“Maybe they’re trying to get on your good side?” Carly asked, “To make you not want to defeat them?”

“Why is my sister the voice of reason?” Larry asked, “That was supposed to be me.”

“You want to be the voice of reason, Larry?” Carly asked, “I’d like to see you try.”

“Why did you get all the good traits?” Larry asked.

“Because you’re the tamer, Larry,” Carly said, “You got the secret trait. Oh, you better show Vernon that book that your familiar Luxius gave you for your last birthday. I think he’ll get a kick out of it. Wait, Vernon, did you meet all of Larry’s familiars?”

“I don’t believe I have,” I said, “How many do you have, Larry?”

“I only have a few right now,” Larry said.

“A few?” Carly asked, “You have 5.”

“5?” I asked.

“He got his first familiar at age 4,” Carly said, “That’s Luxius, the blue Phoenix.”

“I thought Phoenixes only came in red,” I said.

“Most of my familiars are mixed of two other magical species,” Larry said, “But I don’t think that Luxius is included in that group. I just don’t know what his other parent would be, because he still only has fire and rebirth as his main powers.”

“What are their names?” I asked. Larry blushed and his face.

“They all start with the letter ‘L’,” Carly said, “So we just call them his L Gang.”

“Lunaria, Lexi, Luther, and we already said Luxius,” Larry said, “And you met Lacey.”

“Yeah, Lacey jumped into my pocket already,” I said, “What are the others?”

“Lunaria is a nine tailed fox and star fox mix,” Larry said, “Lexi is a shadow ferret and a fire ferret mix. Luther is a light serpent and a water serpent. Luxius as mentioned before is a blue Phoenix. I’m not sure if he’s mixed like the others, but his powers are those that a typical Phoenix has: fire and rebirth.”

“It’s like you’re collecting only the shiny monsters,” I said, “What a collection.”

“And that book Carly mentioned is like the book of monsters,” Larry said, “But I don’t know why only the mixed ones like me so much. I tried to tame a terra bunny, but it run away as soon as it could smell me.”

“I think I want to see this book, Larry,” I said.

“I’ll show it to you when we go on our date,” Larry said.

“Hey, why don’t you ask your parents if you could sleepover, Vernon?”  Carly asked.

“Larry came to my house in the middle of the night,” I said, “So, Dad knows that Larry is my boyfriend and that his older sister is named Carly. I don’t think it would be allowed.”

“There’s no harm in asking,” Carly said.

“Says you,” I said. I took my phone out and texted my Mom about it. She replied “That works out, your Dad and I could use some alone time.” I looked over at Carly. “They said it was okay.”

“Okay,” Carly said, “I can take you home and pick up some clothes for tonight and tomorrow, if that’s alright.”

“It’s fine with me,” I said.

“I just don’t want to walk in on you two,” Carly said, “So, if you do decide to do anything nasty, please do it in Larry’s room.”

“We just got together, Carly,” I said, “And he was my first kiss.”

“Really?” Carly and Larry asked in unison.

“Yes,” I said, “Larry is also my first boyfriend and the first person I ever dated. The only thing he missed out on being of my firsts was my first crush, but that was on a girl named October.”

“Your first crush was a girl?” Larry asked.

“Your first crush was named October?” Carly asked.

“The answer is yes to both,” I said.

“So, you weren’t joking about being bisexual,” Larry said.

“Why would that be a joke?” I asked, confused.

“Bad choice of words,” Larry said, “I just assumed because you chose me over my sister that you were more towards liking the male side.”

“I can be bisexual and lean more one way or the other,” I said, “Being bisexual doesn't mean that I like both genders equally, it just means that I like both genders. If I liked more than one person at a time, I feel like that would be worse. I don’t think I could handle that and a lot of people see that as cheating, even if you identify as polyamorous.”

“Which way do you lean, then?” Larry asked.

“I lean more towards the sea,” I said, evading the question.

“You what?” Larry asked.

“He doesn’t want to answer you, Larry,” Carly said, “Maybe you should just let it go.”

“I’ll tell you when I’m ready,” I said, “Today is not that day.” The teacher led us back to the school just 5 minutes before the bell was going to ring to end the school day.

“Unfortunately, next week there’s going to be a test,” Miss Green said, “The principal makes me give a test every two weeks, even though you kids don’t learn much in this class. The tests are typically on statutes that we’ve walked past or places that we’ve walked through. They are multiple choice, but the correct answer is obvious, or at least it should be. Have a nice weekend, but don’t do anything too crazy.”

“We won’t,” half the class said in almost perfect unison. The bell rang and we left. I went back into the car with Carly and Larry. They dropped me off at my house. My parent were sitting on the couch cuddling.

“Hey, I have to pick up a few things,” I said. They both turned towards me and smiled.

“Have fun,” Mom said.

“I didn’t really want to approve,” Dad said, “But your Mom made a good point. You need to have some fun time with friends. Just don’t do anything stupid.”

“No promises,” I said, “Mom understands.”

“He’s mostly got my personality, Goro,” Mom said, “But he has your love for cooking, your hair color, he can transform into a dog, and he’s  got your wit.”

“But he just said that he can’t  promise to not do anything stupid,” Dad said.

“Yeah, like me,” Mom said, “But I don’t think he’s stupid enough to do anything like that without protection.”

“Estelle, you do realize that you’re saying something very contradictory about our son, right?” Dad asked.

“He’s smart enough not to promise not to do anything stupid,” Mom said, “I think that’s a win in my book. He at least realizes that teenagers do stupid things.” I wanted to hear more, but decided against it. I went to my room and grabbed some stuff to take with me to their house for the sleepover. I went back to the living room as soon as I had everything packed.

“See you later,” I said.

“Wait, Vernon,” Dad said, “Do you have anything else you want to tell us before you go?”

“Larry and I got invited to a ghost Gala,” I said, “It’s tomorrow night at 8 pm. They didn’t list when the party will be over, but I’m sure it wouldn’t be too late.”

“Excuse me?” Mom asked, “Why didn’t you tell us?”

“Because I didn’t want to ruin your alone time,” I said, “It’s at the school, so maybe you should pick me up from there? Oh, wait… They teleport people, so maybe where we get taken from would be better?”

“Give Carly your Mom’s number if you don’t know where you will go back to,” Dad said. “She seems like a more reliable source.”

“Okay,” I said, “I will.”

“Stay safe and have a good time, Vernon,” Mom said. “Dad and I will try to make you a younger sibling.” I didn’t need to hear that. I opened the front door trying to ignore that part.

“Estelle, he doesn’t need to know that,” Dad said. I closed the door and sighed. Are they serious about having another child when Dad just got back from being missing for 10 years only a few days ago? I got into Carly’s beatle.

“So, what do you guys want to do about dinner?” Carly asked.

“Whatever Vernon wants,” Larry said, “He’s the guest.”

“I could make it for you, if you don’t mind showing me the ingredients and such?” I asked.

“But you’re the guest, Vernon,” Carly said, “You shouldn’t have to cook for us.”

“But I want to,” I said.

“I think you should if you really want to,” Larry said.

“I do,” I said.

“That’s fine, I guess,” Carly said, “I was just hoping for some take out, because we don’t have it often.”

“I’ll make something even better,” I said. Carly chuckled.

“What made you laugh, Carly?” Larry asked.

“I suddenly remembered something that our cousin Nancy said,” Carly said, “She was talking about making something better, but she was talking about making baby clothes instead of buying them as her cousin on her other side is expecting a baby. Don’t you get any ideas about that, either of you.”

“No promises,” Larry said. I turned to stare at Larry.

“Larry, you numbskull, Dad would be super disappointed to hear that you even thought about it,” Carly said.

“I didn’t,” Larry said, “I just said that I wasn’t making any promises about it.”

“Larry, you’re a freshman in high school,” I said, “I don’t think you understand the repercussions it would have on me if you got me pregnant while you were still in high school. I’m about 2 years older than you.”

“No, I’m not,” Larry said.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“My birthday is October 3^rd,” Larry said, "And I'm a Sophomore, so if anything, I'd be a year or less younger."

“Mine is August 12^th,” I said, “So, we’re about 2 months apart… But isn’t Carly 2 years older than you?”

“She is,” Larry said, “But she got held back a year.”

“We’re here,” Carly said. “Please don’t do anything stupid.” I grabbed my bag, and we all went into the house. Larry grabbed my arm and dragged me to what I assumed was his room. Before I could utter a word, Larry’s lips pressed against mine. His one hand grabbed my waist, the other touched my butt. My arms went behind his neck, dropping my bag to the floor. I could faintly hear Carly laugh from the hallway, but dismissed it. By the end of our kisses, something felt weird inside my chest. As a flat chested trans guy, some other trans guys would say that I’m lucky, but knowing myself, and the fact that I knew that I wanted to have children, it felt like a problem that hasn’t even started yet. But enough about that, the weird feeling in my chest. It was like a flower bloomed in it, like something happened that shouldn’t have happened. Larry looked at me wide-eyed.

“Did I?” Larry asked, “Did I just tame you?”

“You what?” I asked.

“Wait, can Wolf Spirits even be tamed?” Larry asked.

“Larry, unfortunately I think the page that was supposed to speak of Wolf Spirits was the one that was coated in jelly,” a voice I never heard before said, “Your ancestor and my grandfather had many great adventures together, so I know for certain that Ivan North tamed every creature possible, including a Wolf Spirit. The only problem is that I don’t trust that jelly. It smells like it is mixed with a teleportation spell, and maybe a few too many drinks.” Larry looked up at his ceiling, so I did too. Up on a beam was a blue Phoenix, maybe it was Luxius?

“Luxius, come down here,” Larry said confirming my thoughts. “This is my boyfriend, Vernon Daniels. I told you about him, right?” The blue phoenix flew down and landed on the floor Larry’s bed.

“Hello, fellow familiar,” Luxius said, “It’s always nice to see a new face. I don’t think I’ve ever heard of a tamer taming his partner before, but I’m sure that he won’t use his taming powers to do something you don’t like, unless you upset him. I also don’t think you’ll be able to break up if you’re in a relationship with your tamer.”

“How would this work?” I asked.

“Typically taming only happens when certain boxes are checked,” Luxius said, “I don’t know what you two did to become like this, so I can’t help.”

“Also, why were you spying on us?” Larry asked, “You could’ve made your presence known before I kissed Vernon.”

“I didn’t do it on purpose,” Luxius said, “You just didn’t give me a chance to. I’ll leave you two alone if you’d like, but I think you know that some things shouldn’t be done and why.”

“Please leave,” Larry said, “Everyone go back to your space, I’m not going to summon anyone for a bit aside from Vernon, who I want some alone time with.” Five lights shown and Luxius disappeared. Larry sighed. My body started to feel a bit odd.

“This was a weird twist,” I said.

“Can we roll around on my bed?” Larry asked.

“Only if you promise to show me that book later,” I said.

“Yeah,” Larry said. We flopped down on Larry’s bed and cuddled. Then, he rolled on top of me and kissed me. We then made out, but something felt off again. Larry’s hands started to explore my body, but I felt almost locked in place.

“Larry, what are you doing?” I asked, causing his hands to stop.

“Can we do it?” Larry asked.

“Yeah,” I said, “But you know that’s not what I meant.”

“What did you mean, then?” Larry asked.

“Why can I only move my face?” I asked.

“That’s weird,” Larry said.

“Can you undo whatever you just did?” I asked.

“The summoning thing?” Larry asked.

“Maybe if you call me Rei it’ll undo it,” I said.

“Rei?” Larry asked, “Summon Rei?” My body got unstuck and I could move again. I immediately grabbed Larry’s hands and took them off me.

“I need you to rename me Vernon,” I said, “My old name, Rei, needs to go away. So, can you rename me like all the other familiars, but to the name of my choosing not one of your ‘L Gang’. Do you understand?” Larry nodded.

“I rename Rei Kagayama as Vernon Daniels,” Larry said, “Kagayama Rei is now Vernon Daniels.”

“Is that how it works?” I asked.

“Usually,” Larry said, “But I don’t know if I can change it again when we get married.”

“Who said that I’m going to change my name when we get married?” I asked, “Also, what were the other’s names before you changed them?”

“Luxius was Orion Luxius,” Larry said, “Lacey was Pokey, Luther was Orphebit, Lexi was Sofia Lexus, and Lunaria was Lunar Eclipse.”

“Oh,” I said, “Did any of them choose their name?”

“No, only you, Vernon,” Larry said.

“That makes me feel a bit more special,” I said.

“I’m surprised that you didn’t find any of their earlier names funny,” Larry said. “I laughed for six days when I found out Luther’s real name before I renamed him Luther. And with Lacey, I felt bad for her.”

“Now try to unsummon me again,” I said.

“Vernon go back to your space,” Larry said. My body tensed up again and I couldn’t move, except for my face.

“It works now,” I said.

“Vernon, I summon you,” Larry said.

“How does telepathy work anyway?” I asked.

“You think the words ‘I want to connect to Larry’,” Larry said, “Or at least that’s what I think when I want to speak telepathically to one of my familiars. And then you just think what you would want to say to me. You might even be able to talk to my other familiars telepathically. Lacey and Lexi do it all the time. One time, I overheard Lexi tell Lacey that Lacey needs to stop giving her nightmares due to taking them from me. I used to wonder where my nightmares went when I met Lacey, but if she gives them to others, it’s problematic. I used to have nightmares for years until I met Lacey.”

“Lacey gave me your nightmare last night,” I said.

“Unfortunately, yes,” Larry said, “Now try to communicate telepathically with me.” I thought “I want to connect to Larry” and stared at him. Then, I thought “did you really think this would work?” Larry just stared right back at me, not a word or noise or anything. Then, I thought “I think I’ll make some tuna casserole.” Still, nothing.