a thought or two. Are you asking me for ideas? Or will you let me pick a new name for you?"

I hesitated for a moment as I thought it over, then I nodded. "Yeah sure, why not? You're my best friend, I trust you not to pick something silly or embarrassing. And anyways it's only until I turn back to normal. So yeah, go for it. What's my cute new name?"

Nia's smile got wider as pretended to think it over, "Hmm. So much responsibility, I have to get this right."

"Ok! Got it," she added a moment later. "Your new mouse name is... Kiki!"

"Kiki?" I asked. "Kiki. Ok. Why Kiki? I mean, I guess it's kind of short and cute. Anything more to it?"

She was smiling again as she nodded, "It's short and cute just like you. I don't think it means anything in particular, but it's fun to say. And if you say it just right it almost sounds like a little squeak. Plus we can shorten it even more to just Ki if we want."

"So what do you think Kiki?" Nia added. "Are you up for another drink? Or do you want to do something else? Or are you ready to head over to my parents' place?"

Hearing her call me Kiki for real sent another little flutter of emotions through me. Like it was new and strange, but also nice. Nicer than being called J anyways. She'd started calling me by my first initial a couple years ago, when she found out how much I hated my name. Compared to that, J was ok. And maybe it was the fae punch talking, but being a cute mousegirl named Kiki sure felt like a huge step up from being some human guy called J.

As for her actual question, I really had no idea what I wanted to do next. I shrugged, "I'm completely new to all this, remember? I don't know what else there is for us to do, so I'm just gonna go along with whatever you want. I'll have another drink if you like. Or we can go to your folks' place. Although I'm not sure how much walking I'll be able to do, considering my shoes are miles too big."

"Or what else do you want to do?" I asked. "Is there some late night fae discount-mart where we can get mousekin clothes on the cheap?"

Nia suppressed a little giggle then shook her head, "Sorry Kiki, no cheap all-night mousekin clothing outlets here. We'll have to improvise."

I hesitated a moment since I didn't want to spoil her mood, but I couldn't help it. There was just one way I could think of to improvise something for me to wear. "Can you conjure up new clothes with magic?"

"I could," she nodded slowly. "But they'd be temporary, like the mirror was. As soon as we stopped thinking about them they'd just fade away."

"Oh," I mumbled while my eyes widened and my cheeks went bright red.

Meanwhile Nia smirked, "Yeah. Which might be kind of fun, now that I think of it."

"C'mon Kiki," she teased, "Where's your sense of adventure? I'll bet you're as curious to see what's under that huge hoodie of yours as I am."

"What?!" I squeaked as my eyes bulged and my cheeks got even brighter.

Nia just giggled again, while I was left trying to process some surprising new emotions. Not to mention the way my heart rate just doubled. I reached for my glass thinking some more punch would help me settle down, only to discover it was already empty. Or still empty, I vaguely remembered finishing it at some point.

So instead I focused on my friend again. My head tilted slightly to one side as I asked, "Are you flirting with me? Is this flirting?"

My question actually got Nia blushing. She hesitated a moment before nodding, "I guess so, yeah. Sorry Kiki, I hope that doesn't make you uncomfortable? I'll try not to do it anymore."

"I'm not uncomfortable!" I insisted. "It's ok, really! I'm just a little surprised is all. You've never acted flirty with me before."

Her cheeks were still pink as she mumbled to herself, "You've never been so cute or looked so happy before."

"Um," she quickly added at a normal volume, "I think the punch is hitting me now too. So maybe we've both had enough to drink. For now."

Unfortunately for her I heard the quiet part too, and that left me even more curious.

"Nia are you gay?" I blurted out. "Is that why you've never acted like this around me before? I always thought it's because we practically grew up together, like I was permanently friend-zoned or something. I also wondered if maybe you were ace, cos like I don't remember you ever being into anyone else either actually."

I continued before she could respond, "That's totally ok by the way! Being gay I mean, if you're only into girls that's fine. Relatable even, like I'd definitely be gay if I was a girl."

"It's not that," she shook her head, as she cringed in her chair while her cheeks turned bright red. Then she corrected herself, "Or ok it's not just that..."

I watched her for another second or two then I added, "It's also totally cool if you're ace. I sometimes wonder if I might be ace, since I never really felt comfortable about asking anyone out. Except I'm actually feeling a little better about that idea now, for some reason?"

Nia grimaced, "Alright now I know we've definitely had more than enough fae punch. Anyways maybe it's time to head out? It's going to take us half an hour to get to my parents' place, so we should probably get started."

"Alright," I nodded as I unfolded my legs and unwrapped my tail. Then I hopped down off the chair and turned to face the way we'd come in as I announced, "Onward!"

My friend tapped me on the top of my head between my ears, "We need to go out that exit over there, cutie. It's enchanted, so our clothes and everything properly crosses into the magical realm with us."

I spun around to face the opposite direction and asked, "Onward over here?"

"Yes cutie," Nia replied as she suppressed another giggle. "C'mon."

Even though as far as I could see Gruffudd's Grove did not have any walls, or a ceiling, or even a floor, it did in fact have a door. Or actually it was more of a gateway, like a thin silvery metal arch. Whatever, there was even a handsome fae guy there acting like a greeter or something. He smiled and bid Nia and I a good evening as we moved past him and through the gate.

Outside the bar was pretty much exactly the same as inside. We were still in a swampy forest, but there were some stepping stones to indicate where the trail was. And as near as I could tell it was leading away to the north, while we'd come from the south.

"My toes are cold," I pouted up at her. "My tail's not cold though, which feels weird. Same with my ears. I mean, having a tail and big fuzzy mouse ears is weird enough as it is. And the rest of me's fine too. You're right, my hoodie's so big now it's like wearing one of those snuggie things."

I couldn't help adding, "It's weird having to look up at you like this too. Not in a bad way, you're really pretty and I kind of like that you look so tall now compared to me? It's just gonna take a bit to get used to."

Nia grimaced, "Sorry Kiki. I can conjure up some shoes for you, but they might not last long?"

"Oh yes please!" I grinned up at her. "I'd love to see some magic, now that we're away from the crowd!"

She rolled her eyes, then next thing I knew she was holding out a pair of tiny pink sneakers. They looked like the sort of thing you'd see on a little kid, complete with the velcro fasteners and everything. I didn't mind though, and they were soft and warm on my feet even without socks. As soon as I had them on the two of us started walking again, but the recent conversation left me with yet another question.

"So how short do you figure I am now?" I asked. "I'm trying to compare myself to you but it's hard from this angle. You're about a hundred and seventy centimetres, right? Because I'm normally one-eighty, and I'm pretty sure you were ten centimetres shorter than me."

For some reason my question left her with another little blush. She glanced down at me then looked at the trail ahead of us again as she replied, "I'm not good at that sort of thing, but I'd say a little over a meter? Maybe a hundred and five centimetres? Or a hundred and ten, tops."

"Wow," I mumbled as my eyes widened. "No wonder I feel so tiny."

She gave me a worried look, "You're still ok though, right?"

I nodded, "Sure. It's strange and new, but it's not bad. I'm actually feeling pretty used to it already. Same with the ears and the tail."

"Gonna take me a bit longer to get used to the boobs though," I added with a little grimace. "Do they always jiggle and bounce around while you walk? Don't you find that like, really distracting?"

Nia's cheeks heated up again as her eyes momentarily darted downwards towards my chest. Then she focused on the path once more as she replied, "That uh, that's one of the main reasons women wear bras. Although that can depend a lot on their size. The bigger they are the more support you'll need."

Hearing that left me feeling tempted to take a peek under my hoodie. Or I could just take it off, but it was so big and unwieldy I wasn't sure I'd get it back on again without Nia's help.

I ended up staring down at myself as I commented, "They feel big to me, but that might just be because I'm not used to them. And for that matter 'big' is probably a relative term, considering how small the rest of me is? I haven't looked yet, but I guess I'll have to at some point. For now maybe I could just slip my hands in and try to get a feel for them?"

For some reason that left my best friend coughing, like she was trying to clear her throat while her cheeks maintained their incandescent pink glow. Once she'd finally cleared whatever was up with her throat she sighed, "I just hope you're not too embarrassed about all this after the drink wears off."

"I'm not drunk!" I giggled. "Seriously, that punch was nothing. No effect at all."

Nia gave me a look, "Kiki I told you fae booze isn't like human alcohol. It lowers your inhibitions, and if you're not used to it then you might not even realize it's happening."

I stopped in my tracks and frowned up at her, "You never told me that."

"I didn't?" she asked in surprise. "Oh... Oops?"