Take her into town

You wait until Linne has acclimatized both to her new body and life in your tower. Then it's time for her to get used to something else. You have some panniers made up that will sit nicely across her back. Then, with no warning, you ask her to follow you one morning. You know she just would have agonized over going out so rather than giving her time to get petrified you just lead her off your property. You do have to take her hand and give her a smile to get her to step over onto the road, but she follows you. You didn't tell her, but today you decided to take the morning off to restock.

In town you get lots of looks, obviously, but you lead Linne first to the leatherworker's shop that was doing the last of the work on those panniers. Then you take her to a few shops to pick up onions, oats, and many other ingredients. As expected she has no trouble carrying a good amount of weight since it's evenly distributed over her back. As you take her from place to place Linne gets more and more used to being out in public. With you beside her no one is going to dare try anything.

As lunchtime approaches you have filled up her new panniers and are heading back to the tower. Your route was carefully chosen so that on the return trip you would pass near a certain orphanage. You know that they let the kids out to play shortly before lunch to give them a break from their work. You also know that these kids tend to be rough and tumble, taking pride in being unafraid.

Sure enough, when you walk close by with Linne some of them come over to get a good look. While adults have watched Linne and kept their distance the children have various reactions, few of them looking hostile. And the older ones are looking at one another. The boldest one calls out, "Hey, mister mage, is the army asking for cats now instead of horses?" Definitely pretty bold, a lot of adults are worried about talking to mages.

Linne moves behind you. You bet if she was still her old human self she'd be trying to hide behind you.

"No, the army still has plenty of horses," you answer. "This is Linne, she's my first cataur." You pat her back through the mantle of her maid outfit, just below where her fur starts. The orphans probably weren't expecting a direct answer from a mage, so they stay where they are. "You will probably see her around from time to time," you continue, like it's perfectly normal for you to be talking to them. "She's working for me as a maid."

Conversationally you add, "I bet you haven't had the chance to see the centaurs up close. Want to take a look?"

Linne start moving from foot to foot, but the orphans aren't going to miss such an exciting opportunity. You tell Linne to put down the pannier - you had it made specifically so that she could crouch and crawl out from under it. As she's half-cat you knew she could manage it. By the time she's out the three boldest orphans have approached. One of them is a tough looking girl, the other two are boys, both slightly older than the girl.

Things are tense for a moment, but then the younger of the two boys, perhaps 11 or 12, says "Wow, your ears look so fuzzy."

"Oh, um, thanks," Linne replies in her sultry voice.

The caution just can't last. Soon the first three are asking lots of questions and many of the other orphans have come closer. Whatever games they were playing are forgotten. "Do your front two paws feel more like extra arms or extra legs?", "What's it like to have a tail?", "Can you purr like a cat?", "Are you too hot with that fur?", "Did changing hurt?", "Can you see in the dark?"

The boldest young boy, a kid who knows he's cute enough to get away with quite a lot, asks if he can pet her. Linne looks over at you, since no one but you and Doe have touched her. Maybe she expected you to say no. But you laugh and tell him it's fine. Linne's too shy to contradict you, so she's soon at the center of a several kids, most of them under ten, who are petting her legs, rubbing her ears and so on.

One managed to rub her paw in just the right way and causes her to extend her claws. Linne looks worried, but the reaction from the kids isn't fear. Instead they're impressed. Obviously none of them have ever had a chance to see a big cat's claws up close. And Linne is so docile that they don't feel they're in danger. Three of the kids comment that they used to have a cat that was friendly nearby and sometimes they could pet it. One of the youngest ones even cries a little as he rubs Linne's fur.

One of the adults from the orphanage eventually notices what's going on - probably because lunch is ready and the kids haven't come back. Still, what's she going to do about a cataur and a mage?

In time you have to head home. You do need to make another pair of centaurs in the afternoon. But you tell them Linne can come and see them again some time.

Later, when you return home from the lab...

You let Doe out of her room and she's immediately tackled by Linne, who's been a little crazy all day. As you intended Linne has been talking about her trip into town and meeting the kids all day. She's thrilled that people don't just see her as a monster. Her joy is infectious. Even Doe can't help but smile at the way Linne bounces from one step to the other, prancing like a dog proud of a new bone. Dinner that night is particularly harmonious.