EXTRACT FOR
Medical Presentation
(Kitty Milkin)

"One last cup and we'll be all done."

Clementine doesn't like any of the other cups the cheerful woman had handed her, and she knows she won't like this one either. Her ears fold back, and she takes the cup, sniffing it suspiciously. Her nose isn't as strong as that of a Werewolf's but it's enough for her to know that this drink will be rather foul.

The blond-haired, blue-eyed graduate student works on half-shifters like herself, shifter with characteristics like animals, but present as wholly human. Sally has been fascinated with her from day one, gleeful that she managed to do tests on her unique taste buds.

Clementine has a gnawing suspicion that while the paper is supposed to focus on how different people react to the different tastes in the cups, there will be an entire section dedicated to how she had reacted to it specifically.

Half-shifters like herself are rare enough. To be able to qualify for tertiary education is even rarer.

There's no nice way to say that Half-shifters like herself are normally have lower intelligence. She tries not to be, but she knows she kind of is. She makes a lot of terrible life decisions, but she likes learning and she enjoys doing well in her courses.

"Drink up, Miss," Sally says with a baffling cheerfulness. The cup smells like chemicals and soap.

She wrinkles her nose and reminds herself that the only reason she's getting an education in the first place is because she's agreed to go to these tests. Mostly, she just subjects herself to answering weird questions on campus, though this is more involved.

Closing her eyes, she puts the paper cup against her lips and takes a big gulp, swirling it in her mouth to taste the tangy sourness. It's disgusting, but not as bad as she had prepared herself for.

"Thirty seconds, Kitten," she reminds her with a bright smile, putting the timer in front of her so she won't spit the drink out too early.

Clementine wants to tell her that calling her a 'Kitten' just because she has cat ears, and a tail is incredibly offensive. But if she doesn't keep the drink in her mouth for a full thirty seconds, she'll just have to repeat it again later.

She nods, her fur puffing in blatant displeasure. She combs her fingers through the fur on her long tail and fights against the urge to spit the drink out immediately.

"You're doing so well, Kitten. Just ten more seconds," she says encouragingly, the smile still painted on her face. "And you're done. Here you go. Thank you, Miss," she says

Clementine wonders if she's reverting from 'Kitten' to 'Miss' because she can talk again.

"That's disgusting," she says, reaching for the cup of water to wash the taste out.

"Before you do that," she takes the cup out of reach. "Fill out the answers first," she reminds her.

"Oh, yeah. Okay," Clementine flushes. She had forgotten again. Her ears fold back in embarrassment.

"That's fine, Miss. The drink tastes horrible to people with normal palates. I can only imagine how terrible it tastes for you."

She stops pouting. "It's not too bad," she smiles at the woman in front of her and preens happily when she gets her drink.

"That's the last of it, then," she smiles. "Thank you for coming in today. Give me a second while I go get your compensation," she stands and walks around the table to her side. She pauses a second and then surrenders to the urge to reach out and rub between her ears. "Good girl," she says.

Clementine wishes she were strong enough to be insulted by that gesture, but she purrs and leans into the touch instead. It always feels good to have her ears rubbed.

Sally makes a high-pitched happy noise before quickly apologizing and fleeing.

Clementine flushes. Touching someone like that is very rude, but she's used to being touched by random people. It has something to do with the way she looks and the natural pheromones that she produces. It lowers inhibitions and makes people around her want to coo at her. She's used to that too.

She shifts in her seat, trying to make herself more comfortable on the chair. Her tail makes it hard for her to sit in normal furniture. She has a special one in her dorm that has a hole in the back for her tail to come free and she can lean all the way back without putting pressure on her tail.

Sally returns a few minutes later with a tray with some pills and a bottled water alongside the envelope with her payment. The money is just something extra for her, not entirely necessary. The university is already paying for the classes and accommodation as well as a generous meal plan so she can never go hungry.

She likes having extra cash, though. She gets to buy whatever she wants to with that money.

"Can you take these please? We'll need to take a small blood sample from you in the next meeting," she says, offering her two bright blue pills on the tray. "It should taste pretty nice," she continues when Clementine continues to frown at it.

"I didn't- it didn't say anything about blood samples," she says. The studies normally have all the requirements and subsequent procedures listed. This one was supposed to be fully oral, so a lot of tasting. It didn't mention blood tests. She's allowed to reject the tests that she isn't comfortable with.

"Just a prick on your finger," Sally insists, trying to look reassuring. "We really only need a few drops. There's nothing to worry about, I promise," she says and watches her carefully as she picks up the pills and presses them to her tongue.

They're kind of sweet. Better than all the weird cups of liquid she had tasted earlier anyhow.

"There's a good girl. I'll see you next week," she says, dismissing her before she can argue about being called 'a good girl'.

Time is of the essence, though. She hurries to the bus stop to catch the campus bus that will bring her to the art facility, where her next job is waiting for her.