Talon gave him two thumbs up on his way out the door. He'd be back from work in the early afternoon. So, at least the ravenet wouldn't be alone for too long.

When Talon returned from the salon, he dropped onto the living room sofa. He placed his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands. Though he hadn't thought it through when the words came out of his mouth that morning, a day's worth of mulling it over made him regret it. How could he have suggested such a thing as to have Adain pass as his girlfriend at school?

As his best friend, a part of Talon knew he was doing the right thing. Adain needed no further attention drawn to himself while he was in his female form. But, as his secret love, Tal was only setting himself up for hurt. If only there were some way he could just box up his feelings and set them aside until they managed to get everything back under control.

"Talon, you back?" Adain called from his room. "Should we check in on Dad and Grandad?"

"Yeah, maybe they've found something out," the blond agreed.

Adain dreaded his family's teasing. He just knew that he would hear a lot of 'It's your own dang fault for trying to break through the door' complaints. As his gaze fell on Talon, he noticed that his friend seemed like he was racking his brain over something.

"Something wrong?"

It was strange for Talon to look into his friend's alternate form's dark eyes, as they were even more unreadable than his usual blue eyes. "It's something that will have to wait until later," He admitted as he returned to the front door. "Let's go."

On the drive there, the blond's mind wandered to when he first realized that his feelings for Adain weren't the kinds of feelings he should have for someone who was supposed to be like a brother to him. They had decent dates for the homecoming dance when they were high school students. Neither of them was shy about celebrating with their peers. Adain had been asked to dance by a girl in their homeroom class for two years. Aid must have seen something in her, or he didn't want her to go alone. Having no excuse to go alone, Talon asked a redheaded cheerleader, the one he least disliked.

Apparently, Talon's date wanted more than what he could give. She kissed him near one of the tables just beyond the dance floor. The redhead had skills, as the kiss was fantastic. But, despite it all, the blond felt nothing. Aid had been laughing with his other friends on the other side of the dance floor. Talon realized that he would have preferred to have kissed Adain instead.

So it was then, at the age of fifteen, Talon began to accept that he wasn't as straight as he thought he was. By eighteen, he was absolutely sure that he was bi-sexual. But, also by then, his feelings for Adain had engulfed him, and he had to grasp that he was probably demisexual. Ever since then, he had been able to keep those feelings from forcing him to make a mistake. And presently, he had to focus on breaking Adain's curse.

The blond had to come to terms with the fact that he had the most rotten luck.

Sometime later, they arrived at their destination. Talon automatically walked to the other side of his car. It opened the door to help Adain out of the vehicle. He had been brought up in a manner his parents perceived as gentlemanly behavior, including opening doors and carrying books for girls. It was all like second nature to him by then.

Aid didn't know what to think of how Talon seemed lost in thought the entire way there. When they came to a stop, Adain undid his seat belt and was about to reach for the door handle when Talon opened it for him? Oh, right…girl body.

"Just because I'm a girl right now doesn't mean you gotta do stuff like that."

"Sorry about that," Talon said sheepishly. "Force of habit."

The brown-eyed man watched Adain open the house door with his extra key and walk in. After some hunting, they found the elder Calistros deliberating in the bathroom. Yes, the bathroom...with the door wide open. One of them was in the middle of doing his business on the toilet seat. The other was seated on the edge of the bathtub.

"Contemplating how to end world hunger in there?" Talon teased.

"Ever heard of a doorbell?" Mr. Calistro shot back.

Adain did the biggest facepalm seeing his father and grandfather in the bathroom. "Are you guys even taking this seriously!?" He hissed.

"Now, now," Grandpa Calistro spoke up. "It's good that you're here. We were going to call you over in a few minutes anyway. We'll be out in a few. Wait for us at the kitchen table."

Talon shook his head with a laugh and walked over to the kitchen table as instructed.

With a huff, Aid followed behind. He slumped into the chair next to the blond. "Damn it, those two…."

The taller man raised one of his brows. For a moment, his mind supplied him with images of the young man doing the same in his usual male body, and a strange nostalgia hit him. "Hey, Aid," He murmured. "Why haven't you dated anyone since high school?" He wondered aloud. "I mean, is there anyone at the uni? Is this going to cause you trouble with someone you like?"

"What? No, not really, I guess? I just haven't had an interest in dating anyone. Besides, so far, you're the only one that has been able to put up with me for long," Adain responded with a shrug. "What about you? You haven't been in the dating game much, either."

Talon's brown eyes fell to half-mast, and a secretive smile formed on his face. "There is someone I've had my eye on for a while. But, I won't be able to do much about it until after we get you un-cursed."

"Really?" Adain said, a bit surprised. He almost felt his heart sink hearing that, but he ignored it, figuring it was probably just a strange girl feeling or something. "Your being my 'boyfriend' won't mess any of that up, will it?" He asked, putting air quotes around the word' boyfriend.'

"I honestly don't know," The blond replied. "But, I only hope that it will help me down the road. I heard that the person's very high maintenance. Nothing but trouble..." Talon let out a sigh. "All I want is to be liked back."

"Well, since you're helping me, I'll help you however I can. Alright, Tal? Not sure how much help I'll be since I don't have much dating experience. But…yeah." Adain offered, laughing a bit. "You've at least gotten plenty of practice with high maintenance and trouble." He probably got them in too much trouble in the past...but no matter how badly he screwed up, Talon was always there.

"Yes, maybe a little too much practice," The blond teased as he reached out to lightly ruffle powder blue locks. He leaned closer to whisper softly into Adain's ear. "Be gentle with me, pretend girlfriend."

Adain shook his head and flicked his friend's nose. "Don't say stupid things like that, asshole...!"

"Well, don't you two make the striking couple," Grandpa Calistro commented as he took the seat across from Adain, causing his younger progeny to blush.

"Whispering sweet nothings into my grandson-turned-granddaughter's ear, are ya?"

"Not exactly," Talon replied.

"No?" Grandpa Calistro questioned. "It's a shame. I've always wanted to adopt you as a grandson, Talon. I've just never had a granddaughter to offer you."

The 'granddaughter' in question hissed, Aid's face reddening even further. "Wait, that better not be an excuse to NOT break this curse!"

"No, but either way, you're not going to like what we have to tell you," Mr. Calistro said as he sat across from Talon. The two elder Calistros looked at each other before settling their blue eyes onto Adain.