“And then what happened?” asked Justin breathlessly.

Nanase sighed and slumped in her chair.  She poked dispiritedly at the “food” on her tray.  “Mom read me the riot act, of course.  In English, French and Japanese.  I think some of it was in Latin.”

“So just how grounded are you for groping Elliot in his car?”

“Ellen.”

Justin blinked.  “Say what now?”

“She’s filed the paperwork to attend North as a girl, and on that paperwork her name is Ellen.  So she’s going by that now.”

“But he... I mean she didn’t say anything about that at the dojo last night!”

“You know Elliot.  Erm, anyway.  Not likely to raise a fuss about stuff like that.  I don’t think she minds, she’s just... trying it out?”

“Huh.  Okay.  Which do you prefer?”

Nanase stared at Justin intensely.  “What do you mean by that?”

Justin lounged back in his chair, grinning.  “You were ready to break up with Elliot last week.  Now you’re ready to go all the way in the back seat with Ellen.  What changed?”

“I don’t want to talk about this any more.”

“You need to figure this out, Nanase.”

“I don’t know what to do, okay?  If I get seen making out with Ellen again, Mom’s...  I don’t know what she’ll do.  I’m already cut off from cookies.”

Justin snickered.  “That’s it?  You were caught with Ellen’s panties around her ankles, and your punishment is ‘no cookies’?  Your mother isn’t saying ‘no’, she’s saying ‘don’t embarrass us’.”

Nanase looked mortified.  “You think that’s it?  I mean, she has a life planned out for me.  College, marriage, kids...”

“And what is your life plan?”

Nanase pushed her tray away, then folded her arms on the table and rested her head on them.  “I don’t know.  College, sure.  Marriage... I’m not ready to think about that.”

“Imagine yourself walking down the aisle, all dressed in white.  It’s a pretty dress, not frilly, just clean lines.  You have a bouquet in your hands, and a veil over your face.  Can you see it?”

Nanase nodded.  “It’s... appealing.”

“Someone’s waiting for you at the altar.  Who is it?” asked Justin softly.

Nanase closed her eyes tight.  “Ellen.”

“There, see?  You do know.”

Nanase pushed herself upright.  “Yeah, and what do I do about it?  Mom will hate me.”

“Really?”  Justin shook his head.  “You’re her first-born daughter, and she has high expectations of you.  You might disappoint her, but she’ll never hate you.”

Nanase snorted.  “Then you don’t know her very well.”

“She won’t hate you,” Justin repeated.  “Make your life a living hell, now...”

“Thanks,” growled Nanase.  “That helps so much.”

“What is she realistically likely to do?”

“Worst case?”

Justin shook his head.  “No fevered imaginings.  Just what is she likely to escalate to if you keep dating Ellen?  But, for the sake of argument, keep the smooching to places where you won’t cause a scandal.”

That drew a brief giggle from Nanase.  “Wasn’t the smooching that was the problem.”

“Yeah, I get that.  And all you’re facing is cookie denial.”

Nanase looked away, hiding a smile.  “Akiko snuck me a cookie.”

Justin laughed.  “Seriously?  She’s a sweetie.  And you’re not hurting.  Just don’t be blatant about it.”

“Don’t bring shame to the family,” sighed Nanase.  “Heard that one before.”

“What specifically did your mother say?  Not to date Ellen?”

Nanase shook her head.  “Doesn’t exactly translate, but...  No private time with her.  Specifically not in the car.”

“I guess that’s fair,” mused Justin.  “Considering where she caught you.”

Nanase slumped in her chair once more.  “Yeah.  Fair.  And a total pain in the ass for dates.”

“But you can still date?”

Nanase managed a chuckle.  “I think she knows better than to try to cut us off completely.”

“See?  It’ll all work out.”

*** *** ***

“Score!” cheered Tedd.  “Wait, why are you mopey about getting to third base with Nanase?”

“Because that’s when her Mom knocked on the window.”

Tedd winced.  “Ouch.  Way to kill the mood.”

Sarah sat down at the cafeteria table beside Tedd.  “What mood?”

Ellen tried to hide in her jacket while Tedd explained.  Susan arrived mid-explanation, so Tedd started over.

“Really, Ellen,” sighed Susan.  “You know better.  Why not plan somewhere more private?”

“I wasn’t planning anything!” protested Ellen.  “I was driving her home like always.  She kissed me before we got out of the car, and then the next thing I knew I was pulling my panties up while her mother was yelling at her in Japanese.”

Sarah giggled.  “What did you say?”

Ellen shrugged.  “What could I say?  ‘Good evening, Mrs. Kitsune’.”  I got glared at, and shooed off.  So I left.

Susan snickered.  “You managed to stay calm and rational?  I’m impressed.”

“I might have squeaked when I said it,” admitted Ellen.

“So no more dates?” asked Sarah, trying not to sound hopeful.

“We’re not allowed to be alone together.”

“So you two could still come to the movie marathon tonight?” asked Tedd.  “No adult supervision, but there’ll be lots of eyes.”

“I’ll ask.”

“Of course, if you want some privacy...” Tedd said, waggling his eyebrows suggestively.

“Tedd...” growled Susan.

“Fine, fine.  I did promise no perviness.  I still want to be a girl, though.  You okay with that?”

Susan shrugged.  “Your body, do with it as you will.”

“Have you tried the Venn Machines yet, Susan?” asked Ellen.

Susan shook her head.  “Why would I?”

Ellen gestured to herself.  “For new experiences, to see how the other side lives.”

Susan harrumphed.  “That would go over well with Mother.”  She did, however, appear to be hiding a hint of a smile.

“You’d be safer,” wheedled Sarah.

“Safer?”  Susan perked up, eyeing Sarah curiously.  “How so?”

“If you’re transformed...”

“Venned,” interrupted Tedd.

“Right.  That.  If you’re venned and get hurt, changing back removes the injury.”

Susan rubbed her hands together as if using her ubiquitous hand sanitizer.  “Does that extend to... other afflictions?”

Sarah shrugged, and looked over to Tedd.  “Do you know?”

“Oh what, I’m the Venn Machine expert now?”

“Yes.”

Tedd pushed his glasses up to resettle them on the bridge of his nose.  “From everything I’ve read, reversion cures everything except the common cold.  And... er...”  He lowered his head and whispered, “pregnancy.”

Ellen looked stunned.  “Wait, wait, wait.  I could get...  And I’d stay?  How?”

Tedd shrugged.  “I’m fuzzy on the details.  It’d probably be best to stay female if that happens.”

“Holy carp.  I had no idea it was that comprehensive.  Are you sure?”

Tedd nodded.  “As long as you’re human, anyway.”

“Well, yeah.  It’s not like a purse could get pregnant.”

“There are other options.  You could become a mermaid, or...” Tedd glanced at Sarah, “a catgirl.  Neither would be fertile with a human.”

Sarah blinked at Tedd.  “Wait wait wait.  ‘With a human’?  So if I met a cute catboy, I could have a litter of kitten people?”

“Yeah.  There are a bunch of documented new species already,” exposited Tedd.  “Several kinds of catgirls, mermaids, centaurs, some kind of cat-centaur thing, stuff like that.”

“Can we be... venned, was it?  Into something that’s not fertile?” asked Susan.

Tedd nodded.  “Yeah, that’s pretty well worked out.  Bonus for women, if you do that you generally don’t end up with a period.”

“So it acts as super birth control if you want it to?” asked Sarah, awestruck.  “Put me down for more venning.”

“Cool!”

Sarah glowered at Tedd.  “Just not with you.”

“Aww.”

“So who would you get into a Venn Machine with?” asked Susan.

Sarah didn’t think for long.  “You or Elliot, pretty much.  I don’t know Justin or Nanase all that well.”

“They’re both great,” defended Ellen.  “I’d trust either of them.”

“We could all meet up at the mall before movie night,” suggested Tedd.  “That way I can get girled, and anyone else can get set up however they like.  We can set the machine for eight hours, so you’ll be normal by midnight.  If you want to be.”

“What do you mean, ‘if you want to be’?” demanded Susan.

Tedd cringed away from her glare.  “I just meant that we’ve been talking about long-term subtle venning.  Justin’s strength boost, Nanase’s hair colour, or just generally for health and safety reasons.  So if you wanted a cosmetic change to go with the safety, you could try it out tonight.  Or just go for a month-long change and hope it’s right.”

“Huh.  I suppose that’s reasonable.”  Susan frowned, drawing another eep from Tedd.  “Wait, hair colour?”

Tedd nodded.  “You can get all kinds of colours, and they don’t fade.”

“Or show roots?” asked Sarah.

“Probably not?  We could test that.”

Susan arched an eyebrow.  “Test it how, exactly?”

“Change someone’s hair for a month, see how it grows out.  Any volunteers?”

Susan immediately raised her hand.  Tedd and the others stared at her in bewilderment.  “What?  I spend a fortune on black dye to keep my roots from showing.  No periods and no longer being blonde?  Sign me up.”

*** *** ***

Susan drove Ellen, Tedd and Sarah to the mall, where Nanase and Justin had agreed to meet them.  Neither of the two from South wanted to use the Venn Machine, as they were happy as they were.

Inside the mall, Susan glanced around.  “There’ll be a line for your machine.”

“What makes you say that?” asked Tedd.

“I see six pairs of catgirls.  The woman over there looks like she’s smuggling beachballs, and there are more curves here than you’d find at a herpetologist’s convention.”

“A what now?” asked Ellen, as several others giggled.

“It looks like the machines are getting popular,” agreed Tedd.  “That doesn’t mean there will be a lineup.”

“Want to bet on it?” asked Susan.

“... No.”

Tedd’s discretion paid off when they reached the Venn Machine.  “Dang it.  There has never been much of a line before.”

“Have you been here on a Friday afternoon?” asked Susan.  “It appears that a plethora of people want to be something different for the weekend.”

As if to prove her point, the Venn Machine opened and two cute panda girls stepped out.  One bounced excitedly, while the one with an improbable ruff of green hair just looked resigned to her friend’s exuberance.  The line advanced a step as the next pair went to the machine.

“As long as nobody’s spending ages tweaking their designs to be ‘just right’, it won’t be too long a line,” suggested Tedd hopefully.

By and large, he was proven right.  A minute later two girls emerged in cuter outfits but otherwise looking much the same.  A minute after that, one side held a woman with curves that rivaled the balloon smuggler Susan pointed out earlier.  The other held a bra that looked like it would fit her perfectly.

“Someone’s being a supportive boyfriend,” giggled Sarah.

Susan stared as the woman sashayed around to pick up her partner.  “Wait, what?  It can turn people into things?”

“Anything you can name, pretty much,” answered Tedd.

Susan glared at Tedd, then turned to face Sarah.  “Are you sure about this?  What if I hit the wrong thing?”

Sarah touched her friend’s shoulder, then quickly withdrew her hand.  “Sorry.  I know it seems odd, but I promise I won’t do that to you.  If you’re feeling worried, we can set the machine so you automatically change back in eight hours.  Well, maybe sixteen, so we’re not changing back at Tedd’s.  Whatever happens, we’ll both be normal by morning.”

Susan spent the next few minutes chewing on that.  When they got to the front of the line she nodded.  “Sixteen hours sounds good.”

“Okay.  How do you want me to change you?  Just the black hair, or something more?” asked Sarah.

“Oh!  I... um, I’ve always wondered what it would be like to be a little taller.  Maybe add about four inches?”

“I’ll try.  But why not go whole hog?  Add a whole foot.  I bet if you crouched down, we could make you ten feet tall.”

Susan chuckled at the mental image of towering over all the people around her.  “Not tonight.  I need to fit in my car.”

The Venn Machine opened on Ellen and Tedd.  Ellen was unchanged, and Tedd was back to her familiar girly form.  She bounced around and hugged Ellen happily.  “Thanks so much.”

Nanase cleared her throat from where she and Justin were standing, near their friends but clearly out of the line.  “That’s my girlfriend you’re hugging there.”

Sarah didn’t wait for the scene to play out, she set the machine up for the agreed sixteen hours and strode inside.  Susan entered the other side a little more slowly, and jumped when the door vanished.  “Wow.  The tech here is crazy.”

“If it’s technology at all,” said Sarah.  “It seems like magic to me.”

“Clarke’s Law,” replied Susan absently.  “Now how do I do this?  What would you even like me to do?”

“Just poke around and touch bubbles.  Find something random but cute.”

“Cute, huh?”  Susan touched a bubble, and the image of Sarah was replaced by a catgirl.  “Did I just change you?”

“Nah.  You have to touch the green circle first.  OK, ready here.”

Susan reached for the green circle just as her perspective shifted upward by nearly a foot.  As a result, she missed the circle by a good bit, and touched a random bubble instead.  A moment later she corrected the motion.  It was only then, as the doors opened, that she looked over to her friend again.  “Sarah?”

Susan stared at the odd fleshy blob on the other side of the machine until the next person in line called out, “Hey lady!  Get a move on.”

Susan slowly stepped out of the machine and picked up what she presumed was Sarah.  The fleshy blob was roughly the size and shape of a football, but when she picked it up it flattened and spread into more of a pancake in her arms.  It had a single eye that stared up at her.  To Susan’s surprise, the eye looked exactly like Sarah’s eyes.  “Are you okay?”

Sarah blinked up at her once.  Susan blinked back then giggled nervously.  “Oh right.  You can’t talk like this.  So what blink is ‘yes’?”

Sarah blinked once, then when prompted for ‘no’ blinked twice.

“So you’re really okay?”

Sarah blinked once.

Susan looked at the line.  It had grown considerably while they were waiting.  “Crap.  We’re going to be here for an hour to get you fixed up.”

Sarah blinked twice.  Susan stared at the blob in her arms.  “Are you serious?  You can barely move, but... I guess you don’t have to for movie night.  Are you okay staying like this tonight?”

Sarah stared up at Susan, and slowly, deliberately, blinked just once.

“Wow.  Okay...”  Susan started walking past the end of the line, and the others scrambled to keep up.

“Woah, aren’t you going to change her back?” asked Nanase.

Susan sighed, and they went through the same blink-for-yes pantomime again, to explain it to the others.  “She seems content with this option, and it’s only until morning.  She can watch the movies just fine.  So what’s the problem?”

Nanase blinked.  “I...  I guess whatever works.  That’s so weird.”

Susan chuckled warmly.  “Look around, this mall is becoming a weirdness magnet.”

“Or it’s exposing pre-existing weirdness,” suggested Tedd with a big grin.  “It seems I’m not the only one with weird transformation fantasies.”

Susan paused, and looked around at the milling people – though one had to be generous with the word.  There were enough catgirls, pandagirls and centauroids to make her wonder how long it would be before humans were in the minority.  “Giving someone fur or big boobs might not be about the transformation.”

Tedd looked crestfallen at the suggestion.  “Oh.  That’s... I hadn’t thought of that.  Why didn’t I think of that?”

“Everyone has their own kink,” said Nanase.  “Enough of them run tangent to yours that those machines are busy tonight.  The mall is swarming with catgirls, does it matter why?”

Tedd perked up, smiling brightly.  “Oh!  You’re right.  It doesn’t, not really.”

“And all of us are transformed, though for some of us it’s subtle.  How’s the new altitude, Susan?”

Susan looked around.  “Weird.  Looking down on everyone is unfamiliar, but... it’s growing on me.”

She was a little less happy with her new height when she banged her head getting into her car, and continued to grumble as she adjusted her seat and mirrors.  “Seeing some downsides now.”

“At least you’re not tall enough to hit your head on regular doors,” consoled Ellen.  She was holding Sarah in her lap.  They briefly discussed how to buckle the blob in safely, but Tedd pointed out that it was venned, and would thus survive any accident.

“I really hope that’s not going to affect how people drive,” muttered Susan as she pulled out of the parking lot.

“Yeah... I wouldn’t bet on that,” noted Ellen.  “Though it’s not like you can put your car in the machine to fix it up.”

“Maybe we should turn drunk drivers into cars for people that can’t afford...”  Tedd rolled her eyes at the look she was getting.  “Okay, maybe that’s going too far.”

“Besides, you couldn’t fit a car in that space.”

“Maybe some kind of folding car?”

“Oh, right.  Like I want a car that folds up into a suitcase with me inside.  Pass,” chuckled Ellen.

Sarah made a soft cooing noise that almost sounded like a giggle.

Susan eyed the blob to her right.  “Are you a furless tribble?”

Sarah blinked once.  Susan smirked, and turned her attention back to the road.  “I have to dig up that episode.”

Once they made it to Tedd’s place, Susan opened her trunk and pulled out her DVD storage case.  “Let’s see now...  Ah yes.  Double feature with I, Mudd.  Definitely showing you guys this one.”

“Do you have all of Star Trek in there?”

“Only the good stuff,” replied Susan with a grimace.  “Some of it is relegated to the wall of shame.”

They gathered in the Verres’ living room, and discovered that “cozy” was something of an understatement.

“What were you thinking, Tedd?  We’d be lucky to get four of us on that thing.  Even with Sarah...”

“Compactified?” offered Tedd.

“Fine, compactified,” continued Susan, “There’s no way.  And the viewing angle for the loveseat is terrible.”

“We’ll take the loveseat,” said Ellen.  “Probably won’t be watching the movie anyway.”  She tugged Nanase’s hand and the blushing woman followed her.

Justin and Tedd made themselves comfortable on the couch.  Susan handed Sarah off to Justin while she put the DVD in the player, then returned to sit beside him.  She raised an eyebrow when she saw that Sarah had made her way over to Tedd’s lap, but said nothing.

“So here we go, inspired by Sarah’s bizarre transformation, The Trouble with Tribbles.”

“You mean the bizarre shape you transformed Sarah into,” Tedd clarified.

Susan’s glare was half-hearted.  “Fine, yes.  She seems happy enough, can we just watch the show?”

“Fine.”

Most of the group was soon engrossed by the show, giggling at the antics of a show that obviously wasn’t taking itself too seriously.  Sarah cooed along with the tribbles she somewhat resembled, and got more skritches when she did so.

“Hey Sarah,” asked Tedd when the credits rolled, “have you figured out how tribbles can move around?”

Sarah wiggled a little in Tedd’s lap, then pulled herself up into a more spherical shape.  She shifted her weight to one side, and rolled off of Tedd and onto the couch cushion beside her.  Susan, Justin and Tedd applauded.

Sarah seemed to be paying them no heed, staring instead across the room.  When Tedd followed her gaze, he blushed.  “Uh... Ellio... I mean Ellen?  Maybe you two should... get a room?”

Ellen sat up and did her best to straighten what was left of her clothing – her skirt.  She looked around and found her shirt, then started to wriggle into it.  “Uh, sorry?”

“There’s a guest bedroom upstairs.”

Ellen looked to her sweetie, gave her her best cheesy smile and waggled her eyebrows.  “Shall we?”

Nanase’s face went from beet red blush to pale as a sheet in record time.  She darted from the room.

“Oh no, not again...” moaned Ellen.  “Can one of you go talk to her while I get dressed?”

Everyone just stared.  After a moment, Susan spoke up.  “I’m not really going to help much, nor is Justin.  Tedd?  Hell no.  I’d send Sarah, but...”

Ellen sighed and bowed her head.  “Fine.”  She buttoned up her blouse, glanced at her bra and panties, then shook her head.

Following the sound of Nanase’s hyperventilating led her to Tedd’s kitchen, but Nanase wasn’t anywhere to be seen.  After a moment’s confusion, Ellen peered under the kitchen table.  “So... under the table, huh.”  She crouched down beside Nanase.  “Pretty nice place you’ve got here.”

Nanase whimpered.  “How do I do this?  I can’t deny it any longer... I’m gay.”

“Yeah, we kind of figured.  Nobody in the other room will think any less of you for saying that.”

“But... if my Mom finds out...”

“Hon, she found us going at it in my car.  She already knows.”

Nanase burst into tears.  “My life is ruined.”

Ellen looked offended.  “Really?  I’m right here.”

Nanase dove into Ellen’s arms, hugging her desperately.  “What will my Mom do?”

“I don’t know.  What do you want to tell her?”

“Nothing.”

Ellen nodded.  “Fine.  We tell her nothing.  And the others?  They’re worried about you.”

“They won’t blab?”

“They won’t.  I’ll make sure of it.”

Nanase giggled weakly.  “How?”

A moment later they returned to the living room, Nanase still carried in Ellen’s arms.  “This stays in this room, okay?  Anyone blabs, they answer to me.”  The glare that raked the room was pure Elliot at his bully-fighting worst.

Everyone nodded, save Sarah who cooed affirmatively.

Nanase took a deep breath, then let it out.  “Hi.  I’m Nanase, and I’m so gay it hurts.”

There was a round of polite applause, and a muffled “about time” that was followed by an elbow-poke and an oof.

Ellen set Nanase on her feet.  “See?  Big happy family.”

Nanase snorted.  “Better than my own family.  Are you guys really okay with this?”

“Of course we are,” said Susan firmly.  “You know us better than that.  Besides, we’ve seen you with Ellen.”  At Nanase’s blush, she held up her hand hastily.  “That’s not what I meant.”

“Yes it was,” whispered Tedd.  A moment later she cringed away from Susan’s glare.

“You two are obviously in love,” said Susan once she’d cowed the peanut gallery.  “That’s what’s important, not details about what gender Elliot is at the moment.  Sorry, I mean Ellen.”

Ellen smiled at Susan.  “It’s OK.  Either is fine.  I even feel a little more like an Elliot tonight, after playing knight in shining armor to my sweetie.”

Nanase’s eyes narrowed in thought.  “I... think I can live with that.”

“What about when I’m male again?”

Nanase’s eyes closed.  “Can we not think about that now?”

They settled Nanase on the couch, with Ellen on one side, Susan and Justin on the other.  It was a tight fit, so Nanase ended up partially in Ellen’s lap.  Susan’s presence acted as a very effective chaperone.

Tedd and Sarah got relegated to the loveseat.  Tedd knew how to lie on it so his head was propped up on the arm, giving her a “halfway decent” view of the TV, and Sarah perched on his chest.

They watched another Star Trek episode, “I, Mudd”.  Once it was over Susan tried to connect its message of “beauty is only skin deep, it’s what’s inside that counts” to Ellen’s situation.

“What is inside Ellen?” asked Nanase.

Ellen shrugged.  “The last week has been weird and confusing and... surprisingly nice.”

“Sugar and spice and everything nice, that’s what girls are made of?”

Ellen giggled at Justin.  “I’m not spicy.”

“Nope.  You’re my soft squishy marshmallow,” claimed Nanase.  “Except when you’re scary martial arts guy.  And I love all of it.”

“Good.  Do we need to turn you into a guy so you can figure out your insides?” asked Ellen.

Nanase looked thoughtful.  “I suppose it would be only fair...  But I don’t want to go to school like that.  Maybe next time Tedd’s dad is away?”

“Might be another month or so, but we can do this again,” said Tedd.  “This is nice.”

There was general agreement, and after that Susan started up Casablanca.  There were a few groans about the film being in black-and-white, and one muttered comment about “pre-Sputnik”.  However, they were all soon engrossed in the film.

When it was done, Susan grinned at the others.  “See?  It wasn’t in colour, and there was no CGI back then, but it’s still a fantastic film.”

The muttered agreements seemed a bit distracted.

“Shh,” whispered Ellen.  “Tedd’s asleep.”

Sarah’s eye was closed as well, and she was making a periodic peeping sound that seemed like a tribble-sized snore.

“We should let them sleep,” whispered Nanase.  “It’s late.”

“I’ve got keys, I can lock up behind us,” added Ellen.

Ellen found a blanket to drape over the two, and the rest of the group quietly left.

*** *** ***

“Whazza?”  Sarah blinked blearily.  “Where?”

“Ooof, you’re heavy,” came a feminine voice from underneath her.

Sarah rolled off of Tedd, and thumped to the floor.  “Ow!  Did I just... spend the night sleeping on you?”

Tedd yawned and stretched.  “Oh crap, I guess we fell asleep during the movie.”  She bundled up the blanket as she sat up.  “I bet Elliot put the blanket on us.”

“No bet,” chuckled Sarah.  “Man, I haven’t slept that well in years.  Still, I could go for some coffee to clear the cobwebs.”

“Coming up.”  Tedd padded into the kitchen and soon had the coffee pot going.

While it burbled, Sarah leaned against the doorframe and studied Tedd.  “First time sleeping with a girl?” she asked.

Tedd snorted with laughter.  “God, I’m glad I wasn’t drinking coffee when you said that.  And... yes.  Nobody’s shown interest before.”

“I’m not...”  Sarah stopped at Tedd’s grin.  “Right.”

Once the coffee was done, they both added equally large dollops of cream and sugar.  They sat at the kitchen table and sipped until they started feeling a little more human.

“I should probably get home before my folks start worrying.  Can I get a lift home?”

Tedd shrugged.  “Dad parked the car at the airport.  Want to call Elliot?”

Sarah shook her head.  “Not sure I’m ready to face the others yet.  Did you get any pictures of me?”

“A couple.”  Tedd pulled out his phone and showed Sarah some pictures of herself pancaked on Susan’s lap.

“Eee, I looked so weird.”

Tedd raised an eyebrow.  “Eee?”

“It’s...  It was an interesting experience.  Very different from the catgirl, and nice not to have to stress about it.”

“So you’re not afraid of the Venn Machines any more?” asked Tedd hopefully.

“Never was.  Just not going into one with you any time soon.”

“Aww.  I promise I won’t do anything weird.”

Sarah chuckled at Tedd warmly.  “Don’t make promises I don’t want you to keep.”

Tedd blinked at her in confusion.  “What?”

Sarah giggled.  “You heard me.  I better call my folks to come pick me up.  Can’t spend all weekend here.”

Tedd pretended to pout.  “Tired of my company so soon?”

“More like the sooner I check in the less trouble I’ll be in.”

“How much trouble will you be in?”

Sarah pulled out her phone and stared at it.  “I have no idea.  I’ve never been this late before.”

Tedd made an encouraging gesture, so Sarah dialed.

“Hi Mom.  Sorry it’s so late, I fell asleep at Tedd’s.  No, nobody woke me up, I guess I looked too cute asleep.  Yes, I’m safe.”

Sarah winced at the next comment and pulled the phone away from her ear.  “I didn’t sleep with a boy!  Tedd’s currently a girl.  How?  Venn Machines, I’ve told you about them.  Everyone at the party was Venned.”

Sarah waited through a longish discussion, rolling her eyes at several points.  “Okay, yes, I’ll check with Tedd.”  She looked up at Tedd.  “Okay if I stay here a few hours?  Mom’s going grocery shopping this afternoon, and can pick me up then.”

“Sure, no problem.”

Sarah relayed the answer, listened a while longer, then ended the call with a sigh.

“How bad?”

Sarah shrugged.  “Mostly a lecture on checking in and discussing plans.  I’m pretty sure if I told them I was staying the night here again, they’d be okay with it.  Well, at least if you’re a girl.  Maybe not so much if you’re a boy.”

“Works for me.  Bring some nail polish next time?” wheedled Tedd.

“Should I bring pajamas too, make a full sleepover of it?”

“Yeah!” cheered Tedd, then she sighed.  “At least, when Dad’s not around for it.  He’d probably blow a gasket if he saw me like that.”

“Then it’s a date.  Next month, you said?”

Tedd sighed.  “Yeah.”

“Until then, have you got any cute PJ’s?  We’ve got a couple of hours, and I haven’t had a good pillow fight in years.”

Tedd grinned brightly.  “Sure!”

They were still in pajamas when Sarah’s mother showed up, so Tedd had to stall while Sarah got dressed.  “Hi Mrs. Brown.”

“Tedd?  Is that really you?”

“Yep.”  Tedd blushed.  “Is it that bad?”

Mrs. Brown chuckled warmly.  “No.  Just a little hard to believe.  You make a very cute girl.”

Tedd beamed brightly.  “Thanks!”

“Just keep it that way if Sarah stays the night again, hmm?”  This time Mrs. Brown’s look was much less friendly.

Tedd nodded rapidly.  “That’s the plan!  I don’t get much time to be a girl.  Only when Dad’s away.  He... doesn’t much like the idea.”

“Oh?  Why not?”

Tedd shrugged dejectedly.

Sarah gave her a quick hug.  “Hey, don’t fret.  He’ll get used to the machines eventually.”

Tedd sighed, but the hug left her smiling.  “Thanks.”

As the two Brown women walked away, Sarah’s mother said loud enough for Tedd to hear, “She’s cute.  I can see why you like her.”

“Moooom!”