Chapter 4
<span style="font-weight:400">How could one be a college student while infected by a demon – possessed, manifesting sin, however you wanted to phrase it?
<span style="font-weight:400">It seemed like simultaneously a very important thing and a triviality. Sure, anyone could go to college if you paid the tuition and followed the rules, but how could you <i><span style="font-weight:400">function</i><span style="font-weight:400">, with all of the things that came along with demonic nonsense?
<span style="font-weight:400">I’d been collecting data for Chris and I to go over for the past two days, and, now that it was Saturday evening, three days since this nonsense started, we wereparing notes and theories, sitting next to each other on my bed.
<span style="font-weight:400">“So, what else have you noticed?” he asked me.
<span style="font-weight:400">I blushed, not wanting to talk about it all with him, but also knowing that I needed a second opinion to make sure I didn’t miss anything – even if he was still insistent that I was a subus.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Uh… So, certain people smell different… And it’s usually the same people, like I’ll go to ss with the same people and I’ll notice that they smell sweet or whatever.”
<span style="font-weight:400">His mouth twisted and he scratched his cheek. “And you’re sure it’s not just enhanced senses, that you’re smelling something other than their shampoo?”
<span style="font-weight:400">I nodded. “Yeah, I can smell your shampoo, but there’s also something else…”
<span style="font-weight:400">He blushed as well and turned away. “So, I’m one of those people?”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Yea…”
<span style="font-weight:400">“And is it mostly men, mostly women?”
<i><span style="font-weight:400">I don’t like where this is going…</i><span style="font-weight:400"> “Mostly women, but plenty of men too…”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Huh.”
<span style="font-weight:400">I red at him. “Don’t ‘huh’ me, if you have something to say, then spit it out.”
<span style="font-weight:400">He chuckled. “Well, since you asked, I think if you’re a subus, then the people that smell good are people that you’re interested in ‘feeding’ on.” He made air quotes around feeding as if I wouldn’t get the insinuation.
<span style="font-weight:400">“No, I’m not a subus in the first ce because that’s ridiculous.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“I don’t think it’s–”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Yes, it <i><span style="font-weight:400">is</i><span style="font-weight:400">. Do you think I’m some kind of depraved whore?” I waved my hand at him, dismissing the idea, “It’s more likely that I’m sensing sin on people, and that the sweet smell is meant to test my resolve.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“And I think that’s ridiculous. Why would your god make you a demon?” He raised an eyebrow at me as if he’d made a convincing point.
<span style="font-weight:400">“It’s <i><span style="font-weight:400">obviously</i><span style="font-weight:400"> punishment for my sin,” I pointed out rationally.
<span style="font-weight:400">He rolled his eyes. “And what did you do that was deserving of being turned into a demon, cum before your girlfriend during sex?”
<span style="font-weight:400">I blushed again. <i><span style="font-weight:400">How can he be so kind and so crude at the same time?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> “No, of course not – I made out with her.”
<span style="font-weight:400">He stared at me. “Dude.”
<span style="font-weight:400">I stared back.
<span style="font-weight:400">“You’re kidding right?!”
<span style="font-weight:400">“...”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Wait, are you a virgin?”
<span style="font-weight:400">I turned away, hiding my embarrassment. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Wait, why am I embarrassed? I should be proud of my virtue.</i>
<span style="font-weight:400">“Damn, I was right, we would be so ipatible in a rtionship…”
<span style="font-weight:400">I turned back to re at him again. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Is he being annoying on purpose?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> “Let’s get back on topic.”
<span style="font-weight:400">He cleared his throat. “Okay, so twopeting theories for what’s going on, right?” He held up two fingers.
<span style="font-weight:400">I nodded.
<span style="font-weight:400">“And if we can, we should test to see which one is true, right?”
<span style="font-weight:400">Another nod.
<span style="font-weight:400">“<i><span style="font-weight:400">If</i><span style="font-weight:400"> you’re a subus, you should get some kind of energy from feeding on intimacy. That’s something testable.” He gave his crooked smile, this one more smug than usual.
<i><span style="font-weight:400">Damn, he does have a point about testability. But what would be the best way to…</i><span style="font-weight:400">
<span style="font-weight:400">“Hey, you’re just trying to get your dick sucked!” I jumped away from him, off the bed, grossed out. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I would never…</i>
<span style="font-weight:400">Heughed, “I’m interested in what’s going on in that little head of yours…” He shook his head, “I was just talking about cuddling, like we did when you were tiredst time. I think the first time was enough evidence to prove that something subus rted is going on, but if you need more evidence then…” He shrugged.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Well it wouldn’t make sense to test what we already know…” I stared at him with narrowed eyes.
<span style="font-weight:400">He shrugged. “Whatever you want to test, dude.”
<span style="font-weight:400">I cringed at him saying ‘dude’ again. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Couldn’t he take this more seriously – be less casual?</i>
<span style="font-weight:400">I stared at him, looking up and down Chris’ body. He wore a pair of tight ck pants, a white t-shirt, and an unbuttoned red nnel. It was casual and timeless and made him look great – objectively speaking. Not that it mattered what he looked like; we were just experimenting.
<i><span style="font-weight:400">Experimenting with my powers, that is, not experimenting with…</i>
<span style="font-weight:400">I walked to where he sat at the edge of my bed and stood in between his spread legs, looking down on him. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Wait, I should be her if I’m experimenting, right?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> A moment of closed eyester and my red skin was exposed to Chris. My tail waved slowly behind me, curling, stretching, and enjoying its rare freedom.
<span style="font-weight:400">All of the sinful feelings came back, including the arousal – especially the arousal – making it all too easy to justify what I was nning on doing.
<span style="font-weight:400">With my new height, my face was conveniently closer to his. I brought it even closer, leaning in and looking anywhere but his eyes. <i><span style="font-weight:400">It’s not gay because I’m a girl right now…</i>
<span style="font-weight:400">Kissing a man was a lot different than kissing a woman, but somehow exactly the same.
<span style="font-weight:400">Obviously, I didn’t have a lot of experience to make sweeping statements about what was generally true about each group, but from what I knew about gender, there wasn’t anything that separated all men from all women. Sure, men tended to have more facial hair than women, and that affected how it felt to kiss them, but some women had facial hair, and some men didn’t.
<span style="font-weight:400">Therefore, it was only natural that I enjoyed the kiss. Kissing is something that most people found enjoyable, and given that Chris was someone I liked – was someone that was likable, it only made sense that kissing him was enjoyable, regardless of what gender he was.
<span style="font-weight:400">Our lips pressed and twisted together, my handing up to hold his cheek as I went in for more. There was the softness of his lips, a very different kind of softnesspared to Amber, the roughness of his stubble, and the smell of his shampoo – probably something like ‘clean wave’ – reminiscent of an ocean breeze.
<span style="font-weight:400">Then there were the subus things.
<i><span style="font-weight:400">Yes, I’m possessed by a subus, I have to admit it now.</i> <i><span style="font-weight:400">There’s a limit on how long I can deny reality before being overwhelmed by evidence.</i>
<span style="font-weight:400">There was the same warmth that I’d felt when we’d cuddled but concentrated around my mouth, a soothing pulse that calmed me as much as it energized me. There was also this feeling of <i><span style="font-weight:400">potential </i><span style="font-weight:400">that I wasn’t ready to explore yet. And there was the sweet smell, which had only been growing stronger, transferring to the taste of the kiss,yering on top of my normal senses.
<span style="font-weight:400">My arousal – <i><span style="font-weight:400">her </i><span style="font-weight:400">arousal built, radiating out from my lower stomach to make the exposed skin all over my body tingly and weightless.
<span style="font-weight:400">I finally broke off the kiss after a few minutes and pulled away, still refusing to meet his eyes.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Adam…” His voice came out in a breathless plea.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Lily,” I corrected absentmindedly, “When I’m like this, call me Lily.”
<span style="font-weight:400">Heughed andid back onto the bed. “So, Lily, what’s the verdict?”
<span style="font-weight:400">I turned away from his smug voice and started focusing on shapeshifting, on getting clothed again. “I’m possessed by a subus…” I admitted reluctantly.
<span style="font-weight:400">My body shifted, and suddenly I was clothed and tailless again. I turned to finally meet his gaze, only to see him staring at me with wide eyes.
<span style="font-weight:400">I nced down, trying to find what was wrong. “What? Are my clothes wrong?” My clothes <i><span style="font-weight:400">felt</i><span style="font-weight:400"> wrong, like they weren’t the right size, but nothing else seemed off.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Damn, Lily I didn’t know you could do that…” He said, ncing up and down my body.
<span style="font-weight:400">I red at him, wincing for a moment when I tried to flick my tail in annoyance but it wasn’t there, causing me to strain a muscle in my lower back. “What are you talking about? Just because I’m a virgin doesn’t mean I can’t kiss.” I pouted – frowned sternly.
<span style="font-weight:400">Heughed again, shing me his crooked smile. “That’s not what I meant, but you’re right, the kiss was very good.” He rolled on his side, facing me, and brought one hand holding up the side of his head while the other waved at my body. “I meant the human version of Lily. It’s cute – suits you.”
<span style="font-weight:400">My gaze flickered down, my cheeks flushing as I realized that I’d somehow not noticed the <i><span style="font-weight:400">prominent</i><span style="font-weight:400"> chest that Lily had – and that <i><span style="font-weight:400">I</i><span style="font-weight:400"> wasn’t supposed to have. One more shapeshift and I was back to guy mode.
<span style="font-weight:400">Chris raised an eyebrow at me.
<i><span style="font-weight:400">Another</i><span style="font-weight:400"> shapeshift and I was back to the correct height again.
<span style="font-weight:400">I sighed. <i><span style="font-weight:400">If I keep messing up the shapeshifting I’m going to need to harvest more energy…</i>
<span style="font-weight:400">I didn’t let myself acknowledge the way the prospect excited me.