As I was moving back to campus from Zebulon to begin sophomore year I discovered I had a new roommate, Nathan. He was already mostly moved into our room when I arrived. He was a good looking African American man in his early 20s and was really tall, about 6'8" from my guess. He was very friendly and talkative, a big change from my last roomie. I honestly hadn't been that close to my old roommate Derrick because I spent most of my time either at Jennifer's or studying in the peace and quiet of the nearly abandoned library. Derrick was a quiet nerdy kind of guy who was really into Anime. We didn't speak much outside of complaining about classes or having arguments about fridge contents. While a seemingly normal guy in appearance, I knew he was modded because I kept finding tampon wrappers in the bathroom garbage every month.
My new roomie Nathan was oddly enough ALSO into Anime, but not nearly to the extent of Derrick. But unlike Derrick Nathan was very talkative and he even told me was modded. He had been a redheaded white girl named Natalie before one of the Infamous Five rolled through town turning all women into black men. Unlike her sister, her mother, and a lot of her friends Natalie wasn't overly upset when it became obvious she was changing into a man. Nathan said he had always been kind of a "tomgirl" and adjusted quickly to his new body. He even made an awkward joke about sucking at basketball even though he was a tall black man now. I chuckled but had to wonder if it was somehow oddly racist?
As I got back into the college routine I was spending a lot of time with Nathan, and we quickly grew to be good friends. He even turned me on to a few Anime shows I actually started to enjoy. We got along so well I began to wonder if Nathan was maybe attracted to me since he had been born a girl, but it didn't take long for me to figure out that he was attracted to women or at least people who were mostly female. I saw him having lunch with a six breasted petite Asian girl on the second week of classes. Shortly after that I saw him talking with, and pushing the wheelchair of a rather hot brunette who had tentacles instead of legs. I was relieved Nathan was "hetero" in his new body and gender, because it saved a LOT of potential awkwardness. Nathan actually dated a lot of girls, but like me never got much in the way of actual romance. Sure he texted me a few times that he was "using" our dorm room for a while, but these days getting laid wasn't hard to do. (However, I have to admit though I was really impressed when one night Nathan rode up to our dorm on the back of a centuaress. After leaning forward to give her a passionate kiss, Nathan jumped off her back and gave her a playful slap to her hind quarters causing her to giggle and blush as she trotted off. Nathan obviously got a lot of high fives from impressed guys as he walked into the dorm. It had to be the coolest entrance I'd ever seen someone do in real life.)
On a chilly evening in mid-November Nathan and I went to the campus McDonald's to raid the dollar menu. As we sat down to eat our $2.27 meal, Nathan asked me out of the blue "Dan, do you think you'll want to get married someday?"
Taking a bite of a slightly overcooked burger I replied, "Are you proposing?"
Nathan chuckled and said, "No man, I mean do you ever see yourself settling down, having kids and all that stuff?"
"Well, actually, yeah, kind of" I told him while wondering what he was getting at.
Nathan nodded and confided, "You know, when I was a little girl I used to play dress up and pretend I was getting married. When I got older I kind of grew out of wearing dresses and acting, you know, girly. But I still imagined myself wearing a big wedding gown one day and being the center of attention, if only for a little while. When I changed I knew that day would never happen for me now, at least not like that. But I still want to get married and have kids if I can."
I swallowed an undercooked French fry and sarcastically told him, "Oh cheer up Nathan, we might have a little trouble finding a dress that fits you now but I'm sure we could find one or even get one made if you really wanted to. With a wig and a lot of makeup you could still be a lovely bride! Well, mostly."
My joke kind of fell flat as Nathan just told me, "I'm trying to be serious Dan. Everyone seems to be about cheap sex these days. I want more than that. With everything so fucked up now I guess I just want to try to live a normal life. Do you think it's even possible anymore?"
I took a sip of my coke that I snuck into my "water" cup then told him, "Look Nate, I know how you feel actually. I've wanted a normal relationship for a while, but I don't think I'll ever get it at this point. Every modded girl I've talked to since I've gotten to campus just seems to be after a quick lay, just like you said. I figure they are still trying to adapt to their new sexualities and the fact they can't get STDs just adds to the fire. I actually tried having a normal relationship with a Cleveland girl last year and it didn't work out."
Nathan about spat water out of his nose as he went bug eyed and blurted "HOLY SHIT! You dated a Cleveland girl?!? What was it like? Seriously."
I smiled and coolly told him, "Wait, you're into Cleveland girls? I thought you just said you were all about finding that special someone?"
Nate smiled a bit and said, "Well, yeah, dude, but c'mon, every straight guy wants to find a Cleveland girl BEFORE finding their special someone."
I kind of looked at him for a bit as I took a bite of my burger and found it unbelievable he used to be female; he acted so masculine all the time. If he hadn't told me about being modded I would have assumed he was just born as he is. The only thing feminine I see in Nathan is his impeccable fashion sense and wanting to talk about his feelings all the time. I imagine since she took to being a guy so easily maybe Nathan had been bisexual or even a maybe a lesbian before she changed. Anyway I finished chewing my burger and after swallowing just said, "Yes, Nathan, the sex was amazing, just as they say. Albeit it was a little messier than I have heard it described. But like I said she had no interest in settling down."
Nathan replied, "Well no shit you haven't found wife material if you're dating Cleveland girls!"
I shook my head and said, "I've dated other kinds of mods too. As I was saying they are all bout 'exploring' and stuff right now as far as I can tell. And even the un-modded girls aren't much better; they are acting like they just want to use it before they lose it."
Nathan nodded knowingly and blurted, "I KNOW, right? I'd like to think if I still had a vagina I wouldn't be having sex just in case I lost it one day! The threat of potentially losing your womanhood isn't a free ticket to be a slut!"
I set my cup down and said, "Well, to be fair it's not really just a girl thing Nate, it's a un-modded person thing. I kind of get the whole use it before you lose it mentality to a degree, being un-modded myself. Maybe they will catch those sick fucks eventually or figure out how to stop their science project, but it's looking unlikely. I'll probably end up modded eventually. I have no idea what I'll become so I kind of get doing stuff while I'm still, you know, me. But at the same time I still just want to settle down and try to forget about all this crazy shit."
Nathan shook his head a bit and said, "Look dude, I got modded pretty young so I can't say I know how you feel. I can imagine it's unsettling not knowing when you'll get hit or what you'll become but at the same time you gotta live your life. But I can't believe you used the term 'still you'. Being modded sucks, Dan, but you are still YOU on the inside after it happens. Everything else is just a matter of adapting."
"Try telling that to the people of Billings North Dakota" I said coldly.
Nathan's eyes went soft for a bit and then he told me, "Look Dan, that kind of stuff is rare, especially the last few years."
I finished off my last French fry and replied, "well, it really doesn't make me feel any better, it could still happen. And who knows, when they run out of us normals to play with who says they won't go back on their so-called 'word' and start re-modding people they already hit?"
Nathan kind of pondered that for a bit as he ate his Fillet O Fish and then told me, "Well, I don't want the unknown to rule me forever. You know? I want to at least try to have a normal relationship. If it gets taken away from me someday that will suck, yeah, but at least I will have had it for a while. It beats never having it at all."
"Having something and then losing it can hurt more than never having it you know" I told him while thinking of Jennifer in the back of my mind.
Nathan threw his hands up in the air, "so what am I supposed to do? Just fuck people I have no real connection with and worry?"
"No, but you gotta keep in mind that it's going to be really really difficult. Unmods are freaked out about all this and worried about what might happen to them. Mods are for the most part in bodies completely different than they are used to. And even if two human beings could get past all that, you have to find someone that you are uh, COMPATIBLE with. I think that's why so many people have just given up and have sex when they can."
Nathan seemed to be thinking about what I said as he got up and took his tray and emptied it into the trash. As for me I just thought about how odd it was two young college guys were having a conversation about NOT wanting cheap sex. Things really have changed in so many ways.
As we were driving home I asked Nate, "So, what brought all this marriage talk up anyway? You seemed quite content to ride around the campus on horse women up until now."
Nathan just shot me a dirty look and spat back, "Dude, her name is Lori and she is not a horse woman! She is the VICTIM of a centauress mod."
I rolled my eyes and said, "Jeez, sorry. But don't tell me you were first attracted to her smile or something Nate, she is literally a freaking horse from the waist down. I mean, damn, she must weigh well over a thousand pounds! Not to mention her you know what is, uh, well, you obviously know what I mean. Don't tell me you saw 'wife material' in her when you walked up to her and started hitting on her."
Nathan sighed and said, "Ok, fine. I'll admit Lori was not 'the one' and I dated her mostly for the thrill of it, but, that's kind of my point. Lori actually was a really nice girl and we had a lot in common. Maybe she could have been the one if she was still human. Who knows? But now I will never get to be with her because yeah, sex with a centauress in real life is not at all what it is in fantasy to say the least. And Lori will probably never find a guy who can get past they are essentially screwing a horse when they are with her. THAT'S why I've been thinking about marriage a lot lately. I'm starting to think the person I'm meant to be with got turned into some horrible creature."
I had to admit I knew exactly what Nathan was talking about.
