Walking along with her is, tense.

"So, what do you do for fun?"

She turns her head for a sec to look at me,

"Insurance."

My mind blanks for a bit trying to process that.

"Oh, that's a genuinely interesting answer! What kind?"

There's some amusement in her voice as she answers.

"Car, so,"

She effortlessly hops over a rock taller than she is, wow how tall is she? Four foot? Three and six inches?

"You worked in a nuclear plant? The only one that comes to mind around here is Browns Ferry."

I take a moment to answer as I step around the rock, I'm not quite tall enough to effortlessly cross over it, and not confident enough in my new paws to jump onto and over yet.

"Yeah, that's the one."

'Fuck it, let's just rip off the bandaid.'

"So, I- uh, what would you do if you couldn't go home again?"

She was looking away for a moment, perhaps scanning the surrounding area, and now she just looks confused.

"Huh?"

I look down for a few seconds, then muster my courage and look back at her,

"What would you do, if you couldn't go home again?"

"What are you trying to play on me, young Sir?"

She says aggressively,

"I want you to know I've scared away many who were eyeing me!"

She takes a stance,

"You don't want a kick in the face."

"What?!"

I step away with muddled emotions,

"No! No no, I-I can't go home! I'm asking what you would do if you couldn't!"

She seems to relax.

"Ah. Alright then…"

"Well…I would say I would end up in pretty hard times."

I gaze at the ground.

"I suppose."

We walk in silence for a bit,

'Let's try this again:'

"So, why are you out here? Do you just like the wilderness?"

'I think that was friendly enough? Oh, she's talking.'

She counts on her fingers or whatever toes or whatever she has,

"No place to live, no place for shelter, no place for life. I wouldn't want to live in a burrow if that's what you mean, but I have a cabin out here."

"Oh, did you build it yourself?"

"I had some help. You should see it after we get through this stand of trees."

I see the cabin after I brush through a final set of branches, it's a sturdy looking thing, one story, and looking like it was made with a combination of felled trees and industrially cut boards.

"So, why are you out here? Do you just like the wilderness?"

"It gets me away from allot of damn noise. That's for sure. And that's all I care about."

She looks pissed. Eyes twitching, pawing balled up and trembling.

"How did you end up out here?"

She looks at me,

"Get kicked out of makeshift Elemental Wolfpack?"

'Oh-oh,'

I tilt my head a bit and scrunch my eyes trying to process what she said,

"No, I- I can't,"

'D-damn it, stop crying.'

I choke up a bit,

"This body, it can't be around people for long. I- I'm holding it in right now, but this body vent's poison constantly unless I hold it."

I look at her with what I'm sure are desperate eyes,

"Please let me talk to you for at least an hour? I've been out here for a few days alone and it hasn't been fun."

Her expression completely changes from beforehand mild irritation, to shock and then concern for him.

"Oh, um. Y-Yeah sure."

"Thank you."

'I feel tired,'

"So, you're getting away from the noise. Did a bunch of people come in looking to cash their insurance for all the wrecks that happened during the, you know?"

'I meant it as a joke, but that's probably what happened, uh,'

"How, . . did it happen? I was passed out for most of mine, and isolated for about five days."

"…"

"Yeah."

'Oh.'

"It's just…overwhelming"

'She looks depressed now.'

"Everything's gone so stupid, and things aren't even in full proper order yet."

"It isn't unreasonable to hate it."

She doesn't seem to hear me.

"This…form though? It's Neat, Yeah… it's neat."

She says with a not so super neat expression.

"I don't want to talk about my transformation, thank you very much."

"Let it be clear…"

"It wasn't fun."

"I don't care if someone thinks it's awesome or whatshit."

He looks away,

"Yeah, that's fair, if it makes you feel any better, I don't have a mouth anymore."

We walk in silence until we get to the cabin, Allison unlocks the door and motions I enter. It's . . a bit awkward, I need to duck, and my light-shapes catch on the door, but after about a minute of mental gymnastics and concentration, I bend and fold them to the point they fit.

"Wow, you can really see the height difference."

Allison has a mildly wondering look on her face.

'I'm sure my eyes look constipated.'

It's hard to keep my light bent like this, and then I register her words. By the time I respond, she has already sat down and taken off her pack.

"Yeah, uh, I was actually around your height when I first changed actually. I . . guess I'm growing when I eat?"

I take a moment to think about that,

*FW- WACK!*

My concentration slips and my ear-triangles fold themselves straight again, smacking a ceiling support, and forcing my head to jerk downward in pain as a ringing fills my senses. I stagger a bit, and then crouch as I slowly get my balance back. I can feel cracks in my ear-triangles sealing themselves, and after a few seconds my hearing returns. Blinking, I see Allison is talking to me, she looks worried.

"I-I'm fine, just, hard to concentrate on three things at once. And I just found out my ear-triangles are very sensitive."

"Ah."

She looks at me with concern for a few seconds, then sits back down on the bench, front paws resting on her table.

"I have a friend living with me, he should be back soon. Sit down on the carpet I guess, sorry I don't have a seat that would. . work."

Looking around the cabin, I see a mix of well-crafted handmade furniture with modern appliances. The fridge looks new, the toaster looks like its from the 90's,

'If it works it works.'

The oven is actually something I saw on a Home Depot commercial a few years back, and the flatscreen looks new. Moving over to the living room area of the main room of the cabin that serves as kitchen, dining room, and living room, I look at the rug.

'Looks clean.'

It also looks thick and plush. I'm flopped sideways instantly.

"Ahhh~."

I can't truly relax of course, don't want to poison my new friend, but the act of resting most of my body on something this comfy takes away a lot of tension.

"Thank you."

'Oh, that sounded pathetic.'

"You're welcome. So, what do you want to talk about?"

My mind blanks in that way that usually occurs when you have a test, and you suddenly can't remember what its about or what you studied in preparation for it.

". . . Your friend, what's their name?"