The door clicks shut behind you as you collapse against it, sliding down until your ass hits the floor with a soft thud. Your heart pounds so hard the sports bra struggles to contain it.
What. The. FUCK. Just. Happened?
Devon got... Devon just got... Your mind can't even form the words. Your FRIEND just got RAILED AND INSEMINATED by a dude she met twenty minutes ago. And you heard EVERYTHING. The pleading, the degradation, the moment of... of...
You clutch your head in your hands. This is YOUR fault. You should have gone out there. You should have made a scene. Instead, you wasted precious minutes playing fucking dress-up while your best friend's fate was being sealed by some random contractor's nut.
Your phone vibrates in your pocket.
Veronica: How's your morning, beautiful? Mine's INSANE. Three back-to-back meetings with Matsuhisa execs. They keep asking me detailed questions about market penetration in Florida.
Veronica: Send pics of the bathroom progress if you get a chance! Love you! 💋
The casualness of her texts makes you want to scream. You hit the call button, not trusting yourself to type coherently.
She picks up on the fourth ring, her voice hushed and rushed.
"Hey baby, can I call you back? I'm literally stepping into the boardroom right--"
"Devon had sex with one of the contractors," you blurt, voice breaking. "And she has this... this Breeder thing... J- Jake just came inside her. Like, just now."
There's a pause, and you hear muffled voices in the background.
"Wait, what?" Veronica's voice drops even lower. "Hold on, I need to--" More muffled sounds as she apparently steps away from others. "Alex, honey, slow down. What happened?"
"Devon--" your voice catches. "She was flirting with Jake this morning, and I went to change, and when I came back they were already..." You can't finish the sentence.
"Oh, wow," Veronica says, but she sounds more surprised than alarmed. "Is she okay?"
"Okay? No! She's not OKAY!" You're practically hyperventilating. "She could be PREGNANT now because I didn't stop it! And she was saying all this... stuff. Begging him to breed her and stuff. I don't- FUCK! I don't know what to do..."
"Baby, baby, listen," Veronica's voice turns soothing, but you can hear the distraction in it. "They're both adults. If Devon consented--"
"But it's like that thing she took... those Breeder effects... literally MAKING her want to get pregnant!" you hiss.
"I understand that's upsetting, but--" She breaks off as someone calls her name in the background. "Shit, I really have to go. This is the final presentation for the entire contract. Can we talk about this later? I promise we'll figure it out."
"But--"
"I love you," she says, her voice softening into that intimate register she reserves just for you. "Whatever's happening, you'll handle it. You're stronger than you think, even in that tiny body. Get her on birth control- that, what's that called-"
"Veronica, please--"
"I have to go, baby. Call me tonight, okay? Love you."
The line goes dead.
You stare at your phone. Then you throw it across the room where it bounces harmlessly off a pillow. Not even satisfying enough to break something.
Outside, you hear the men resuming work, drills and hammers creating a wonderful soundtrack to your misery.
You curl up on your bed, grabbing your laptop. If Veronica won't help, you'll have to figure this out yourself. You type "breeder pill birth control" into the search bar with trembling fingers.
The results load quickly. The top link: "Emergency Contraception for X-Change Breeder Variants: The NanoShield Option."
You click through, scanning the information with growing desperation:
*"Traditional methods of birth control are ineffective against the Breeder variant due to the pill's immune suppression of chemical contraceptives. However, NanoShield technology offers a potential solution. These microscopic robots target and neutralize sperm cells directly, providing approximately 73% efficacy if administered within 12 hours of insemination. Available only at licensed X-Change pharmacies..."*
You check the time. Devon was... finished with... about forty minutes ago. That gives you plenty of time to get her to a pharmacy.
A soft knock on your door makes you jump.
"Hey," Devon's voice calls through the wood. "Can I come in?"
You take a deep breath. "Yeah."
The door swings open, and your stomach does a flip. Devon stands there, but not the Devon from last night. This Devon is... glowing. Her hair has been brushed to a glossy sheen, and she's changed into a flouncy pink skirt and frilly white top that looks like it came straight from a Japanese schoolgirl catalog.
But it's her face that stops you cold. She's smiling--no, BEAMING--with an expression of such pure, uncomplicated joy that it's almost painful to look at. Her eyes are bright, cheeks flushed, lips slightly swollen from...
"Hi," she says, still grinning like she's discovered the meaning of life.
"Hi," you respond flatly.
Devon bounces into your room--literally bounces, with a little skip-step that makes her skirt flutter--and perches on the edge of your bed. There's something different about her movements, a new fluidity that wasn't there before. It's like her body has become more... integrated. Like she's figured out how to inhabit it properly.
Eyes
"So," she says, failing spectacularly at sounding casual.
"So," you echo, not helping her out at all.
She bursts into giggles--actual fucking GIGGLES--and falls backward onto your bed, arms spread wide like she's making a snow angel.
"HOLY FUCKING SHIT, ALEX!" she squeals, staring at your ceiling with wonder. "I just--that was--I can't even--FUCK!"
Your eyes narrow at her enthusiasm, but something catches your attention. A thin, pearly white trickle running down her inner thigh, escaping the confines of her cute little skirt.
"You're, uh, leaking," you point out.
Devon glances down, then laughs--a high, musical sound nothing like her former bray. "Oops!" She swipes a finger through the viscous fluid, examining it with fascination rather than disgust. "Guess Jake really did pack a load!"
"Jesus Christ, Devon," you mutter, covering your face with your hands.