FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Author's note: Read it on the beta!

When morning came, it was even worse. The thoughts kept swirling in his head, even though he managed to tamp some of it down through a morning exercise routine. With his head clear after a shower (and two orgasms), the ratmorph left the dorm building, intent on grabbing some breakfast at the dining hall. He was going to be around the campus for most of the day thanks to a meeting with the headmistress that he had every Friday, but that wasn't until 10 am. So, he decided to forgo cooking himself breakfast to catch a meal at the dining hall.

It was something he did periodically anyway. Aside from eating from some of the best chefs in the country, it was a chance to mingle with the student body, especially his students. The scent from the food set his mouth to watering when he entered the building. Eggs, steak, fresh made biscuits, pancakes... Nicodemus could separate all the foods by scent, and his stomach grumbled in impatience.

He ended up getting a little bit of everything. It seemed like one of those days to load up on energy, though Nicodemus thought it more to make up for last night. When he went out to find a free table, he was surprised to hear his name called and see Rebecca waving at him energetically. Her smile seemed wider than normal, and it brought a smile to his face. She must have been extra excited today.

"Good morning, Mr. Nicodemus!" she said as he sat down. With her was Leanne, as usual, but also Clementine. The former was studiously digging into a stack of pancakes with butter and syrup, while the latter was munching on some fruit. It was heartening to see that the morph students were hanging out with the human ones. Initially, they had been treated like some kind of oddity, but Nicodemus saw the rest of the student body were looking past that.

Leanne looked up from her meal to nod, while Clementine's eyes widened at the loaded tray set down on the table. "How can you eat so much?" she asked.

"It's a function of metabolism," the ratmorph replied, starting in on the eggs. "Morphs, in general, require more calories than humans do. Haven't you been paying attention in class?" The last question was accompanied by a grin, and Clementine's azure eyes sparkled. "Besides, it's a good idea to take advantage of good food."

"The pancakes are very good," Leanne said, interjecting her husky voice.

"Okay, but are you really going to eat all that? Do you do work out?"

"Some."

"Keeping up your physique?" Rebecca piped up, grinning and giggling.

Nicodemus was caught a little off-guard by that question, covering his hesitation with another forkful of food. "Well, yes," he said. "It's also important to keep physically fit, of course."

"What do you do for exercise?" said Clementine. She was leaning forward with her elbows on the table, pushing the fruit bowl to the side. Was she drawing attention to chest?

"Well, I run every day. I also work out in the gym at the dorm every other day. Leanne knows, she spots me sometimes."

This seemed to draw both Clementine's and Rebecca's attention to Leanne who flicked her ears and shrugged. Her scent changed, though. "No need to look at her like that," Nicodemus said, waving a hand. "She's really helpful."

"She never told me, though," the lagomorph giggled. She didn't seem the least bit hurt about it, but Leanne shuffled in her seat. "Was wondering where she went in the morning, coming back all sweaty."

"Say, I'm looking to get into better shape," The brunette piped up. "Maybe you can help me?"

Nicodemus glanced at Clementine then, his head tilted with some food halfway to his mouth. She was smiling innocently, but there was something in her gaze that was very much the opposite. "I suppose I could give you some guidelines," he said slowly, the fork traveling the rest of the way. "The hardest part is developing into the routine."

Rebecca was giggling incessantly now. "What... what about me?" she asked.

"You're right down the hall. Just come on down." Now that he was looking for it, there was a similar kind of look in the hazel eyes of the rabbit, though her gaze was quickly averted while the giggles started up again.

Leanne was still quiet, but shifted, drawing his gaze while she moved her chair closer to him. Her hand was now on his thigh, squeezing gently. She didn't say anything, but she didn't have to when something tickled at his nose. With the equine so close to him, it was obvious what it was. What surprised him, though, was that this was not the first time he had encountered it. It seemed to be stronger of late, but when she spotted him especially on the bench press, he could smell it, dismissing it then but not now. Now it made sense as to why he was so hungry; his body was prepping itself for the mating to come. The mating he probably shouldn't be doing.

The tension was thick on the table, and in addition to Leanne's scent, the smell of the pancakes on her breath made it more enticing. It was a relief when he heard Rebecca giggle, making him look up. Dalila was there, holding her tray up, looking at Nicodemus... but grinning. "Morning, teach," she said. "I'm not interrupting anything, am I?"

"No," he said quickly. "No. I was just leaving. I have a meeting I need to get to. I'll, uh, see you girls later." Getting up, he smiled at the various faces of disappointment before focusing on the afghan. "...Where's Tess? Isn't she up by now?"

"Oh. Yeah, but she said she had a small fever," Dalila replied. "I'm actually getting some food for her."

"Didn't smell like a fever when I left," remarked Leanne quietly. What this meant to Nicodemus was the problem was going to get worse, and he needed to do something soon.

Nodding to the girls, he dumped his half-eaten food, then placed the plates, trays, and silverware on the dishwashing conveyor belt. It was a good thing he had that meeting, because if he didn't he would have called one. After, of course, fixing a few things down below.

Walking into the headmistress' office always made Nicodemus feel uneasy. It was an impressive office, mostly oak and mahogany. There was a high, spacious ceiling, a dark throw rug, and stately bookshelves filled with various tomes. But there was one object that caught two of his senses as the secretary led him in, and that was the flowerpot on her desk. It was a very feminine touch in an otherwise masculine office.

"What do you think?" asked Dr. Mullins as she greeted him, shook his hand, and then led him to a seat across from him. Of course, she was referring to the flowers.

"I think it's a nice, subtle touch. They smell nice... begonias?"

She smiled warmly. Dr. Jessie Mullins was said to be quite different from her predecessor, a man called Horace Columbus that Nicodemus never met. He looked up to see the portrait that had been commissioned in his fifth year of ten he served, like many other headmasters before him. It depicted a man who had a little bit around his middle, but projected power and influence. Somebody who walked in different circles from most folk, and his expensive clothes showed it. By contrast, Dr. Mullins was sometimes mistaken for one of the newer teachers or a secretary. She was only in her late-thirties with her hair done up, and glasses with nearly invisible frames. Her suit was also a nice, bright color, today in blue that was close to her eyes. She looked open and welcoming, and had also brought with her a whirlwind of change, not the least of which was Nicodemus himself and the other morph students. "Right you are. So how have you been, Nicky? No protesters today, I hope; I've arranged to have the flowers at the front changed next week." The comment made him smile and put him at ease. She had a tendency for levity, and it was one of the reasons why her many changes had gone over so well.

They started conversing about this and that; how things were going with his class, how he liked the school (and food), and into some of the hot topics of the day, a lot of which centered around morph rights and the human population. It was generally pleasant, as she never talked down to him, though she pulled no punches. It was one of the things that he really liked about her: her ability to treat everyone as an equal, even a morph like him. He asked her about it once, and she had quirked a smile, saying "I DID hire you for your ability to teach, did I not?"

"...And really, I think it's utterly repugnant for some of these rich fat cats to organize orgies just to 'procreate,'" she was saying. "Who do they think they're fooling, anyway?"

"Um, on that subject, actually, there's something I wanted to talk to you about," Nicodemus broke in.

"On what subject, orgies?" she asked with a quirked eyebrow.

"No. Ah, procreation."

Now she frowned. "What about procreation?"

Taking a deep breath, Nicodemus tried to explain. "It's just, ah... well, there's this problem with one of the students. In my class. And, and... it's just..."

"Nicky, spit it out," Dr. Mullins said flatly. "Part of why I hired you is because you're smart and well-spoken."

After a pause, the ratmorph gathered himself. "One of my students has gone into heat."

"That happens with morphs?"

"Yes."

"Well. Learn something new everyday," she remarked. Rubbing her chin for a moment, she spoke again. "So are you gonna hit that?"

"Huh?"

"Is she cute?"

"What?"

"Are the other males not doing anything about it? If you want my permission, go for it. You're still pretty young, right? Not over the hill yet? Her being pregnant is probably better than being denied, or something. I remember reading that much about morphs. Besides, it's not like there are parents to get angry. You're purebred, right? Good genes. If anything, the scientists who made you and the other morphs would be happy that you're procreating."

The silence stretched out between them. Nicodemus was trying to wrap his mind around what his boss had just told him when he heard snickering. Her face was scrunched up with the effort to hold in laughter, but the dam broke when she looked at him. This left the ratmorph even more confused. "You... you didn't think I was serious did you?" she said, trying to calm herself. "Oh, Nicky..." she shook her head, grinning still. "The look on your face was priceless."

Nicodemus opened his mouth, and then closed it.

"You did think I was serious," Dr. Mullins remarked. She reached over and patted him on the knee. "Well, I'm not, so relax. Though with the population how it is, I don't think people will be as upset about pregnancies as they might have been. And really, nobody's going to care if morphs knock each other up. You're pretty safe there." She looked thoughtful.

Silence from Nicodemus. He squeaked as he felt a hand over his own, looking up at his boss again. "Relax, Nicky. I trust you. I did hire you after all. So I know that you're going to make a smart decision."

The simple smile seemed to restore the ratmorph somewhat. It was always so hard to read humans, he found. He didn't know their scents so well, and they seemed to shift constantly. "What should I do?"

"If it's advice you're looking for, then keep doing your job; educate them. It should come in handy if they ever get into biology or genetic engineering." She squeezed his hand then drew back. "You'll be alright. And if somebody has a problem with that, then they'll have to deal with me. I set out to bring this school into the modern age and I'm going to do it even if it kills me." She smiled again, and slowly Nicodemus felt himself at ease. "Thatta boy," she said, seeing his ears come up.

A beep, and then the speaker. "Dr. Mullins?" came the voice of the secretary.

With an exaggerated sigh and a roll of her eyes, the headmistress got up and went to her desk. "Yes, Cathy?" she asked, pressing the intercom.

"You do have a meeting with the school board in five minutes. You're going to be late; shall I tell them to start without you? They'll probably be a little upset at the delay."

"Those stuffy curmudgeons can be upset for all I care," she muttered, drawing a smile from the rat morph. He'd been in front of the board a few times and endured all their tut-tutting. "No no, I'll be down presently. Work, work, work," she said to Nicodemus, cutting the intercom. "Same time next week?"

"Or on Monday. I think it's best I take this head on."

"Looking forward to it. I'll clear my schedule." Nicodemus heard her call her secretary again as he got up to leave. "Cathy, what's on my schedule for 11 on Monday?"

"You have a meeting with the board on the new flower arrangements."

"Are you serious? Strike that from my schedule; the board does not need me to baby-sit them about flowers!"

Nicodemus hid a chuckle as he passed Catherine, who sighed the sigh of the long-suffering. "Hey Nick," she said, waving.

"Hello, Catherine."

"As much as I agree with her, she's not the one who has to tell them and listen to their complaints about tradition," she said mostly to herself.

"That bad?" She cleared a bit of her brown, mousey hair from her face and nodded. "Tell you what; why don't I take you to lunch on Monday? You can vent about the board," Nicodemus said, leaning on her desk.

She looked up with a little grin. "I think I would like that," Catherine replied. "Can't go off-campus, though. I don't know when she'll need me next. Thank goodness the food here is decent."

"Good." Chuckling, the rat morph turned and waved. "See you Monday, then."

Nicodemus left the headmistress' office feeling better than he had been in the last couple of days. He was a teacher, so why not teach them? It was something he had been considering in the back of his mind, so to have his plan so thoroughly endorsed almost had him skipping. What brought him down from euphoria were the harder realities of what he would have to do in order to arrange things, but that was easily decided. The bigger question would be what to teach. It was about lunchtime anyway, so he went down to the dining hall.

It wasn't until the savory scents of food hit him did the ratmorph realize how hungry he had become. He picked up a nice meal of a chicken Caesar salad, heading out to the seating area. Luckily, he spotted the group of his male students at one table, two seeming to talk animatedly about something. It was just as well; he wasn't sure he wanted to deal with the female contingent quite yet. As he got closer, he heard them arguing about something or other. "Everything alright?"

The three looked up, all displaying signs of embarrassment. "Uh, good afternoon, Mister Nicodemus," said Monty, pulling his tail across his lap.

Nicodemus looked at the three, and sat himself down at the table unasked. "Alright, boys. What seems to be the issue? I am here to help."

The other males seemed reluctant to speak at first as if waiting for somebody to take charge, but soon Dustin said, "Well, Evan here is having some trouble with the girls."

"From our class?" asked the ratmorph. Seeing nods, he went on. "What kind?"

Evan was flushing. There was a change in his scent, and going by the looks on the faces of Dustin and Monty, they had recognized this one. Soon, Nicodemus did as well. Poor kid was embarrassed. "Well... it mostly has to do with Tess."

"Is she acting funny?" Nicodemus tried to make the question sound innocent, but it didn't come out that way.

"How did you know?" Evan asked, similar questions hanging on the looks of the morph teens. Nicodemus waved the question aside and gestured for Evan to continue. "We sit next to each other in class, right? And she's always hitting me with her tail or rubbing on me. When I look over at her, she gives me these looks, like I'm supposed to do something, but I don't know what."

"She's hitting on him, right?" the black lab piped up.

Nicodemus ignored that question. "Are you noticing anything else about her?"

"She..." Evan trailed off, flushing harder. When nobody else said anything, he spoke softly. "She smells kinda funny."

"Funny how?"

"I don't know. It's weird."

Considering this for a moment, it only confirmed what Nicodemus was thinking. "Are there any other girls that are doing that?"

Evan shook his head. "Only Tess. The other morph girls seem really friendly, though."

"And what about you two?" Nicodemus asked, putting some salad into his mouth. "Having girl problems?"

"No," Dustin said immediately. Monty said nothing, and the older ratmorph glanced at him.

If truth were told, they both seemed a little suspicious. "So how are you and the girls getting along?" he asked, looking still at Monty. Dustin didn't answer immediately, stuffing his face, and the silence on both of their parts only increased his worry. "Have they been hitting on you two, as well? Do they smell funny?"

"No," Monty answered. "Just distracting." Nicodemus didn't say anything to allow for the younger ratmorph to continue. "It's like whenever they're around me?s, it's that they're really interesting to the point of distraction. They smell nice. Different, but nice." Glancing at the Labrador, he saw confirmation, but Monty wasn't finished. "Not like Tess or Dalila would let me go for them."

"What makes you say that?"

"I'm a rat. They're dogs. Bitches don't go for rats. Doesn't happen."

"You might be surprised," Nicodemus said, thinking back to yesterday and beyond.

"What do you mean?" The other murimorph had his ears cupped.

"Have you tried anything? Are you even interested in those girls, or any of them?" By his glance, he included the other two in the last question.

"Well, I kinda like Tess and Dalila," Monty said slowly. "Dalila more than Tess, though."

"Not like you're getting either," Dustin piped up, his tail wagging.

"Says who?"

"Says me!" The Labrador laughed. "Those two bitches are mine, you said it yourself they wouldn't go for you!"

"Yeah, well..." Monty scratched his ear for a moment. "Rebecca. She's really cute and perky. Has a nice laugh. I'd go for her."

Nodding, Nicodemus turned to the human while stabbing some more salad. "What about you, Mr. Flanery?"

"Me?" At another nod from his teacher, Evan flushed. "W-well... I, uh, I dunno. Uh."

"Who do you like? No pressure."

"Well," Evan decided to take a drink, perhaps to compose himself a little bit. "Uh. Well, I-I like, uh, Li-Mei. And, uh, Ruby. And, well..." he trailed off, his lips moving, but Nicodemus not quite able to hear what he said.

Dustin did, as he went wide-eyed. "Whaaaaat?"

"What?" pressed Nicodemus. "What was that, Evan?" He also looked at Dustin, while Evan started to shrink into his food.

"Leanne?" whispered the canomorph, ducking his head slightly. Nicodemus was quite taken aback himself.

Evan started babbling. "Well she's strong and tall and-and-and still very, very feminine, and whenever I talk to her she's so nice and I just... I don't know."

"So it's like that, huh?"

"What do you mean?" Evan asked in a small voice, looking over at Dustin.

"See, I just thought that we were talkin' morphs and you were talkin' humans," Dustin said in a low voice. "But if you are talkin' Leanne, why can't I talk, say, Clementine, huh? Those human bitches are hot!"

Nicodemus looked sharply at Dustin. The sable-furred canomorph was grinning widely at the flushing Evan. After he realized he was being stared at, he wilted, losing some of his bravado. "What?"

"You weren't raised in a lab, were you?" Nicodemus asked.

"No, not really," Dustin said. "I mean, I was in a barracks until I was, like, 10 but after we all got freed I was moved to a home. Why, what's up?"

The older shifted his gaze to the younger murimorph. "What about you?"

"Same here," said the piebald ratmorph. "Why are you asking?"

When the legislation came down that freed morphs, it also allowed for the creation of group homes to account for all the adolescent morphs. Sometimes what became one of the homes was the very same facilities that housed military or laboratory morphs. They were supposed to be given primary schooling up to the equivalent of human grade 8, but not all homes were created equal. Nicodemus knew for a fact that his lab education had been superior, but even so he wished he still had that wide-eyed innocence these two did. "It's nothing," the older ratmorph remarked "There are just some things labs taught you that homes never did." Breeding training first among them, he thought to himself, for better or for worse. He thought back to the pamphlet Li-Mei had dropped, his thoughts rebelling against his training.

"You know, I actually heard that there are some humans out there that do go for morphs," said Monty in the intervening silence.

Before Nicodemus could interject, Dustin broke in again. "Oh, that is bullshit," he said. "No way."

The younger rat shrugged. "S'what I heard."

"No way. No damn way."

The two were about to get into it, so Nicodemus moved them away from the topic. "What would you do with any girls, anyway? Hm?"

"Oh, c'mon, Mr. Nicodemus. I know exactly what to do with girls. You know, right? I got this. I could probably teach these two a few things, you know?" It was very much like Dustin; lots of bluff and bluster.

Nicodemus nodded, hiding a smile as he recalled when he had been like that. They still had so much to learn. He checked his watch and stood. "In any event, I should probably be going. You've given me a lot of stuff to think about. See you boys in class."

"What do you mean?" Monty said.

"I enjoy speaking with you," the teacher said, "and this little talk has helped me figure out how to teach you better. I do have to go prepare for class, so I'll see you later, alright?"

"Hey, Mr. Nicodemus?"

Nicodemus turned from getting up. "Yes, Evan?"

"Think you could... show us how to get girls? Personally?" There was something in Evan's expression he couldn't quite read. "I mean, you know how to do that, right?"

Monty nodded. Dustin didn't, but he did say: "Well, it probably couldn't hurt to get a few more pointers."

Nicodemus smirked a little, glancing back to Evan. "I think I have some expertise in that area, so sure."

"Thanks a lot!" the human said, looking relieved. The teacher got up from the table, waving good-bye. As he left, though, he heard some more curious muttering, possibly from Evan, which was followed by laughter that was just a bit nervous. He wondered a bit what that was all about. Not for too long, though. He had a class to prepare for.

In a way, it was more about adjusting an existing lesson plan for the problem that, judging by his conversations with his students, had grown a lot larger. But as the bell rung and the students started to file in, he caught a few looks on their faces. It was a wonder he hadn't noticed it before; a sort of gender-segregated nervous energy permeated the class. They were looking at each other, probably spreading rumors about who had done what with whom. A few were boldly talking to the opposite gender, but there didn't seem to be much occurring beyond that. At least, not that he could sense himself.

"Good afternoon, class," Nicodemus began, but just then the door opened and in walked Tess. Now that he was keeping track of the lines of the tension in the room, he noticed it markedly increased when she came in. Some of simple curiosity, but Leanne knew what was going on with her, and had probably told the others. "Good afternoon, Tess."

The dobiemorph held her books to her chest, grinning to the teacher. "Afternoon," she said, and grinned as she took her seat. The bell rung again.

"You're just in time. I heard you were sick, so I'm happy to see you're well enough for class, because we're having a pop quiz." Over the predictable groans, he went on. "C'mon, class. You knew we were going to have pop quizzes when I sent out progress bar updates. Take out a pencil and also last night's homework. Put that on the side, face down, and as I'll collect those while you're taking the quiz. This should be easy, so don't worry so much about it." Nicodemus passed out the quizzes and checked his watch. "You may begin."

Soon after that, Nicodemus went around collecting the homework from last night. What he didn't expect to get was a glance upward from the students, unintentionally taking a quick whiff of their scents. It seemed like he had underestimated the level of sexual tension in the room, as there were a lot of blushes and aroused smells. It was difficult to keep himself composed in the face of all that raw, untried sexuality. Taking a breath, he went back to his desk and started to grade the papers, though he couldn't help but wonder: Why were they all so horny? It wasn't just Tess. She was the strongest scent, but he got close enough to parse through everything. In the end, it only solidified his resolve to do what he planned.

"Okay, class, pencils down, tests up front." Paper shuffled, and Nicodemus went to the front of the three rows, collecting the papers. "Alright. I have some news for you," he went on, placing the quizzes on his desk. "First and foremost, you have just done your homework for the weekend." There were some relieved murmurs. "Secondly, morph students please stick around, the rest of you are dismissed."

Curiously, nobody moved. "I said you may go. I just need to speak with the morph students for a moment."

"Well, we wanna stay," said Ruby, who seemed to speak for the group.

"... Alright." No big deal, Nicodemus thought to himself. He briefly wondered why they were acting oddly, but no matter. "Morph students, I'm going to be holding a mandatory class over the weekend in the little meeting hall on the first floor, starting at 10 AM. We're going to be going over some aspects of yourselves that I don't think you've been taught yet?es, Miss Webb?"

"Can the human students come?"

The ratmorph blinked, his ears twitching. "Well, I'm not sure I would recommend you human students come or participate. Besides, it's just morph stuff?

Li-Mei raised her hand, and spoke. "What if we wanted to learn more about morphs?"

Nicodemus looked at the Asian student for a time while she slowly lowered her hand. What was her motivation? He hadn't really expected any resistance, though mostly he had banked on the students wanting to leave the class as soon as possible after a pop quiz on Friday.

"And why can't we learn about morphs from morphs?" piped up Ruby. "Wouldn't they be the best teachers of all?"

"If it's about morph biology," Evan (Evan, too? Nicodemus thought) began, but faltered as the class' attention became focused on him. However, he rallied, to just about everybody's surprise. "I-If it's about morph bi-biology, th-then it's relevant to the class."

They had him there. He was both annoyed and flattered by this. That they were pushing to learn more made him want to foster this learning experience, but at what risk? "Alright, then," he said after some quick thinking. "Regardless, I'm going to need consent forms from all of your parents as well as?

"No you don't," Ruby said. "Age of consent is 15 now. We can do this extra class if we want to." She looked at Nicodemus defiantly now, and the other humans, Evan included, showed similar resolve.

Nicodemus frowned. "I will need consent forms signed by Dr. Mullins, regardless of the age of consent," he said over Ruby's protest. "This is not a school function, it is a morph function. Your parents also need to know where you'll have gone to for a good chunk of the weekend."

"Saturday_and_ Sunday?" asked Monty.

"Yes. I believe that amount of time will allow for the material I want to cover. So, Mr. Flanery, Miss Miller, Miss Webb, Miss Williams, if you want to attend, I will need those permission slips."

"But? Ruby began, but he didn't let her get far.

"No buts. There will not be a discussion over this. Permission slips, or no entry."

The tension in the room suddenly picked up as Nicodemus locked eyes with Ruby, the darker skinned girl staring right back. Nobody moved, not even when the bell rang. Finally, Ruby looked away, sighing. "Alright."

"10 AM. I expect you all to be on time. Class dismissed," Nicodemus said immediately, and they moved from the class with a jittery air to them. For his part, he remained where he was. Then, he walked to the wall and turned on the vents.

* - *

His cell phone rang, breaking Nicodemus from his grading reverie. It was a couple hours after the end of classes, and the start of the weekend. "Hello?"

"So I just had the pleasure of signing four permission slips for a class that you're evidently having over the weekend, Nicky," groused Dr. Mullins without preamble. "Now, why is it that I'm just now finding out about this?"

"Oh, oh my goodness I'm so sorry about that, Dr. Mullins!" Nicodemus said, mentally cursing. "I've been really busy grading papers and that must have just slipped my mind."

"I thought you were just going to take class time to teach them, but I guess not. But really, it's no big deal. I just have to file some extra paperwork."

"I needed to file paperwork?"

"You didn't, but I did. Again, it's not a big deal," she assured the ratmorph. "I just need to send a memo to the board. Though I think you were supposed to file some form or other and stand before a board review, but you know what? Screw it." Nicodemus heard some typing. "There. I just sent off the memo. Board's probably going to be angry they didn't get to wave a gavel at proceedings, but considering all the forms they want me to file and I'm just glad the system's computerized."

"Yeah, well, I'm very sorry?

"So what's this class about, anyway? Li-Mei told me that you didn't say."

"Uh, w-well, it's about, uh?

"Does it have to do with that student of yours? The one in heat or something?"

"Well, y-yes. Um, in-in a broad sense you see, so..."

"Mm. So what's this called, a teaching moment or teachable moment? Okay, okay. You do know what you're going to be teaching them, right?"

"Yes. More or less."

Dr. Mullins sighed and did some more typing. "Alright, well, if you're sure," and she paused. Nicodemus didn't know if he was supposed to say something, but she kept going before he could. "I have a few more things to do, so I'll see you Monday morning. Eleven is still good, right?"

"Yes, that's fine."

"Excellent. Tell me how it goes!" she said brightly, hanging up after a few paltry good-byes. With a sigh, he went back to his grading, knowing that Tess' paper was going to be most difficult. It was tinged with her scent.