"We shold get started on the synthesis questions while we still have time," explained Randy as Ronald returned to his table. The boy's voice had risen since Ronald had gotten up, reaching a breathy, androgynous pitch.
"Of course," said Ronald. "Unless..."
Randy's brown eyes flashed with interest. "Unless what?"
"Well, we have the equations down," Ronald explained. "We could just do the final questions on our own later. Maybe just relax for these last few minutes of class?"
Randy pursed his glossed lips, considering the notion. "Alright, sure," he said, flashing a brilliant smile.
Ronald smiled back, taking a seat beside Randy. "So how's things with the team?" He ventured. Time to see if his push for athleticism had ensured the altered Randy was still a jock.
"Really great, actually!" Randy chirped. "We did great at last Saturday's tournament, which makes us one of the top ten volleyball teams in the state. It also qualified is for the regional tournament, which means we'll finally have a shot to..."
Randy kept on, clearly excited about the team's prospects, but Ronald found his mind wandering. Randy was shaping up to be quite a hot shot athelete, despite his shift towards the fairer sex. Even as he watched, Randy's kinky mess of brown hair began to trim and shape itself, shaving down the sides and back until it became a curly, sculpted bush of curls atop Randy's head, stylish and surprisingly feminine despite its short length.
Enjoying the further change, Ronald kept watching, his mind half listening as Randy recounted the events of the closest of the weekend's games to him. He found himself wondering if this same sort of enthusiasm and skill would have persisted if Randy had remained in his diminished size. It was a little cute to see him so small...
Too late, Ronald realized his mistake. Before his eyes, Randy shrunk back to petite proportions, his limbs losing all their regaining musculature. The shrinkage brought other changes, too-- Randy's deep mocha colored skin lightened to a creamy latte color, his brown eyes shifted to a hazel tinge.
"...And so I think that while Janice has a definite edge in terms of experience, I think people are really responding well to my proposed policy changes," Randy finished, unaware of the dramatic changes sweeping his form.
Ronald blinked a moment, shocked by how dramatic the changes were. "I'm sorry," he said, a little shakily. "I spaced out there. What were you talking about?"
Randy's pink lips rose up at the tips, amused more than annoyef at Ronald's inattention. "I was just talking about my run for student body president. I really think I have a chance at it."
Ronald nodded dumbly, his mind racing. So Randy wasn't an athlete when he was small. Instead, he seemed to be involved with student government. But that made sense, he realized. All Randy's drive and high energy had to go somewhere. If he wasn't physically geared for sports, he found another way. His personality adjusted to the situation.
Focusing again, Ronald willed Randy back to the larger, more athletic build of before. Slowly, Randy's body complied. Oddly, the other changes reversed with it. His skin tone deepened back to a dark bbrown, his eyes lost their hints of green. Maybe the alterations fiddled with Randy's parentage to justify the differences, he figured. Or maybe he just changed to match Ronald's vision of the original Randy as closely as possible.
"...So they want me to try playing setter now, too." Randy said. So he was back to sports now. Good. But was it good? Ronald frowned at that thought. He was keeping Randy as close to how he was. Being as inobtrusive as possible. But what was the point of that? He was changing them to his whim anyhow. But he chose them for their qualities. If he changed too much, they might as well be new people. New people to his design. That's what he was doing anyhow, right? Why pretend there was a script?
"You okay?" said a voice, so high and soft Ronald nearly didn't recognize it. He focused in, and found Randy had shifted yet again while he was thinking. He was short again, delicate, his skin once again a tawny cream color. His eyes were hazel-- he even had a few freckles across his button nose. Was Randy biracial now? How far was his influence going? The pink lip gloss was back, accompanied now by subtle mascara and eyeliner. A pair of glittering studs rested in his earlobes. Randy may not technically be female yet, but he was fulfilling the feminine part of the wish nicely-- this version in particular.
Remembering Randy's question, Ronald shook his head clear of his web of thoughts. "Uh, yeah, I'm fine," he said. He needed to focus if he wanted to stop these fluctuations. But did he really want to keep the new Randy as close to what he was? Or would he rather pursue who this new Randy was becoming?
