More stories and more... developments.

When they finally reached Jess' apartment, Charlie went into full mother hen mode, pushing her friend down on the sofa with the gentle strength of someone who professionally cared for others before scurrying off to make some tea for the two of them. It made Jess feel warm and fuzzy - she hadn't seen Charlie for so long, and just like back then, the nurse's presence was so calming...

"Okay, I could tell so many more weird as hell stories," Charlie began as she sat down next to the southern belle, placing two steaming mugs of tea on the coffee table. "Like we had a honest to god half-spider person check in, or the fucking Oni woman that kept downing a bottle of wine during her checkup, but... the weirdest was probably how they were all so... calm about it. They all used to be normal people, and now they're... not."

Charlie's eyes flitted to Jess' ears for a second, and then the nurse looked to the side, picking up one of the mugs even though they still were much to hot do drink.

"It's... you know, it's almost like a spreading infection, and yet no one who's affected is freaking out! You're affected, and you act like it's normal, and to be honest, that's freaking me out a little..."

The crestfallen look on Charlie's face made Jess' heart skip a beat - and not in the good way. The southern belle had never really considered how her friends might feel about Jess' tail and ears. Or even why the Texan wasn't freaking out, as Charlie had said. True, Jess had been surprised when her ears and tail grew, but all things considered, her reaction had been 'huh, neat' when it should have been 'what the fuck!?', if one thought about it rationally. Instead, she had more or less instantly fallen in love with her fluffy, sensitive and most of all cute fox ears and her voluminous tail. The question was... why?

"Ah'm not sure, Charlie..." Jess murmured after a while, the silence between them stretching almost to the point of awkwardness until the Texan spoke. Hugging her tail to her body, Jess looked at a spot between her and Charlie, absentmindedly petting her tail with her right hand, ears drooping slightly. "Ah don't know why, but... it feels as if Ah was always meant to have these. As if Ah suddenly had something Ah wasn't even aware I was missing..."

"Okay, right. As if that's not weird enou--" Charlie interrupted herself and put down her steaming cup of tea, rubbing her face with both hands before dropping her hands into her lap. "Sorry. Sorry, Jess. I guess I'm the one freaking out the most, and that's the last thing you need right now. Just... just promise me that if you feel weird, or... or sick or different you'll get checked out, okay? All these changes can't be normal, and yet everyone who gets hit with them acts as if they are, and--hhff?!"

Charlie's spiraling rant ended with a surprised sound as Jess brushed her tail against the nurse's torso and cheek. The fox girl just couldn't take seeing her friend so agitated - and this was the only idea that had come to her mind.

"Wha-?"

"Ah, uhm... Ah know y'all came to support me, but... why don't y'all let me support y'all, too?" Strangely, being able to hopefully help Charlie with her problems made Jess feel better about her own - it meant she wasn't the only one struggling with recent events, even if the events were different. Maybe they would be able to help each other through their respective issues. "Go ahead, hug mah tail. Give it a good cuddle, Charlie. It'll help y'all feel better."

"Uh... I..." Clearly, Charlie was blindsided by the Texan's proposal, staring at Jess with wide eyes. Jess ran the tip of her tail along Charlie's fiercely blushing cheek, and the nurses eyes flicked down to where the fluffy fur pushed against her body. Her arms slowly rose and wrapped around Jess' red-furred tail almost of their own volition - and the tension visibly drained from Charlie's body as her hands dug into the silky pelt. "W-wow..."

"It's like a huge plushie, isn't it?" Jess smiled, scooting closer to Charlie until their shoulders touched - that way, the angle of the Texan's tail wasn't as awkward and strenuous. "Do y'all see now why Ah'm more or less cool with it? Ah know it's strange and decidedly not normal, but... Ah think the good outweighs the bad. What good would freakin' out do?"

"Mhmm..." Humming in reply, Charlie hugged Jess' tail tighter and buried her face in the soft fur, pulling her legs up on the sofa.

The way her breath tickled Jess made the southern belle blush herself, a subdued heat building in her abdomen. The southern belle found herself blushing too now, acutely aware of Charlie's body warmth - against Jess' shoulder and almost her entire tail. And when Charlie sunk against Jess' side, the nurses head falling onto the fox girl's shoulder, the Texan's breath hitched in her throat.

What's goin' on? We are... jus' cuddlin', but... mah heart's racin' like mad, even though we're both girls...

Not that Jess hadn't been close to Charlie when they'd hung out before, but never like this, never so intimately... putting her head on Charlie's, Jess took a shuddering breath, her hands resting in her lap. The southern belle felt her face heat up even more, and yet... she couldn't think of anywhere she'd rather be right now.