Room 232 - Tuesday Afternoon

[onlyajones]

It had taken some getting used to being a pug but Jo was finding that it wasn’t really that bad, the hardest part she found was being patient and not being able to do a lot of things but she was very glad Libby had been taking care of her for the past week.

At the moment Libby was in class and Jo was resting comfortably on a blanket in her room and half dozing, waiting for Libby to come back and she’d have someone to play with.

(Libby’s room modded with permission, for Libby but can be open)

Comments

[outofthequiver]

Yes, unlike some people, Libby knew what a risk it was to bring transformed classmates and friends around with them everywhere, and she'd never forgive herself (nor did she think Jo would ever forgive her, either!) if she'd inadvertently exposed her to a public transformation back! So she felt bad about sequestering Jo away in her room so much this past week, but hopefully she understood that it was really best that way.

Besides, she was more than happy to fill her be-pugged friend on what she missed in their mutual classes and otherwise take care of her. It was kind of nice, in a way, especially in alleviating some of the loneliness that came with Vi spending a lot less time in their room these days.

Jo was very well-behaved as a pug, too, which helped. And wasn't really that surprising. But, either way, Libby had come back from class with some food and greeted Jo to let her know.

"Are you hungry, Jo? I've brought lunch."

It was leftovers from a casserole she'd made the other day, with a lot of things that seemed suitable for both dogs and humans, the soft of thing Jo had been eating a lot of, because while Libby knew some foods wouldn't be good for dogs, she just couldn't bring herself to feed her friend straight up dog food, either! Not in a million years!

[onlyajones]

Jo hadn’t minded spending so much time in Libby’s room, she would especially be grateful that she had less risk of turning back in public as a result and completely humiliating herself like that.

She perked up a lot at the mention of food and stood up, shaking herself and she wandered over to Libby, curious to see what the food she had brought with her and looked quite excited when she realised it was casserole.

She barked in approval.

[outofthequiver]

Libby smiled at that, fighting the urge (as she had to do many, many times over the past week!) to just reach down and scratch Jo's head between the ears. Her father really was right, she'd never met an animal she didn't want to make into a pet, and apparently, that went for friends turned into animals, too!

But since it was her friend, and that seemed a bit awkward if you thought about it, she held back the urge and just went to the desk to get the bowl ready for Jo, all the while filling her in on what she missed in Library class. Finally, she set one bowl down on the floor for Jo, and then went to sit down, cross-legged, on the floor with her and her own bowl.

"After lunch," Libby said, "did you want to risk a walk? It's probably pretty quiet up on the roof right now. Did you know that we can even go up there? I didn't, until Charlie had a jam session up there last week. But we can stay here and read some more, too. I'm dying to know what happens next!"

Reading outloud had seemed a good way to pass the time while Jo had been a dog, and they had definitely left off at quite the cliffhanger last time!

[onlyajones]

Jo hadn’t known that you could go up there, she wagged her tail and barked enthusiastically at that suggestion as she went over to her bowl.

Even though a walk did sound lively, she also wanted to listen to what happened next in the story that had been quite the cliffhanger that it had finished on, she barked quite enthusiastically several times to show her approval that that was the option she wanted to go with.

[outofthequiver]

"Well," said Libby, who did not possess nearly as much ability to understand animals as others may have had, and therefor wasn't entirely sure what exactly Jo meant with all that barking, "we can see how we feel after lunch, maybe."

Maybe they'd be so full, they'd only want to take a nap, but, of course Libby rarely ate so much that she'd feel so stuffed. Everything in moderation, after all!

[onlyajones]

There was another enthusiastic bark and Jo leaned over her bowl to start eating and then a few moments later Jo was back to normal, kneeling naked over the bowl.

“Oh,” she blinked a bit when she realised what happened and looked over at Libby in confusion.

[outofthequiver]

"I think," Libby was saying, poking around her casserole a little to pick out her favorite parts to eat first, "you would have enjoyed the movie we watched today in class, it was historical, and--"

She cut off when she looked back up to see that Jo was no longer a pug, blinked as her brain took a moment to process what she was seeing, immediately felt terrible for processing it, and threw her eyes swiftly upwards toward the ceiling as she felt a rush of heat filling her face.

Boy, it had been a while since she had reason to inspect that ceiling so closely.

"Oh, well!" she declared with an awkward chuckle. "It's a good thing we weren't up on the roof, huh? Are you..." She was tempted to look back just to check on Jo, but kept her eyes up all the same. "Are you okay, Jo?"

[onlyajones]

Jo was bright red now and she sat herself up, trying to cover herself as best she could, “oh my gosh could you imagine if I had turned back up there? It would have been quite awkward,” she laughed nervously.

“I think so?” Jo blinked a bit, looking around for the blanket that she had been laying on earlier, “that was rather peculiar being an animal for so long,”

[outofthequiver]

"It's just wild, isn't it?" said Libby, laughing a little herself, to hear Jo laugh, too, nervous as it was. "Who'd've ever thought we'd turn into animals one day? And you're lucky, when I turned back after being a lamb, it was at the Magpie Emporium! Thankfully, Vi was able to help me out..."

Speaking of which...

"Would you like to borrow clothes?" she offered, setting aside her food and pushing herself up to her feet, which was an awkward affair, as she kept her eyes tactfully on the ceiling the whole time. "Or we can just bundle you up in a blanket and I'll scout the hallway to make sure the coast is clear to get you to your room..."

[onlyajones]

“This definitely wouldn’t have happened at my old school,” Jo agreed, trying to imagine what that would have been like, “I think um…I’d like to borrow some clothes if that’s okay? I’ll bring them back,” she assured Libby, she didn’t feel comfortable enough to take her chances with getting to the third floor with a blanket, even with Libby there to help her.

[outofthequiver]

Libby smiled a little at that, figuring that was what Jo would go with, especially since Libby's own modest style of dress would suit Jo in a way that would be comfortable and familiar, so she rerouted to her dresser.

"No need to rush on returning them," she assured her, trying to sort through to find something looser to fit Jo better. "It's not like I'm going to suddenly need to wear all my clothes at once, or anything!"

[onlyajones]

“Thank you,” Jo said gratefully, “and for looking after me while I was a dog as well,” she added, “hopefully I wasn’t too much trouble?”

She remembered some things from the week but some of it was a bit of a blur as well.

[outofthequiver]

"Oh," Libby assured her, "you were very well behaved. It was actually nice...having you around..."

And there it was, the small twinge of realization that Jo was going to go back up to her room now, and that newfound loneliness would swing right in to take her place. So there was a moment of hesitation, and she shook her head a little to chase off those thoughts, smiling a little extra as she turned around to bring the clothes over to Jo.

Eyes politely on the ceiling the whole time.

"Here," she said, holding them out in Jo's general direction. "These should work well enough."

[onlyajones]

Jo gave a grateful smile as she accepted the clothes, very relieved for the chance to cover up.

“Oh I’m glad I didn’t cause too much trouble,” Jo told her once she had gotten into the clothes, “I know our dog at home can get into everything and cause a bit of a mess, much to mother’s dismay,” she admitted.

[outofthequiver]

"What kind of dog do you have a home?" Libby asked, turning around to give Jo a little extra privacy to get dressed. "We have two,Ruth and Boaz, but Daddy insists they're hunting dogs, not pets, and they stay outside, where there's not as much trouble to get into.

"Did you like being a pug?" she also asked. "You were very cute, you know."

[onlyajones]

“I have a purebred Beagle,” Jo told Libby with a smile, resisting the urge to add that he cost 500 pounds like she would have at Malory Towers, “his name is Duke, we have other animals like horses and other farm animals at home but Duke belongs to the family, he’s our pet,” she explained.

“It was rather exciting being a pug,” Jo considered after a bit, “it took some getting used to but I found it rather peaceful, especially when you would read stories to me,” she added.

[outofthequiver]

"I'm glad you enjoyed that, then," said Libby, her smile a little soft. Not that Jo could see it right now with her back turned, but it was probably present in her tone. "I was worried you might have thought it was silly, and you were just listening out of politeness."

[onlyajones]

Jo finished getting the last of the clothes on, feeling much better now that she was fully clothed, “it was a very interesting story, it wasn’t silly at all,” she assured Libby, “I quite enjoyed listening to it,”