A few days later before brushing practice, Ms. Jones says “I have noticed a trend among you and I’m going to break you of it. So starting today and until I say otherwise. You are all doing co-ed brushing.” A few of the students grumble at those words. Cathy is unsure how to react. Ms. Jones then says “I will pair you all off.” Ms. Jones starts naming names of a male student and a female student to be paired up. Cathy sees Amber almost jumps when Ms. Jones says “Bob…” Ms. Jones glances at Amber then Cathy and says “You will be paired with Cathy.” Cathy is caught off guard when she hears her name is called. Amber looks as if she is going to say something when Ms. Jones shoots her a look to stay quiet.
Cathy and Bob set up to start brushing their tails. Cathy sits before him and even though she sees him all the time in class and at lunch. This is the first time she has been this close to him. He is a Nekos like her and is almost a head taller than she is. He gives her a weak smile and then turns around. Cathy looks down at his tail and realizes where he got his name, he has a short bobcat tail. Cathy leans over and starts brushing his tail. She must move in closer to brush it and becomes aware of his presence and how he must feel right now having a girl behind him so close and handing his tail. Her hand even starts to shake a little as she tries not to think about Bob at that moment and focuses on brushing his tail. She is brushing in almost total silence trying to stay calm.
Bob turns around when Cathy is done. Cathy looks at his face and sees he is trying not to make eye contact with her. Cathy then turns around to let him brush her tail. Cathy tenses up when she feels his strong, yet gentle hands touch her tail. She starts to feel flush knowing Bob is behind her and trying to gentle with her tail. She feels like Amber is watching them closely. Cathy then yelps and jumps a little when Bob hits a knot in her undercoat. Bob says “Sorry!”
Cathy quickly turns to face him while saying “It’s okay!” but she loses her balance and starts to fall away from him. Bob reaches to grab her arm to steady her. But Bob becomes off balance as he grabs her forearm and is pulled on top of her as her momentum pulls on him. Cathy can feel his other hand grab her breast to try to stop himself as he falls on top of her.
Bob quickly gets off her saying “Sorry” repeatedly as Cathy gets up while saying “It’s okay” repeatedly. A few of the students snicker at the situations.
They get back into position and Bob finishes brushing Cathy’s tail. Cathy can almost feel Amber glaring at her now.
Many of the students look a little bothered after practice as they get to their seats. Ms. Jones seems to give the class a few moments to settle down before starting their lesson.
Cathy is still a little bothered around lunch time. As she heads to the strays table, she sees Bob and Amber aren’t there. Cathy says to others as she sits down “Where’s Bob and Amber?”
The others stay quiet for a moment, Cathy then hears Bob say “It was one time!” Cathy looks for him and sees him standing in front of Amber while they both have their food in hand. Amber storms off and sits at a table away from the others. Bob looks at the strays table but then goes to eat by himself away from both the strays table and Amber.
Cathy can almost hear Tammy saying “Strays, such drama queens” from her table.
Cathy says to the others at the table “What was that all about?”
Taffy says “They went on a date, and we think it didn’t go too well, because Bob won’t take her out again and they won’t even talk about what happened to any of us. I guess your little stunt today opened an old wound.”
Cathy says “It’s not like we did it on purpose.”
Cathy heads to her classes after lunch and finds Bob is one of the other students already at their desk. Bob has his head in his hands. Cathy puts her stuff down at her desk then goes to talk to Bob. Cathy says “Hey” as she stands beside him.
Bob looks up at Cathy and says with a weak smile “Hey back.”
Cathy says “How are you feeling?”
Bob says “I’m okay.”
Cathy says “The others told me something went down between you and Amber.”
Bob says “I figured as much” as he looks back down at his desk.
Cathy says “I know you don’t really want to talk about it, but it might help to talk to someone. I’m all ears if you need me.”
Bob sits there for a moment thinking then says “We were both new at the school and seemed to hit off. So we went out.” Bob signs and then says “I felt like she was moving too fast and tried to slow her down.”
Cathy says “You didn’t…?”
Bob looks at Cathy and says “No. I would have if we did get to that point. It just felt like she wanted something I couldn’t give her. Both my parents were right about the whole thing. Even Ms. Jones suggested we shouldn’t go out.” Bob puts his head back down.
Cathy says “I’ll be here if you need me.” Cathy then sees Amber walk in and stare at her. Cathy quickly gets to her seat as the other students enter. Cathy is a row behind Bob and Amber is two rows behind her. Cathy can almost feel Amber staring at her.
Ms. Jones keeps pairing people up, but never lets Amber and Bob pair up. Cathy and the others start getting use to the other gender brushing their tails.
Ms. Jones asks Cathy to stay behind after the class bell has rung one day. Cathy says “Yes, Ms. Jones.”
Ms. Jones says “I’m a little worried about that knot of yours. You shouldn’t be getting them now and it seems to be in the same spot. I’m going to contact your guardians about getting it check out.”
Cathy says “Is that all?”
Ms. Jones says “Yes.”
Cathy goes to talk to Sarah about what Ms. Jones told her when she gets home.
Sarah says “Let me check it first.”
Cathy is sitting on her bed while Sarah takes a look at her tail. Sarah says “I don’t see anything in your undercoat. But still, it’s better I get you a doctor’s appointment just to be on the safe side.”
Cathy has been trying to spend time with Bob. But runs when Amber sees them together. Cathy tries to approach Amber. But stops the moment Amber looks at her with a hint of anger.
Cathy is walking with Taffy to class one day. Cathy says to Taffy “I don’t know what to do about this. I want to help him and like spending time with him, but Amber is my friend, and I can’t seem to get back on her good side.”
Taffy says “Amber will calm down in a bit and you still have me to talk to.”
Cathy says with a smile “yeah, thanks for listening. You’re a real friend.”
Taffy starts waging her tail as they walk. They walk right by Tammy and her friends. Tammy says “Hey your tail is wagging like a dog!” Taffy almost freezes in place as a few students look at her.
Cathy says “Ignore her Taffy.”
Tammy says “Taffy! That’s a dog’s name!” and starts laughing. Tammy’s friends don’t join in but look at Tammy.
Cathy can see Taffy has become completely embarrassed and looks as if she is about to cry. Cathy can still hear Tammy laughing when without warning she turns and punches Tammy in the face. Tammy is knocked backwards by Cathy’s sudden strike. Tammy tries to catch herself as she falls backwards into the lockers. The hallway becomes completely silent after the loud banging of the lockers as everyone is looking at Cathy and Tammy. Tammy looks up at Cathy with a stunned look on her face.
Cathy then hears Ms. Kayla yell “CATHY! TAMMY! My office! NOW!!!” Cathy turns around to see Ms. Kayla standing in the hallway with her hands on her hips glaring at them. Tammy immediately gets to her feet, and they follow Ms. Kayla to her office. Taffy starts to follow, but one of Tammy’s friends grabs her wrist before she gets far to stop her and wordlessly shakes her head no.
Cathy and Tammy sit in chairs across from Ms. Kayla’s desk. Ms. Kayla walks around her desk to take something from the top drawer. Cathy is surprised to see it is two brushes. Ms. Kayla stands before them and says “I want you two to brush each other’s tails.”
Tammy looks shocked for a moment and says “WHY?”
Ms. Kayla says to her “I have eyes and ears. Cathy may have escalated the situation, but you instigated the situation by teasing Taffy.”
Tammy stands up and says “My tail doesn’t need to be brushed” as she shows her tail to Ms. Kayla. Ms. Kayla puts a brush down on her desk and in one swift motion, grabs her potted plant on her desk and sprinkles some dirt on Tammy’s tail. Tammy starts yelling “My Tail! My Tail!” over and over as she spins in place.
Cathy almost wants to laugh as Ms. Kayla has managed to hit the one spot that can be the hardest to clean and brush by themselves, the base of the tail. Cathy quickly stops herself when she sees Ms. Kayla giving her a stern look.
Ms. Kayla holds the brush up to Tammy’s face to stop her. Tammy looks at the brush then takes it from Ms. Kayla’s hand.
Cathy and Tammy kneel on the hard floor of Ms. Kayla’s office. Cathy wishes she could use a pillow for her knees, but realizes that this may be part of the punishment. Cathy and Tammy start brushing each other’s tail in front of Ms. Kayla.
Cathy finds Tammy’s tail is well cared for and finds it is very soft and fluffy, not as much as Sassy’s is, but fluffier than some of Kitsunes strays. Tammy then hits the knot in Cathy’s tail causing Cathy to jump a little. Tammy looks at Cathy and says “You still have knots?”
Cathy stops brushing and says “It won’t go away.” Cathy goes back to brushing Tammy’s tail. Cathy then says while she is brushing “You’re lucky you know. You probably had your mom brush your tail and clean your ears every night before bedtime. Had clothes that have tail holes since you were born and could wear a hat when it rained. You probably knew your types and subtypes in 1st grade. Had friends always around you. Were never called a freak and felt like an outsider your whole life.” Cathy is fighting back tears at this point. Cathy suddenly finds Tammy’s tail whipped from her hands and is then almost tackled by Tammy as she hugs her.
Tammy says “I am so sorry! I should have been more accepting of you! You are outsiders among outsiders who have made a place where they would feel welcomed!” Cathy can almost hear Tammy fighting back tears herself.
Ms. Kayla takes the brushes back and says “That will be all ladies. You may head to class now.”
Cathy and Tammy stand up and say with a smile “Yes Ms. Kayla” together.
Ms. Kayla says “I will not be excusing your tardiness to class.” Both Cathy and Tammy start bolting towards the door. Ms. Kayla says “and I will be contacting your parents about this incident! All of them!” as they almost run from her office. Cathy’s eyes go wide at that last statement.
Tammy can see Cathy has the look of dread on her face as they race to class. Tammy says to Cathy “What’s your problem now?”
Cathy says “You don’t have two sets of parents. I’m going to get it doubled!”
Cathy gets to class and enters without a word. She and her teacher just exchanged looks.
Cathy’s biggest fear is getting home. She enters the house and finds Sam and Sarah at the kitchen table flaking a laptop with her parents on video call. Cathy wordlessly sits down in front of the laptop and braces herself.
Cathy’s mother yells “What’s this about you punching another student! We raised you better than that!”
Cathy says “She was teasing my friend and it was just to shut her up.”
Cathy’s mother yells “That’s no excuse! You should have walked away!”
Sarah says in a calm voice “How did Ms. Kayla punish you.”
Cathy says “She had us brush each other’s tails.”
Cathy’s mother says “How is that punishment!”
Sam says “Do you have the book Danny gave you?”
Cathy’s father says “Yes! I haven’t right here” as he gets the book out.
Sam says “turn to page 36. I think it’s the second paragraph.”
Cathy’s father flips through the book and he reads the section to himself. He then says “Oh, it seems that tail brushing became a bit of a social practice out of need for another person to help them with brushing it. It’s often a way to build bonds among Kemonomimis.”
Cathy’s mother says “Why do you need help with brushing your tail?”
Sarah says to Cathy’s mother “You try putting a brush behind your back and brush your tail bone. It’s hard to reach the base of the tail at times. That’s why Ms. Kayla uses it as punishment to build a bond between two opposing students.” she then says to Cathy “and I bet Tammy found that persistent knot of yours.”
Cathy’s mother says “What knot?”
Sarah says to Cathy’s mother “It’s why she needs to see a doctor. She seems to keep getting knots in her undercoat.” Sarah then says to Cathy “I bet you broke down soon afterwards.”
Cathy’s mother says “Broke down?”
Cathy says “There is a lot here that I wish I had had back home when I was younger and I’m learning stuff that May learned in preschool. So I just told Tammy how it felt to be me and she did apologize for teasing my friend afterwards.”
Cathy’s mother says “I am still coming to terms with our own neglect of your…um, special needs. There is still the matter of you punching this Tammy. Even if she deserved it. I hope you know you are going to get punished for that.”
Sarah says “Oh, she will. We’ll take care of that on our end. I think she had enough for the day. You guys have a good night.”
Cathy’s parents end the video call. Cathy sits there for a moment then says “What is my punishment?”
Sam says “besides the stander grounded rules. There’s nothing else we are going to do.”
Sarah says “but you best be prepared to be punished in other ways as well.” Cathy is confused by that last statement.
Cathy soon finds out what Sarah meant when she gets to school the next day. Many of the students just look at her and walk away without saying anything to her. Cathy can almost feel the anger towards her as she heads to class, but many just act like she isn’t there. Cathy is reminded of her strained friendship with Amber.
Cathy gets to class and quietly sits at her desk. The other strays don’t say anything to her. Cathy feels it is less out anger and more out of not knowing what to say to her at that moment.
Ms. Jones walks in without a word to the class. She is about to start writing the day’s lesson on the board when she stops before she touches the board. Ms. Jones sighs and then says without looking at the class “I was planning to talk about this subject in a few weeks. But Cathy kind of forced my hand.” She turns around to the class and says “I’m sure you have heard what happened yesterday and saw how Cathy was being treated this morning.” A lot of the students nod their heads. Ms. Jones says “You have probably heard this before; we are a tight community here and we take pride in our unity because it is really all we have. Right now, Cathy is being punished by the student body for attacking Tammy, one of our community. Cathy is not well known throughout the school, so her attack could be seen as a sign she has a temper or worse. Now it isn’t permanent, but for the meantime Cathy is facing an uphill battle to win the student body back over.”
One of the students says “But Tammy was teasing Taffy! Shouldn’t she get punished as well?”
Ms. Jones says “True, and Tammy will face her own punishment as well. She may not get punished as hard, but she will.”
Ms. Jones says “Do you known why many of us you the royal ‘we’ when we talk to you. It is to unite us. We may have this town, but there are pockets and boroughs of our kind in almost every major city, and it can feel lonely outside our home community. We have to hide who we are because of how some people see us outside our community. So when we say ‘we’, we say all of us to be connected to all of us. We are one community no matter where we are in the world.”
The students just look at her confused, even Cathy is confused. Ms. Jones says "If you want to be a part of our community, then start talking and acting like you are a part of our community. You are your own group within this school, you need to stand up for one another. I encourage you to be the first to speak to the other students. Let any student who acts indifferent to Cathy know what went on between her and Tammy. They’ll come around quicker. They may not know the whole story, so it is up to you to tell them. Let them know how hard it is for you at times being the outsiders in a place full of outsiders. Let them realize you need them to be open to second first impressions."
The students do look at each other and realize that standing up for Cathy may be what they need to be accepted by the student body.
Cathy can feel the students’ attitude now more than ever when she leaves her homeroom for her next class. But soon the strays start talking to the students around her. Many of the students are surprised at what they learn, but point out that Cathy still shouldn’t have punched Tammy and just called her out for her behavior. Cathy also notices the students don’t say it to her even though she is standing right there.
Cathy is walking to the strays table at lunch when she sees Tammy sitting by herself away from her normal group of friends. Cathy can see Tammy is depressed and decides to go talk to her. Cathy says to Tammy “Why are you here?”
Tammy says “I’ve been banished. My friends don’t want me around now because of how mean I was.”
Cathy looks at Tammy’s friends chatting like they don’t even see her or care about Tammy’s feelings. Cathy goes over to Tammy’s friends and says “You know Tammy knows what she did was wrong. Why don’t you at least let her sit with you?”
One of Tammy’s friends says “She’s the one who decided not to join us today. We didn’t tell her to.” Cathy recognizes the girl as one of the friends who was there yesterday with Tammy. Cathy can sense that the girl agrees that Tammy went too far yesterday. Cathy has a feeling she told everyone what happened that night and they all have been treating Tammy the same way everyone has been treating Cathy.
Cathy looks back at Tammy realizing that Tammy is also self-punishing herself for her actions to show her friends she has accepted their view of her. Cathy turns back to the group and says “Then at least leave space open for her so she knowns you do want her back. You are still her friends, right.” Cathy walks away before anyone can say anything. Tammy’s friends look at each other, then two girls scooch apart to make an empty space for Tammy.
Cathy starts heading to the strays table but stops. She can see the table has a spot opened for her. She thinks for a moment, then goes to sit with Tammy. Tammy looks to be caught off guard once again. Cathy says “If you are going to be punished then we are both going to be punished together or at least let me show them there is no hard feelings between us.” Tammy wordlessly agrees with her. Cathy then says “And sorry I punched you, I should have just called you out for it.”
Tammy says “I probably wouldn’t have shut up if you did.”
Taffy looks at the other strays. She then gets up and goes to sit next to Tammy. Then to Cathy’s surprise Bob comes over and sits next to her with a smile on his face. The other strays look at Amber who is showing no signs of movement. The other strays stay put.
Meanwhile, Ms. Jones watches with a smile from the faculty lounge that is just above the student’s lunch area. Once of the other teachers says to her “What are you doing?”
Ms. Jones says without looking away “Just watching my students teach everyone a lesson.”
The teacher says “What?”
Ms. Jones says “Every few years the students need to be reminded how hard it is for us on the outside and why we work so hard to accept outsiders into our community.”
The strays’ actions are starting to work as the days pass and more and more students seem to be coming around. Amber doesn’t help defend Cathy, but she also doesn’t hinder Cathy’s defense in any way.
Then one day as Taffy is walking towards the strays’ lunch table, a group of students start calling her over. Taffy looks completely confused and doesn’t know what to do. The other strays motion her on and Taffy joins the other students. Cathy can see that the group looks to be mostly Inus who happily accept Taffy and start talking to her.
Later Taffy tells the other strays what happened. Taffy says “apparently tail wagging isn’t as rare as I thought. Many of them did it as children and were taught how to control it at an early age. They gave me tips and tricks on how to control it and even helped me when I started wagging when I was with them. I mean you all do help, but it felt better when I was able to control it around them. They also say that they don’t care if I have dog’s name, I am me, that’s all they care about.” Taffy then turns to Cathy and says “oh, and they said they all would have beaten Tammy up if they had heard what she was saying about me. They said Kitsunes and Nekos don’t know what it’s like to have a natural behavior be associated with their bodies.”
Cathy says “Well people use to think I would act like cat when I was younger and my ears do dip when I’m sad or mad.”
Tammy returns to her table after a few days. Cathy is happy to see Tammy back with her friends. Though Cathy does see Tammy glance at the strays table from time to time.
Cathy doesn’t show up to class the next day, Ms. Jones can sense her students worry, so she says “Cathy had a doctor’s appointment today. She will be back tomorrow.”
Meanwhile, Cathy is sitting in a waiting room with Sarah. She doesn’t know what to expect so she reads a magazine on Kemonomimi news to take her mind off it. It’s an old magazine, but it’s new to her. They have styling tips for ears and tails and fashion trends in the larger Kemonomimi community.
The nurse calls her name and she and Sarah go back. Cathy finds an odd chair in the checkup room sitting next to a low table. The chair has almost no back and very low armrest. It has a small U-shape at the top of what little back it does have. The nurse says “Please sit.” Cathy has to almost hop up into the chair. The nurse guides Cathy’s tail into the U-shape slot and on to the table. She then starts twisting some nobs on the chair. The arm rests move in and lock Cathy’s hips in place. The nurse then puts some straps over Cathy’s tail to hold it down. Cathy tries to move around. The nurse says “Hope it’s not too tight. It’s just to keep you from moving while the doctor checks on your tail.” She moves some mirrors around to where Cathy can see her tail lying on the table.
The doctor walks in as the nurse is finishing up. The doctor says “So I see we have a persistent little knot that we need to check on.”
Cathy says “Yes, it hurts every time my tail gets brushed.”
The doctor says “Well then let’s find out why it’s keeps happening.” He walks around behind Cathy and pulls out a comb. He says to Sarah as she gets on the other side of the table “About where would you say it is?”
Sarah says “About here I think” as she points to a spot on Cathy’s tail. She then says to Cathy “Is that about right.”
Cathy checks the mirrors and says “I think so, I can’t really tell since it causes me to jump.”
The doctor says “That’s okay” as he starts slowly combing Cathy’s tail. He performs small strokes as he combs her tail. Cathy feels a tug on her hair, but not the pain when someone pulls on the knot. The doctor says “There it is.” Cathy looks in the mirrors and sees that part of the comb’s teeth have detached themselves from the main part of the comb and are now sticking in her tail. Cathy then sees the doctor move a light over her tail and adjust it to a fine point right over the comb’s teeth. He then puts on a magnifying visor and pulls the combs teeth out of her tail. He starts thumbing through her tail’s undercoat. The doctor then says “Ah, there’s the problem.”
Cathy says “what is it” as she tries to twist around but can’t with her hips locked and her tail being held down by straps.
The doctor says to Cathy “It’s just a scratch on your tail. The knots are the dry seepage, and the brush reopens it when it pulls on your hair.” He looks at her tail again and says “I’m going to shave the undercoat around the scratch to give it some room to heal and give you a soft tip brush to use for the time being.”
Cathy says “Shave!” She fears people seeing a bald spot on her tail and what they will think.
The doctor says “Don’t worry. I’m an expert at these things. No one will notice.” He gets some combs and parts her hair away from the scratch, but not the undercoat.
Cathy then sees him take out a very fine electric razor and proceed to shave around the scratch and only shave her undercoat.
Cathy swears she can feel a draft of cold air on the skin of her tail when she steps outside and checks her tail to see if she can notice where the shaved spot is when she gets in the car. Sarah chuckles a little. Cathy says “What?”
Sarah says “You’re acting more like us every day. I mean would you have been worried about if people saw a shaved spot on your tail before you came here.” Cathy thinks about it and realizes that she probably wouldn’t or be afraid of people teasing her about it. But now she is more worried about what her friends will think and ask if she’s alright when they brush her tail.
One day while Amber is walking through the hallway by herself, she overhears some students talking about how the strays are working so hard to defend some who doesn’t even know the basics. Amber grabs the student by the shirt collar and says “Now you listen here! We are trying to learn your ways! We are trying to fit in! We…We…want to be a part of something. We…We…want to feel loved by people other than…our family. We just want...”
Amber is almost in tears at that moment when she thinks about what her new friend is going through and how much she misses them. How they were better than her old school friends. She thinks about how Bob rejected her after their date, not because he didn’t like her. But because he didn’t want to hurt her like the boys back home did. How he has been firm with her and been true to his word. She realizes she’s pushed Cathy away because she was jealous of the fact that Cathy was better at putting others’ needs and feelings before her own and how Bob needs someone like that. Amber let’s go of the student’s collar and starts to cry.
The student hugs her and says “We didn’t know how hard you’re trying. You are doing the best you can.”
Ms. Jones lets the students pick their own brushing practice partners again. Cathy sets up her mat and sits down when Amber sits down in front of her. Amber doesn’t make eye contact. But Cathy and her start brushing each other’s tails without a word. Cathy says to Amber without looking at her “I miss my friend.”
Amber says “I missed you too.”
A few days later, Ms. Jones starts to write the day’s lesson on the board when Ms. Kayla walks with Tammy behind her. Ms. Jones says to Ms. Kayla “Yes?”
Ms. Kayla says “Do you have room for a temporary student?” Ms. Kayla steps aside to let Tammy step up.
Tammy barely looks at anyone as she says “My uncle Thomson reminded me that my grandma was a stray and that I should learn more about what they go through.” Cathy wonders if she is talking about the first real Kemonomimi she met we she got into town.
Ms. Jones smiles and says “You are welcome to sit in for a day or two” as she motions to an open desk in the back. Cathy can almost see the other Kitsunes in the class look excited to have Tammy in class.
Sure enough, right before brushing practice, the Kitsunes do a quick game of rock paper scissors to see who will be paired up with Tammy. Tammy gets all of them to sit around her after she realizes they want to learn how to get their tails to be as fluffy and full like hers. Even the guys want to learn.
During the lesson, everyone is surprised when Tammy can’t answer a question, even Tammy herself.
The next day Ms. Jones says to the class “as much as some students would like to be Tammy’s partner, I have decided to choose Tammy’s partner today.” A few Kitsunes let out an audible sound of defeat. Ms. Jones then says “Tammy is here to learn what you go through. So today she will be partnered with Taffy.” Taffy does a double take. Cathy then realizes that Tammy teasing Taffy is what started this whole mess and that Tammy hasn’t really apologized to Taffy. She did that one day at lunch, but it felt half-hearted at best.
Tammy and Taffy set up. Cathy can see Tammy doesn’t have much experience with brushing short tail. But Cathy also sees Taffy is sitting very still and holding her tail still.
Cathy looks at Amber who is her brushing partner and they both seem to have the same idea on their minds. Cathy gets up and whispers something funny in Taffy’s ear. Taffy tail starts to wag in Tammy’s hands and Tammy struggles to brush it. The students chuckle at Tammy’s predicament. Ms. Jones glances at Cathy for a moment but doesn’t say anything. A student next to Tammy and Taffy then shows Tammy how to get Taffy to stop wagging her tail.
Taffy settles down after the student pulls on her tail and Tammy goes back to work. Cathy and Amber both know Tammy is going to finish with Taffy’s tail soon. So, Amber gets up and whispers something funny in Taffy’s ear to get her tail wagging again. Tammy struggles for a moment then pulls hard on Taffy’s tail causing Taffy to almost jump up.
Tammy says “Sorry!”
Taffy says “You just need to give it a quick tug, that’s all.”
Tammy says “I can now see why you were embarrassed about it, seeing how hard it can be to control. I’m sorry I teased you about it.”
