Taur virus 11

Part 11

"I can't believe him," a sigh escaped my black lips as we walked out of the field.

Trish let out a small disappointed sigh as well as she walked ahead. She was leading the way, mainly because her equine legs allowed her to take longer strides making me break into short sprints to keep up with her trotting. "I told you that might've happened," she said once we were out of the school areas. "Now we have to call it quits for now" She shrugged.

"Yeah I guess you're right…" I trailed off. I was still pretty annoyed by being talked as if I was some leprous by the sanity group, the coach, and to a lesser yet redeeming extent, my parents, I've grown weary of stepping aside.

At that time we were just passing by the park that edged the school, which gave me an idea, prompting me to finish my suspended sentence. "Or we can at least go to chat without friends," I said breaking into gallop (I'm assuming horse terms work on taurs just as well) towards it.

Trish was surprised and started for a short time before bounding after "wait, what are you?... You wanna catch up with Paul and Josh while they run laps?" She asked me with a sly smile. By then I had already hopped through bushes and making my way to the path. The clip clopping sound of her hooves behind me told me she was following close.

"That's right." I said with a small laugh. After these three weeks, one could say I was already a new man, aside from the obvious. Now, I was no longer scared of being with another taur, have finally learned to stand up to my parents and at last managed to pull myself apart from the Sanity group.

She let out a giggle, which sounded like a whinny to me, as she followed me down the trek. No one really paid much attention to a taur running around the park. From what I've heard, most of them liked to run around as a way of jogging, and I could understand why.

We spent a couple of minutes waiting on the road. Talking about the possible actions we could take. We weren't going far as to what to do. Every plan has its pro, cons and barriers. In the end, the best solution was to ask Mrs. Hawthorne to ask for the position as cross country coach and for the coach to step aside. Again, there was the problem Mrs. Hawthorne wouldn't accept and the even larger issue to have the coach resign.

We let that idea cook for a couple of minutes before we caught a glimpse of our two friends jogging down the road, just as expected. Coach Jameson always had us running the same route since I could remember. I knew the place like the back of my hand, my human hand that is.

"Guys?" Josh asked in a small surprise as they jogged past us and we tagged along. "I thought the coach forced you to stand back from the training."

"He did," Trish said sheepishly.

"We're just here to escort you," I said innocently, tagging along. They shrugged and agreed to follow us. Trish and I could easily keep up with them, even if they were jogging.

We tagged along for a couple of minutes, continuing our conversations from before and making plans for the weekend. The school was gonna be hosting a fundraising rally this Saturday and we were planning of going, to have fun, probably win a couple of competitions and watch the show. Last time I won a canary in the raffle. Unfortunately, my parents forced me to give it away in fear I might grow feathers and wings from the virus.

Later, when we were heading back to the school, Trish and I decided to take the lead and part ways from Josh and Paul. I wasn't sure what the coach might've done if we were caught in the act. We both passed by the entrance and just walked alongside the fence of the school.

On the way we caught a glimpse of the coach barking orders at another group of teens, clad in the school's athletic team uniform. "Figures," I muttered watching as they ran off, apparently to do some hammer throws and pole jumping.

"And look, there they come" Trish pointed out as, a couple of minutes later Josh and Paul jogged back into the field where the coach received them and had them do the relaxation exercises. "It always happens like that. When he sends us off, he calls for the other team and trains them while we're out. Utterly uninterested in what we do," she let out a sigh as she resumed the walk.

"Hm…" I pondered and reached into my backpack (I have to say, it fitted me perfectly, I didn't notice I had it on during walk) and pulled out my cellphone, a bigger, more elongated version to fit my muzzle. "I'll take a photo of that the next time," I suggested before putting the phone back in.

"Classic idea, almost cliché, but I'm with you there" She agreed. "Well, shall we get going?" the horse taur gave out a small snort before walking away. I followed soon after.

"Sure, any idea where to go? It's still early." I said, with eagerness to explore the world, or at least the streets, around me as opposed to just walking to my safe place like in the last 8 years.

"I don't know…" She pondered "why not drop by my place? You haven't been there in a while, and I'm sure my parents will love to see you again."

I gave the suggestion some thought. Last time I've been at her place I was 8 years old. Trish and I have been really good friends back them, playing games in her house as often as she dropped by in mine to watch TV. Her parents greeted me and just offered cookies and milk when I was around. It wouldn't hurt to drop by and say 'hello' "Well, sure let's go."

---

Trish's place was a large one story building, compensating the lack of verticality with its area. The entire place circled a rather big backyard that, if memory serves, was where Trish had a small sand box along with a couple of swings by the tree. Her mom also grew vegetables with it. Of course, those were the most I could recall, it was long ago.

On the outside, the place was just like I remembered, with subtle differences like a different coat of paint or different flowers side by side on the door, but still the same. I felt as if showing up was a sign of courage. Perhaps I was digging too much into it. Maybe it was all gonna be fine.

Trish climbed up the step and opened the door using her key. "Mom! I'm home and brought an old acquaintance," she said playfully after setting her hoof in. I followed soon after glancing around the place.

The place brought in a rather pleasant vibe. I recalled Trish telling me that her mom was an interior designer, so the special ambience was to be expected. We moved in to the main living room. The room was split in two areas. One was U shaped that edged and connected the front entrance and the west and east wings. The other area was sunken about half a meter under the other. The floor on that one was … covered in grass… no, it wasn't, it was more of a green rough carpet, almost like the one could find in mini golf. The furniture was in the lower area, had a cream color, both wide and short. They couldn't really be called couches, more like huge leather beanbags. Tables were low enough, probably because taurs didn't really need chairs to sit for starters, all of it under some lights, pretty strong to be for a living room, but almost good enough for a tanning booth.

Trish trotted down into the lower area, reaching the light's control and dimming them, almost turning them off. Her hooves on the floor almost sounding like a real horse trotting out in the prairie. "Sorry about this, my mother likes to remodel the place once every couple of years. At least it's better than when she went for a desert motif," she snickered.

"Desert?" I said slowly moving to the down area.

"Trish?! Hello dear!" I heard a woman's voice. It was a mature one from what I could tell. My ears also picked the odd sound of rubbing and mild clacking on the wooden floor, not the usual sound of heels or shoes that I expected.

"Hiya Mom," she said looking over my shoulder, prompting me to turn around right for an amazing surprise.

By the door frame, stood Trish's mom, clad in an apron over a sleeveless shirt, which wasn't the best choice for this cold weather, but it allowed me to see her apparent changes. First of all, she was a taur (just to avoid confusion), a unique one to me. Her skin was, instead of a pink, was now more of a sandy/yellow tone. Her skin was visibly dry, the unmistakable pattern of scales on her, light on her front and dark and mottled on her shoulders, and probably her back. Her face was pronounced in a triangular muzzle, yet it retained most of her human features, among those the mobility of the lips, reason why I've never seen a reptile smile yet she could. Her eyes were still mostly human, but that was just it. Her ears had vanished as well as her hair, yet even though she was bald, the look didn't really seem to bother her. Now I know where Trish got it from. "Is he a new friend?" she asked politely.

"Mom, remember Marcus Finway?" She said moving over by my side. I saw Miss Hummes blink as she tried to recall and then her face bright up as she caught that short piece of information she was looking for.

"Marcus! So good to see you again," she said walking over, making a small hop and landing forefeet first on the ground, arching her back and allowing me to see her long reptilian tail raise and lower as she came over to give me a hug. I was glad she still remembered me with as much warmth as Trish did. "How have you been? We haven't heard from you in literally years."

"I-I know," I said as she released me. "My parents went into alert when the taur virus thing began. So…" I was trying to find the best way to say "wasn't allowed to see Trish" without making my parents look like the bad guys. But thankfully she nodded understandingly and replied before I could say further.

"I see… well, I'm sure they just wanted to protect you. Nothing bad with a mother wanting to protect her egg," she joked moving next to Trish, whom she looked tiny when compared to. "I'd probably wouldn't even let Trish out hadn't she'd been one of the first taurs in the city," she said.

"I think you're right… I'm just glad they're taking me back into their home," I smiled, chuckling at the irregular sight.

"Oh? You've been staying at the taur in?" She asked.

"Yeah…" I began to narrate the story of my change, my moving over to the taur in and the time and fun I had in there, until reaching the point where my parents came over, asking me to move back home. "And that's pretty much in. Once I got to the "Four Legs" Inn later I'm picking my stuff and moving back."

My narration was met by a yawn from Miss Hummes. I was surprised by that reaction. Was my story that bad or was I a lousy storyteller?

"Oh, I'm so sorry" She said covering her mouth afterwards. It wasn't only the yawn, but her eyes were half open, as if she had been in a need of a nap. "Trish, sweetie, did you lower the lights?" She said looking up at the lamps only to confirm it. "Sorry Marcus. Unfortunately, I'm cold blooded as a taur, so I need to be under heat to keep myself from dozing off. This sort of weather almost ensure I'll sleep more," well, at least it wasn't me. "Sorry, but I'm gonna have to go to the kitchen and cook or bake something," she said heading back to the passageway where he came from.

"Nice to see you again, Marcus," she said, really meaning it as she walked out of the room.

"Don't worry about her, some of the rooms are insulated, so we can be cool here while the kitchen is at my mom's ideal temperature," Trish spoke up after she was gone. "You haven't seen a lizard taur before, haven't you?"

"No, not even in the taur inn I've seen anything other than mammals." I chuckled "And she doesn't mind? You know, the thing?" I gestured up my head. She got the idea.

"Oh no, she doesn't, well that's now. At first she did cry as her hair fell down while her scales grew in. But after a while she got sick of feeling sorry for herself and just learned to work with her body. She reminded herself that dinosaurs were her favorite animals and that hair was overrated. Even when she changed back and her hair began to grow at an slightly accelerated rate …"

"Accelerated rate?" I blinked.

"Yeah, it seems that the taur virus hastens the growth of nails and hair regeneration, probably as a way of compensating. From what Tina told me, it lasts a week and it's really subtle… anyway, even with her hair growing slightly faster, it didn't matter much to her. Nowadays, the only problem she has is with the cold blooded thing. But luckily, both I and my dad are mammalians, and he is furrier than I am so she finds normal climates bearable with us."

"Oh right… hm, by the way, how long has she been a taur now?" I inquired.

"Same as I have," she stated "Just the day after my dad changed back."

So she did it on purpose? She must really enjoy the taur virus and she must've read my mind as she added "Kinda weird huh? I mean, me getting infected on purpose."

I shook my head "No, don't think so. I'm just learning about something new," was my naïve response, which gained her immediate approval, awarding me with a smile.

----

An hour or two later, after seeing a small foreign movie which was the sort of thing we liked to do, I was bidding farewell to Trish's mom and heading back to the Four Leg's Inn. Talking about the movie seemed to help me recall of the times before the virus. Of course, back then we watched cartoons. The sun was beginning to set down on the horizon, yet it was still far away from disappearing behind the buildings.

Trish's hooves got lost in the crowd as we approached the Taur Street, and she wasn't the only hoofed taur there, yet she managed to greet 5 of them by name and make 3 new friends on the way in. She certainly had a way with people I didn't.

We both entered the inn and simply walked down the hallway to my room, after giving Norman, behind the receptionist's desk, a small greeting. "Just don't hurry getting ready to leave us" He teased as we got into the hallway. "Belle and Lavender are preparing a "special free see ya" dinner for you." I gave him a nod before heading back into the hallway.

"Wow, Lavender is going to cook?" Trish said, visibly trying not to cringe at the idea.

"What about it? Something wrong?" I asked.

"Well, it's the issue of having a skunk cooking. Not that I have anything against her. It's just that the idea doesn't paint a pretty picture." She said as opened the door.

"Nor does a cow cooking" I retorted.

"Cow's are nice. they have a rather motherly figure and besides Belle smells ok..."

"Well, Lavender smells nice as well" I said. Was already beginning to figure out what she meant but was gonna leave her struggling a bit more just for fun.

"Well, yeah but she's a skunk and has the…" she gestured behind her, reaching to grab her tail to make an example before sighing "Im being judgmental" She deduced before chuckling "And you're just taunting me,"  she accused, making me laugh. She gave me a light jab for that.

The packing took less than expected. I came here with a bag, my laptop and some garments I could still wear. That just left me with a lot of space in it for my latest purchases, which included my new taur pants and garments plus some of my new health care products I picked along the way such as soaps and shampoos.

"And that must be all of it" I said closing the bag, being extra careful not to press too much and break my laptop. My room for the last week and a half seemed empty now. Everything had been picked and shoved into the bag. "Let's go back to the cafeteria to see what's in for us. I'll come later for the luggage before checking out."

Trish gave me a nod and led me back into the cafeteria still a bit early for have supper. Among them was a table that stood out, it was decorated with a cloth and various dishes for some of the edging many plates and trays set all over the center of it. It was simple, not really fancy but something the inn might be able to pull for special occasions. The last detail was a small plastic sign with a 'reserved' note in it. Was this for me?

We also seemed to arrive in the nick of time as Belle and Lavender exited the kitchen, both clad in the cook aprons, carrying more trays.  "How d'you do, Marcus?" Belle said as she placed the food down "You're right in time, dinner is ready" She smiled as she went to the reception to give Norman a call.

"As you can have guessed, I helped here," Lavender said setting down another tray while giving me a kind smile.

"Yeah, I can say… what's the occasion?" I asked innocently "Because I can't really believe this was made for me."

"Belle told me that she could pull off this kind of dinners every time she felt like it. It is quite a task here, so no wonder why she doesn't do this often. But it's for you, and also to "celebrate" the loss of two members of the anti taur group." Lavender explained, moving the trays for presentation. I tried to sniff the food but the trays seemed to seal every odor in them. I certainly didn't really need the scent to get me hungry, I just had to imagine what could be lying beneath the lid.

"Sweet. Should we be sitting?" I asked walking around the table. Tentatively, my hand slowly made its way to the handle of one of the trays, but I got a light slap from Trish followed by an equine snort and making me chuckle.

I looked up to see Norman and Belle come over. The dog anthro smiled, his tail wagging as he made his way in. "Oh boy, I've been waiting for tasting some of your gourmet dishes for a while," he told the cow taur as they walked over two of the empty spots on the table's left side.

"I had help," she said smiling at Lavender, who was probably blushing under her fur from the praise. "So, Marcus, let's sit and enjoy. The guest of honor should sit on the head of the bed," she gestured at the head of the table while Trish and Lavender took seat by the right.

I didn't like being the center of attention. It was a habit that came with the habit of avoiding any form of taur or anyone who's ever been a taur. So, being called up to the front of the table, at the eyes of everyone seated, even if they were just four people. Hesitantly I moved and sat at the head of the table.

"Ok. But I don't have to give a speech, do I?" I asked somewhat nervous. If I had to give one, it would probably be a sucky one.

"Oh no, it's a special occasion, but not the Oscars." Norman laughed "You don't have to give one unless you want to."

"Alright, just making sure" I muttered as my tail curling around my hind legs.

"But I have to add." Norman said "We're glad you've adapted to being a taur. First timers usually have a hard time adjusting and I can imagine it was no easier to you. Thus giving your parents an epiphany regarding humanity, to question whether this was sickness or not. I wish you a good remainder of the taur experience and be an role model for the people in the group. As every first timer, live life as normal and don't let anyone treat you differently because you've once walked on all fours," he said giving me a nod.

Belle, then Trish, then Lavender and finally me, started clapping, to which Norman made a small bow. "Now, mind if we get to the main event? Im quite hungry," he said.

Lavender nodded and, along with Belle, she began lifting the lids of the trays, revealing some very well presented meals. The first one was orange rice. The second contained chicken stew, including carrots potatoes and gravy. Finally was a salad with tomato, special sauce and hay sprinkled on I, specially made for cows and horses, I would've guessed.

We lost no time and began to dig in, helping ourselves with the food and drinks. The dishes were perfect. Belle had the cooking ability of a gourmet chef. The chicken tasted excellent thanks to the combination of spices while the rice's texture was soft. Although I did find a single long hair among my serving of potatoes, must've been Lavender's, but I decided to keep it quiet.

The scent was beginning to get the attention of the other taur guests, prompting Norman to nudge Belle "Seems you will be cooking gourmet from now on."

---

Supper went on, and about thirty minutes in I was done with it.  It was time to head home. I got off the table and gave everyone a warm goodbye. A handshake for Norman and a hug from both Belle and Lavender before I headed back to my room for my luggage and to check out.

Certainly, after being in the taur inn, I've grown up and discovered many things that I would've otherwise rejected and refused to experience. Independency and responsibility were among those. Now I felt like a capable person. So it was with some nostalgia that I left my room.

Trish accompanied me part of the way home. It was getting late, and both of us had another test tomorrow. That left me staring at the front door of my place. The windows were turned on and the cars were at the garage, which would only mean they were probably expecting me.

Hesitantly, I reached the handle and opened the door with the spare key I've kept since the day I left. The place was quite as I remembered. The living room was just as well kept as always. My mom had a keen sense of order and cleaning. And as a way to answer that though, as soon as I set a foot in, I heard her voice call "Is that you Marcus?"

"Yeah mom," I replied trying to sound casual "It's good to be back" I muttered going back.

"Oh I'm glad," I heard her footsteps going down the stairs. "You are a bit late?" She said politely. Tentatively trying to reach to hug me, even kiss my cheek. It was still too early for her to do something like that, so she settled herself with giving me a hug with her gloved arms. With the same doubt as hers I reached to hug her back. It's been a while since I've done that.

"I'm sorry, the people from the taur inn prepared me dinner and I couldn't really say no," I said smiling.

"Oh, other taurs?" She said, sounding worried. Slowly she parted from me. Probably she was still worried i had some of the virus in my fur because of that. It took me a while to reassure her I was safe.

"Let me give you a tour around the new mods," She said after a somewhat long silence, gesturing me at the rest of the house. For the next couple of minutes she led me into the rooms that have been modified for ease of use for my new form.

The first stop was the kitchen. Not many things seemed to have changed since the last time I came over, although one of the chairs was missing now. Aside from that I also noticed a new set of rules over the board by the fridge, things such as a small blackboard containing a list of what cats could and couldn't eat, and since we had no pet cat it was obvious who they were referring to (even though I wasn't entirely a cat and hence I had no issue eating chocolate). Aside from that I got a couple of requests from my mom and dad, who joined us soon after and was slightly more willing to pat my shoulder than my mom was, to not touch the stove, the microwave, pans and basically anything that didn't had my name on it. Something I guessed I could live with for the next couple of weeks.

Afterwards we exited to the hallway, which I noticed, had been expanded a bit to accommodate my form, now it seemed to be easier to turn around in the middle of it. Anyway, we moved down the hall and upstairs to my room. I took notice on the new handrail installed on the wall side. Going up and down the stairs was a craft I had yet to master so the training wheels were welcome.

My room was significantly different now. If I had to guess, I would say my mom consulted some experts or hired a specialist because the furniture was a rearranged to provide the maximum room possible. My small couch had been put inside a storeroom, not that I could use it now though. My bed, as expected, had been replaced by the huge pet bed kind I've been sleeping inside the taur inn… although this one was way lower, almost floor level. My closet had undergone a small change, basically part of my wardrobe was sealed in an airtight box labeled "Human clothes" which included my two legged pants, underwear, shoes, some shirts and so on, and in its place, my parents bought a couple of taur pants and 'shoes' just so I could have something to wear and keep the human decency. Not that I'm complaining, I've been going to school almost every day with those garments since I wasn't ready to go bottom nude.

The  new extra space made my room look bigger and the low bed allowed me to walk around as if it wasn't there and to prevent them from getting dirty as I still walked on my paw pads, my mom placed a couple of carpets to clean myself before I entered the house and room. And finally, the last room of the tour was, obviously, the bathroom, which I'm not gonna detail much, I'm just gonna say things are now pretty functional now.

"Thanks mom. Dad" I said after the tour was completed and I had time to look around.

"You're welcome, son" My dad said reaching to give me a pet. "It's gonna take some time to get used to it though." He said with little uneasiness.  If memory serves, dad was fonder of cats rather than dogs.

"But there's gonna have to be some ground rules" My mother said giving a small objection.

"Rules?" I asked.

"Just the basic things. Sorry marcus if I sound a bit um… apprehensive, but I feel we should try not to mix glasses, forks and spoons. Remember to brush your feet on the rugs when entering home. Try not to seat on all the couches of the living room, just pick one or two tops, to avoid leaving fur all over them. And when you change back in two weeks or so we'll arrange to either sterilize the room or take you to one."

"How exactly…?" I was about to ask.

"The ones from my college. There the medical faculty built sterile rooms to get more samples of the taur virus for it's study." I heard a very familiar voice I haven't heard in a while. It was Trevor, my brother. He looked and reminded me of my human form, we were pretty much alike.

"Yeah, Trevor proposed we could ask the college to make us the favor," my mom said.

"Oh, I guess Tina helped there with the idea," I said out loud, wondering if I would likely see her again there.

"Tina? Who's Tina?" My mom asked. Trevor used to be very secretive regarding his studies or college buddies. He just told them what was necessary and my parents kept tabs on who he befriended. They hadn't really paid the university a visit.

Trevor bit his lip as he was forced to answer "She's a friend from a class. Specializing with the taur virus," he was probably nervous and it was more likely I've just ruined a perfectly well kept secret.

My parents looked at each other suspiciously "You are hiding something from us," they said. Both were pretty skilled lie detectors.

"She's a taur. She's the so called miracle taur. Supposedly the virus healed her bones after a car crash or so," he reluctantly answered.

"And she's still allowed in college?" She said dumbfounded "I thought you told us there was a policy regarding taurs."

"Yeah… it was a zero tolerance policy about discrimination torwards taurs" He clarified. Both me and my parents were gaping at the reveal. Well, the shocker came a bit less for me, since I've already met Tina and was beginning to have suspicions about that.

My mom and dad looked like they were gonna start yelling or punish him for deceiving them all this time. But after a couple of minutes of making faces to each other they calmed down. Both took a deep breath looking at each other's eyes, as if understanding something. My dad was the first to talk. "We've tried to keep you safe from the virus… yet you two kept getting exposed to it."

"We were just trying to prove you that we couldn't really shun 75% of the world just because they've contracted it. I was growing tired of in recluse and when I heard you talking about homeschooling Marcus I decided to try something more drastic. Fortunately you didn't but in case you had I would've claimed I was studying in an university where currently 40% of the people are taurs," Trevor explained.

"But 40%? Were you planning to let us find out during your graduation?" Both said in shock. This wasn't gonna turn up to be a mayor discussion topic later on, I was sure of it.

"No, I was actually gonna tell you after Marcus changed back." He said "At least until things calmed down."

"Alright alright, I guess I can agree to all of those things Mom, Dad, everything is turning out fine. I mean Trevor has been spending the last year among taurs, why should it be a problem now if he hasn't changed at all?"

My parents let out a sigh, followed by a warm smile. "I know," mom said "we were just worried about you, we tried to teach you…"

"And yet, lately you two have been the ones teaching the lesson," my father completed the sentence. "We'll talk about this in the morning, but from now on, we want you to be extra careful, Trevor."

"Yeah, we aren't ready to use gloves to hug both our sons," my mom said as dad turned around, probably heading to sit down on his couch and watch TV as he did most evenings.

"Although the glove part is a bit too much, Martha," he chuckled out loud.

Mom spun, somewhat trying to sound offended, although she was evidently playing along "I am still worried some of the virus secreted through the fur, Dr Kensington says that's a possibility."

"Kensington is a chatterbox…" he answered from around the hallway as my mom followed.

That left both me and Trevor. We haven't seen each other in a while. The first thing he suggested was "I got you a new controller, wanna play videogames?" He asked casually.

"Sure," I smirked.