Steve didn't quite understand what her...her skirt was doing. It seemed to be reacting to the water, but it wasn't changing as such... She was happy about that, of course, but still confused by what it was doing. She watched it for several minutes, then shrugged and went to get dressed.
This was a bit problematic, as her mother had turned back from going to buy clothes when she'd had her freakout over the pamphlet, so she was still stuck with...her old stuff. She wasn't built that differently now, and she still liked her old clothes fine except for their being just a little tight around the hips and...bust, but the petals really made it difficult.
She couldn't wear just jeans, because the denim would chafe on her privates, she couldn't wear her boxers because they'd hang loose and bunch up since she couldn't pull the band up over her petals...gah! And her sweatpants were most likely in the wash by now...looked like she'd be stuck in this skirt for a while yet.
She did at least have shirts she could wear - she dug out a larger T-shirt and threw it on. At the very least, having nothing to hide from her mother meant she'd be more free in what she wore around the house. This was a lot better than the sweatshirt - it wasn't heavy or hot, and while it still felt odd and not especially comfortable on her nipple-flowers, it at least was a bit softer on them.
With nothing else to be done clothes-wise for the moment, Steve went into the kitchen, where her mom was steeping the tea. "Have a seat, dear," she said. "It should be ready in a minute. How are you feeling?"
Steve moaned. Her mother nodded. "I suppose that's to be expected," she said. "Here. See if this helps." She handed Steve her mug. The flower-girl let herself get lost in her tea - it wasn't going to solve her problems or anything, but it felt good going down, hot and comforting. She sighed, a little relieved.
She did find her thoughts going back to what she'd learned from the pamphlet, but for the moment things were a little more detached, less tied to her personally. Her mother had sounded so pleasant when she'd talked about being pregnant...how could that be? She thought of the horror stories she'd heard the girls discussing after health class...how could it be possible to look back on that with fondness? Was it just...was it that there was something about being a parent that made up for it?
This was too weird to give serious thought to. She wasn't going to get pregnant, ever! For starters, she certainly wasn't going to be doing anything with other...with boys. How could she, when she herself had been one? That would be crazy...
"If you want, Steven," her mother said, interrupting her line of thought, "you could go to bed now. You'll need to get used to a day schedule to be ready for school next week. Or if you're feeling better, we could go back out and get you some more suitable clothes - otherwise, we can do that tomorrow night."
Steve frowned. "I...I can't go to the day classes! All my friends are on the night side...and what if the sun triggers something?" Plants needed sunlight, after all, and if moisture in the air was enough to trigger a change in her, what might direct sunlight do, if she wasn't already finished changing?
Her mother shook her head. "Steven, you know you can't hide from this forever. If there's something left to change about you, it's just as well to get it over with. Besides, the people on the day side will know a lot more about dealing with transformees. Now, would you like to go out and get some new clothes tonight, or would you like to go to bed?"
The digital fairies arrived safely back, with further profuse apologies from this "Ultimix." Effie was almost beginning to feel sorry for him...what would it feel like to have accidentally almost killed some...oh. She remembered how she'd felt looking at poor little Nadine, burdened by the virus and glitching out...because of her. God, that poor guy must feel awful right now...
She smiled as she felt Dennis's hand on her shoulder. They'd had a long and stressful day...she was tired and ready for bed. "Dennis," she said, "I think we should go home..."
He nodded. "Yeah...I hope Mikey's not too worried about us..."
They said their goodbyes and activated the recall program - with a clear line to the Internet, it was able to find Mikey's IP with no trouble.
The young gynoid was bumped out of sleep mode by a sudden burst of network activity and the return of a familiar sensation. She opened her eyes, focusing in on the two shapes that were standing on her chest, and smiled as she recognized them.
"Effie! Dennis! You're back!" she said. "Oh, I'm glad you're okay...I'm so sorry I lost the connection this afternoon, but there was a thing at the school...where were you? What happened Was everything okay?"
Effie grinned wearily. "Tell you tomorrow," she said. "A lot happened, but we're pretty tired..."
Mikey smiled. "Mmkay. G'night, then." The two fairies joined her in sleep.
Elswhere, Kyle sat staring out the window at the night sky for a very long time. Did he really want to risk it? Was the potential to get in on this brand-new world worth the possibility that he might become something far different and far less desireable?
Would they even want him there? He'd almost killed one of them without even knowing it...or would joining them, throwing in his lot with these creatures, be the best apology he could make?
He wasn't sure...
