It was a few minutes past four Sunday afternoon when I heard Talia's bedroom door open. I was halfway through an important assignment for my robotics css, but I turned off the soldering iron then hurried to go and check on her.

  I hadn't had a chance to speak with her since she got home from her first soccer game about ninety minutes earlier. She hit the shower as soon as she came in, then instead of letting me help brush her tail like usual she retreated alone into her bedroom so she could have a private phone conversation with her parents.

  "Hey Rachel," she greeted me as I emerged from my room.

  I followed as she headed into the kitchen, where I asked "How did it go? And how are you doing? Are you ok?"

  Talia helped herself to one of the vodka coolers we bought a few days earlier, which I couldn't help worrying was a bad sign. Then after a gulp of the fizzy alcoholic drink she shrugged, "It wasn't as bad as it could have been."

  "Grab a drink then I'll tell you all about it," she added.

  I got myself a can of soda, then the two of us went into the living-room. Once we were cuddling on the sofa I asked, "So you came out to your parents? Did you tell them about getting turned into a foxgirl?"

  My athletic girlfriend nodded, "More or less. I talked to my mom at least."

  "I started with an email then some texts," she continued after another gulp of her cooler. "Like I tried to ease mom into it? Obviously she wouldn't have recognized my voice if I just called. So I wrote up a 'coming out' email first, basically expined that I was trans and just figured myself out in the st couple weeks? And I mentioned that I had an unexpected boost, that helped me figure things out."

  "Then we texted a bit, before I told her I was ready to talk. So she called," Talia sighed, "And yeah. It was a bit rough, expining that this is what I sound like now. Then I sent her a selfie, and finally expined that I got unexpectedly foxgirlificated."

  She paused for more of her cooler, before she went on with the next part of her story. "So I told mom the same stuff we told folks at college? That both you and I were affected, that we had no idea how or why, and that we were both surprised but doing ok. I didn't say anything about you being trans, only that you'd changed your name and pronouns afterwards. And I told her that the transformation is what helped me discover I was trans?"

  Her cheeks started to colour as she admitted, "Since it happened I've been doing some reading, like looking into trans resources and stuff? So I had some links and things I sent her. Anyways the bottom line is I told her I'm happier this way, and that I don't care how or why it happened."

  "I even told her about joining the soccer team," she added with a little smile, while her tail tried to wag against the sofa cushions. "And that I got to py in my first game today."

  I gave her a supportive smile, "That sounds good Talia. And she took it ok?"

  My girlfriend nodded, "There were some rough spots like I said? But yeah, I guess by the end she was ok with it. I mean, she said my happiness was what mattered, and if I was happy like this then she was happy for me."

  "That was just mom though," she added, before having another gulp of her cooler. "Mom's going to talk to dad, then I'll probably have to go through it all with him too."

  She grimaced, "Or they might both want to see me? Mom definitely wants to come over at some point. I don't know if dad will too."

  "You told me yesterday that your folks were both pretty understanding," I reminded her. "So hopefully your dad will handle it ok too."

  Talia nodded, "Yeah. It'll probably be fine? But I guess I'm going to stay nervous until I know for sure."

  Her expression became more uneasy again as she sighed, "I asked mom not to say anything to my brother. And to make sure dad knew that too? I hate putting them in that sort of situation, but at least mom understood? She knows Hank isn't the most understanding guy around."

  "You can't keep it from your brother forever though, can you?" I asked. "Sooner or ter you're going to have to see him, at holidays or some family thing."

  That seemed to make my girlfriend even more uneasy. She cringed, "I know. Even if I try and avoid that sort of thing, now that my folks know I figure it's just a matter of time until he finds out. All it takes is one slip, like if they mention my new name or use my new pronouns while they're talking to him."

  "Even if they do it's not the end of the world, right?" I asked. "I mean, what's the worst that can happen? Your brother disowns you or something?"

  She still looked anxious, which led me to an unpleasant though. I gave her a worried look as I asked, "You don't think he might get violent, do you? You said he was a bully, but would he go out of his way to come over here and cause trouble?"

  Talia cringed a little more as she sighed. Then she nodded, "Yeah Rae. That's what I'm worried about. I uh, don't want to go into details just yet? But that's exactly what I'm afraid of."

  "I can't tell my folks about that either," she added. "It's complicated. Mom and dad don't know him like I do."

  I sighed and pulled her into a hug, "Damn Talia, I'm sorry. It sounds like maybe you had a rough time growing up with him? But that's the past, ok? And whatever happens going forward, I'll do whatever I can to look out for you."

  My girlfriend smiled as she hugged me back, "Thanks Rachel. You know, usually I'm the one promising to look after you. It feels weird being on the receiving end of that."

  "Well get used to it," I replied with a smile of my own. "We're girlfriends now, right? We look after each other."

  "Thanks Rae," she sighed as she gave me a gentle squeeze. "I appreciate it."

  "Any time Talia," I told her as I squeezed her back.

  After a few seconds like that she commented, "Oh there was one other thing mom said? Since my schorship was cancelled, she promised her and dad would look after my tuition for next year. So I don't have to worry about that after all."

  "That's good news," I smiled.

  "Yeah," Talia smiled back. That faded a moment ter as she asked, "What about you? If your folks are disowning you or something, what are you going to do for money?"

  I frowned at her, "What do you mean?"

  She asked, "Aren't your parents paying your way? I figured that's how you were getting by, since you've never said anything about going to work. Not even a part-time job, in all the time we've known each other."

  "Ah," I smiled again as I shook my head, "My parents have never sent me money, not for tuition or rent or anything else. They couldn't afford it."

  My girlfriend looked surprised, "Then how do you pay for stuff?"

  A moment ter she gave me a worried look and half-whispered, "Wait you're not using your genius brain to do bank crimes or something, are you?"

  "Of course not!" I giggled. "I've been taking programming jobs on-line since I was in middle-school. Short-term contract work, software bounties, bug bounties, that kind of thing. Stuff I could do semi-anonymously from home, whenever I needed some money."

  Talia frowned again, "And you make enough doing that to pay rent, tuition, and everything else?"

  I blushed slightly, "More or less? By the time I graduated high school I figured out some investment tricks. Then when I was old enough, I visited a casino and used some of their card games to level-up my funds."

  "Nothing too extravagant of course," I added. "I only won enough to ensure I'd be comfortable, while covering rent and tuition and stuff."

  She stared at me for a few seconds before face-palming. "Seriously Rae? And you never once considered you had meta-human smarts?"

  "I just assumed I was good with numbers," I mumbled as my blush got brighter. "I didn't think it was anything special."

  "Of course you didn't. You dork," she teased. Then she leaned in and gave me a kiss.

  I kissed her back, then the two of us just cuddled quietly like that for a few minutes.

  Eventually I sighed, "As much as I'm enjoying this, I'm kind of in the middle of an assignment. And I'm sure you've got studying or assignments of your own that you should be doing?"

  "Aww! Do I have to?" she pouted pyfully.

  I rolled my eyes, "Maybe not, but you should probably do it anyways. And my assignment's due this week, so I'd like to finish it today. Sorry Talia."

  She pretended to grumble as I slowly extricated myself from the cuddle then got to my feet. Then I took my soda with me as I headed back to my bedroom again. I settled into my chair at my desk and turned on my soldering iron, but before I could get back to work I discovered I wasn't alone.

  "So," my girlfriend asked as she stood behind me and peered over my shoulder. "What'cha working on? Another sexy rolepy vilin ray?"

  My ears twitched and my tail flicked as I replied, "Nah. It's for my robotics css."

  "Oh," Talia frowned.

  She moved around to the side of my desk so she had a better view, then watched quietly as I started soldering tiny components onto the small circuit board.

  "It sorta looks like the insides of one of your rays," she commented after a half minute. Her ears angled forward while her tail slowly swished back and forth as she added thoughtfully, "I guess little computer brains all look the same, huh?"

  My own ears were folded back in concentration, while my tail stuck straight out behind me. I shook my head slightly, "Not really. And they're called circuit boards, not computer brains."

  "Although I suppose this one is technically a robot brain," I admitted a moment ter.

  My girlfriend asked, "What kind of robot? What's it going to do?"

  I sighed as my tail twitched, "The assignment was to make a maze-runner. The prof gave us a bunch of specs and requirements at the beginning of the semester, but we won't see the actual maze until tomorrow?"

  "Anyways I'm making a little android mouse on wheels," I expined. "Or I guess it's more like a rat, it's a bit too big to be a mouse. Anyways it goes into the prof's maze then he'll be timing it to see how long it takes to find its way through. Or I suppose some students' robots may get lost or stuck, if they're not up to the challenge."

  "I see," she replied as she nodded slowly, although her tone and expression suggested that she really didn't. After a pause she added, "Are you going to work on any of your personal projects after you've finished this?"

  I sighed as I put my soldering iron down and looked at her again, "Why all the sudden interest in what I'm up to?"

  "Or are you hinting that you want to try some more of that rolepy stuff again tonight?" I asked as my cheeks flushed.

  Talia blushed too, but quickly denied it. "No! I mean, maybe? Last night was honestly amazing. But um, no. I guess I'm more curious about how it works? Like the slutification ray you used on me st night? Maybe after you're finished the school stuff you could show me how it works?"

  "I mean the technical stuff," she added quickly. "Like, open it up and show me the insides, expin it all to me?"

  By that point I knew something had to be up. I gave her a suspicious look, "All right what's this all about? Why the sudden shift from 'bh bh science' to 'please teach me the secrets of your technology'?"

  My girlfriend's ears and tail drooped as she awkwardly rubbed the back of her neck, "I don't know Rachel... I guess it's like I was saying before? I can't just coast through life on my athletic prowess anymore. I actually need to study and focus on academic stuff. And I figured maybe I could learn some of the cool stuff you do? Maybe when you're a rich and famous inventor I can be your lowly assistant or something."

  I frowned at her, "I have no intention of ever becoming famous. And I'm not sure I want to be rich either. My goal is to have a quiet peaceful comfortable life."

  "Anyways I agree you should focus more on your academic studies," I added. "By which I mean, you should focus on your own academic studies, not mine. There's only two weeks left until our exams Talia, you should be studying for them."

  My girlfriend's shoulders slumped and her ears and tail drooped down a little lower as she pouted, "Yeah you're right. I'm sorry Rachel, I didn't mean to bother you."

  She turned and shuffled towards the door, with her shoulders still slumped and her tail down between her legs. I was positive she was pying it up for sympathy, but knowing that didn't make it any less effective. Seeing my girlfriend acting like a kicked puppy left me feeling awful.

  "Talia?" I asked just as she reached my bedroom door. "Tell you what. Give me an hour to finish this assignment, ok? Then we can take a closer look at how the slutification ray works."

  Just like that her ears perked up, her tail started to wag, and a happy smile formed on her face.

  "Ok Rachel!" she beamed at me. "Thank you! You're the best!"

  As she skipped into the hallway she added, "I'll be in my room studying! Let me know when you're ready!"

  I just smiled and shook my head, then got back to work on my robo-rat.

  PurpleCatGirl