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Part 1: The Trade

The original works can be found at [Conjoined Dreams](%5C). This was posted with permission of the original author Dr. Mercurious.

by Dr. Mercurious

"Have a lovely weekend, Ms. Fayral!"

The fat badger waved at Raquel, and she couldn't help but grin as his glasses once again seemed to be inching towards the end of his muzzle. As bosses go, Mr. Ringtail was one of the best; jovial, friendly and quick to praise and heap rewards. In fact, he had very little of the famed badger temper. Then again, for a tiger she wasn't very aggressive.

She smiled at her boss as she took her pocketbook out of her desk. "You too, sir! Have a nice weekend!"

Her boss wrinkled his nose. "Feh. Martha's sister-in-law is coming over; can't stand the woman. And for the thousandth time, it's Bob to you!"

"Okay, Mr. Ringtail," she giggled. He bared his teeth in a mock growl which came out as a squeak.

"You take care," he sighed as he waddled back into his office. Raquel knew he customarily put in 10-hour days at Blue Chip Incorporated making sure the investment portfolios were just so.

She gave herself a good stretch. Her four breasts strained against her shirt and she felt her spine loosen; sitting all day did not agree with tigers, but in these fiscally troubled times any job you had was a good one. She paused to fluff her blonde hair out a bit and padded off to the elevator. She hated elevators. Usually there were people in them, and one of them was bound to be impolite. This time proved no different; it was a brown female otter, one of the secretaries from the higher floors if she remembered correctly. Raquel caught her staring at It, as she thought of her tail, on the way down.

Intellectually, Raquel could understand. Here was this well-toned tigress with good stripes and a developed set of secondary breasts, with this furless scabby thing hanging from her butt. Doctors told her it was a birth defect and when hair transplants were available the problem would be cured -- which it wasn't. Her therapist told her it wasn't anything to be embarrassed about, a sentiment echoed by the doctor. Fat lot they knew; Raquel threw herself into the gym to give herself the perfect body and she still had problems getting men to notice her, even if they were of a difference species!

Mostly, Raquel ignored the stares. For some reason, today she wasn't in the mood. She glanced behind her at the otter who was trying very hard to pretend that she wasn't staring. "Can I help you with something?" She growled, displaying a toothy grin.

The fur paled as her gaze jerked upwards. "Er...no."

It did nothing to ease Raquel's mood.

#

By Saturday, Raquel had managed to stuff her funk back down into her subconscious where it belonged. The apartment she shared with her roommate Cyndi was all hers for the weekend -- she liked the porcupine girl but tigers needed their space -- on account of a romantic camping trip in upstate New York the latter was taking with her boyfriend. Today was warm and sunny, and she could think of nothing better than to bask topless on the outside porch.

She rolled over to get her back and saw an old fur tottering down the street looking lost. A female black cat, stooped with age, tapped along using a stout wood cane for support. Raquel couldn't help but notice how absolutely gorgeous her tail still was, almost Persian in its fluffiness. The brief spike of jealousy didn't last; it didn't have a chance against the pity. She quickly slipped on a robe and called over the banister, "hello, are you lost?"

The cat looked briefly around and glanced up. "Hm? Oh! Yes, yes, I'm afraid so. Could you tell me where South Pluge Street is?"

Raquel began to open up her mouth and them mentally shrugged; she had nothing better to do today. "Why don't I take you there? It's a little hard to find."

The fur smiled up at her. "Oh, no need to go through so much trouble."

"No trouble at all. I'll be right down!" Raquel bolted from the balcony and into her bedroom, slipping on a pair of sweats and a sleeveless workout shirt. She came outside puffing a bit; she'd rushed dressing. "Sorry to keep you waiting, ma'am."

"No trouble at all," she beamed. "Thank you again, miss."

Raquel pulled her car out of its parking space and up to the curb to help the old fur in. They chatted about minor things on the way; Raquel learned her name was Patricia and she was paying a surprise visit to her granddaughter Jill. Jill had just moved here two weeks ago and Patricia had never been to Providence before.

"So I got off the bus station hoping to find a map," Patricia said. "After all, I told myself, how hard could following one be?"

"Pretty hard," Raquel giggled. "I've seen those wretched things." A street sign passed her on the left. "Oh, we're here! "

"Just let me off at the corner, my dear," Patricia nodded. "She's not far."

"Sure?"

"Land sakes, you fret worse than my third husband!" Patricia shook her cane in mock severity. "You've already been too kind to me; I can walk it form here!"

"Okay, okay," Raquel laughed.

She pulled the car to the curb and helped the old fur out, staying nearby as she toddled up to an apartment complex and went inside. It wasn't until Raquel had almost driven back home that she realized that not once had Patricia given It any funny looks.

"Seems you're not always the attention-getter," she murmured at the wretched thing. For some reason, the thought made her feel better.

#

"So it was that sort of weekend, was it," Raquel giggled into the phone, trying very hard not to sound jealous.

"Oh, yeah!" Cyndi's excitement was clear even though the static; she must be using her portable, Raquel thought. "Don't wait up for me, I'll be coming home late tonight."

"Already? But it's Saturday!"

There was a derisive snort from Cyndi's end. "I know, but the construction firm Byron's working for has a rush job and they're paying double-time for anyone willing to come in Sunday."

Raquel curled her legs up underneath her and gazed outside a window at the clear night sky. "Oh well, sorry your weekend got cut short."

"Not as sorry as I am, girlfriend. Speaking of weekends..."

"Er..." Raquel thought frantically out of getting another talking about her lack of a significant other. "Could you speak louder? You're breaking up."

"Nice try." Cyndi sounded amused. "You realize this just gets you off the hook until I get home, right?"

"Er..." The doorbell sounded. "What the...I have company! You weren't expecting anyone, were you?"

"No; hey, it could be someone who's gonna ask you out!"

"You read too much romance novels, Cyndi," Raquel teased. Cyndi devoured Harlequin romances like they were gourmet tree bark. "Oh well, talk at you later!"

"I'll call back in a bit, tell me who it is!"

Raquel hung the phone up and padded to the door speaker. Pressing the button, she announced, "who is it?"

"It's me, dearie." Even through the static of the speaker, Raquel recognized Patricia's voice.

Curious, Raquel buzzed the fur in. Patricia still had that solid-looking cane and a basket of what smelled like fresh pastry. "Hope you don't mind me stopping by without calling, but I didn't know your number." She handed the basket to Raquel. "These are from my grand- daughter, as a thank you."

Raquel took one out and looked at it; the thing was some sort of pastry pocket, folded over itself; her tiger's nose detected the odor of beef. Extremely puzzled, she took a bite; the things were filled with a meat paste that was oddly spiced with cloves and nutmeg. "Mmmm," Raquel purred, licking her muzzle. "You're granddaughter's a good cook!"

"So is her mother. Pity she's got her mother's mouth, too," Patricia winced. "You wouldn't believe the tongue-lashing I got for coming here by myself.."

Raquel's mind threw up a mental image of the older woman being harangued by someone a quarter of her age and suppressed a giggle. With a surge of self-control she put the basket of meat pastries down. "Well thank her for me, but it really wasn't necessary to go through all that trouble."

"Hogwash!" The old fur shook her cane at Raquel for the second time that day. "Dearie, charity like yours deserves to be rewarded. You went out of your way to help me, and I mean to say thanks."

Raquel was starting to squirm in embarrassment. "Really, you've done enough..."

"That was from my granddaughter," she interrupted. "I want to give you something as well." She looked Raquel up and down. "I don't mean to be rude, but do you mind if I ask what happened to your poor tail?"

Raquel drew in a deep breath and fought the irritation down; Patricia's tone was one who sincerely wanted to know because she wanted to help. Besides, no one had ever been so blunt yet so gentle about asking. "Why don't you come in? We can sit in the pallor and talk."

"Of course." The two padded into the apartment's parlor which had a couch and two padded chairs for guests. Raquel curled up on the couch and Patricia eased down on a chair opposite it.

"I was born with it this way," Raquel said, sticking It out in all its shriveled glory. "All the doctors tell me it's a genetic disease, even though no one else in my family seems to have it." Tears stung her eyes, but for once she didn't try to suppress them. "I hate it. It's ugly and every male fur I meet can't get past the way it looks, so it makes me ugly. It kept me home from the prom, made sure I was virtually dateless throughout college, and if I had half the guts I should I'd just hack the thing off!" She realized she was close to a full roar and didn't care. "I've never despised anything as much as this tail! No doctor can make it look better and don't get me started on wigs or coverings; they only make it worse, if possible."

"Oh my dear," Patricia, said with sympathy. With surprising agility, the old fur swept off her chair and embraced her fiercely "You poor thing."

Crying over It was something Raquel though she had put behind her. Now, in the embrace of the older fur, Raquel released a lifetime of frustration out in wracking sobs. Patricia stroked her back and rubbed her ears, murmuring word of comfort. Finally, Raquel gently pushed her away. "Thanks, I...I'm sorry for falling apart on you like that."

"Don't be," the older fur disagreed. "If you're crippled that's one thing, but show a fur an ugly deformity and you'll see how 'understanding' they really are." She snorted, patting Raquel's shoulders. "I wish I could make your tail pretty for you, dearie, but I can't. I can, however, help you get rid of it if you're of a mind."

Raquel wiped her eyes, thinking about what a fright her pelt must look after crying, "How?"

"I know magic."

Most furs would have belittled Patricia, if not called the nearest mental ward. Raquel, however, had never been a skeptic as far as things like that went. Figuring she had nothing to lose, she sat up on the couch and leaned forward. "What kind of magic?'

Patricia smiled at her. "I can tell you're not sure whether to believe a crazy old fur." Raquel blushed in embarrassment but she patted Raquel's hand. "It's okay, dearie. I can also tell you're keeping an open mind about it. That's a lot more than most manage. To answer your question, I can do all sorts of minor spells but my specialty is transformation."

"So you can like, change lead into gold?"

Patricia shook her head. "I'm afraid not; the change is too closely related. I could turn lead into wood or marble but not gold. I couldn't change your tail into a better looking one; I could change it to a dog's tail or that of an alligator, though. I could even turn it into a different body part."

"Growing from my butt?" Raquel giggled.

Patricia grinned along with her. "Land sakes, hardly! If I changed it into, say, another arm, it would be behind you right shoulder -- or left if you're left handed."

Patricia leaned back against the couch. She gave It a speculative look; having her tail become something useful was appealing. The fact she would look like a freak didn't bother her in the least; after all, she already did. Why not become the freak of my choice? she thought. "Will this change go away?" Her voice dripped eagerness.

Patricia shook her head. "No. The only way to undo it would be to have a more powerful spell-caster in my area of expertise cast a spell."

"I know what I want then." Raquel took a deep breath. "I want another head."

She could tell she'd surprised the old fur. Patricia sat straight up in her chair, her gorgeous tail fluffing out and then smoothing back down. Her eyes were wide. "What?"

"Make it into another head," Raquel repeated. "I like the idea of having an extra body part, and I can't think of anything more useful than having another head." Then a thought occurred to her. "Uh, it won't have its own personality, will it?"

"I'm not sure." Patricia's expression grew thoughtful. "I've never done it before. I'm not saying I can't, dearie, I...well, it's not what I'd call a popular request."

"Oh." Raquel wasn't sure she liked the idea of sharing her body with another person. She stole another look at It, and a bubble of disgust popped in her stomach. You're not going to ruin this for me, you disgusting thing, she snarled at it silently. She squared her shoulders and faced the old fur. "I don't care."

"Are you positive?" She urged. "Once done, the change will for the most part be permanent."

"Yes." God it felt good for her to say that! "I want it. What do I have to do?"

"You already did," Patricia said. Her expression was strangely distant. "Your permission was all I needed, dearie. Now, I'm going to cast a spell that will make you sleep."

"Can't I be awake for this?" Raquel wanted to know.

"You wouldn't want to," Patricia disagreed. "Having your body rearranged is going be painful; if you're asleep you won't feel it."

Raquel sighed. "Oh well. It's a shame, really. I did want to know what it felt like. How long will I be out?"

The old fur smiled. "Not long, dearie. You're strong and healthy, so I'd say an hour. Now why don't you lie down on the couch? I'll get started."

Raquel stretched out on the couch and closed her eyes. She felt Patricia's hand touch her forehead. I wonder how long before I - she began.

She didn't get to finish.

#

Sometime later conscious returned in little drips.

Mm? I fell asleep.

Cyndi's coming home soon.

Did it work?

Wonder if Byron proposed yet. The way he keeps looking at her...

It must have. I feel odd.

Mr. Ringtail's been red in the face lately. That's not a good sign. I'd better talk him into going to the doctor.

I can't seem to focus my thoughts. I must not be awake yet.

I wonder if Cyndi ever caught on that I hit on her in college. I know I'm straight but I was so depressed...

Hey! I am thinking clearly, just about different things at the same time! Does that mean I'm two people now?

I think I'm going to enjoy having two heads. Having all my clothes altered is going to be a pain, though.

All right, that's it. I'm waking up right now!

Racal forced herself awake. She briefly took note that her blouse and top bra had been removed, but there were more important things to consider at the moment. The familiar parlor swam into focus...but it looked odd. At first she couldn't put her finger on it, then it hit her; she was seeing more of at once! It felt like she was looking straight ahead and over her shoulder at the same time without the uncomfortable feeling one gets from craning one's neck. Patricia's concerned face was to the left of her field of vision; with a start, she realized the old fur was only visible by one of her heads.

"Are you okay, dearie?" Patricia sounded very concerned.

"I'm fine," Raquel said wonderingly. Her voice had an odd echoing quality, as if it was coming from two locations at once. Hesitantly, she put both hands on her collarbone and slowly traced upwards. First her right, then her left had found the base of a different neck; her heads seemed to be side by side, with a little space between them. She traced up both necks, running each hand over a face. Curious, she felt between her necks with her right hand and gasped at the sensation. Patricia started forward. "No, it's okay." Raquel giggled. "A piece of advice, though. When you have two heads, the spot between your necks is VERY sensitive. Feels good too."

"You are just you, correct?" Patricia was looking confused.

"Yes," Raquel said, sitting up. "At least, I don't think I'm two people. How do I look?"

The old fur held out a hand. "Why don't you see for yourself, dearie? Is there a large mirror around here?"

"Yes, in my room." She stood up and had a brief moment of vertigo as her new broad field of vision played havoc with her sense of perception. I'd better walk slowly for now, she thought. Her center of gravity felt different; heavier on top and weaker down below.

"That's right, I don't have my tail anymore," she exclaimed aloud. She stretched her neck out to look and her new vision went wild. She stumbled, felt herself fall and somehow managed to land on the couch again.

Patricia was at her side in an instant. "Raquel, are you all right? What happened?"

"I don't know," she answered, and then it came to her in a flash. "Yes I do. I tried to look at my tail and forgetting I have two heads, looked at it from both sides. I gave myself vertigo!" She couldn't help but laugh. Her voice still sounded like there was an echo.

Patricia had a confused look on her face. "I don't mean to be rude, but could you not do that?"

"Do what?"

"Sometimes you talk out of both mouths at once; sometimes you go back and forth between sentences. It's a little disconcerting."

"Really? I'm sorry. I didn't realize I was doing it." She concentrated on keeping her left mouth shut. "How's this?"

Patricia smiled. "Lovely."

Raquel thought her voice sounded a bit more normal, although she was still hearing it from two different areas. Must be my other set of ears, she thought. "Come on, I want to see the new me!" She stood up with greater care this time, and slowly padded to her room with Patricia close by.

Her new reflection took her breath away. Her second head looked indistinguishable from her first, so much so that she couldn't even tell which was her original head. She peered at her reflection more carefully and saw the stripes on her right face differed from the familiar ones on her left.

"I would have thought that my original head would have been on my right because I'm right handed," she said in a soft voice. She craned her necks apart a bit and felt new -- or was that additional? -- muscles bunch between them. Carefully keeping her right head looking in the mirror, she glanced behind her with her left, to get a look at It.

There was not a trace. The area where It should have been was bare, as if she'd never had a tail at all. "Amazing," she gasped, feeling the vacant spot with a hand.

"How do you feel?" Patricia was giving her another intense look.

Raquel spun and outstretched her arms. "Beautiful!" She crowed. She rushed forward and embraced the old fur. "Oh thank you so much!"

Patricia stiffened at first, but soon was returning her enthusiastic hug. "I'm glad to see you're happy, dearie.

"Oh, I am," she sighed. A sudden thought struck her and she giggled. "My roommate going to flip, though."

"She's not the only one," Patricia cautioned. "'Taurs are rare enough, but a two-headed fur? I would get used of being stared at, if I were you."

Raquel relaxed the hug and bend backwards a bit to look at the old fur with both sets of eyes. "I've been stared at all my life, Patricia. Believe me, it's better to be a freak of my choice."

The old fur shook her head. "This will be a different kind of staring. Besides, there may be more problems. Two heads are not always better than one, even if they both have the same personality."

Raquel had no idea what the Patricia was getting at and didn't care. Still, polite to the end, she said. "I'll take your warning to heart." Patricia was giving her a look that said very plainly she wasn't buying the act for a minute but Raquel gave her another enthusiastic hug which left her gasping.

"Ooof!' Patricia protested over Raquel's happy purr. "Any harder and I'll be strawberry jam and Jill will yell at me again!" This gave Raquel and extreme case of the giggles, she laughed so hard she roared, and Patricia laughed right along with her.

After they recovered, Raquel wiped both sets of eyes. "Would you like to stay and meet my roommate? She's should be back from her camping trip in a couple of hours."

"Another time, Raquel," Patricia said. "I must get back to Jill apartment before she starts to fret. I suppose I'm lucky she cares about an old fur like me but land sakes, she's a worrier!"

"Well, feel free to stop by anytime," Rachel grinned, with one head. The other was examining her reflection with delight.

"I mean to," Patricia nodded. "Just mind what I said!"

"I will," Raquel murmured; her second head had joined the first in contemplating the mirror. She never saw Patricia's glance as the old fur left; part joy, part sadness...and all concern.

#

Cyndi was not a happy porcupine. Having her weekend getaway cut short with her sweetie-bear Byron was annoying but understandable; Byron was trying to get promoted to shop foreman and the only way to do that was to put in for some lousy shifts. Having it cut short and STILL coming home at 3 am...well, that was just all sorts of wrong. It seemed the universe had conspired against her. First, she had forgotten her pocketbook at the campsite and had to go back for it. Then, she got a flat halfway from Byron's place. As a final touch, she had gotten stopped for speeding. It almost made her want to flare her dark red quills except the last thing she needed right now was to ruin her hiking clothes. Her one thought as she parked in front of her apartment building was for her bed. Changing out of her clothes first was optional.

Much to her tired surprise, she saw the outside window to her apartment was lit. Her roomie and best friend Raquel always turned in early whenever she stayed home on a Saturday night, which was often. I wonder if she actually went out on a date, Cyndi thought. She did say she had a visitor when I talked to her earlier. Cyndi knew she was attractive but compared to Raquel's buff bod and double cleavage she was second-rate. Unfortunately, Raquel's tail looked like it had been shaved and then chewed on, something the tiger had lived with since birth. It gave Raquel a terrible complex; she thought everyone considered her ugly because of it. It frustrated Cyndi to no end that there were a few guys who would have really liked to gotten to know her roommate better but Raquel just couldn't pick out the admiring glances from amongst the admittedly many looks of disgust. The idea that Raquel had gone out on another date after such a long time -- last one was junior year in college, she thought -- woke her up like a good night's sleep.

Very quietly Cyndi unlocked the front door and slipped in. The kitchen was dark and she could hear the TV on in the lit parlor. They must have been waiting up for me, Cyndi thought. She looked at the back of the couch and grinned at seeing the back of two blonde heads leaning against each other. From her position, she could very faintly make out the twin buzz of tigers snoring.

Aw, they're snuggling Cyndi thought gleefully. The back to the other head looked female, something that didn't surprise her. Raquel, whenever she had one too many drinks in her, would flirt with other femfurs. Cyndi had suspected her roomie of being a closet bisexual or repressed lesbian for some time. Wow, from wallflower to coming out of the closet in one night. Gotta be a record. She snuck towards the couch as quietly as she could manage; she knew she should wait until tomorrow but she just had to see. Peeking over the back of the couch, she took a good look.

She screamed. There were certainly two female tiger heads leaning against each other, all right -- they were just sharing the same body.

Instantly the sleeping figure sprang awake. In an amazing display of non-agility it pitched forward, careened off of the TV which tipped backwards, and somehow managed to flop on its back, its heads pointing in Cyndi's direction. Both pair of eyes fluttered open and looked at her.

"Ow," the right head complained in Raquel's voice.

"Thanks for the wake-up, roomie," drawled the other in an identical voice. "Next time, try dynamite. It's subtler."

Cyndi stared as the figure -- now that the panic rush was fading both heads did look like Raquel, although the one on the right had slightly different markings -- picked itself up off the floor to affix twin glares at her.

"Um...Raquel?" Cyndi ventured. She still wasn't sure.

"Yeeeeeessssssss?" The left head drawled.

"Um...you did know you have two heads, right?" Even to her own ears the statement sounded lame, but her brain seemed to be frozen.

"Actually it's not an extra head; it's a hand puppet," came the return quip.

The right hand came up next to the right head to make puppet-hand motion while it talked. "Hi, porcupine-girl, I'm Mr. Puppet-head!"

Raquel -- Cyndi was sure it was Raquel, the chances of two furs having that same sense of humor were fortunately not good -- folded in half with roared laughter. Cyndi put her hands on her hips and tried to look long-suffering. Eventually the laughter subsided and the figure straightened up again. "Sorry," Raquel's left head apologized, wiping away tears of mirth from both pairs of eyes.

"If you're quite done," Cyndi nettled, "would you mind telling me just what the HELL happened to you?"

Raquel took a deep breath. "That's a long story, roomie. You'd better sit down for this one."

Cyndi took her seat on the opposite chair, repressing an involuntary quill flare. Both heads had spoken at once, and it gave her the creeps.

#

After Raquel had gotten Cyndi a bottle of Stumpwater Stout and poured herself a glass of catnip-spiked cream, she filled her best friend in on the event of the weekend. She spoke with her left head only, taking occasional sips from her drink with her right. When she was finished, Cyndi looked annoyed rather than being put at ease.

I didn't think she's take it so badly, Raquel thought.

Actually I did, came another thought. She's always been very protective of her friends.

I'd better work extra hard at calming her down, she decided. The best way to do that with Cyndi was to be blunt. Aloud, "I take it you're not a fan of my new look."

Cyndi snorted. "That's putting it mildly. Raquel, how could you do something so stupid?"

Raquel winced. Cyndi had never been one to mince words. "I don't think it was stupid at all. I've always been a freak, roomie. The only difference is that this time I got to pick my freakishness. I mean, there are a lot of advantages to having two heads."

"Enough to make up for the fact that you'll have people gawking wherever you go, all your tops will have to be tailored, and -- incidentally -- you're now TWO people?"

"I am not two people," Raquel insisted with both mouths. To drive the point home, she switched from one mouth to the other with each word. "I - just - look - different - that's - all."

"Yeah and now you have a better reason not to go clubbing," Cyndi muttered quietly to herself.

Raquel overheard, having an extra set of ears to focus with. She waited until her roomie was in the middle of another swig and said, "I do? Not that I can see Wanna go out tomorrow -- oops," she corrected, glancing at the kitchen wall clock, "make that tonight? You pick the spot."

Cyndi's eyes bugged around the bottle and she sprayed fermented stumpwater in all directions. Raquel resisted the urge to go over and pound her on the back while she coughed; making a sudden move towards a stressed porcupine was never a good idea. Finally, her roomie had her breathing under enough control to come out with a confused, "what?"

Raquel double-grinned at her. "You heard me," she said with her left mouth. "I want to show off my sexy new look to as many people as possible. How many clubs can we hit in one night?"

"Well, I..." Cyndi stammered.

"Unless you want to stay in?"

Cyndi snorted. "Hell no!" She peered at Raquel. "All right, who are you and what the hell did you do with Raquel?"

"I haven't been that bad," she laughed.

"I practically had to use a crowbar the last time you went to a club with me," Cyndi countered.

"Believe me, that's a thing of the past."

Cyndi's gleeful expression turned serious. "Raquel...I think you're being overly optimistic about people's reactions towards your new look."

Raquel was about to argue but a random thought said, she might be right. Raquel had been having a lot of those since her transformation but didn't think anything of them -- it made sense to her that with an additional brain to use she'd have them. In fact, the random thoughts were downright useful. Raquel nodded with both heads reluctantly. "You might be right. I have an idea; why don't we test it out?"

"How?"

"Well, tomorrow's Sunday and I usually jog around the block. Why don't I do my jogging down Roger Williams' Park? Lots of people down there, so it'll give me a good gauge on people's reactions. You can even come with me as an impartial observer."

"I'm hardly impartial," Cyndi snorted.

"Maybe, but you'll tell me if what I see is how people are really reacting to me, as well as catch any reactions I miss. How about it?"

Cyndi stared at her bottle for a long time and Raquel feared that her longtime friend would actually turn her down, although stray thoughts chided her for her foolishness. Finally, Cyndi squared her shoulders and smiled at Raquel. "How could I refuse? What time do you want to get up?"

"I usually get up at seven, but let's say eleven. There'll be more people there."

"Sound good to me. That way I'll be able to get some sleep!"

"Yeah I've been meaning to ask you about that. Why are you home so late?"

Cyndi sighed and began her tale of woe. Raquel settled back into her chair with an inward grin; it looked like Cyndi was accepting the changes in her after all. The whole idea about her being two people was silly of course.

It was right then that another stray thought struck. Is it?