He hadn’t rejected me – I realized that was the root of my fear and tension. Being rejected for who I was would be as bad as the marriage bait stuff.

He also hadn’t rejected me for telling him I was dating Kanesha. That, I realized, had been another fear.

It wasn’t like some people hadn’t stopped talking to both of us, after all. Not people I thought were particularly worth keeping around, mind, but still. It was still the case that some people didn’t want to know me any more.

Those people would never know who I was and they wouldn’t believe it if I did try to tell them. But they were there, and it still hurt. And the Gay and Lesbian club was now telling me I had to call myself a lesbian.

How could I when I still liked boys? It was less important than the other stuff, but it still niggled at me, as if there might be something wrong with me. Worrying about that given I wasn’t even human was stupid, but I couldn’t get rid of it.

In lighter moments, I entirely blamed my father. His influence on my making. It wasn’t like he stuck to women. Or humanoids. Was it bestiality if you were shapeshifted at the time?

I wasn’t going to ask on that one. And I got the impression the entire horse incident was just a bit of a sore point anyway.

In any case, I had decided to mostly keep it from mattering. Mostly, but when you can’t hold your girlfriend’s hand without at least one person giving you an arch look. Usually two, one because we were both girls and one because she was black.

Well. I guess I wasn’t one to make easy choices. Bruce, though, didn’t care. Loki didn’t seem to care, although I got the impression he thought I could have whatever flings with mortals I liked same as he had.

Like it somehow didn’t count. Maybe mother felt the same way and that was why she hadn’t and didn’t dump him for the stuff he did.

Thinking about it all gave me a slight headache. I opted to work out instead, going out onto the mall and finding a quiet place that wouldn’t be overlooked, doing calisthenics in the snow.

I still didn’t really think it was that cold, but I paid lip service to the idea that it was supposed to be, and I knew it was miserable for people stuck out on the street. Kanesha and the community center had organized a soup drive for Saturday – we were going to go out and give cups of hot soup to homeless and poor people. I thought it was a pretty good idea. People could die in this weather.

Just not me. And I got some odd looks from the couple of people who did see me. They probably just thought I was hardcore, though.

The feeling of Skadi’s presence suddenly became stronger, and then I saw her. She was leaning against the tree.

“You don’t look like a giantess,” I quipped.

“I’m trying not to stand out. Care for some company?”

I nodded. The goddess of Winter, after whom Scandinavia was named, and somebody who’d brought Odin to terms. I wasn’t about to say no to her. Besides, I actually thought I would like the company.