NOVEL WEB Chapter 13: In Full Bloom
A couple of weeks passed in relative bliss. Well, that wasn’t entirely true. Time had the annoying habit of passing whether Elliot wanted it to or not, and with time came responsibilities, schoolwork and, occasionally, track and field. But all in all, her time spent at Crescent U was a lot better than she’d expected it to be. She had a girlfriend! A wonderful, sweet, funny girlfriend, who she got to cuddle up with and fall asleep next to and even, when she was feeling particularly naughty, kiss. Those parts were heavenly.
Other parts were… less so. As it turned out, Crescent University was pretty progressive. All things considered, they could’ve had it a lot worse. There had been a talk about where Kira would be staying (“Obviously, she will have a room in the girls’ dormitories”, the school’s administration said), her protections as a transgender student (“We do not tolerate bigotry, from fellow students, staff or parents”) and what to do about her transition.
The situation with Kira’s parents had quickly been explained, which is why Elliot suspected the school had brought them up. Elliot had expected the school to take a kind of unofficial stance, where they’d turn a blind eye or something similar or find a loophole, but that didn’t seem to be the case. “It is the position of the school that transitioning, whether that is from human to a less-traditional species, or to a different gender, is an inalienable right to all our students and, in fact, to all conscious species.” As long as she signed all the waivers, Kira could just… go forward with things.
Toby and McKenzie had been less fortunate. While school administration supported McKenzie’s choice, she’d done so without consulting with staff or, well, anyone. Toby’s just going along with it was, it had been made very clear, bordering on neglect and endangerment. Only when McKenzie had shown that she had, in fact, done the research had they become a lot more forgiving. Nevertheless, they’d both been reprimanded and assigned both punitive homework and the choice between additional homework and campus community service. The latter sounded a lot worse than it was, since it was essentially paid employment, and they’d both jumped on it, helping out in the cafeteria. Elliot had signed up for the same jobs, both out of solidarity and because, well, a bit of income couldn’t hurt.
Kira, by comparison, was just required to do some reading about the kind of monster she was going to become, so she didn’t neglect her nutritional needs, and there were talks with the school counselor about how public she would want to be about both elements of her transition, once her attendance at Crescent U was over. But the time table was a matter of weeks and days, not months. And those days had just about run out.
“How are you feeling?” Elliot asked Kira. Her girlfriend was clearly nervous as hell, even though she was clearly holding herself well, which was why she was currently flanked by Elliot and Jonas. They’d both refused to leave her side even a little bit.
“Excited. Scared.” Kira paused and squeezed her hand. Going off the little kiss Jonas planted on Kira’s cheek, the squeeze had been unilateral. “I hope I’m doing the right thing,” she said quietly. “What if it doesn’t work? What if something goes wrong?”
They were standing outside a classroom that had been reserved for the transformation. Privacy was well respected on campus, at least.
Jonas retrieved a little pamphlet from his back pocket. “You don’t know this thing by heart by now?” he asked with a grin. “You’ve been reading it non-stop, but if you need me to read it out for you again…”
“Alraune, dryad and meliae and other similar spirits of nature,” Kira recited from memory, “do not often share their gifts with humans, but when they do, the process is entirely voluntary and consensual. Physiological changes have not been shown to have any detrimental effects on the psychology of the former human in question. The difficulty in becoming a nature spirit is not in the change, but in finding a spirit who will bestow their gifts on a human being.” She was panting a little. Elliot smiled and kissed her on the cheek.
“Don’t forget to breathe, sweetheart.”
“I’m just worried I’ll be the exception, you know?” Kira said. Elliot couldn’t blame her, of course. She obviously felt the trepidation too, but that didn’t stop her from being a supportive girlfriend. For a brief moment, she was lost in the fact that she got to be a girlfriend. And that her girlfriend was going to be a tree girl soon, which definitely took up some mental real-estate, too. But it wouldn’t even be the first monster girl she’d be dating.
Sure, she and Malena had been taking it very slow -- Elliot wanted to be there for Kira first and foremost -- but they’d gone and had a coffee and a walk together and that had been wonderful too and somehow that was just… allowed? Like, she’d been okay with Kira dating Jonas because Jonas was Kira’s oldest friend and the two just kind of fit, but that had felt almost like an exception to the rule. But apparently the whole having-two-hands thing applied to her, too. Wild.
“Hey,” Jonas said, “look at me.” Kira did as she was told and turned to him, Elliot taking a step aside to give them their space. “It’s going to be okay, okay?” He tilted Kira’s face by gently nudging her chin up, and even from several feet away Elliot could practically feel the girl swooning. She bit her lip smiling. Seeing Kira so happy was infectious.
“Okay,” Kira said, nodding softly. “I believe you.”
“Atta girl,” Jonas said, and then, without warning, wrapped her in his arms and pulled her up to him for a kiss. When he put her down, she was practically swaying on her feet. “I love you, Kira,” he said quietly, but loud enough for Elliot to hear. “We both do. We’re here for you, and we’re not going anywhere.”
“Thank you,” Kira said, and then extended a hand to Elliot. “Both of you.”
Elliot happily took the hand and let herself get dragged into a hug with Kira and Jonas. Her relationship with the tall boy had developed in an interesting but pleasant way. Both of them wanted Kira’s happiness, first and foremost, but rather than vying for her affection, it was like the two of them had almost immediately clicked and settled into a kind of siblings-in-arms dynamic. She didn’t really know what the “right” way to do this was, but it worked for them, and she and Jonas coordinated their time well and often. After a while, Kira had given them permission to talk to each other about anything relating to her, and that allowed them to always have someone there for the anxious bean who was about to go through the most intense transformation of her life.
“I’m the luckiest girl in the world,” Kira mumbled into the tangle of limbs. Elliot thought for a moment to debate her on that but thought better of it. It wasn’t the time to get competitive. Behind them, the door to the classroom opened, and Malena, looking appropriately ceremonious, waved them inside. Elliot closed the ranks, and her not-quite-but-also-not-not-other-girlfriend winked at her as they walked past.
“How’s she holding up?” Malena asked as Elliot lingered for a moment.
“Nervous as hell, of course,” Elliot said, “but she hasn’t been able to stop talking about this all week. ‘I get to be a girl’ never stops being adorable, no matter how many times I hear her happily squeaking it to herself.”
“I’m glad,” Malena said. “It’s a hell of a thing, let me tell you.” She sighed and rubbed the back of her head. “And it never gets old,” she added with a wistful grin. “Anyway!” She raised her voice so Kira and Jonas could hear her too, and walked to the middle of the room. All the tables and chairs had been moved to the walls, and instead, very out of place, was what appeared to be a kiddie pool, filled to the brim with dirt. Next to it stood a girl, a year or two older than them, wearing jeans, flannel and some very practical boots. But what really stuck out were the flowers in her hair, which were not only seemingly in full bloom, but also completely out of season. “Everyone, say hi to Felicity.” The girl waved casually, and then stuffed her hands in her back pockets.
“Heya,” she said, “‘Lena told me y’all have a ‘transfer student’ situation going on, yeah? Which one of you?” She had a casualness to her, an easygoing attitude that made it easy to relax around her. Kira took a shaky step forward.
“Hey,” Kira said quietly. “Felicity’s a real pretty name.”
“Aww, bless your heart,” the girl said, and then turned to Malena. “You didn’t tell me she was so precious.” She glanced sideways at Kira. “What’s that accent? Texas?”
“Yeah!” Kira perked up. “You’re from there too?” Felicity shrugged.
“Close enough. And what’s your name, honey?” She seemed to be studying Kira as she talked, almost like she was inspecting her, looking in both her eyes and her hair. “Keep in mind that you don’t have to pick a plant name. Personally, I kept Rose as my middle name, but that’s more of a family tradition thing. Just know you don’t have to pick ‘Lily’ or something like that.”
“Um… Kira,” Kira said. “Just Kira.”
“That’s a wonderful name, Kira,” Felicity said, while walking around her. “You know, I was named after a cousin. Where’d you get yours?” It was starting to dawn on Elliot that the girl was probably putting in a bit more effort than was obvious into trying to keep Kira occupied, to keep her from panicking.
“It was a character from one of my favourite movies growing up,” Kira said.
“What movie is that?” Felicity asked as she walked over to the dirt-filled pool. “Take your shoes off, by the way. Socks too.” Kira did as she was asked while she talked about the fantasy movie. Every once in a while, Felicity piped up with a question or an ‘Oh, really?’ but on the whole, she was clearly just letting Kira talk until she was ready.
“But yeah, I was obsessed with the artwork for a really long time, and I always thought the puppets were just so pretty and… yeah… um…” Kira petered off a bit and Felicity stood up, done inspecting everything.
She took Kira’s hand and held it up. “Okay, try to focus on that movie, okay?” Kira swallowed nervously and let herself be led to the basinful of soil. “This isn’t going to hurt, it’s just going to feel weird for a bit, and it’ll be over before you know it.”
“Okay,” Kira said. “What do I do?” Felicity gestured to the little tub, and Kira stepped on it, a little unsteadily, holding on to Felicity’s arm for balance. The other girl reached behind her head and produced a strawberry. “Um,” Kira said. “What.”
“Eat this,” Felicity said. Kira gingerly took the piece of fruit, looked at it, then back up at Felicity, and then back at the strawberry. Felicity chuckled. “Just… look, this is the easiest way, alright? It’s a fey thing from back in the old country.” Kira took a deep breath, and bit down on the fruit. “Malena tell you to wear stretchy clothes?”
Kira just nodded, to Felicity’s satisfaction, then squeezed her eyes shut and waited. Nothing seemed to happen. Elliot looked at Felicity, who seemed wholly unbothered, with her hands on her hips, and occasionally looked at her watch. Kira frowned and opened her eyes again, looking around. She opened her mouth to speak and everyone heard her creak. Like a tree. Or a plank. She clamped her jaw shut with another creak.
“There we go,” Felicity said, and put her hand on Kira’s back, and Kira seemed to… slow down, like she was under water, her movements sluggish and getting slower by the second. “Try to relax.” Kira closed her eyes again, wrapping her arms around herself as her skin slowly seemed to drain of colour. Elliot couldn’t help being concerned. It was definitely strange to see her like that, especially as she started to slowly double up, crouching onto the soil.
That’s when Elliot saw it. Green tendrils sprouted from around Kira’s feet, gently wrapping themselves around her, vines growing up and around her, enveloping her. Giant green petals grew out of buds along the vines, slowly covering every visible inch of Elliot’s girlfriend. She and Jonas took a step closer, both concerned. Felicity and Malena didn’t look particularly worried, but, like, good for them. This was her girlfriend, and she was going to be worried, damn it.
“How long do you think?” Malena asked. “I have time to grab a coffee?”
“Nah,” Felicity said. “I don’t exactly get the chance to practice a lot, but I put a little extra oomph into this one.” She caught Elliot’s concerned expression. “Not in a plant kind of way,” she said, although Elliot wasn’t particularly reassured. “More like…” Felicity chewed her tongue for a moment. “More like a little bit more girl, yeah?”
“Okay,” Jonas said, not taking his eyes off the pod in the little basin.
“Yeah, should be any second now,” Felicity said. She handed Elliot a pocket mirror. “She’ll want this.” Then she went back over to the pool, walking in a little circle around it, holding out a hand. “Let’s see if I can…” She paused and put her hand on the closed bulb. “Three,” she said.
“What are y--” Elliot began.
“Two.”
“Ah.”
“One,” Felicity said, and took a step back. Elliot and Jonas did the same too, like they were expecting the pod to explode.
It didn’t. Very slowly, it unfurled, layered leaves slowly peeling away to reveal the shape underneath. Kira stirred, curled up in a ball in the middle of a tangle of vines and giant leaves. Even like that, Elliot could tell she was smaller than she had been. The hoodie she’d been wearing now positively hung off of her. The last of the plant matter fell away, almost like they were gently making sure she wasn’t going to fall over or implode. As more of her was exposed, it was also obvious that her skin had regained its colour, and then some. It had a slightly green-ish hue to it.
In her hair was a ring of little white flowers that bloomed as she raised her head, and Elliot looked into the bright green eyes of the most beautiful girl she’d ever seen. “Did it work?” Kira asked.
“You know,” Felicity said, hands on her hips, talking quietly to Malena, “I think this might be my best one yet.” Elliot wasn’t even listening. She hurried over to Kira and handed her the mirror. Jonas rushed over to their girlfriend as well, who was staring at the girl in the mirror, and crying tears of joy.
