Jim pushed Mammaria back, and looked at her seriously.
"Mammy. Wait a second. Listen to yourself. Do you ever consider the consequences of your actions?", he asked.
"What's wrong?", asked Mammaria, looking very hurt and confused. "I don't understand. I could look just like Sharon if you'd let me. I could even look like someone else if you liked. It wouldn't take much more work."
"You're missing the point.", said Jim pointedly. "First and foremost, let me ask you. Why would you want to look like anyone else to begin with?"
"S-so... So you'd find me more attractive of course.", answered Mammaria.
"But why? There's no need. Look at yourself as you are! You're stunning! You have your long wavy red hair. You've got eyes as green as emeralds, You're tall! Taller than me! You look about 6'1". And you've got curves in all the right places! What are you? Double D-Cup?"
"E actually...", replied Mammaria, looking down at herself, and cupping her breasts. "I used to be a lot flatter and plainer honestly, but imperfections like that are what body manipulation magic and permanancy is for.", she admitted sheepishly.
"Well, wether natural or magically enhanced, the fact remains that you're a beautiful girl Mammy. Strictly physically speaking,though you're both beautiful, more people would probably choose your looks if they had the choice than Sharons'."
Mammaria shook her head. "So if you think I'm beautiful the way I am, why don't you want me?"
Jim sighed. "That's what I'm talking about... look. Follow with me for a second. Let's say that, hypothetically, we did sleep together. You probably think that no one would find out. And I admit that Sharon probably wouldn't suspect anything at first so long as we were acting casually... but did you forget that Meredith, being a werewolf, would probably be able to smell all the sex on us, even in her human form? She'd figure out what we'd been up to less than thirty seconds after she walked in the door."
"Oh... Oh yeah. She probably would...", murmured Meredith.
"And then there's Sharon herself. I love her to death. I don't want to ever see her in pain. If Meredith had to tell her that we fell to screwing like bunnies as soon as she turned her back on the very day after I met you, she'd be devastated! And even if somehow she never found out, I'D still feel guilty hiding something like that from her. I wouldn't be able to live with myself."
Mammaria had fallen silent, and was staring at her own hands as she wrung them.
Jim put a hand on her shoulder. "Why don't you fess up, Mammy. Cut the acting. What's with you?"
"Huh? What do you mean?", Mammaria asked.
"You know what I mean. Your whole facade. You're obviously a lot smarter than you like to let on. I mean, I don't think you could learn all the spells you've shown off without being exceptionally bright. Yet you hide behind that valley girl airhead act you've got going. Why do you play such the ditz?"
Mammaria frowned and looked like she was about to cry. "It's only mostly an act. I really do get carried away with myself, like when I teleported you guys last night. It's just that when you get practiced enough with magic, you start thinking that you can do just about anything, and that even if you mess up, there's allways some way to make it better. I know in my heart that that's no excuse though, like what I did that time to poor Mary... I just find that if I play like my head is full of fluff, that people tend to go easier on me. 'Oh poor Mammy. She can't really help it.' I guess in reality I'm just too much of a coward to let them know what a screwup I am."
As she finished, she really did start to cry, burying her face in her hands. Jim hugged her tightly and let her lean against him.
After giving her a few minutes, he made her sit up. "Come on. Get up and get ready to go."
"Are you throwing me out?", asked Mammaria, sadly wiping away her tears.
"Throwing you out? Hell no. I'm treating you to lunch.", he smiled.
**********************************
An hour later they sat inside a private booth at "Mickey's" restaurant and tavern, eating appetizers and waiting for their main courses to arrive. While they waited, Jim had been asking Mammaria more about herself, to make her cheer up, as well as anwer questions he still had about her. And for the most part, it seemed to be working.
"So. Why did you perform that experiment with Meredith anyway? TO try out being a werewolf without fully commiting yourself to lycanthopy?"
"No. Not really. I really just wanted to see if the potion could be made at all."
"Why?", asked Jim curiously.
"Why did someone invent the flying lawnmower?", asked Mammaria. "Being a magic user is a lot like being a scientist or inventor sometimes. We do a lot of stuff purely for the purpose of seeing if it can be done, and to get your name is history books, if only in some small way. Sure, a potion that induces only temporary lycanthopy is useful and beneficial if used properly, but mainly I was drawn to make it because no one else had thought yet to try making it. Of course, just like science, a person can go to far in the name of it. That's why I got careless and messed up Mary's emotions..."
"I think she's forgiven you.", said Jim. "So you wouldn't like to be a werewolf yourself then?"
"I didn't say that.", said Mammaria, managing a giggle. "I envy Mary's strength and abilities a lot, as well as her 'animal magnetism.' It's just that I'm a hermetic magic user, and being a werewolf could be a bit inconvienient for me..."
"Why? Would you lose your powers or something with the change?", asked Jim.
"Oh no no! Nothing like that. It's just we hermetics rely on verbal and somatic components in our spellcasting, and werewolves are forced into forms at certain times of every month where they lose most of their ability to speak properly and handle objects, for obvious reasons. True, it wouldn't be THAT bad, but I rely on magic so much, it'd be rough adjusting on me.", she said, sipping her soda and munching on another calamari ring. She then continued. "Of course, with all the pluses, I've been tempted to just say 'screw it' and have Mary infect me anyway, but I've allways been stopped whenever I looked at her, by the feeling that because of how I messed up that experiment with her that I don't really deserve to be a shapeshifter..."
"I'm certain that she dosen't feel that way either.", consoled Jim. "Anyway. What was the deal with that 'gremlin' last night? What was it, and did you mean to summon it?"
"Yes and no. You see, it's along the lines of what I explained before. I wasn't after any specific goal. I just wanted to experiment for the sake of experimenting. Have you ever heard the stories about the Fae?"
"The Fae? As in Faeries?"
"The same.", nodded Mammaria. "They exist in the shadowy nooks and corners of the world, just like people like Mary, and me, and others do. Anyway, the Fae have this strange quasi-magical force. It's not quite magic, and it flows in mysterious ways, and it can be used in ways and purposes that are similar, but also very different from hermetic and sorcerial magic. The Fae themselves call it 'Glamour', and use it to weave enchantments, create objects for their use, fool the senses, control minds... All the stuff that they're classically known for in stories. I just wanted to summon one to ask a few questions and do some reasearch on how they manipulate glamour. I HAD intended to summon a minor seelie fae, like a pixie or brownie, but I got a gremlin by mistake."
"Wait. Hold up. I'm lost again. What do you mean by 'Seelie'".
"Oh. I'm sorry. To make a long story short, The Fae as a race have been long divided into two separate ideological factions. Those being the Seelie court and the Unseelie court. The 'seelie', consist of the quiet, orderly, aristocratic fae. They can play mischief on humans, can be dangerous if crossed, and have even been known to kidnap people who catch their fancy for whatever reason, but for the most part prefer to lead quiet lives filled with their own pleasures. The 'unseelie', are the flip side of that coin. Their ranks consist disorganized, troublemaking, riffraff... ranging from minor pranksters, like the gremlin I summoned, to horrific murderous beasts like goblins and redcaps. I'm really lucky in a way. As soon as I summoned it, the gremlin turned invisible on me, but got distracted in my workroom. Things made invisible with glamour are really tricky to spot, even with magical assistance, but unlike most other Fae, gremlins go nuts over anything technological. They can't keep their hands off it, and are allways building and tinkering with something or other. They're also one of the few types of fae who can stand the touch of iron, which is lethal to most of their kind. Because of that they love the human world, since they can stand to be around all out metal, and adore our devices. They're still troublemakers though, and steal and take stuff rather than ask permission. Plus they build the craziest things if you let them. I couldn't just let something like that roam about, so I made the decision to seal up the basement so I could look for help catching it in order to send it back. Unfortunately, I think I got hit with a glamour effect that made me even more forgetful than ever. Otherwise I wouldn't have just stood there talking for a half hour doing nothing."
"IS there any way to get it back now?"
"It could prove difficult. Gremlins like to work in small teams, and this one won't forget his buddies. By now he's certainly used my summoning circle and done something wierd to it to summon the rest of his squad. Something like hooking the innards and cathode ray tube of a TV up to it and plugging it in, maybe. That should never be able to work, ordinarily, but he'll use his glamour to make it function just fine. They'll be more of them now, probably playing all over the house and making a mess.
"That's rough. You have a nice house there. I'd hate to see it get trashed.", said Jim.
"It's bad, yes, but nothing that can't be replaced for the most part. I made sure to grab my most important stuff, and gremlins, being tinkerers, won't mess with my magical materials. My main concern is hoping my dad won't drob by while we're there. It's actually his house. I just watch and take care of it because he's a mage too, and he's allways away from home doing reasearch of his own, and running important errands. Even if the gremlins get out, it won't be so so bad. Hectic and disorderly, yes, but not too bad. I just want to get the house back safe and start damage control before my dad finds out what I let happen to it."
"I can certainly imagine...", agreed Jim, as their lunch arrived.
Afterwards, they stopped at the video store, to rent a movie and a Playstation game or two. Jim had a nice collection, but they both decided it would be nice to have a multiplayer game that they could play together, and that the others could join in on should they like. They continued to talk as they walked back to the house.
"I'm sorry again for trying what I did earlier. It was foolish. I don't want to hurt Sharon either. I just... I just felt like we had this powerful connection somehow, and felt like acting on it.", said Mammaria.
"I do too.", said Jim
"You do?", asked Mammaria, sounding surprised.
"Yeah. A lot of it because of all our similar interests, I think. You're kinda like the female version of me. But I feel what you mean too. It's like a thread between us that's binding us somehow, that two people who just met shouldn't normally have. It's a lot like love...", he said, and then shook his head. "...ButI just feel it should be handled differently than love, at least at the stage we're at now. It's not that I wasn't tempted by you earlier. I was. A lot. But I know Sharon wouldn't understand, or Meredith either. I've seen you look at her and that fashion too.", he grinned.
Mammaria blushed at that, and Jim hugged her and gave her a smooch. "Let's just go home for today, and take it easy. I know this copy of Soul Calibur 2 isn't gonna play itself.", he joked.
Sharon and Meredith were home from class when they got back...
"Oh there you guys are.", said Meredith. "Where were you two?"
"We just went out to get a bite to eat, and stopped by the video store.", Jim answered truthfully.
"Well we're glad you're back. Me especially.", smiled Sharon, moving up and giving him a kiss.
"I'm just gonna catch a shower guys. Be down in a while.", said Mammaria.
"Okay. Don't do anythign in there that I wouldn't.", laughed Meredith.
*************************
While she showered, Mammaria tried to get her jumbled emotions under control. Jim had turned her down earlier, but the gentle and respectful way he had done it, and the emotions he had made her confront, had left her feeling more attracted to him than before. The last friendly smooch he hd given her had left her burning inside. Plus, the point he had brought up about her feelings for Meredith was valid too, and she knew she felt for her other friend in a similar fashion.
"Oh! What am I gonna do?", she moaned, rubbing shampoo out of her eyes...
Thu Jan 01 22:39:08 2004