“He— uh… they are still stable,” someone was saying as I woke up.
"Why is he… different now? When is he going to wake up?” That voice was definitely Alec.
“We don’t know,” the person said, her voice resolving into a more feminine tone that I vaguely recognised. The school nurse, I think? “They were brought in from the cold during the battle with the scorpions, hypothermic and with some strange unrelated symptoms. The… changes happened gradually.”
"You haven't learned anything?" Alec asked, but his tone wasn't accusatory. "It's been almost a week. We're worried about him…"
"As are those of us in the medical staff," the nurse replied. "I had to choose an ability that would make a patient chew and swallow food while unconscious."
Ah crap, I couldn't let them keep talking about me without letting them know I was awake.
The first sound I made was a croak, but that was all that was needed for the nurse to stop and peek behind the curtain.
"Oh, goodness!" She gasped, pushing through. Alec and Camilo followed her, and I gave them a weak smile.
"Here, let me get you some water," the nurse said, bustling over to a table where a jug and cup were waiting. Once full, she held the cup carefully to my lips and allowed me a few sips of water.
"Thanks," I said, then coughed slightly. Oh no… my voice, even as raspy as it was from days of not talking, was noticeably higher in pitch.
Letting my head fall back, I grimaced and took stock of my body. Physically and mentally I felt refreshed and ready to go, if thirsty and a little hungry. Unfortunately, I could feel several substantial differences in my body. Very familiar differences…
"I've turned further into a girl, haven't I?" I asked with a groan.
"Further?" The nurse asked, pulling a notepad out of her breast pocket. "You were experiencing changes before the day of the scorpion battle?"
I almost answered yes, but at the last second realised that 'Kai' wouldn't know shit about the battle. "Um… what battle?"
"The day you were last conscious, then," she amended.
Glancing at my friends, who were staring at me with concern and… something else, I nodded. "Yeah. All my body hair disappeared, and my skin became softer. I um… I can feel that my bits are different, ma'am. I've turned into a girl."
"Yes…" she said delicately. "Your body is… more phenotypically female than male, currently. Calling you a girl would imply a great many other things that we either don't have the resources to test, or that are something you must decide for yourself."
I stared at her. "Huh?"
She shifted uneasily and glanced between me and my friends. Then, she sighed heavily. "I suppose you will all need to hear and understand this anyway, so here goes…"
"Men and women are much more than just a hard written set of DNA rules jotted down in your cells. From a certain angle, your DNA is actually the least important part of what makes up your body. It's sort of like… the blueprint, but when you take the instructions in that blueprint and apply them to the real world, they can be interpreted in a variety of different ways."
"For example, a foetus in the womb could have instructions that would normally create a male, but due to environmental circumstances such as an excess of feminine hormones during pregnancy ended up producing a female. So when I say you are phenotypically female, I mean that all outwardly observable real world primary and secondary sexual traits are female in appearance or function."
"If I were to guess in your case, some sort of magic has forcibly changed how your instructions are to be interpreted, then provided the energy and impetus for those changes to be realised. You still look like yourself, but as if you were born female and… well, shorter…"
"Height doesn't count as a female characteristic?" Camilo asked. His expression during the nurse's explanation had turned from drowning in awkwardness to keen interest.
The nurse chuckled and waggled a hand in a so-so gesture. "Yes… but Kai is currently under five feet tall. That's a very drastic change from the six feet they had originally."
"What?!" I squeaked, attempting to get out of the bed from the sheer shock of… under five feet? Really?
Thankfully I was wearing hospital scrubs… and a diaper… oh god, I was wearing a shitty poncho and a diaper in front of my friends who—
When I looked at Alec, I had to look up… and up… and up… until I finally found his laughing face.
"Holy shit, dude… why are you more freaked out about your height than the tits and pussy thing?"
"I'm a freakin' hobbit!" I cried in alarmed frustration.
The nurse tsked and wagged a finger. “Kai, get back in the bed, I am not done with you yet. Alec, I will not have such language in my infirmary. If you must refer to your friend's breasts and vagina, then do as such with those words.”
Sitting back down on the bed, I crossed my arms and pouted dramatically. This was… this was… so embarrassing.
“Now,” the nurse said primly. “As I was saying, you may be phenotypically female, but we have no way of knowing if everything inside you has changed. For example, your testes receded, but we don't know if they changed into ovaries. Equally and far more difficult to evaluate on my part, is your gender identity. It may have changed, but it may not have."
"Oh, so he could be like a trans guy now?" Camilo asked, intrigued and not even slightly bothered by all the gender talk.
The nurse's expression widened, and she nodded enthusiastically. "Exactly! Gosh, I'm happy the young people in this town aren't bigoted about this."
"For sure," Alec exclaimed, throwing me a thumbs up. "I'd offer to find a binder for you, but you're flat as fuck so that's not an issue."
I gaped at him, then looked down my collar at my chest. I wasn't flat! I was just shorter and… my boobs were proportional! "I have boobs!"
The nurse misinterpreted what I was saying and nodded, but I looked up and glared at Alec, saying, "I mean, they're reasonably sized boobs, thank you very much!"
"Hey, hey," Alec said, raising his hands in defence while simultaneously extending his shit-stirring grin. "Lots of people are into the itty bitty titty with the birthing hips combo—"
I flew back off the bed and punched him in the arm. "If you keep talking like that I'll break your damn kneecaps!"
Dancing backwards and laughing, he replied, "Yeah 'cos that's all you can reach!"
"Mother fucker," I hissed, and—
The nurse grabbed me by the shoulder. "Kai! This is what boys do, they tease! He's just winding you up." Her attention shifted to my friend, and she glared at him. "As for you Alec, get out of my infirmary, you absolute pest."
Still laughing, he did as he was told, all the while brushing his hand down his flat masculine chest. I rolled my eyes and held my hand up, miming out just how big I thought he was… down there.
We both burst out in laughter as he left, and I looked up at the nurse. "Sorry ma'am. We're like that sometimes."
"It's true," Camilo agreed solemnly. "That was mild, actually."
"Hmph," she grumbled, and gave me a look. "If that's the case, I'm going to assume you're okay. I'm going to give you one last checkup, then I want you changed and out of my infirmary. I'm sick of changing your diapers."
My face flamed red with embarrassment, and I nodded silently while shuffling back to the bed.
Half an hour later, after a bunch of tests and a lecture on how I should really get in touch with my inner self and gender, she let me go.
Camilo met me at the door, "Yo. How're you feeling dude?"
"Like a hobbit who used to be an elf," I grumbled. "Does everyone know…?"
He nodded. "Yup. Alec spilled the beans. How do you want to be referred to, by the way? He or she?"
"I… fuck, I don't know…" I sighed, glancing down at the mismatched boy clothing I threw on back before I collapsed in— oh no! I collapsed in Chloe's arms as Kai while she was looking for Silver who went in the same direction! Crap! But… Camilo and Alec hadn't said anything, and neither had the nurse. Was my cover still intact?
"What do you think I should default to, while I'm… you know, making the choice?" I asked, glancing up bashfully. "I don't think I can just choose in a split second. It's so hard… but everyone needs to be able to refer to me…"
"She," he said instantly. His tone then turned sarcastic as he continued, "I was thinking about it, and this is pretty much the only circumstance where the fine bigots of Edgewood would condone a pronoun swap. 'They' would probably make more sense, but trying to get a bunch of small town folk from Kentucky to understand non-binary pronouns is probably way too hard. ‘He’ might also work… but considering you got upset that Alec made fun of your boobs… let's go with a preliminary girl."
I gaped up at him, completely blown away. He was thinking all that… and fuck but he was right. Dude did a full emotional vibe check on me like it was nothing!
"I…" I mumbled, still processing. "I think you're right…?"
"Nice," he said with a smile, and we turned into the corridor where our room was. "You ready to see everyone else?"
“He— uh… they are still stable,” someone was saying as I woke up.
"Why is he… different now? When is he going to wake up?” That voice was definitely Alec.
“We don’t know,” the person said, her voice resolving into a more feminine tone that I vaguely recognised. The school nurse, I think? “They were brought in from the cold during the battle with the scorpions, hypothermic and with some strange unrelated symptoms. The… changes happened gradually.”
"You haven't learned anything?" Alec asked, but his tone wasn't accusatory. "It's been almost a week. We're worried about him…"
"As are those of us in the medical staff," the nurse replied. "I had to choose an ability that would make a patient chew and swallow food while unconscious."
Ah crap, I couldn't let them keep talking about me without letting them know I was awake.
The first sound I made was a croak, but that was all that was needed for the nurse to stop and peek behind the curtain.
"Oh, goodness!" She gasped, pushing through. Alec and Camilo followed her, and I gave them a weak smile.
"Here, let me get you some water," the nurse said, bustling over to a table where a jug and cup were waiting. Once full, she held the cup carefully to my lips and allowed me a few sips of water.
"Thanks," I said, then coughed slightly. Oh no… my voice, even as raspy as it was from days of not talking, was noticeably higher in pitch.
Letting my head fall back, I grimaced and took stock of my body. Physically and mentally I felt refreshed and ready to go, if thirsty and a little hungry. Unfortunately, I could feel several substantial differences in my body. Very familiar differences…
"I've turned further into a girl, haven't I?" I asked with a groan.
"Further?" The nurse asked, pulling a notepad out of her breast pocket. "You were experiencing changes before the day of the scorpion battle?"
I almost answered yes, but at the last second realised that 'Kai' wouldn't know shit about the battle. "Um… what battle?"
"The day you were last conscious, then," she amended.
Glancing at my friends, who were staring at me with concern and… something else, I nodded. "Yeah. All my body hair disappeared, and my skin became softer. I um… I can feel that my bits are different, ma'am. I've turned into a girl."
"Yes…" she said delicately. "Your body is… more phenotypically female than male, currently. Calling you a girl would imply a great many other things that we either don't have the resources to test, or that are something you must decide for yourself."
I stared at her. "Huh?"
She shifted uneasily and glanced between me and my friends. Then, she sighed heavily. "I suppose you will all need to hear and understand this anyway, so here goes…"
"Men and women are much more than just a hard written set of DNA rules jotted down in your cells. From a certain angle, your DNA is actually the least important part of what makes up your body. It's sort of like… the blueprint, but when you take the instructions in that blueprint and apply them to the real world, they can be interpreted in a variety of different ways."
"For example, a foetus in the womb could have instructions that would normally create a male, but due to environmental circumstances such as an excess of feminine hormones during pregnancy ended up producing a female. So when I say you are phenotypically female, I mean that all outwardly observable real world primary and secondary sexual traits are female in appearance or function."
"If I were to guess in your case, some sort of magic has forcibly changed how your instructions are to be interpreted, then provided the energy and impetus for those changes to be realised. You still look like yourself, but as if you were born female and… well, shorter…"
"Height doesn't count as a female characteristic?" Camilo asked. His expression during the nurse's explanation had turned from drowning in awkwardness to keen interest.
The nurse chuckled and waggled a hand in a so-so gesture. "Yes… but Kai is currently under five feet tall. That's a very drastic change from the six feet they had originally."
"What?!" I squeaked, attempting to get out of the bed from the sheer shock of… under five feet? Really?
Thankfully I was wearing hospital scrubs… and a diaper… oh god, I was wearing a shitty poncho and a diaper in front of my friends who—
When I looked at Alec, I had to look up… and up… and up… until I finally found his laughing face.
"Holy shit, dude… why are you more freaked out about your height than the tits and pussy thing?"
"I'm a freakin' hobbit!" I cried in alarmed frustration.
The nurse tsked and wagged a finger. “Kai, get back in the bed, I am not done with you yet. Alec, I will not have such language in my infirmary. If you must refer to your friend's breasts and vagina, then do as such with those words.”
Sitting back down on the bed, I crossed my arms and pouted dramatically. This was… this was… so embarrassing.
“Now,” the nurse said primly. “As I was saying, you may be phenotypically female, but we have no way of knowing if everything inside you has changed. For example, your testes receded, but we don't know if they changed into ovaries. Equally and far more difficult to evaluate on my part, is your gender identity. It may have changed, but it may not have."
"Oh, so he could be like a trans guy now?" Camilo asked, intrigued and not even slightly bothered by all the gender talk.
The nurse's expression widened, and she nodded enthusiastically. "Exactly! Gosh, I'm happy the young people in this town aren't bigoted about this."
"For sure," Alec exclaimed, throwing me a thumbs up. "I'd offer to find a binder for you, but you're flat as fuck so that's not an issue."
I gaped at him, then looked down my collar at my chest. I wasn't flat! I was just shorter and… my boobs were proportional! "I have boobs!"
The nurse misinterpreted what I was saying and nodded, but I looked up and glared at Alec, saying, "I mean, they're reasonably sized boobs, thank you very much!"
"Hey, hey," Alec said, raising his hands in defence while simultaneously extending his shit-stirring grin. "Lots of people are into the itty bitty titty with the birthing hips combo—"
I flew back off the bed and punched him in the arm. "If you keep talking like that I'll break your damn kneecaps!"
Dancing backwards and laughing, he replied, "Yeah 'cos that's all you can reach!"
"Mother fucker," I hissed, and—
The nurse grabbed me by the shoulder. "Kai! This is what boys do, they tease! He's just winding you up." Her attention shifted to my friend, and she glared at him. "As for you Alec, get out of my infirmary, you absolute pest."
Still laughing, he did as he was told, all the while brushing his hand down his flat masculine chest. I rolled my eyes and held my hand up, miming out just how big I thought he was… down there.
We both burst out in laughter as he left, and I looked up at the nurse. "Sorry ma'am. We're like that sometimes."
"It's true," Camilo agreed solemnly. "That was mild, actually."
"Hmph," she grumbled, and gave me a look. "If that's the case, I'm going to assume you're okay. I'm going to give you one last checkup, then I want you changed and out of my infirmary. I'm sick of changing your diapers."
My face flamed red with embarrassment, and I nodded silently while shuffling back to the bed.
Half an hour later, after a bunch of tests and a lecture on how I should really get in touch with my inner self and gender, she let me go.
Camilo met me at the door, "Yo. How're you feeling dude?"
"Like a hobbit who used to be an elf," I grumbled. "Does everyone know…?"
He nodded. "Yup. Alec spilled the beans. How do you want to be referred to, by the way? He or she?"
"I… fuck, I don't know…" I sighed, glancing down at the mismatched boy clothing I threw on back before I collapsed in— oh no! I collapsed in Chloe's arms as Kai while she was looking for Silver who went in the same direction! Crap! But… Camilo and Alec hadn't said anything, and neither had the nurse. Was my cover still intact?
"What do you think I should default to, while I'm… you know, making the choice?" I asked, glancing up bashfully. "I don't think I can just choose in a split second. It's so hard… but everyone needs to be able to refer to me…"
"She," he said instantly. His tone then turned sarcastic as he continued, "I was thinking about it, and this is pretty much the only circumstance where the fine bigots of Edgewood would condone a pronoun swap. 'They' would probably make more sense, but trying to get a bunch of small town folk from Kentucky to understand non-binary pronouns is probably way too hard. ‘He’ might also work… but considering you got upset that Alec made fun of your boobs… let's go with a preliminary girl."
I gaped up at him, completely blown away. He was thinking all that… and fuck but he was right. Dude did a full emotional vibe check on me like it was nothing!
"I…" I mumbled, still processing. "I think you're right…?"
"Nice," he said with a smile, and we turned into the corridor where our room was. "You ready to see everyone else?"
