Gwydion didn't give up wearing his costume to school, despite the odd looks from both the changed and humans alike. People just were not quite sure what to make of his motives- but it was relatively simple...
He wanted to be a changed. Why didn't anyone else understand that? He loved his new friends and didn't really like being 'the human' amongst them... (He was even called that a few times with affection but.. it was still annoying.)
His costume had greatly improved since that poor first attempt, though the bullies still hounded it for him. He felt it was part of his own growing identity, and he was proud to wear his various tails and ears, or whatever else he found that took his fancy.
Which animals he wore tended to depend on his mood. If he felt he needed to be quick, he would wear the fox-tail and hat.. but there were other animals he enjoyed pretending to be- if nothing else, the young boy was a gifted actor and was doing exceptionally well in drama as he put on the costumes like they were masks. However after a while, concern started to grow that this 'phase' didn't seem to be ending.
At this point, they decided young Gwydion needed to talk to a councillor. So he was shuffled into an office, where someone was going to ask him about his 'feelings'... it was certainly a strange thing for him to be in, given he seemed to be in 'trouble'.
... so he decided to wear something very special for that day as he walked into the office.
The first thing Gwydion saw was the woman's red hair.. and red skin. Whoa... she was a.. a devil? That was such a rare change...
"Hello come in," said the Councillor, Miss Douglass. She was a devil woman- a strange one, with a multitude of 'bumps' on her front, that the young boy didn't really draw much attention to. In fact it was probably a little comforting to see, given it reminded him a little of Lilly... "Please have a seat. Can I call you Gwydion?" She asked with a soft and kind smile on her red face. She held out some notes looking at his record.
"Uh huh," The boy said with a shrug.
Miss Douglass looked him over, trying to work out what the boy was thinking- but was taken aback by what he was wearing on his head. Some kind of headband... but with devil horns sticking out of them. They were small, and made for Halloween (A holiday that itself was seeing quite a change) "... why are you wearing horns today?" The devil-woman asked with clear confusion.
"... 'cause I'm in trouble for bein' me?" Gwydion said shrugging again.
The Devil woman sighed, her tail twitching behind her casually. As she got up to look him over, Gwydion immediately saw she had some kind of crazy legs with a hoof at the end. It was odd enough that it made him gasp. "You are not in trouble Gwydion... I'm just here to try and help. I want to understand why you feel you have to dress up like..." she gestured to his clothes. "Do you want to be a changed?" she asked favouring the direct approach.
"Uh huh," the boy repeated again. "I heard that the sun will change you sometimes, but I don't know what I want to be. So I thought I could try different things then I can tell the sun what I want to be, and maybe it will happen."
Miss Douglass blinked. "Uh... it... doesn't work that way Gwydion," she said softly as she took a few more notes down. "I've been looking at your work. You've lately been doing really badly in mathematics and English. You are very distracted in class, and some say you are disruptive."
"I'm just wearin' my costumes until I work out who I want to be. Can't I do that?"
The devil woman looked him over sitting down beside him. "I know it can feel a bit tough. You're a human and you've made a lot of friends with the changed... but you shouldn't feel like being human is a bad thing. I... sometimes miss being human myself," She admits. Though there were a lot of advantages to her form... for one thing, she still looked to be in her twenties despite being a decade older since her transformation. How weird was that? Maybe age would creep on her slowly... Then again, what would being an 'old devil' look like? That was not a picture she was looking forward to...
Gwydion looked down at his clothing. His emotions started to boil. Why couldn't adults just understand? "I wish I was there when the sun changed," he admits. "I wanna join my sister in her adventures an' fly through the trees an'... I miss her." He starts to sniffle. "She's gone... lookin' for my dad. Lots of people are gone. I just got me an' my ma now." He wiped his eyes.
The devil woman put an arm around the young boy's shoulder. "Hey..." she gave him a tissue to try and comfort him. She waited and watched as the young boy blew his nose. It was difficult to console a child having so many fears... and having such an outlet- while perhaps not the most healthiest thing, might be okay for the time being. "I know.. it's hard. You got to be brave for a little while longer, until we hear something from them."
Gwydion dried his tears as best he could. "You gonna make me stop wearin' my costumes?" he asked pitiably.
"Uh... no..." miss Douglass slumped her shoulders. "I know you're trying to cope in your own way... I do understand that. Believe me I do... but... you have to understand that other people don't know how to react to it. "I guess if you really want to continue doing it, you can- but I want to make sure you feel accepted being human too..."
"Humans are just bullies though. I don't want to be a bully." Images of other humans always taunting him for being 'different' just plagued him...
"You can be your own kind of human... not all of them are like that. Your dad isn't, neither is your mother... your sister was once human... please remember that."
"... I'll be who I am one day." Gwydion vowed.
