Free Change (Kitsune) by Melissa Stevens Page A

mid-leap."
    "Really?"
    "Yep. I can’t do it, but I've seen it done. I have to admit though, I've never tried it, so I don't know exactly how difficult it is to learn."
    "But you have to admit. It would be cool.” I said.
    "It would be cool," He admitted before he changed the subject "You're gonna want to work on your reluctance to be undressed in front of others though. It isn't that the Kindred are immodest exactly. It's more that we're just very comfortable with casual nudity. We learn not to make an issue of it."
    "Really?" I wasn’t sure if I could become so casual about it.
    "Think about it this way. We often run in groups, several of us will meet somewhere very rural, and shift, run in wolf form together then shift back before heading back into town. No bedrooms, no restrooms to change in."
    "I guess it makes sense, but still."
    "I know the idea of its new to you, and it makes you uncomfortable. But think about it for a while, get used to the idea."
    "I’ll try." We ate in a comfortable silence for a few minutes.
    Soon we’d both finished our meal. We cleaned up our plates, loading them in to the empty dishwasher, before going into the living room and to sit down. Brandon broke the silence "You're going to want to call and tell Bill about the telepathy. He'll most likely assign someone to work with you and help you develop the skill."
    "I'll tell him, but I'll probably wait until tomorrow. I'm supposed to see if I can get some time off and go see him in the morning if I can, if not, I'll call him and let him know."
    We visited for a little while longer before Brandon took off and I started getting ready to go to the weekly family dinner at my parent’s house.
    I changed into something a little nicer than what I wore around the house and took the time to comb out my hair on my way out the door to the weekly family dinner. By the time I got there I was feeling much more comfortable about shifting. I was no longer afraid that I would suddenly find myself as a wolf again and not be able to shift back.
    Sunday dinner at my parent’s house is a mandatory event for everyone. The only acceptable excuses for missing dinner, if you are in town, are sudden serious illness, and death. Yours.
    That particular Sunday I’d planned to arrive a little early so I could help Mom with the last of the cooking. When I got to the house I didn't bother knocking on the door, none of us kids did, before I let myself in. I called out as I closed the door to let them know it was me. They both came to greet me, stepping out of different rooms, but with the same purpose in mind. My mother popped out of the kitchen while my father had a bit farther to come from the living room at the end of the short hallway.
    While hugging my mother I noticed that she carried the scents of yeast and cinnamon with her, they were like a soft dusting on the surface of her skin, which held a natural lemony scent, and it made me wonder briefly what she had made for dessert. My father's customary bear hug smelled of soil and the oils and fuels that his tractors often smelled of, it hovered over the sweet almost sugary scent that seemed to come directly from his skin. I followed my mother into the kitchen to help her with dinner while my father returned to the living room to the baseball game he had been watching.
    "How has your week been?" Mom asked as we got to work.
    "Busy." I replied, "Work mostly, but I went hiking with Brandon on Friday, spent some time with Izzy on Saturday."
    "And how is Brandon doing these days?" She asked.
    "Pretty good. He's still working up at the mine, but he's on his seven day, so our days off lined up and we were able to get together for the first time in a while," I said, referring to the week off that all the shift workers at the mine get once a month.
    "That's nice. How are his parents?"
    "Good, as far as I know. He hasn't mentioned them in a while and I didn't think to ask when I saw him this time."
    We visited a few minutes