"I'm not saying we'd bang on her door and demand she reveal her secrets to us," Cerys protested. "Just that it wouldn't hurt to go and ask. For all we know the three of them already know all about us, considering our backyard and theirs are basically connected. They can see us over the fence just as easily as we can see them."
Melanie shook her head, "I don't think there's a polite way of asking someone what they are. And revealing that we know she's not human is only going to expose ourselves."
The blonde wolfgirl responded, "Well why don't we invite the three of them over here for a BBQ then? We can make it like we're welcoming them into the neighbourhood or something. Reaching out and being good neighbours and all that. Then when they're here and we're all getting to know each other we can drop some hints, try and get her to reveal herself."
"She's been in there for over a month now," the older werewolf stated. "It's closer to six weeks I think? If we were going to welcome her to the neighbourhood the time for that is long past. Now it'll just seem weird."
Cerys sighed and looked at me, "Hey Cass? Can you just do some sort of goddess thing and figure out what she is? Can you read her mind, like you did to that council guy?"
"Or if not her, then the human girl? Or the catgirl? Maybe one of them knows what kind of supernatural the purple-haired girl is," she added.
It was mid-afternoon on Saturday, and the two werewolfs were cuddling together on one of the comfy recliners. Me and Sasha were sitting on one of the sofas, and the four of us were kind of taking it easy, just hanging out and stuff.
And as much as I liked seeing more of Cerys's old enthusiasm and energy return, I couldn't help thinking this was going to turn out like her big theory about Ms. Hughes the history teacher being an evil spy sent to monitor us supernaturals. It felt like she'd got it in her head that the purple-haired girl who lived around the block from us was something evil, and I worried the bold brash young werewolf wasn't going to let that idea go even though there was zero evidence to support it.
And while it was fun sometimes listening to her excitedly describing her farfetched theories, I didn't want to get drawn into any of them myself. And I definitely wasn't comfortable doing the sort of stuff she was asking.
So I grimaced and shook my head, "Sorry Cerys, I don't want to snoop. That kind of thing feels a bit like cheating, anyways? Maybe if we'd caught her doing something wrong and it was an actual Incident for us to investigate? But so far it seems like she's just another supernatural living peacefully and hanging out with her friends."
Our new club leader frowned, "She's obviously up to something. She's doing something over at the conservation area. For all we know she's messing with the reservoir. Maybe she's going to poison the town's water supply! We need to find out what she is, so we can figure out what she's up to."
Melanie scoffed, "Seriously? How in the world did you come up with 'poisoning our water'? So far all we know for sure is she's some kind of supernatural we haven't encountered before, and she likes to hang out at Island Lake."
"I 'came up with it' because it's the obvious answer Melanie," Cerys stated. "Why else would she be going over there almost every day? She's scouting it out, or maybe she's monitoring the water levels or checking how much it's used."
The older wolfgirl rolled her eyes, "The only 'strange' thing about her is we know she's gay and probably part of a polycule. From what we've seen she's got two cute girlfriends, one human and one catgirl."
"All that could just be part of her cover story," Cerys pointed out. "Or whatever, her being gay doesn't mean she can't also be evil and up to no good. She's definitely doing something at the reservoir. I'd have followed her there today except we all wanted to be here to meet Willow's folks when they come by."
"I'm definitely going to follow her tomorrow though," she added. "If she goes over there, I'm going after her to find out what she's really up to."
"Maybe she just likes nature?" I suggested quietly. "It's been really nice weather this month, maybe she's going over there to relax and unwind or de-stress or something."
Cerys looked like she wanted to keep arguing about that when Sasha finally spoke up. The former goddess had been quiet through the entire conversation, just listening and keeping any thoughts or opinions to herself. She reminded us, "Willow and her parents should be here any minute now. I suggest we avoid discussing any supernatural topics for the time being."
"And Cerys, Melanie," she added, "Perhaps it would be best if you two switched to your fully-human forms? I think perhaps we'll have a better chance at making a good first impression if Willow's family believe we're all normal humans."
Both wolfgirls grimaced and nodded, and a moment later their fuzzy ears and fluffy tails were gone. Then Melanie looked to me and asked, "Where's Kaylee hiding? I don't imagine Willow's parents are going to be too understanding if they stumble onto a tiny demonic kitsune lurking around the house somewhere."
"She went out for the afternoon," I replied. "She was going to meet up with Paige and Brooke, the three of them were going to grab a late lunch somewhere? Kaylee said she'd get them caught up on all the latest news, like about May moving back into her old place and Melody officially quitting the club last week and all that kind of thing."
Cerys asked, "Do Paige and Brooke even know how much Kaylee's changed? Or is that going to be a surprise?"
I cringed slightly, "Knowing my girlfriend she's going to surprise them."
Both wolfgirls rolled their eyes while Sasha just smirked. The former chaos goddess obviously approved of my girlfriend's antics. I kind of did too, but it also made me wonder a little if she'd changed more than we realized. Like I couldn't help worry that becoming part demon was influencing her decisions or something.
Fortunately I was distracted from those thoughts by a knock at the front door. It opened a moment later as Willow let herself in, with her parents right behind her.
"Hey everyone," she greeted us as she led her mom and dad into the living-room. "These are my parents, Tim and Brenda Pearce."
She continued with the introductions, "Mom, dad, that's Cassandra Underwood, but we all just call her Cass. This is Sasha Blakeley. And those two are Cerys Ainsley and Melanie Caetano."
We all exchanged polite greetings with her folks, and from the way Mr. and Mrs. Pearce responded I figured Willow had already told them a bit about all of us.
Then her mom addressed Sasha, "I couldn't help noticing your accent. Are you English?"
"Yes ma'am," the fallen goddess replied. "I was born in a little village in East Kent, and spent quite a few years there."
I had a feeling Sasha was telling the truth about that, but if anyone asked what 'quite a few' meant they might be surprised by the answer. I didn't actually know how old she was or how long she'd been around, but I wouldn't be surprised if she was at least a few centuries old.
Meanwhile Willow steered her folks away from asking any follow-up questions about Sasha's past, instead she took them on a little tour of the place. They had a look at the kitchen, the bathroom, and we heard the sorceress pointing out Sasha's bedroom and the one me and Kaylee shared, and the empty bedroom that would be hers if Willow was to move in with us.
Then they went out the back door for a little look at the yard. They weren't out there too long, only a couple minutes before the three of them came back in. They returned to the living-room again, where her parents sat down together on the other sofa while Willow sat in the second recliner.
Once everyone was comfortable Mrs. Pearce looked to the wolfgirls and asked, "I didn't see either of your rooms when Willow was showing us around?"
"Cerys and I are down in the basement," Melanie replied. "I guess we have a sort of open concept apartment space down there?"
"Ah," Willow's mom nodded. She looked to her daughter and asked, "What about your friend Nina? She isn't here I take it?"
Will glanced at me so I spoke up, "Nina's my little sister ma'am. She still lives at home with our parents, but she hangs out here with us a lot."
Mr. Pearce asked, "Obviously Willow's interested in moving in here with you girls, but I have a few questions about the place if you don't mind? Which of you has her name on the rental agreement? What's the landlord like? Do you have the landlord's permission to add another roommate?"
"And what would Willow's share of the rent be?" he added. "Would we be expected to sign some sort of legal agreement on her behalf?"
Those questions got everyone looking at me which made me cringe a little. I tried not to blush or grimace too much as I responded, "There's no landlord sir, no rental agreement. It's uh, I own the house outright and I'm letting my friends stay here for free."
Willow's parents both looked surprised to hear that. Then Mr. Pearce asked, "Sorry for asking but how can you own your own home? You're still in high school aren't you?"
"I just graduated," I replied. "And I uh, got the house through an inheritance."
"I don't think she wants to talk about that dad," Willow added. "The point is there's no landlord to worry about, other than Cass. And she's pretty friendly."
Then her mom asked, "How old are you girls? Are you all finished high school now, or do some of you have another year left like Willow does?"
Cerys replied, "Me and Melanie just finished grade eleven, we're in a few of Will's classes. Same with Nina, all four of us will be going back for grade twelve in September."
"I'll be attending the local college," I said. "And my girlfriend Kaylee will be heading to university."
Sasha added, "I haven't decided what I'll be doing yet, but I'm considering attending the local college with Cassandra."
I was actually a little surprised to hear her say that, since we really hadn't discussed that sort of thing at all. And to be fair I wasn't sure if she was serious or if that was just something she came up with to try and impress Willow's parents.
Either way it seemed like they were both pleased with all our answers. I figured they were probably ok with what they'd seen of the house too, like the place was fairly neat and tidy and everything. Especially after my parents did all the work to get the upstairs painted and the new carpets and stuff. And both Sasha and I took some time in the morning to make sure the place was completely clean and all the laundry was either done and put away, or if it was dirty it was well hidden.
Willow seemed to be thinking the same thing, she looked at her folks and asked "Mom? Dad? What do you think? I told you my friends weren't the rowdy party types. And the place is pretty nice too, right?"
Her parents exchanged a look, then Mrs. Pearce replied "We're still considering things hon, but I agree your friends seem nice and the house is very well-kept."
"I'm still a little concerned about you living somewhere without any adult supervision though," she added. She looked around at the rest of us and asked, "What do your parents all think, about the four of you living on your own like this?"
Everyone looked at me like they wanted me to go first or something, which made me cringe a bit. So I tried not to act too shy or anything as I replied, "My folks are ok with it? They helped me move here at the beginning of the month. Actually they helped fix the place up and everything too? And they live really close, so I guess if we ever needed anything they can be here in a few minutes. It's less than twenty minutes to walk, or under five minutes by car."
Sasha added, "My mother and I have been somewhat estranged, but she very recently moved into a house just outside town. And I believe she's happy to know I'm here."
Willow's parents looked to the two wolfgirls since they'd both been quiet.
"Our stories aren't that happy," Cerys stated. "My dad died and my mom moved out to the east coast, I'm not sure she even knows or cares where I am."
Melanie nodded, "Same. My folks split up a few years ago, mom's out west and doesn't want anything to do with me. And my dad kicked me out a couple months ago then left town. Both me and Cerys were super lucky that Cass stepped in and gave us a place to stay."
It was easy to tell Mr. and Mrs. Pearce were both kind of shocked and saddened to hear the wolfgirls' stories, and it looked like neither of them knew how to respond to that. There were a few seconds of awkward silence, until Sasha took the opportunity to embarrass me.
"Cassandra is incredibly kind and generous to let all of us stay here," my cousin told Willow's folks. "As are her parents, and her sister. All four of them are great people."
Melanie nodded in agreement, "That's for sure."
After another couple seconds Willow's dad spoke up, "All right. I suppose that's all our questions. I think Brenda and Willow and I need to talk some more, and maybe take a day or two to think things over."
Mrs. Pearce nodded, "It was nice to finally meet all of you, after hearing so much about you from Willow. I'm glad she's made such nice friends, and that you've all been so accepting of her er, situation."
The cute sorceress blushed a little when her mom said that last bit. I figured her mom was talking about Willow being trans, or maybe she was thinking about the unexpected instant magical transition in particular. Either way, I was pretty sure she still didn't know about Will being a sorceress.
Meanwhile Melanie smiled and said, "We're all pretty open-minded here, ma'am."
"And of course we'd be accepting," Cerys added. "Willow's our friend."
"Thanks Cerys," Will smiled, "I appreciate it."
That seemed to be the end of their visit, she and her parents all got to their feet and started saying goodbyes and stuff. Then before they headed for the door Willow added, "I might not get the chance to see you all for a couple days? I'm meeting the guys tomorrow for a DnD session, then Monday I'm working. But maybe I'll drop in on Tuesday?"
"Or who knows," she added with a grin. "Maybe Tuesday I can move in! I'll text or something and let you all know how it goes with my folks."
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"I'm not saying we'd bang on her door and demand she reveal her secrets to us," Cerys protested. "Just that it wouldn't hurt to go and ask. For all we know the three of them already know all about us, considering our backyard and theirs are basically connected. They can see us over the fence just as easily as we can see them."
Melanie shook her head, "I don't think there's a polite way of asking someone what they are. And revealing that we know she's not human is only going to expose ourselves."
The blonde wolfgirl responded, "Well why don't we invite the three of them over here for a BBQ then? We can make it like we're welcoming them into the neighbourhood or something. Reaching out and being good neighbours and all that. Then when they're here and we're all getting to know each other we can drop some hints, try and get her to reveal herself."
"She's been in there for over a month now," the older werewolf stated. "It's closer to six weeks I think? If we were going to welcome her to the neighbourhood the time for that is long past. Now it'll just seem weird."
Cerys sighed and looked at me, "Hey Cass? Can you just do some sort of goddess thing and figure out what she is? Can you read her mind, like you did to that council guy?"
"Or if not her, then the human girl? Or the catgirl? Maybe one of them knows what kind of supernatural the purple-haired girl is," she added.
It was mid-afternoon on Saturday, and the two werewolfs were cuddling together on one of the comfy recliners. Me and Sasha were sitting on one of the sofas, and the four of us were kind of taking it easy, just hanging out and stuff.
And as much as I liked seeing more of Cerys's old enthusiasm and energy return, I couldn't help thinking this was going to turn out like her big theory about Ms. Hughes the history teacher being an evil spy sent to monitor us supernaturals. It felt like she'd got it in her head that the purple-haired girl who lived around the block from us was something evil, and I worried the bold brash young werewolf wasn't going to let that idea go even though there was zero evidence to support it.
And while it was fun sometimes listening to her excitedly describing her farfetched theories, I didn't want to get drawn into any of them myself. And I definitely wasn't comfortable doing the sort of stuff she was asking.
So I grimaced and shook my head, "Sorry Cerys, I don't want to snoop. That kind of thing feels a bit like cheating, anyways? Maybe if we'd caught her doing something wrong and it was an actual Incident for us to investigate? But so far it seems like she's just another supernatural living peacefully and hanging out with her friends."
Our new club leader frowned, "She's obviously up to something. She's doing something over at the conservation area. For all we know she's messing with the reservoir. Maybe she's going to poison the town's water supply! We need to find out what she is, so we can figure out what she's up to."
Melanie scoffed, "Seriously? How in the world did you come up with 'poisoning our water'? So far all we know for sure is she's some kind of supernatural we haven't encountered before, and she likes to hang out at Island Lake."
"I 'came up with it' because it's the obvious answer Melanie," Cerys stated. "Why else would she be going over there almost every day? She's scouting it out, or maybe she's monitoring the water levels or checking how much it's used."
The older wolfgirl rolled her eyes, "The only 'strange' thing about her is we know she's gay and probably part of a polycule. From what we've seen she's got two cute girlfriends, one human and one catgirl."
"All that could just be part of her cover story," Cerys pointed out. "Or whatever, her being gay doesn't mean she can't also be evil and up to no good. She's definitely doing something at the reservoir. I'd have followed her there today except we all wanted to be here to meet Willow's folks when they come by."
"I'm definitely going to follow her tomorrow though," she added. "If she goes over there, I'm going after her to find out what she's really up to."
"Maybe she just likes nature?" I suggested quietly. "It's been really nice weather this month, maybe she's going over there to relax and unwind or de-stress or something."
Cerys looked like she wanted to keep arguing about that when Sasha finally spoke up. The former goddess had been quiet through the entire conversation, just listening and keeping any thoughts or opinions to herself. She reminded us, "Willow and her parents should be here any minute now. I suggest we avoid discussing any supernatural topics for the time being."
"And Cerys, Melanie," she added, "Perhaps it would be best if you two switched to your fully-human forms? I think perhaps we'll have a better chance at making a good first impression if Willow's family believe we're all normal humans."
Both wolfgirls grimaced and nodded, and a moment later their fuzzy ears and fluffy tails were gone. Then Melanie looked to me and asked, "Where's Kaylee hiding? I don't imagine Willow's parents are going to be too understanding if they stumble onto a tiny demonic kitsune lurking around the house somewhere."
"She went out for the afternoon," I replied. "She was going to meet up with Paige and Brooke, the three of them were going to grab a late lunch somewhere? Kaylee said she'd get them caught up on all the latest news, like about May moving back into her old place and Melody officially quitting the club last week and all that kind of thing."
Cerys asked, "Do Paige and Brooke even know how much Kaylee's changed? Or is that going to be a surprise?"
I cringed slightly, "Knowing my girlfriend she's going to surprise them."
Both wolfgirls rolled their eyes while Sasha just smirked. The former chaos goddess obviously approved of my girlfriend's antics. I kind of did too, but it also made me wonder a little if she'd changed more than we realized. Like I couldn't help worry that becoming part demon was influencing her decisions or something.
Fortunately I was distracted from those thoughts by a knock at the front door. It opened a moment later as Willow let herself in, with her parents right behind her.
"Hey everyone," she greeted us as she led her mom and dad into the living-room. "These are my parents, Tim and Brenda Pearce."
She continued with the introductions, "Mom, dad, that's Cassandra Underwood, but we all just call her Cass. This is Sasha Blakeley. And those two are Cerys Ainsley and Melanie Caetano."
We all exchanged polite greetings with her folks, and from the way Mr. and Mrs. Pearce responded I figured Willow had already told them a bit about all of us.
Then her mom addressed Sasha, "I couldn't help noticing your accent. Are you English?"
"Yes ma'am," the fallen goddess replied. "I was born in a little village in East Kent, and spent quite a few years there."
I had a feeling Sasha was telling the truth about that, but if anyone asked what 'quite a few' meant they might be surprised by the answer. I didn't actually know how old she was or how long she'd been around, but I wouldn't be surprised if she was at least a few centuries old.
Meanwhile Willow steered her folks away from asking any follow-up questions about Sasha's past, instead she took them on a little tour of the place. They had a look at the kitchen, the bathroom, and we heard the sorceress pointing out Sasha's bedroom and the one me and Kaylee shared, and the empty bedroom that would be hers if Willow was to move in with us.
Then they went out the back door for a little look at the yard. They weren't out there too long, only a couple minutes before the three of them came back in. They returned to the living-room again, where her parents sat down together on the other sofa while Willow sat in the second recliner.
Once everyone was comfortable Mrs. Pearce looked to the wolfgirls and asked, "I didn't see either of your rooms when Willow was showing us around?"
"Cerys and I are down in the basement," Melanie replied. "I guess we have a sort of open concept apartment space down there?"
"Ah," Willow's mom nodded. She looked to her daughter and asked, "What about your friend Nina? She isn't here I take it?"
Will glanced at me so I spoke up, "Nina's my little sister ma'am. She still lives at home with our parents, but she hangs out here with us a lot."
Mr. Pearce asked, "Obviously Willow's interested in moving in here with you girls, but I have a few questions about the place if you don't mind? Which of you has her name on the rental agreement? What's the landlord like? Do you have the landlord's permission to add another roommate?"
"And what would Willow's share of the rent be?" he added. "Would we be expected to sign some sort of legal agreement on her behalf?"
Those questions got everyone looking at me which made me cringe a little. I tried not to blush or grimace too much as I responded, "There's no landlord sir, no rental agreement. It's uh, I own the house outright and I'm letting my friends stay here for free."
Willow's parents both looked surprised to hear that. Then Mr. Pearce asked, "Sorry for asking but how can you own your own home? You're still in high school aren't you?"
"I just graduated," I replied. "And I uh, got the house through an inheritance."
"I don't think she wants to talk about that dad," Willow added. "The point is there's no landlord to worry about, other than Cass. And she's pretty friendly."
Then her mom asked, "How old are you girls? Are you all finished high school now, or do some of you have another year left like Willow does?"
Cerys replied, "Me and Melanie just finished grade eleven, we're in a few of Will's classes. Same with Nina, all four of us will be going back for grade twelve in September."
"I'll be attending the local college," I said. "And my girlfriend Kaylee will be heading to university."
Sasha added, "I haven't decided what I'll be doing yet, but I'm considering attending the local college with Cassandra."
I was actually a little surprised to hear her say that, since we really hadn't discussed that sort of thing at all. And to be fair I wasn't sure if she was serious or if that was just something she came up with to try and impress Willow's parents.
Either way it seemed like they were both pleased with all our answers. I figured they were probably ok with what they'd seen of the house too, like the place was fairly neat and tidy and everything. Especially after my parents did all the work to get the upstairs painted and the new carpets and stuff. And both Sasha and I took some time in the morning to make sure the place was completely clean and all the laundry was either done and put away, or if it was dirty it was well hidden.
Willow seemed to be thinking the same thing, she looked at her folks and asked "Mom? Dad? What do you think? I told you my friends weren't the rowdy party types. And the place is pretty nice too, right?"
Her parents exchanged a look, then Mrs. Pearce replied "We're still considering things hon, but I agree your friends seem nice and the house is very well-kept."
"I'm still a little concerned about you living somewhere without any adult supervision though," she added. She looked around at the rest of us and asked, "What do your parents all think, about the four of you living on your own like this?"
Everyone looked at me like they wanted me to go first or something, which made me cringe a bit. So I tried not to act too shy or anything as I replied, "My folks are ok with it? They helped me move here at the beginning of the month. Actually they helped fix the place up and everything too? And they live really close, so I guess if we ever needed anything they can be here in a few minutes. It's less than twenty minutes to walk, or under five minutes by car."
Sasha added, "My mother and I have been somewhat estranged, but she very recently moved into a house just outside town. And I believe she's happy to know I'm here."
Willow's parents looked to the two wolfgirls since they'd both been quiet.
"Our stories aren't that happy," Cerys stated. "My dad died and my mom moved out to the east coast, I'm not sure she even knows or cares where I am."
Melanie nodded, "Same. My folks split up a few years ago, mom's out west and doesn't want anything to do with me. And my dad kicked me out a couple months ago then left town. Both me and Cerys were super lucky that Cass stepped in and gave us a place to stay."
It was easy to tell Mr. and Mrs. Pearce were both kind of shocked and saddened to hear the wolfgirls' stories, and it looked like neither of them knew how to respond to that. There were a few seconds of awkward silence, until Sasha took the opportunity to embarrass me.
"Cassandra is incredibly kind and generous to let all of us stay here," my cousin told Willow's folks. "As are her parents, and her sister. All four of them are great people."
Melanie nodded in agreement, "That's for sure."
After another couple seconds Willow's dad spoke up, "All right. I suppose that's all our questions. I think Brenda and Willow and I need to talk some more, and maybe take a day or two to think things over."
Mrs. Pearce nodded, "It was nice to finally meet all of you, after hearing so much about you from Willow. I'm glad she's made such nice friends, and that you've all been so accepting of her er, situation."
The cute sorceress blushed a little when her mom said that last bit. I figured her mom was talking about Willow being trans, or maybe she was thinking about the unexpected instant magical transition in particular. Either way, I was pretty sure she still didn't know about Will being a sorceress.
Meanwhile Melanie smiled and said, "We're all pretty open-minded here, ma'am."
"And of course we'd be accepting," Cerys added. "Willow's our friend."
"Thanks Cerys," Will smiled, "I appreciate it."
That seemed to be the end of their visit, she and her parents all got to their feet and started saying goodbyes and stuff. Then before they headed for the door Willow added, "I might not get the chance to see you all for a couple days? I'm meeting the guys tomorrow for a DnD session, then Monday I'm working. But maybe I'll drop in on Tuesday?"
"Or who knows," she added with a grin. "Maybe Tuesday I can move in! I'll text or something and let you all know how it goes with my folks."
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