What went down in the Army base cafeteria?

“The hardest task in life is transforming yourself.”

— Nelson Mandela

(This is the same base where fictional James had his body transformed.)

Nova told me:  “James, my friend and apprentice — you really lost your mind this time.”  Her face wasn’t mad, just let down.

Wearing our complete uniforms, we both sat in the officers’ cafeteria.  The way she ate her tuna melt was poetry in motion.  As always, my heart melted as I watched her eat.  My teacher does everything with eloquence.  She reminds me of a beautiful dragon backlit by a reddish-orange sunset.

I was enjoying the intense flavors of a 12-inch meat lovers' pizza.  It's tough trying to figure out how to eat and drink again with my new stretched-out mouth.  Also, I sat on my tail, over the objections of soft twitching.

She sighed.  “What possible advantage does becoming a foxy man give you in your civilian life?  Her blue eyes inspire respect, fear, and love.

“From now on, I’ll always be wearing a great fur coat when I attend future Anthrocon conventions.”

(She sighed)  “You are a foolish furry.”

“I did pay for a lifetime membership in Minnesota Furs, with a fursona name of James.”  Some furry fans use their actual names for their fursona names.

“You spent one thousand dollars on your club membership?”

“How do you know lifetime club membership costs one thousand dollars?”

“I also bought a membership, with a fursona name of Sorceress Squirrel.”

“I remember seeing your fursuit in their member shoot gallery. Honestly, it looks awesome — really impressive.”

 “After paying 90,000 Euros for it, it should.”

“Where do you keep it?”

“In my hammer-space, as I have about 26 tons of unused storage there.”

“As for me, I keep copies of all my vital equipment, from copies of my smartwatch to non-lethal weapons in my hammer-space.”

While we were chatting about our obsessions with fur, our tasty food disappeared into our mouths.  I then started eating a 12-inch spicy chicken pizza.  My taste buds and nose were on overdrive, making my pizza textures and spices hit way harder than anything I ever felt as a human.

My tail was now fighting back even harder against being cooped up under my buttocks and upper legs.  But somehow, I managed to keep it in check.

And then, this amazing thing happened to me.

“James, hold out your right hand to me.”  I did as my teacher asked.  She put her left hand under hand and her right hand on my larger fuzzy palm.

She took a deep breath, pulling herself together.  "I'm giving you the best gift I can — Archmage's Blessing." I felt a tiny sting, like a zap of static, while wincing a little.

She grinned, “I can only hand this out once every twelve days.  It boosts your spell casting, while making your already muscle-beach jacked body even tougher. Who says a spell caster can't have a sharp mind and still hit the gym? As a bonus, my blessing keeps your head cool, so you're always thinking straight.”

“How do you even know what my body looks like? You've always seen the new me with all my clothes on.”

“My Heterosexual Girl's Club got shots of you swimming in the officers' pool. We've got pictures of you wearing just your swimming trunks.  I love seeing you when your fur is all dry and puffy.  But, shots of your fresh out of the pool wet fur, clinging to your sculpted muscular body like silk fabric are my favorite shots.”

“Glad they're keeping the massage rooms private. So no way you or your pals could snap any pictures while I'm getting my daily massage.”

“I would not say that could never happen.”

“Just when I think my life can't get weirder, it manages to anyway.”