Planting Violets

I found myself staring at my friend in shock.

Sage and I had been online friends for the past year. I knew she lived somewhere in Ontario, but it never even crossed my mind that I might actually know her in person. And she probably thought the same about me. We were both in the closet, the only place we were out was online.

Meanwhile Jade let out a happy squeal and immediately pulled Sage into a hug, "It's wonderful to meet the real you! Sage is a beautiful name! What pronouns should we use, do she and her work for you?"

Sage was still blushing bright but she also had a nervous smile on her face. She nodded, "Yeah, she/her pronouns are perfect. And thank you for not freaking out or anything."

"Of course we're not going to freak out, silly girl!" Jade insisted. "I mean seriously? Violet's trans, you know she's not going to be upset. And I guess I've never actually come out and said it before, but it should be pretty obvious I'm gay. And anyways, we're your friends!"

"Yeah," I agreed as I finally found my voice. "I'm sorry you weren't comfortable about coming out to us before, Sage? But um, I totally get what that's like. Obviously."

She grimaced, "Yeah. It's kind of ridiculous I guess? I mean, all three of us being queer but none of us being out about it, even to each other."

Jade made a face, "Stupid internalized BS, courtesy of the patriarchy and the whole thing where everyone assumes being cis and het and neurotypical is the default."

Sage still seemed a bit nervous or uneasy, but Jade pulled all three of us into a group hug.

When she let go she asked, "So what are we going to do tonight? Housewarming party? Or coming-out party?"

"Why not both?" I smiled. "How do you two feel about pizza?"

"Works for me," Sage responded.

Jade grinned, "Pizza it is!"

It didn't take long for us to figure out what toppings we all wanted and what else to get, then I put the order in.

After that we took a few minutes to give Sage a proper tour of the place. We showed her the kitchen and bathroom, our bedrooms, and the reading room. We had a quick look at the basement, not that there was much to see down there apart from the laundry stuff and the furnace.

Then we went out in the backyard for a few minutes, and I showed off with some more of my plant magic. Finally we showed her the garage, but there wasn't much to see there yet either. All Jade's welding and art stuff was still in boxes, stacked up against one wall.

Finally we went back inside to the front room. We put on some music and the three of us got comfy on the sofa, then relaxed as we talked more about trans and queer stuff. We were already friends, but it felt like we all sort of bonded again over our similar experiences being in the closet and hiding parts of ourself from friends and family and everything.

We all got more drinks when the pizza arrived, and I got a big stack of napkins and some plates and stuff too. The conversation gradually shifted to our plans for the summer and the year ahead.

I started, "I'm going to be spending most of the summer working on my um, nymph stuff."

"I'll be visiting the local conservation area almost daily through the summer?" I continued after a sip of my cola. "It'll probably be good and healthy for me, lots of fresh air and sunlight and exercise. But mostly I need to um, kind of bond with the land and the trees and plants and everything. If I was a full nymph I'd actually be living there full-time, but being half-human means I can just kind of part-time it."

"Once I have that bond I don't have to be there so much. Like I could just visit on weekends or something, while the rest of my week I'm doing human stuff," I added.

Jade went next, "I'll be setting up my workshop and studio stuff tomorrow or Monday. Then I'm probably going to start looking around for a part-time job? My folks are going to take care of my tuition but I'm going to need some money of my own. Violet's been really generous but I don't want to take advantage of her for too long, I want to start contributing."

That made me grimace again, "You're not taking advantage Jade, I offered."

Then I turned to Sage and explained, "On top of everything else, Phoebe left some money in my bank account. Like she knew there'd be lots of ongoing expenses and stuff, so she left enough that I don't have to worry about work for a good long while yet."

Her eyebrows shot up and she smiled, "Dang Violet! It's like you really did win the lottery after all! Between the house and the car and the money and the miracle transition, you totally lucked out!"

"Yeah," I smiled, but I suddenly felt guilty about about being so lucky. Plus I couldn't help worrying that she might be jealous or envious or something, considering I got everything just handed to me. And I really didn't feel like I deserved any of it.

Meanwhile Sage was already telling us about her plans, "My dad got me a job for the summer, but I'm not sure if I'm going to do it. It's basically working as a shipper in a meat packing plant? The pay's ok but it sounds boring. And it's really not the sort of thing I want to spend my time on."

"As for next September," she continued, "That's going to depend on what happens when I finally work up the courage to come out to my parents. If everything goes well, I'll probably be going to the local college. You know I like science, and I've been focused mostly on biology, so that's what I want to study."

She glanced at me and grimaced, "I actually want to go into botany, but now I feel kind of weird saying that since you've got the whole plant nymph thing going on."

Jade grinned, "That's actually really cool Sage! And botany would be really good, I think it suits you. And don't worry about being weird with Vi about it, she told me a few days back she's part nymph, not part plant."

"Yeah," I nodded. "I'd be interested in botany myself, but I definitely don't have the smarts for it. I can plant stuff and design gardens and things, but learning how plants work is right up your alley. And I really hope things go ok with your folks too. When were you planning to come out to them?"

She shrugged, "Some time soon. I was kind of waiting for high school to be over, so I really need to get on with it."

After a moment she asked, "How'd it go with your folks, Violet?"

"It was fine," I sighed. "They both freaked out at first, mostly because I'd just turned into this right before their eyes. That's when I came out to them? I had to explain why I had such a big smile on my face after unexpectedly transforming into a girl. It took a couple days for my dad to come around, but mom pretty much accepted me once the initial shock wore off."

"Huh," Sage commented, "I can see how that'd freak anyone out. I'm glad your folks came around though. And I'm glad it was so quick too, like a couple days is nothing."

I frowned, "Yeah I know. Some people have it a whole lot worse."

By that point both my friends could tell something was off. Jade asked, "Violet what's up? The last couple minutes you've been acting off, and you sound like something's bothering you."

"Yeah," Sage nodded in agreement. "What's going on? Was it something I said?"

I shook my head, "No, it's not you. It's..."

After another sigh I explained, "I just feel guilty I guess? Like you said earlier, I lucked out and got everything handed to me? The house, the car, my parents coming around and accepting me, and most of all the miracle transition. I know what it's like for other folks, what I'd have been facing too, if not for Phoebe."

"I wish I could share my good fortune with you Sage," I added. "But I don't have that kind of power. All my magic's good for is plants. I can write to Phoebe though, I can ask her if she'd do something to help you too? Except I honestly don't know if she would. She only helped me because I was friends with one of her children back when I was a kid..."

Sage stared at me for a few seconds, then she smiled. "Is that what this is about? You're feeling guilty because you got so lucky? And you're probably worried that I'm jealous or something, considering I just told you I'm trans too? And there's all the stuff we've talked about online, not even knowing we were talking to each other. All those fears and challenges and expenses and everything, that I'm still facing?"

"Yeah," I replied quietly. "I really wish I could do something for you Sage. It's not fair that I got this miracle, and I feel bad for showing it off to you. Like I'm bragging or rubbing your face in it or something."

She slowly shook her head, and I thought she was going to tell me off or maybe she was trying not to get angry or something like that. Except after a few seconds I realized she was actually trying to suppress a grin. And she was blushing a bit too.

"Violet," she said as she finally let herself smile at me, "Don't feel bad about me, ok? Seriously. I uh, I obviously never said anything about this to you or anyone else, but um... You're not the only girl who got her hands on an instant magical transition."

Jade frowned, "Wait what? If you got a magical transition then how come you don't look any different? What are you hiding under that big hoodie of yours?"

"I obviously haven't done it yet!" Sage replied with a laugh. Then she got more serious and added, "I haven't had the courage. Like I said, I was waiting until school ended first. Because for one thing I knew people wouldn't recognize me, and unlike a certain plant-girl I wanted to graduate on time and not mess around with writing exams at summer school."

That made me blush, but I ignored it and focused on the important part. "What do you mean you got a magic transition? How's it work? What is it? Where'd you get it?"

Sage asked, "So remember last year, a couple people were talking on one of the servers about some enchanted plush toys? They were little keychain-sized toys they got from a vending machine?"

"Yeah," I nodded. "That was last May or June right? A handful of people were talking about them, but the toys disappeared from the machines so nobody else could get their hands on them. Then other people started arguing that there's no such thing as magic and the whole thing got played off as a hoax or something."

She shook her head, "Not a hoax. They're real, and I managed to score one. I could use it at any time, get my instant transition whenever I want. But like I said, I was waiting till school ended. And I've been kind of afraid of doing it, afraid of what my parents would think of me."

Jade asked, "What exactly are you two talking about? Enchanted toys?"

Sage explained how the plushies worked, that they turned the owner into an animal first, then into their ideal human shape but with animal ears and a tail. It was perfect for trans people, but even some cis folks used them too because they wanted the demi-human traits and stuff.

"So what did you get?" I asked her. "What animal?"

With a wide grin she reached into her hoodie pocket, then pulled out a scuffed-up plastic capsule. She carefully popped it open and showed off her magic toy. It was a small cute fuzzy kitty, with light-grey fur, a floofy tail, and sparkly green eyes. There were some random black spots on the toy's fur, and the ears and tail were both black at the tips.

"Oh gosh that's adorable!" Jade exclaimed.

Meanwhile I gave my friend a wide-eyed look, "You just carry that around with you in your pocket?! What if it went off by mistake?! You could turn into a cat while you're driving, or at school or something!"

Sage rolled her eyes as she carefully closed up the capsule again. She tucked it back in her pocket and said, "First off it came with instructions, so I know what the magic word is and I'm careful not to say it. Second, you have to be touching it when you say the word and I keep it in the capsule so I can't accidentally touch it."

"As for why I carry it around with me," she grimaced slightly, "I guess part of it is it makes me feel good, knowing I could get my transition literally any moment I wanted? And the other part is I don't want to leave it at home where my parents might find it. I'd die if I came home and found out they got rid of it because they thought it wasn't appropriate for their 'son' or whatever. Or if one of them accidentally used it instead."

"Yeah ok that's a good point," I agreed. "Honestly though, if I had that in my pocket two weeks ago I'd have used it without a second thought. I can't believe you're just carrying it around sealed in the capsule, when you could be a cute catgirl right now."

She grimaced again, "Ugh, don't tempt me! Seriously Violet! I have to come out to my parents, then I'm going to use it for the first time in front of them. So they know it's me. Like how it happened for you, right? You transformed in front of your parents? I'm going to come out first, and assuming they don't immediately lose their shit or kick me out of the house, then I'll use the plushie. I just have to work up the courage to actually do it."

"Ok Sage," I nodded. "I get it."

We were all quiet for the next couple seconds, then Jade spoke up.

"Hey Sage," she asked in a serious tone, "Would it help if you had a couple friends with you, when you talk to your folks? Like for moral support and stuff?"

She thought it over for a few seconds, then smiled. "It might. If you two don't mind doing that, I'd appreciate it."

Jade smiled back, "I can unpack my workshop some other time. How about we all go to your place tomorrow? No point putting it off any further, right? School's out, let's do this and get you your magic transition. Vi, are you ok with that?"

"Yeah," I nodded. "Actually how about you crash here tonight Sage? Then we'll all go back to your place tomorrow and help you out."

Sage looked a little anxious about the idea, but also kind of excited. She gulped, then with a nervous smile she nodded "Yeah ok. Thanks you two."

"Any time," I smiled back.