"Um...what details?" Harry asked meekly. She had a suspicion of what her mother was getting at, but if the conversation didn't have to go there, she'd rather it didn't...
Her mom smiled. "Everything. Where exactly did you go? There's the cineplex out by the mall..."
The three-eyed girl shook her head. "Uh, actually it was a smaller theater downtown. Ken said he sees a lot of old funny-schlock movies there...apparently it's a hobby of his."
Her mother laughed. "I see. How was the movie?"
Harry smiled, remembering how nonsensical it was. "Uh...I don't think it's going to be winning any awards any time soon, but it was kinda fun, at least. Ken thought it was kind of a cheap cash-in, though - he wants to show me a real good-bad movie sometime."
"You should take him up on that, dear," her mother said. You might enjoy it. Did you two go anyplace else fun while you were out?"
Harry smiled. "Out for, uh, ice cream. I was a little hungry..."
Her mother nodded, smiling a bit. "Of course. How was the dress? Comfortable, I hope?" Harry paused. This...kind of seemed like a trick question - she had a feeling if she were too positive, she'd be hearing her mother say "but you've said yourself they're comfortable!" at a few points in the future.
"Um, it fit all right," she said, blushing a bit as she recalled how strange it had felt to be walking around in that... "I guess, yeah, it wasn't uncomfortable. Thanks for getting those clothes for me..."
Her mom grinned. "Oh, it's my pleasure, dear. Anything on your plate for today?"
Harry nodded. "Yeah...the band is having practice, so I thought I'd go do that..." She remembered as she said this that today she was going to explain the truth about herself to them...she hesitated for a moment, but no, she couldn't keep putting this off.
Her mother smiled. "I'm proud of you, dear. Have a good time!"
"Thanks!" Haru said. "I will!" She went upstairs to grab her things and noticed Ken's jacket hanging on her doorknob - she needed to get that back to him, didn't she? She slung it over her shoulder, getting a whiff in the process...yeah, that was...
...nice...
She headed out towards the bus stop, feeling pretty good. Her mother, meanwhile, returned to her morning routine, smiling to herself.
The biggest saving grace of having a tomboy like Karyn for a best friend, Jon thought, was that while she was getting dragged around the mall (by an octopus-girl in a wheelchair, no less,) she wasn't getting dragged into a lot of girly boutiques or anything like that. She could just picture herself at the hands of someone else, being badgered into trying on God-knows-what...but not with Karyn.
Well, mostly not. Right now the cecaelia-girl was trying to talk her into trying out the top half of a swimsuit, but it was at least of the kind actually designed for swimming in, not just for displaying her breasts. And in any case, Jon had an excuse not to, as she still didn't know whether long-term immersion would cause any problems due to the very effective moisture exchange in her foot.
(Truth be told, she didn't think so, but it made a convenient excuse. And how was she supposed to swim, anyway? And in any case the top half of a swimsuit wouldn't cover her still-human privates...Karyn at least had the fringe of skin between the bases of her tentacles for that.)
Jon looked around the sporting-goods store, thinking about her friend. Karyn had always enjoyed swimming a fair bit, but she'd gone nuts over it since her change. Somehow that was the part that surprised Jon the most; it was like something that had always been inside Karyn was set completely free by her transformation. It made her think...
She wondered what, exactly, she should do when the stone was recharged and everything was lined up so that she could change the sun back in six months. Obviously she wanted to change people back, but what if people didn't want to be changed back? If someone liked their new form as much as Karyn did...she should probably work in an exception for them. She wondered, who would really want to stay as the sun had made them?
"Yo! Earth to Jon!" Karyn laughed, waving a tentacle. Jon snapped back to reality with a start. "Hey, you!" Karyn chuckled. "You in there?"
"Uh, yeah," she said. "Sorry. I was just thinking."
Karyn grew a little more serious. "What about?"
"About...about this whole mess with the stone. I could just set it to change everyone back, but I think some people wouldn't want that, so I'm going to have to come up with something that will let them stay if they want to..."
Karyn nodded. "Well, remember that what people want isn't always best for them..."
Jon shrugged. "Yeah, but...who am I to make that decision for them? I mean, I've already way overstepped my authority here, but at least it was accidental..."
"Hmm." The octopus-girl frowned. "I guess that's true...sound like this is something to be thinking about over the next few months."
The slug-girl nodded. "And I might only have one shot at this...we know when it's going to come around next, but after that...who knows? I want to get everything from concept to wording hashed out ahead of time."
"Yeah, that makes sense," Karyn said. "But enough with the somber stuff, Jon-girl - back to the having-a-good time!"
There was a long silence in the hospital room as the changed couple sat by each other. Andy was still so confused...scared...she'd thought of things for so long now as humans like herself...himself being under threat from the changed, as if this was a war and They were banded againt the humans...against him, personally...
The same people that had taken the jobs away, made him redundant...why did they have to use that word? Why? "Redundant" - you were unnecessary, there were too many people just like you when only one or two were wanted...just interchangeable parts. It hurt so much to think about, that all he was, all he'd worked to become, just came down to one tally mark in a group of people with the exact same skill set...and he'd looked for someone to blame for that...
Naturally, he'd first found his scapegoat in the people overseas to whom jobs were being sent...there was a sort of connection there, at least, and the fact that they were thousands of miles away made it easy to stay mad at them without having to feel awkward...
But when the sun had changed, and brought a whole new terror with it...that had driven him even further. The changed weren't just lousy interlopers stealing jobs, they were a threat to the whole human race...and yet here she was: one of Them. No longer human...no longer even a man.
Where did she stand now? If her old beliefs still applied, she must be a monster, secretly glad to see the humans go even if she wouldn't admit to it...but that wasn't how she felt at all. Really she wanted nothing more than to get back to being human again, not to drag other people with her...but that wasn't how the sun worked. She was...
She was stuck. She wanted to dance around that, to not acknowledge it, but this damn soberness...she was used to persuading herself while drunk, and her rationalizations and denial were a bit atrophied. She couldn't escape it: she was stuck this way. She would be a bunny-girl - a woman - until the day she died...and Susan would be...
She blinked as her thoughts returned to Susan. He must be...they'd hardly spoken since Andy had snapped at him...
"Sue?" she asked, her voice timid and quiet. The snake-man turned towards her. "Yes?"
"'m sorry. I...I don't have any control, Susan...just a touch from you..." She trailed off as she remembered the feeling...was it unfamiliarity that made it so electric? Or was it always this way? How could...how could Maple cope, if that were true? "I'm 'fraid, Sue...if I can't..."
"The snake-man moved closer, but didn't touch her. "I understand, Andy," he said. "If I'm...if I'm making you uncomfortable let me know...I won't do anything you don't want me to..."
The rabbit-woman nodded. "Oh Sue...I want...so much that I want...but I'm afraid t' lose myself... Jus'...stay with me..."
