She was in the bath, preparing herself for this long-awaited moment. It was strange to her, bathing as humans do. She was accustomed to her tongue being all she needed, but that did not work so well with a human body. In a way, she was almost thankful for Gally being around because it meant there were now toiletries more pleasing to feminine sensibilities. Bath salts, sweet-smelling soaps, exotic oils, and so on and so forth. She did not hurry, for she was not simply purifying her body but also gathering her nerve. She would have especial need of the latter.

When she was done, she emerged from the tub, dried off and spritzed herself with some of the perfume Yugo had given Gally as a present. She then wrapped up in one of Gally's satin robes (another gift from Yugo) and combed the tangles out of her hair. She stood there in front of the mirror watching herself, plucking up that last bit of courage she needed to go forward.

The second she stepped out of the bathroom, she felt a chill. It reminded her of just how little she was wearing. She blushed furiously. It was like she was on fire. And things are only going to get hotter, she thought, which made it ten times worse.

Before she could lose her nerve, she marched purposefully to the other side of the house. As she was crossing the living room, Happy looked up at her, cocking his head in curiosity.

She ignored him and kept going to the door to the basement. She went down the stairs, but once she reached the door to Giger's study, she found herself frozen in her tracks again. This was it. If she turned back now, things could stay the way they were. That wouldn't be so bad, would it?

She was tempted, ever so tempted, to just give up. It was not too late.

She shook her head. She did not want things to stay the same. She had to take this chance. She patted her cheeks to snap out of it and took a deep breath.

She opened the door and walked in. As always, when he wasn't in the lab, Giger was in his chair. She walked around so she could make sure he was not napping. He was awake, staring sullenly into space, apparently unaware that she was in the room with him.

She loosened her robe a little, just enough to bare a shoulder.

It took a moment for Giger to realize he was no longer alone in the room.

She took an uncertain step toward him. "Giger, you always sit in that chair brooding. You're so lonely. It makes me want to cry. I love you, Giger. Let me help you."

There. She said it. But how would he respond?

It was less than encouraging. He looked away from her.

She didn't let it stop her. She had come too far. She refused to give up.

Giger continued to ignore her, refusing to look at her. Prissy had to push harder.

Still nothing. She had to be bolder. She crawled onto his lap. The sensation of her body touching his was electric. Her cheeks burned hotly. Her heart raced. How could something so natural in her true form be so awkward as a human?

Giger didn't resist, didn't push her away, but he wasn't accepting her advances either. He was still looking away.

She sat there waiting, hoping, praying that she would feel his lips against hers, that he would return her feelings. He would forget about Kamellia and she would heal his broken heart. They would live in their own little world, just the two of them and their love to sustain them.

When that longed-for sensation did not come, she snuck a peek to see what Giger was doing. He was looking at her with no particular expression on his face. He then closed his eyes and sighed.

And with that, Prissy found herself standing on Giger's chest in her true form. She looked at him blankly, completely stunned. It had not yet sunk in what happened, but when it did, the hurt was more than she could bear. If cats cried as humans do, her eyes would have been welling up then, but she was not human and at no other time was that fact so painful.

She could not face Giger. She could not face tomorrow. So she ran. She ran and did not look back.

There were tales of mages who used their familiars for their pleasure, no historical accounts, of course. If it did happen, it was a scandal to be covered up. If nothing else, they wanted to discourage hormonal young mages from entering into unnatural relations.

Giger was not thinking of society's judgment, though. For whatever measure Prissy's feelings were genuine and hers rather than some twisted reflection of Giger's own psyche, it would not be fair to her to use her that way. Setting aside all thoughts of shame and scandal, he could never love her the way she wanted to be loved. Ironically, it was something he understood all too well.

He knew he hurt her feelings, so maybe he would talk it over with her, help her understand. Maybe he could even ask Gally to talk to her. Gally was a woman, more or less. Maybe her perspective could help, if Prissy could see past her own jealousy, that is.

As he went up into the living room, he saw Happy lying there lethargically as usual and asked him, "Happy, have you seen Prissy?"

Perhaps it would have been better if Giger had not spent the night in his study. Surely it would be fine. Even as upset as she was, she could not possibly have been crazy enough to leave the house. When a cat does not want to be seen, they are good at remaining hidden. Small as the house was, there were bound to be hundreds of hiding places he would never even think of.

She was bound to come out again eventually. He could give her some time and then they could sweep this messy business under the rug. It would be fine.