The white t-shirt was, once upon a time, considered underwear, and accumulated the day's sweat, moisture, and salt underneath the actual shirt, which one preferred to not get dirty. Of course, times changed, and these days a white t-shirt, while still commonly used as an undershirt by people like myself, was also perfectly acceptable outerwear.

So naturally, when it came time to lend Lisa some of my clothes for our trek into the woods, what ended up getting used was a t-shirt from a pack that turned out to be a size too small for me and a pair of jeans with the hems rolled up.

"So, as a werefox, you have many useful abilities that are simply inherent to the nature of being a half-spirit," I said as we traipsed through the woods. "You can shapeshift, which you're already aware of, but you've also got a very accelerated rate of healing."

"Huh," Lisa said.

"I'm not going to help you test that, because deliberately injuring people is something I try to avoid when possible," I added. "However! Back to the point, you have some useful abilities already, but they are the bare foundation of what a druid can do with a little help. And to get that help, you need to know about spirits."

"Spirits, huh?" Lisa asked. "So why are we in the woods instead of a graveyard?"

"Well, first and foremost, you're thinking of ghosts," I said. "Ghosts are the ephemeral leftovers of a particular human life. Spirits are different. I don't fully understand the nature of spirits and the spirit world, but I do understand that spirits are often distorted mirrors of the collective unconsciousness, the current zeitgeist. So, what it means that you are a werefox is that there is something about your idea of what a fox is that resonates with you on a deeply personal level. I won't pry; if you want to share, I would be honored, but you don't have to."

"Fair enough, but I'm pretty sure it isn't anything to do with a love of nature," Lisa said. "I lived in these woods for two months. I'd really like to go back inside where the air conditioning is."

"In good time," I said. "The reason we're in the woods specifically is because tree spirits are generally fairly laid-back. It's not like anyone thinks trees are particularly aggressive, y'know. It's a safe place to experiment and try your hand at communing with the spirits. Especially since these woods in particular are just... very, very tame."

"Huh," Lisa said. "But if that's the case... What exactly am I going to get out of talking to tree-spirits? They're trees, they don't do anything."

"You might learn some spirit tricks for creating an aura of calm and serenity, or maybe get a green thumb and a sixth sense for what plants need to thrive," I said. "However, you will definitely get practice talking to spirits in a safe environment, which is probably more important for you than the ability to garden."

"Alright, so... how do I do this?" Lisa asked.

"Honestly? No fucking idea," I said. "Remember, I know what druids do, not how they do it. So... Just try shit. I'm here for moral support."

"It happened two months ago," Lisa said, without warning.

It had been a half hour of sitting here in the woods, with both of us sitting in decently shaded spots under some trees.

"It was... Heh. If I was just trans, you'd call it an egg-cracking," Lisa said. "But also... when I finally came to terms with the fact that, yeah, I'm a woman, no two ways about it... suddenly, I was a fox, too. I was a woman, and I was a fox, and I thought to myself... I don't have to live like this anymore. I can just turn into a fox and go live in the woods. I don't have to deal with my shitty parents, I don't have to deal with a shitty society, I can just... be a fox.

"I've been hungry, I've been cold, I've been shot at with brats with BB guns... but standing here, having found someone who gets it..." Lisa shrugged. "I don't regret a moment of it."

I blinked. "I... well, I wasn't expecting that, but... thank you for your honesty," I said. "I'm honored that you feel you can open up to me like this."

"...dammit," Lisa muttered. "Okay, emotional openness isn't the key to seeing the spirit world. Forget everything I just said."

I started cackling.

"Bitch," Lisa said. "Let's hear your bright idea, if you're so fucking smart."

"Remember when I said that I know what druids do, but not how they do it?" I asked. "Well, then I went and dug through my files, and I did manage to find a pdf of The New Werewolf's Guide To Werewolfing. I am assuming that some base level of mystical practice can be transmitted through text, because otherwise why would they fucking write this book. So... yeah, that's my bright idea, since I am so fucking smart."

"How am I supposed to read a PDF in the middle of the woods?"

Her phone buzzed in her pocket, from me texting her the PDF.

"...Shut up," Lisa said.

"Are you a fox because you resonate with the Japanese kitsune?" I asked. "This is important because it will tell me exactly how funny it is for me to call you a tsundere."

"Fuck you," Lisa said, in that 'you are correct and I don't like that' voice I knew so distressingly well.

I just grinned, and she huffed, turning away and pulling out her phone. The time for talking to her was more or less over, and now I could go back to dicking around on the internet.

Huh. Apparently Akane had been lying about the Washingtub thing. Well, Veronica didn't know about any of that, so I reckon I'll just spring it on her at some point.

"Well that's fucking weird," Lisa said, fifteen minutes later.

"What's up?" I asked.

"I did the ritual, and it worked," Lisa said. "I can see the spirit world, overlaid on top of ours, and I can see that this forest has resonances of serenity and life, but I can't see any actual spirits."

"Resonance?" I asked.

"Resonance is the accumulated impressions and emotions that people have with a place or a thing," Lisa said. "It's fuel for spirits, and when it gets thick enough spirits will spontaneously emerge from it, but... There just aren't any spirits here."

"Well, that's odd," I mused. "I mean, admittedly, the forest isn't a place where a lot of people go and have a lot of strong opinions, so the spirit world being anemic here makes some sense. So, naturally, we should instead be looking at places that are more heavily-trafficked, and maybe with thicker resonance."

"Like a strip club," Lisa said.

"...I was going to suggest a grocery store, because it is ten in the morning and also I do need to run some errands," I said.

"Lame. I wanna see some tits."

"Look, if the internet isn't good enough for you, just wait for Akane to get back from class and ask nicely." I grinned as Lisa coughed and sputtered. "Now, before we leave, I want you to figure out how to see spirits and resonances as reliably as possible. So... more practice. See if you can do it without the ritual."

"The ritual showed me how to shape my essence without knowing how to do that," Lisa said. "I should be able to replicate it..."

"Then dismiss your current vision and practice," I said. "We've got time."

"So is there a home delivery option?" I asked, while Lisa stood behind me, looking bored and scrolling on her phone.

"Yes, actually," the clerk said.

"Great, because I really don't want to figure out how to haul fifty cinderblocks across town on a motorcycle," I said.

The clerk laughed obligingly, and took down the bill of materials that I had, in turn, gotten from Silas. Meanwhile, Lisa was, in actuality, feeling out the local spirit world and searching for spirits.

"These cinderblocks are going to be part of an offset barbecue smoker," I said, making idle conversation to give Lisa more time to look around. And, well, I also like to hear myself talk. "My roommate's uncle is apparently an accomplished pitmaster, and we're having guests this weekend, so I figured this would be a cool thing to do for food."

"Oh wow, really?" the clerk asked. "What kind of barbecue are you going to be doing?"

"Gonna be some mutton, because it brings some strong flavors to the table just on its own," I said. "Mutton can be kinda tough, but if you cook it low and slow, you know, like barbecue, it's as tender as anything else. Plus, you pair it with a good mustard-based sauce like Uncle Silas makes, it's the best thing I've ever eaten."

"Ooooh, I think I might've had that before," the clerk said. "I remember this barbecue place a few years back, there was a guy working there called Silas. Big Greek dude, redhead, looked like a bronze statue? Is that his niece behind you?"

"Hrm? Oh, no, Lisa's not related to Silas, as far as I know," I said. "She's one of my other roommates. Anyway, Silas used to do barbecue professionally?"

"Yep. Made the best barbecue I ever had," the clerk said, nodding. "You listen to what he tells you, you hear me? That kind of skill needs to be passed on." Then he grinned. "And see if you can convince him to fill one last barbecue order. He's ruined me for the local stuff."

I laughed, paid for the order, and walked out of the store, Lisa trailing behind me.

"This is so weird," Lisa said, after we'd been to Home Depot, Radio Shack, HEB- a local chain of grocery store- and, in slight desperation, the library. "We've been all over town, and there are just no spirits. It doesn't make any sense! A million people live here! What, does nobody have strong feelings in this town?"

"Keep in mind, that book was written in another universe," I said, pulling a gallon of milk out of a reusable grocery bag and putting it in the fridge. "It may simply be the case that this universe's spirit world has slightly different constants that combine to make for, uh... well, no spirits."

"And how is that supposed to make me feel better?" Lisa asked.

"I wasn't actually trying to do that," I said, putting away the condiments. "Sorry, mad science is hard to turn off, when you're as deep in it as I am. My habits are pretty well-ingrained, and mostly serve my purposes. Can you put those spice bottles in the rack, please? Thanks." I set the pre-made graham cracker crust aside- I knew how to make my own, but I didn't feel like buying a pie plate, and these things worked just fine- along with the can of sweetened condensed milk, before putting the bottled lime juice in the fridge.

When I first made key lime pie, I'd used a cheap electric juicer to squeeze some Mexican limes for the juice. After a while, I tried using the bottled stuff, realized that I couldn't taste the difference and neither could anyone I was trying to impress, and stopped buying whole limes.

"Can you at least turn your mad science brain towards trying to solve the problem?" Lisa asked.

"Maybe," I said. "Remember, I'm still not a druid. Buuuuut... Hrm." I frowned, tapping my chin. "...There is something I just remembered, and now I'm checking the book to see if it means what I think it means."

"What is it?" Lisa asked.

"So... the general energy of the spirit world is called essence, right? Well, if you're willing to spend some essence yourself, and you know what you're doing, you don't have to find spirits. You can just make them."