This is still a noncanonical fanfiction to the Becoming Monsters series, by Ai Loves, setting used with permission. All canonical and mechanical errors are my own. The yarrb is the creation of FelisRandomis, used with permission. Banks are the invention of mercantilism, used without permission, so there!
Mr. Midnight, I blame you for the clown.
—-
Chapter 5: Cold Hard Cash
"Whitney, get a towel, wipe up, and sit on the couch. Lucy, get the binder, please!"
Neither argued, somehow. I was mostly blind, the option screen taking up the center of my vision. I could see them moving in my peripheral vision, could hear the sounds of two pairs of feet moving in very different directions with very different gaits. My wife's footsteps ended first, a few paces off to my left. Our guest was moving more, though to be fair she had been fairly thoroughly glazed by me about a minute prior, there was a lot to wipe up.
"Lucy, write this down." I conveyed the information quickly. The scratch of her pencil didn't take long. After all, there wasn't much to convey, even with the added note that Scan was picking up the information relevant to it. I could see the faint shimmers of both of their auras, Whitney's noticeably weaker than in the hospital.
I looked towards where Whitney now sat. Everyone knew the look of someone gazing in their general direction but reading something inside their own eyes, but it served to make my point. "Whitney, you may have surmised that you have an important decision to make. Our previous conversation is on hold until this one is done, it cannot wait." The last was said with a bit of force, I needed there to not be any distractions.
"Oh... kaaayyyyy..." she drew it out skeptically. "She's not trying to kill me, so I assume this is serious."
"You could say that. Here's the deal, you have just been targeted by a sex-activated Class Ability which you didn't give me a chance to explain. To the best of my knowledge, nobody else has ever acquired it, and since I just picked it up after our fight yesterday we are in uncharted waters."
Lucy chimed in. "We know two things from its effects. It has a positive effect on Jay's and the target's Attributes, and it lets him pick up one of your abilities. Presumably, this would mean Regeneration. We have no idea if there's anything else to it, or any drawbacks. We don't even know if there's a way to change your mind after the choice is made, it has only ever been used on me."
"I have a choice in the matter? He's the one with the status screen up."
"I do not make a habit of rash choices, and refuse to do this without consent. I'm not going to make it a condition of you staying here," my wife made an undignified snort, that particular conversation was not done, "but the decision has to be made now, and if you say yes then I will need to talk to you about your ability and experiment with both it and my own."
There was silence. I could not see their expressions, my wife was not close enough for me to touch, I couldn't even use my abilities to gather information due to this infernal blue screen. It was maddening.
"Does that mean we..."
"Don't even think about finishing that sentence until my husband is through with talking shop."
Whitney sounded hopeful, which I took as a good sign. I was starting to get a headache, though, and only half of it was from Status. "You get the point. I need a decision and it cannot wait, I cannot exit the screen without a Yes or No from you."
There was another pause. "He can't see you, say it out loud."
"Yes, I accept."
I nodded, selected it, and accepted. The screen cleared. Whitney wasn't seated, as it turned out, but standing with the couch between her and Lucy. This time, I thought I had an idea of what to expect. Whitney's muscles should enlarge and smooth, and mine with them. The energy hit me, and I could feel it. The world seemed to slow down a quarter-step as I felt my own muscles tighten and the familiar sense of growing health. I could see what I expected of her, those carved muscles growing a bit while somehow keeping their sleekness, her breathing easing.
However, that's when things kept going. Her breasts raised and firmed, her hips and butt expanding slightly but retaining their fitness. Her surprised movements got smoother right with them. I looked sharply to my left, and saw as the power flowed into my wife. Her own muscles stood out more, the gains much more dramatic on her smaller frame. She breathed easier, too, the effort of the earlier magic easing off.
The shimmer of both of their demonic natures persisted, but now something had changed. Almost unnoticeable, had I not been watching, but the aura patterns changed, just a hair. I couldn't tell you what exactly it was, but it was a lot like hearing two notes ever so slightly out of tune. I shook my head. It was something that I would have to figure out. Pulling up my Status screen briefly, I confirmed things. I had gained mass along with the ability scores, and Regeneration had kicked my new Scorpion Venom off my ability list.
Both of the ladies in the room snapped back to reality around the same time. "Looks like I have a lot to write about in the notebook, Jay. Come to the bedroom and we can... chat." Her tone of voice there was still sharp. Sharp enough to scare Jabberwocks in the area. "Whitney, if you step one inch into our bedroom without invitation, I'll throw your flaming corpse through the wall next time. My husband seems to have promised you a place to stay for a bit, plan how you think you're going to earn your keep. The bags I dropped have some clothes that should fit you."
Lucy turned on her heel and walked off to our bedroom. I turned to face Whitney. "I know you had a Delver license. Tomorrow we will have to see about getting your IDs back, and contacting a lawyer about getting you reestablished. Good night." I followed my wife.
