I flopped down into a chair at the restaurant portion of the arcade. It was a small hole-in-the-wall joint, but apparently it was a favorite for younger people in this area. Briar was just grabbing some refreshments while I rested at a two-person table.

We'd played so many games over the course of the last couple hours. My arms were aching and my feet hurt, but I didn't ease any pain or discomfort because I wanted to really treasure and remember this time with my cute black jaguar Emerged. I think Briar appreciated that when I told him because he pinned me to a wall in order to kiss me senseless within a dark area.

Briar and I hadn't encountered the group of younger teens throughout our time here, so I'm pretty sure they've either actively avoided us, already left, or never came in after us. Well, they could also be waiting for the perfect chance to ambush us, too. I snorted and crossed my left knee over my right one and rested my right elbow on the arm of the chair. Regardless of what happened with those rude teens, I want to make the most of Briar's birthday and add to his very few good memories of his hometown.

"Little wolf," started Briar, setting down a drink and a snack to share. "Care to share what's on your mind?"

I looked at my green-eyed lover and cupped his jaw to kiss him as he curled down. Briar purred, then lifted me out of my chair and took my place. He set my rump on his lap and nuzzled my jawline as I draped my arms over his shoulders.

"Thank you for the refreshments, Bri."

He smiled. "You're very welcome." he replied, then pushed his right hand into my hair and guided my head closer. After I repeatedly kissed his left cheek, Briar asked, "So what were you thinking about before I came back?"

"A few things." I said in a teasing tone, recrossing my legs. Briar's eyes flashed gold for a moment, then his fingers found my nape. I shivered and arched my back as he gently stroked it. "J-just about what made you kiss me senseless earlier, that I'm gonna make sure you have a really great birthday, and..."

"And?" pressed Briar, his smug smirk curling up even more.

"And those teens. I hope we don't have to see them again, Bri."

"Why? Because they were mean and rude?"

I hummed. "That too, but we kinda deserved it for being all lovey-dove in a public space. But I was getting really upset with the way those two teens were swearing at us because they thought we were 'furries.' What the heck are those!"

Briar frowned. "I've heard the term before, but we can look it up."

"Okay," I agreed with a huff. "But I kind of want to slap that girl for being so mean towards people who might actually be the furries she was talking about."

Briar rested his head against mine while I grabbed the drink and opened the bottle, meanwhile Briar was looking up the furry thing. I sipped at the cold water and heard his grunt of annoyance. I guess he figured it out.

"It says that there isn't one definition of what a furry is, so that's obviously a blanket term that people use as a derogatory term for people who dress up as animals or like anthropomorphic creatures. I guess what people hate about them is that some individuals have used a community's hobby of liking animal characters and wearing a fur-suit to express their personality to instead encourage illegal sexual activities like bestiality through a minor sub-culture."

"So the minority of creeps are the ones that make the majority look really bad and have a terrible reputation?"

Briar nodded. "It's a shame, but thankfully we are not furries. We just became this way. Although technically you were already half wolf."

I silently agreed. "Two-thirds werewolf and one-third dragon. The other one-third from the werewolf is the human side because werewolves are half human."

"But both dragon and wolf blood are strong within in you, my cute little wolf."

I grinned and kissed his cheek, then the side of his mouth, and finally his lips. Briar smirked and petted my head, gently tugging on my wolf ears and moving them around. I pouted at him, but Briar only laughed.

"Anyway," he remarked, "I'm glad you wore the outfit Kyler and I picked out for you yesterday."

My cheeks warmed. "How could I not, Bri? You and Kyler chose it for me, and I like it when my family picks out what they want to see me wearing. It makes us all happy."

Briar's lightly tanned skin flushed red. "Good," he purred with a happy smile. "And thank you for picking mine."

My tail swished behind me as I hugged his neck again. "You're welcome, Bri."

I was wearing what Kyler called a cute punk/pastel goth style while Briar was wearing his usual stylish punk clothing. Kyler guided me with the clothing choices from Briar's bag. He had a mix of normal casual and dark clothing aside from his pajamas.

Briar has a black crewneck t-shirt that that had slightly longer sleeves with off-white drawstrings that laced his sleeves on each side and hung down. As for his bottoms, he was wearing a pair of longer shorts that had matching drawstrings at the bottoms of the hems. I also really like his matching black and off-white sneakers. And Briar was wearing a wearing a necklace that matched with the pendant hanging from my choker, which was something that turned Briar on a lot.

My own clothing was a lot more colorful. I was wearing my first crop-top. It was black with a lilac-colored collar and matching sleeve hems. But to offset it, Briar chose a black, high-waisted, suspender skirt that fell to mid-thigh. The buttons were a light purple like lilac and so was the underside of the skirt. My thigh-high socks were mismatched—one black and one lilac, then my choker was a light purple with a silver crescent moon hanging from a chain. As for my shoes, they were the same black boots from yesterday but with lilac laces this time.

I really liked my outfit, to be perfectly clear. Kyler and Briar shared the job equally, clearly enjoying the process and my reactions.

Kyler had been in awe and couldn't stop taking pictures this morning. He was already best friends with Waltz, so they were texting a lot and swapping pictures of me. It made me really happy that they were getting along so well.

"Open your mouth, my cute Ann."

I opened my mouth and Briar popped something small into my mouth. I closed my mouth and began chewing, then my tail wiggled. It's still kinda warm and crispy, and the insides are so buttery and a bit salty. I savored the small, delightful morsel for a few more seconds, then swallowed the mush.

"Tasty?" asked Briar, his emerald-green eyes sparkling with happiness.

"Yes!" I nodded eagerly, grinning away. "What was that? It was so yummy!"

Briar pulled the little cardboard box closer and had me look at the contents. There were little golden-brown cylinders heaped up inside. I curiously tilted my head, then looked at Briar.

"What are those?"

His smile faltered for a second, which really made me regret asking. But Briar brightened up again and picked one up, placing another in my mouth. While I continued slowly savoring the tasty morsel, Briar started his explanation.

"Well, these are tater-tots." he began, letting me feed him one right afterwards. He chuckled and licked my thumb and pointer finger free of the slightly oily feeling. "They are deep-fried potato bits."

"Potatoes?" I murmured. "I'm used to seeing them mashed, broiled, baked, and boiled. What is deep-frying? Is it different from frying something in a pan?"

Briar nodded. "Would you like me to see if you can watch the process of making it here?"

"You can do that?"

"I'll see if we can." he replied with a chuckle, kissing my head. "I love making you smile and laugh, and I love watching excitement and curiosity grow on your cute little face."

I giggled. "Aww, you're so sweet, Bri. Thank you, and I love you, too."

He pecked my lips and set my rear end back into the chair, ruffling my hair once before he headed back to the food place's counter. I cautiously took another tater-tot and my tail whipped behind me at high speed from the simply tastiness of the fried food. I'd never had anything like it before.

"It's just a tater-tot. Stop looking at it like you've discovered nirvana, you moron." sneered that guy from before. The girl wasn't anywhere in sight.

"I'd never had one before," I replied, then smiled while I ate the next one. "So I guess it was kind of like I'd attained nirvana, or whatever that is."

The guy snorted. "What kind of motor do you have attached under your skirt, bitch?"

I scrunched my eyebrows together. "Bitch? And what motor?"

"Since you're dressed like a dog, you must be a bitch."

Honestly, I'm impressed that I'm not upset with this kid. He looks to be fourteen and his brown eyes were filled with disgust towards me.

"Do you think I bark like a bitch or howl like a wolf?" I asked, which made the younger guy pause.

"Why does that matter?"

I cracked a crazy grin and used my magic to create a barrier, then shifted into a smaller version of my hybrid form. The kid screamed but no one could hear him. I chuckled, although it came out as raspy chuffs. Briar could see what was going on, so he leaned against the wall by the register's counter to watch as I scared the urine out of the younger boy.

"I-I'm sorry!" he cried, trembling in a ball. "I-I won't be mean anymore!"

"The only reason you could see my beloved's and my characteristics is because you and that girl are not human. Humans cannot see these characteristics. Think before you speak, you fool. Feel blessed that my teeth did not sink into your flesh or my claws through your body. Be aware of what you are about to say from now on and I shall forgive you." I whispered, my large body circling his balled form. He kept nodding and apologizing.

My current form, instead of being more than twenty-feet tall at my head, was the size of a large grizzly bear standing at its full height. Even though my size isn't as impressive, it still wasn't surprising that my appearance provoked absolute fear within him. I shifted back to my human form and removed the barrier, then the kid shakily got to his feet and probably ran off to a restroom.

The other people in the vicinity had only seen the teen talking to me, then falling, peeing himself, and then running off. To save the janitor some trouble, I used magic to subtly clean the floor. Briar motioned me over, so I closed the box with the fried yumminess and carried both that and the water bottle to his side.

Briar ruffled my hair and hugged my shoulders. "Jill works behind the counter in the kitchen. She said she'd show us around."

My eyes widened and I looked up at Jill. She hid her smile, but she seemed happy and completely fine with it. Briar took the stuff from me and then crouched down. He quietly asked to put them in my "inventory," so I allowed him that right. He looked quite amazed as his hands disappeared for a moment.

"Is anywhere fine?" he whispered.

"Just let go of it, Bri. It'll be fine."

Briar reluctantly let go and then hugged my midsection for a moment. My cute black jaguar Emerged pouted as he got back up, but he smiled brightly when I grasped a few of his fingers. We walked around the counter to get to the kitchen, then Jill began to give us a tour.

She was the manager of the restaurant inside the arcade and she's a really friendly lady. I did my best not to bother the people there, but I did peer at their work stations and grinned when I got a few chuckles out of the employees. Briar was starting to get jealous, so I hugged his arm. He relaxed a bit, then laughed when he noticed what I had spotted. The tater-tot-making station.

"Briar told me that you tried your first tater-tot here today and wanted to know how they're made." stated Jill, which made the girl at the station look up. "Compliments to the chef."

The girl smiled at me. "Did you like them?"

"Yup! They're so tasty." I replied happily, my tail wagging regardless of whether anyone saw and or felt it. "Do you make them from scratch?"

"Every morning we prep the ingredients and then fry to order." replied the girl. "Want to see?"

I nodded and hopped over to her side, watching carefully as she made the potato things. She did have me stand behind her when she put them into the fryer, but I was able to see the oil bubbling and sizzling away. It was interesting.

Briar had crossed his arms off to the side and was covering his mouth for some reason while I watched the girl do her work. Maybe it was because my ears kept perking and then moving around more than usual because of all the loud sounds in the kitchen. Or maybe it was because of the way I was hopping around the girl like a little bird. The other reason might be due to the fact that I was holding my tail so that it wouldn't smack other people and scare them while they were holding knives. But my tail reacts with how I'm feeling, so it was wriggling and moving in my arms the whole time.

"I never thought someone would come back here and see how the tater-tots are made, but it makes me happy that you were curious. Thanks for making my day." stated the girl, grinning away.

"You're welcome! I really, really liked them. Thanks for doing your job so well. It was a really enjoyable first experience." I replied, then hopped back to Briar's side and wiggled my fingers at her as a wave. She blushed and smiled, waving back at me.

After I let go of my tail, Jill escorted us out of the kitchen and thanked us for coming into the arcade. Everyone in the kitchen apparently liked our visit. I did thank Jill and Briar for the tour, which made them smile.

"You two must be non-residents here," remarked Jill. "I've never seen your faces before in town."

I looked up at Briar as he squeezed my left hand. He let out a little breath when I hugged his hips. "Well, no, but I was born here." he replied.

Jill's eyebrows shot up. "Really? When did you move?"

"When I was eight. I'm eighteen today."

"Cool. Why'd you come back here for your birthday? Reliving good memories?"

Briar weakly smiled. "A few."

Jill frowned but didn't ask anything further. She wished Briar a happy birthday and thanked us again for dropping into the kitchen. I tugged Briar back to the chair from before, so he sat down and lifted me onto his lap. I hugged his neck again, then subtly pulled out the very warm tater-tots and cold water bottle. Briar was impressed, then his cheerful mood returned after I peppered his face with little kisses.