Dinner Date

Dinner Date

A "Winds of Change" Story

"Am I safe in assuming you're Jon 'Buck' Sleeper, or is there another deer around here?" I couldn't help but laugh, which seemed to relieve some of the tension. "Heh. Good to finally meet you, Brian. You look better than that postcard you sent me." I was afraid for a moment that perhaps I'd offended him, the edges of his beak turned upward for a moment in what could have been a smirk, but I could not be sure. The rest of his face remained expressionless. He seemed to remember something, and he stopped smirking. "What should I call you, by the way? Jon or 'Buck'?"

"Jon, I guess. I'd feel a little funny with you calling me any other name, though I've gotten used to that one in the past couple months." He nodded.

"Um, you have not eaten anything besides that bass today, right?" I asked. He nodded in astonishment. "So how would you like to have lunch here? I'm buying." I saw his wings move in agreement. "Sure! I'm starved. Um, how'd you know I had bass for a snack?"

I touched my nose. "This thing has opened up a whole new world for me. I trust it more often than I trust my eyes. But I'd imagine you have some things you'd like to talk about, like how come you're so late." I felt my ears go back for a moment, and saw his eyes follow them, reflexively it seemed. I gestured to a free barstool and a block perch.

I noticed he was wearing a kind of chest pack, and a computer on his wrist. "I sort of broke a strap on my pack." He showed me the broken buckle. He then started to talk of his trip down the coast, and I listened to him raptly. He had a voice that was easy to listen to. For the third time that day I wished I had wings, or at least a flying Power. But for all my wishes, I'm still satisfied with myself.

The sparrow waitress came up to take our orders, interrupting Brian's ruminations on the trip. Which reminded me when she asked me if I wanted anything. (Brian decided on the Red Snapper) "No thanks. But I do have a bit of cud to chew, if you don't mind Brian?" He looked at me.

"I Don't mind at all. How does that feel, by the way?"

I thought a moment, bringing up a bit. "I'll put it this way. Ever have a meal that's so good you've wanted to have it twice? I get to do that if I want to or not. It was quite unpleasant the first time, let me tell you." I shrugged by flipping my ears and tail once. "But you get used to it. But you won't believe what I eat now. I'm not even sure I believe it!"

"I know what you mean," he replied. "I never even liked fish all that much, now I eat them like popcorn." He could not smile, but I really did not need the facial expressions to know he was "smiling". I could smell it. I laughed.

That started a long, rambling conversation. I noticed incidentally that he tried to keep from looking directly at my face. What? Was something wrong with me? Then I felt my ears flick at a sound from the kitchen, and saw him look away. Oh. These, these things on the sides of my head. I seemed to recall that eagle vision is very motion sensitive. And I've really got no control over them. Great, I thought. Hope I don't end up giving him headaches. Tylenol or whatever still has not been approved for bird-morph use.

Our conversation eventually got around to my apartment. "It's a forest in there, I can tell you. Waitaminute. Why don't I just show it to you?" I smiled, ears flicking.

"That would be great!" Brian replied. I paid his and my bill, I'd been sipping a bit of Sprite.

"Hmm... Why don't you take off from the roof then follow me? I'm going to be taking lots of shortcuts, so you'd better get a head start."

At the bottom of the ramp, I watched for his distinctive shape to take off from the roof. When he was a couple hundred feet up, I made my form-shift and bounded off.

I could tell he was staying with me. When I'm in norm-shape the animal is strongest in me, and I'm hypersensitive to anybody, or anything who is watching me. I can just tell somehow. That's why I think I started to test just how fast he was. Natural deer can run forty miles per hour for short distances. I can go fifty for up to a mile. I did so on an open field. I caught a glimpse of him flapping hard to keep up, but he seemed not to need all that much effort. I guess eagles are pretty fast.

I guess I should not of gone through the Pasture. Not at this time of year, at any rate. Take into account the animal is more in control in my current shape, so you really can not be too surprised for what happened next.

The rest of my "herd" of friends happened to be in the field at the same time I was running through it. My apartment is just up the street a little, and going through the pasture would cut off a quarter mile. Unfortunately I neglected to take the time of year into account. Most of my other "friends" had shed their velvet, too. And the fact that most had had the same instinct integration problems that I used to, well. In retrospect, it was a bad idea to go through the pasture.

I slowed down a bit to go around a fellow eight-pointer, a guy named Nick (a mule deer). But Nick apparently had other ideas, I had to skid to a stop. "Are you crathy?!" I lisped.

"No, buth you are!" he replied belligerently, challenge-scent in the air. He was in norm-shape too. Not good. "You came righth hroo my plath! MY PLATH!!" My temper was wearing thin. Nick was not thinking straight, I could tell. He was not thinking at all. His own "Voice" was in control. I tried to go around him, but he'd just block my way. And he was taunting me with his body language. Pawing the ground, waving his antlers around and around in mock combat.

It was his body language that did it. In my current shape I absolutely could not resist those taunts. Brian was circling, I wonder what he's thinking about this?

I don't remember the next couple minutes very well. I do remember that Nick lost big. Between the two of us, we'd both kind of let the animal take over, but I was able to direct my body more intelligently than he was. I considered myself lucky, if this had happened a couple days ago I probably would have lost it totally. So of course I wond and Nick ended up fleeing the scene after only locking antlers a couple times. Strangely enough, that left me with a sense of satisfaction. I actually felt good! That disturbed me quite a bit.

I finally arrived at my front door, Brian landed behind me on one of the complex's landing perches. "Just what happened back there?" He asked.

I shifted forms and shrugged. "It's a little hard to explain. You can probably figure it out as good as I can. I don't think I'm going to go back there any more today, though. Nick's liable to challenge me again... God I hate my species sometimes!" I took out my keys and opened the door. The fight had disturbed me greatly, and I could not think of why I had not resisted the compulsion to fight! Guess I'll have to avoid the group for the next few months...I thought.

"Nice place," said Brian, interrupting my thought.

"What? Thanks. It is, isn't it?" I said. You could almost call my apartment a forest. I had so many plants (most were actually the previous tenents') that you often could not see the walls. I picked a couple of mint leaves to freshen my breath. Just in front of the entry was the kitchen, to the left the hall that went to the two bedrooms, and attached to the kitchen is the greenhouse space. That reminded me, "I've gotta check my plants. Go ahead and take a look around. Your room is on the left next to the bathroom."

As I checked my plants (half of which were sick or dying. I just don't have the right touch with some. Then again, my lack of having a closed vehicle to bring them home on might have something to do with it. I needed a car...) I felt I should be remembering something. Something that was supposed to happen tonight around five? Something... There was a knock on the door. Then it hit me. "Grace!"

"What?" came Brian's reply. He came into the greenhouse, a questioning scent coming off of him. "I forgot I've got a date tonight," I told him. "A doe named Grace I met at the mall. I really don't know why I asked her out." I paused and thought a second. "Then again. Damn perfume!" There was another knock.

"Um, what perfume?"

"I'll put it this way. It almost made me lose myself. And if she's wearing it... I know I'm not as vulnerable as I was. But if she's wearing it for some reason I might start acting a might brainless. Could you do me a big favor?"

He seemed hesitant. "Sure. I guess. Like what?"

"Keep me from doing anything blatantly stupid, like proposing marriage. I've got some odor canceling sprays in the bathroom, those might help a bit." I briefly blocked in what the perfume had done to me before, and that I knew I could resist any... um, indecent urges. But on the other hand I thought that my brain would take a hike. "Even if you have to hit me over the head, please, please, PLEASE get her in and out as fast as you can. I'll be forever grateful if you do. One other thing, I might be very possessive of her, even though she's an airhead. I won't mean most of what I say." He nodded. The knocking became more insistent, and I went to open the door. Here goes nothing...

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