sCene 39 - ʙaCᴋ ᴛo ʙaꜱiCꜱ

The amount of devastation I was feeling evaporated thanks to spending the week with Nai-bu. We didn’t really do much beyond lazing about, and I couldn’t even tell her about the thoughts I was having after regaining control, but it was reassuring that I wasn’t continuing to lust for biting into her flesh. Instead I was desiring her touch, but trying to be patient. Spending time where she was defenseless made me feel like I had control again. Honestly, it felt like I had even more control than ever before.

An unexpected perk of eating more than just jerky was that I had way more energy than I could ever remember having! I don’t remember having this problem growing up, but Mama was feeding me more than just slivers of meat back then. The jerky just barely kept me from running on instinct. It might even have been possible that it was only a matter of time before the jerky couldn’t keep me from succumbing to my natural impulses. But, the energy from Nai-bu went well beyond anything I can even remember eating, so I was feeling really good most days.

Waking up was the most obvious place improvement was visible. Once Nai-bu started going back to work, she wasn’t there to wake me up or make breakfast, and getting out of bed used to be a hassle. Now, I wake up just fine, maybe a little groggy, and make my way to the bathroom and kitchen just fine. I even remember to clean up after myself and not leave the cabinet doors open. This sounds like nothing, but it means Nai-bu comes home to a cleaner place.

Comes home? I mean, she comes back to visit. Right. She has her apartment. I live alone still.

Speaking of my home, it was a mess from my transformation. The couches were absolutely busted, a lamp was basically shattered, and even some of the kitchen tiles were cracked in new places. Without my mother to fix things with magic, Nai-bu and I did spend a bit of time each day trying to replace or fix stuff. I had ordered replacement couches, but a lot of other fixes were more like DIY projects, which Nai-bu had more fun with than me. She just did it and acted like it was no big deal.

I also felt a lot more control over my body. I don’t eat so viciously anymore. Even doing it as a joke for myself feels gross now. It reminds me of what I did to Nai-bu… But I can now feel the energy in my body that controls whether I transform or not! I can even play around with it like making scales appear or growing my hand. I’ve tried growing other body parts, but apparently “growing” is more like slowly transforming, so if my alien body doesn’t have something, or that body part is different, it isn’t easy to make it bigger.

With both of us back to work, things were back to normal. Or, back to what they were like before. Nai-bu honestly seemed more comfortable with me now than before. We haven’t exactly gotten intimate again, but she hasn’t been hiding her body as much. She might be too comfortable undressing now. It hasn’t happened yet, but I’m sure Kyle is going to be snooping around and accidentally catch a glimpse. Not sure she would like that.

Speaking of work, my stream was back up and running, but talks between me and Dale were getting tense. He wasn’t comfortable with me taking so much time off, but I really do think I have been working too much. I stream regularly then have to edit my footage to upload on other sites. I don’t hate editing, and I know I could just monetize people reposting clips from my stream if I tried hard enough, but surely I could get someone else to help, right?

I chose to call Dale without notice and he actually picked up.

“I want an editor.” I said, directly.

“I’m your editor. I check everything before you post.” Dale said, not quite getting what I meant.

“No, a video editor. I want someone else to edit my stream footage for the highlights.”

“Why are you asking me?” Dale seemed a little annoyed.

“You handle my money and my security. So I figured you would want a say in it.” If I don’t ask first, he always says something.

“You can afford it. Just pick one yourself.” Dale said, flatly.

Cryztal laughed a bit. “Why? So you can say no?”

“No. So I can do a background check and then say no.”

This was not going to be easy. Dale was always looking out for potential interactions where a paranormal investigator might find a way to expose any of his clients, so it was normal for him to reject ideas like this. There was even a point where he wanted my packages rerouted to a different address so he could intercept them for spying technology. It didn’t help that Jason had a history of being the biggest threat to my privacy, and my mother left a number with him and not Dale. He didn’t like being in the dark like that.

I’m also sure he was upset that I wasn’t eager to let him debrief me on my transformation. I told him all the basics, but I couldn’t tell him about eating Nai-bu. I convinced him that the jerky was just barely enough to stop me, and thankfully I apparently licked up every last drop of blood from Nai-bu’s body, as if my tongue could wrap around atoms and take what it wanted. Jason and Nai-bu also agreed that Dale couldn’t know, but Dale didn’t like the idea that Nai-bu magically left the house. He apparently hasn’t had anyone trained on the handling of magical residue.

Since Nai-bu came back into my life I had gotten my hopes up about going out in the world, but with my body actually feeling good, it feels more achievable. More safe, at least. And with her sudden confidence and comfort boost, I really am looking forward to trying new things. Maybe I can do crowds now. Yeah, this could be good.

As long as I don’t think too hard about how we got here.