Snake Charming

## Content Information

As the two girls left the springs, Didi was in high spirits. It was a beautiful day and she was pretty sure she’d been able to show Iva a good time, too. Never one to hide her feelings, she was openly bubbly after the events of that morning.

Iva had returned to her usual dignified calm self, but there was a lightness in her demeanor. The bikini could only do so much for a makeshift bra, and a slight cold probably dull her mood. However, her mood was a good one, a rare relaxed one.

“That was...an interesting way to start the morning.” Iva said, breaking the awkward but relaxing silence. She’s unsure how to start the conversation or where to start. It’s been so long that she left her defense completely on a whim. Should she think about the last time? Should she forget it? Didi has been nothing, but good to her. With her space, her help, and her secret.

Secret....The thought did occur to Iva that Didi doesn’t know what she is. It made her think back to those many instances Didi was sniffing around the campus for a snake that might have gotten in. Those many instances she wanted to say that the snake smell might actually be her. She was unsure if she would be accepted then, or would she be considered dangerous to someone like her or those like her. These thoughts began their spindle deep in her mind. Would a good thing like this break over something like that. Is that part of the divine curse that her bloodline is?

It wasn’t unusual for Iva to be so deep in thought. Didi had a soft smile on her face as she watched, until she saw the telltale signs of worry.

“It was really nice,” she said. “I love those springs, and it’s fun to share them with you. Maybe we can do this again.”

There was a hint of a hopeful question in the last comment.

“Since, I’m sure this won’t be the last time you’ll see me in such a mess. I wouldn’t say no to the idea. Perhaps next time, I will be a bit more ‘prepared.’, maybe with drinks. I did entertain the idea of a carafe of sangria being chilled in the snow. Now, I feel like I missed my opportunity.”

“That waterfall is cold as ice!” said Didi. “We could chill it in the freezing water. I’ll do it, you don’t have to get near the cold waterfall.”

On impulse, then, she reached for Iva’s hand. “Or, if you do, I can help you warm back up~”

“Those are both intriguing offers. . .” Iva commented, making like she didn’t notice Didi’s hand.

“However, you know me. Guarded, but reactive and adaptive. . .” She went back into usual chill disposition enough to make Didi worry, “However, if you know me well enough, then you know I like to act whatever by ear.”
Without a clear warning and smoothly, Iva took Didi’s hand, “Last one down buys lunch?”

Didi’s heart was pounding. It had just been an impulsive thing, but she found herself deeply invested in how Iva thought of her now. She tilted her head. At first she thought Iva meant wrestling, but with the ground so cold and wet, she realized it was to be a race.

She grinned. “I’ll be waiting for you at the Founder’s Statue!”

Iva wanted to protest at the meeting place, but Didi was gone before she could protest. She knew Didi would win this one, and suggested it only to treat Didi for being a good friend and maybe something more. She turned her head back to the trail towards the springs, as if looking at something or someone, “What do you think? Should I give myself another chance at this?”

She wasn’t expecting an answer, at least not a verbal one. With her inquiring prayer said, she breaks into a jog after Didi, leaving her worries for another day.

Didi had been so bursting with energy that she’d wanted to run already, she just would have felt silly. And then Iva suggested a race, and she wondered if the other girl knew her that well. She did know Didi was a werewolf…

But then Didi was running, the trees whipping by, and she was able to stop thinking, stop worrying, and just be. Powerful, graceful, fast. It was too short a run, in fact, and she took a couple of detours, just enjoying the feeling of being in her body, before she finally slowed to a human-paced trot as she reached the campus.

It took several minutes for Iva to catch up to the werewolf, she actually had to wait for the bus. “ “I was hoping to meet you on the bus back to campus. Ah, well. I’m treating you to lunch.” Iva seems little better warming up to the bus’s heater. “Also, I probably should talk to you about something on the way back to my place, for a change of clothes.”

Didi nodded, recalling the bus only now. With Burgundy they’d always just hiked up to the various springs. And she had been excited. Iva didn’t seem too exasperated at least.

“Sure, what’s on your mind?”

“Walk with me.” Iva walked with Didi to the apartments. It was until they were near her apartment before she spoke , “I know what you are, and I was pretty cool with it. I…” She paused, “I never told you why, did I?”

With a swallow, Didi turned to look at her, brows slightly knit. “You were wonderful. You were the first person who found out and it meant so much that you still wanted to be around me.” Her blue eyes were searching. “There was a special reason?”

Iva turned the keys to the apartment house and opened the door. “Well, yes...maybe. It was nice to have someone with just the same concerns as me. I have been nervous about people knowing too much about me because I was hurt before, and I didn’t want to be forced to fight others just because I was different. “Turning on the lights to the first room, Iva walked through a modestly furnished, but small living room. It had a stack of packages from home on the corner, still open haphazardly with products from her mom’s business. “Mostly, because I don’t like it when I have to.” Iva never liked how good it felt to retaliate, but she won’t say that.

She wanted to pause this conversation. She wanted to wash out of her dreads from the hot springs, change clothes, go out for lunch with one of her few friends. It was taking everything in her to do this, so she was gauging Didi’s reaction to her words.

The werewolf still didn’t understand what Iva was trying to tell her, how literal or metaphorical she was being, but she could tell that it was difficult for her -- and it saddened her to hear that Iva was carrying this hurt and trauma.

She stepped forward to throw her arms around Iva and hold her close.

“I’ll never let anyone hurt you if I can help it,” she said, resting her head against Iva’s. “And it’s okay if you have secrets, and it’s okay if you don’t want to -- if you’d rather --” She paused. “I’m here for you no matter what.”

The hug felt...warm, like Didi. It was comforting. This could just end like this. This blind acceptance that would give her more comfort than her first year of discovering herself and what she truly was. “‘No, it’s only fair that you know, at least.”

With that, Iva gently pushed Didi away and stepped away from her. Her hand moved toward the fasteners on her pants, undoing them. As the pants fell away, the change happened. Her lower body quickly shifted into a single snake form, the scales appeared...and lastly towards her face. Her drenched dreads became like snakes that pointed towards Didi, staring cautiously before shaking the water off their skin. Iva’s eyes were lowered, but the golden schera peered between her partly closed eyelids. Her shirt bulged a little from in her true form, but it could be the awkwardly fitting bikini top.

It was not the revelation that Didi expected when Iva had reached to unfasten her pants, and she caught herself staring at the scales that rippled across Iva’s skin, at the fusing of her legs.

Then her hair changed, and Didi was taken aback, seeing all those little faces peering at her. But most of all it was Iva’s face that interested her -- Iva’s true face.

“You’re beautiful,” she said, first, in a dreamy, distant tone, then she blinked and leaned forward. “Are you a weresnake!? All those times, I thought I smelled snake! And today…” She blushed just a tad, remembering Iva’s taste. This explained the tongue, too.

She started reaching forward, but paused when she caught the interest of a headsnake and looked to Iva for guidance.

Iva waited for a moment while her eyes closed, gauging Didi’s reaction with the snakes of her head. They stare curiously coxing their head at the wolf before they settle down, “Close. The official term is Gorgon. Yes, I smell like a snake for...more reasons than having a pet and other things.” There was a sheepish grin at that remark, thinking back when Iva kissed Didi this morning.

With her full confidence, Iva finally looks at Didi, touching the one of the snake's head, stroking it. “Don’t worry, they won’t lash out if I’m relaxed, though they have their own little niches. One of them doesn’t like to stay as part of my hair sometimes.” Iva approached a little closer, being careful and allowing the other snakes to smell Didi for them to disarm themselves.

The thing that most impressed Didi was Iva’s confidence in that moment, approaching with a hypnotic, fluid motion. Seeing her pet a headsnake made Didi smile. “I can’t wait to get to know them,” she said, her awe evident in her voice. Their little tongues were darting in and out as they took in her scent. It was disconcerting, the sheer number of them, but it was cute, too. They were cute.

And Iva was intense, an even more intense presence than she usually was. Didi found her breaths coming faster. Whatever she’d been about to say, it wasn’t important.

“I’m glad that you’re not afraid of me. Gorgons tend to have strong bad rep. I was hunted once, so I was afraid to show most people this, saved for serious self-defense. I do have a look that could kill.”

One of the snakes bumped Didi once with its nose, it was unsure if it was affectionate, but it wasn’t threatening. Did it just sneak a chaste kiss? Iva didn’t know what to say next or noticed the snake’s sneaky action.

“I feel like I’ve seen that look,” Didi said, with a slim grin. It faded as she thought about what the other girl had said. “The only gorgon story I know is about Medusa, and that’s obvious victim-blaming bullshit.” Her brow knit and she held out her hands, palm up, for Iva to take if she wanted. “I know you, Iva. I know you’re a good person. It meant a lot to me that you stuck with me when you found out I was a werewolf, and it means a lot that you’re trusting me with this now.” She frowned. “And if any of those hunters show up--” She met Iva’s eyes. “No one will find their bodies.”

“Thanks, but I will happily say the same. However, I do want to keep the statue shattering and gravel pit donations to a bare minimum if I can help it.” Iva takes Didi’s hand, before reassuring her, “Don’t worry, it hasn’t happened yet. These next few weeks that might mean that I will have to come off as an ambitious, unrelenting bitch to protect the happiness I have short-supply. However, you know me and have seen me in that dorm like that. That makes me feel brave enough to do what is needed.“

Didi nodded, full of admiration and closeness and entranced by Iva’s beauty. Before she knew it, she’d stepped close again and put her arms around the Gorgon, leaning in to kiss her again.

Iva had responded to the kiss, giving a slight confirmation to the antics she pulled at the hot springs. Her body adjusted to Didi’s with little difficulty.. The snakes flick their tongues at the werewolf with mischief.. As Iva pulled away from the kiss, her height shrank a couple of inches, as Iva was humanlike once again. Her snakes have become dreads, and her eyes look normal aside from narrow slots around the iris, “For now, I did say the last one to the bottom buys lunch. I would like to keep that promise. Your pick?”