Gender Bender in a Blue Blender - 3. Chapter 3- Waterfall

Sunday was a failure when hunting down Adain's family in the South. Though they took the time to drive over to them after Talon returned from his job, the house was empty, and no cars were in the driveway. All too soon, Monday arrived, along with anxiety that Talon wouldn't wish on anyone.

"Remember, don't greet them like you usually do. In fact, it would be better if you even acted nervous around them."

"Believe me, that won't be a problem," Adain drawled. Nervous? He was going to school as a woman, for pity's sake! "I don't think I've ever been more nervous." He glared at Talon as he emptied out his backpack of textbooks and notes to fill it with new books. He had to pretend to be gathering information for himself, to be his own sister, and the worst was having to be Talon's girlfriend, to boot.

When the two of them parked and walked onto the campus, their shared friends and acquaintances began asking questions when they saw the blue-haired girl walking beside him in place of Adain. Aid had expected curiosity but not being surrounded. What was he, some kind of mannequin on display?

"Easy there, everyone." Talon started as he held out his hands in a pacifying manner. "Long story short, Adain's recovering from his accident, so we received special permission to allow his sister to take over for him." He wrapped an arm around Adain's shoulders. "This is Niada. Guys, eat your heart out because she's my girlfriend."

If this was only the beginning, Adain was not looking forward to the rest of the school day. It's not as if he didn't already know he'd be bombarded with unwanted attention. Still, he had underestimated the inquisitiveness of their friends. Oddly enough, being Talon's 'girlfriend' put him at ease. Why? He had no idea.

Maybe it was because the chances of more unwanted attention decreased. That was probably it...Aid stiffened a bit every time their friends asked them a question they had to make up an answer for. It took a lot for him to not greet his friends as usual, but it took even more discipline not to usher them all away.

"Hey, everyone. Nice to meet ya." Though it wasn't the best of greetings, it was all he could do to speak despite being considerably conscious about Talon's arm on his shoulders.

Sure enough, the boys in the group gave them a little more room as they awkwardly tried not to stare too hard at 'Talon's girl.' And the only friend that knew about the blond's feelings for Adain sent him a skeptical look. Talon let out a long sigh, anticipating what was to come. Though the first half of the day was without incident, just before lunch, she cornered him.

"What's this? I thought you were gay. Weren't you supposedly head over heels for Adain?" Lynne questioned. "Always whining about not being able to pound him into his own massive bed-"

Talon quickly reached over to cover her mouth with his hand. "To clarify, I never said I was gay. I'm either demi or bi." Talon hissed as he explained. "And I know that it looks like I'm using Aid's sister to make him jealous, but that's not it either... I'll explain it to you in detail when we're far from school grounds, Lynne."

"Hmm, If you say so," the brunette stated incredulously. "If you ask me, you seem to have the hots for both."

"You're not entirely wrong," Talon muttered under his breath.

When they finally entered the cafeteria, Talon quickly spotted Adain. But, as he made his way over to sit with the cursed young man, a curvaceous female student stood before him. Blast, what was her name again?

"It isn't fair that you've been dating someone off-campus," The woman huffed. "Just what does she have that we never had?"

Talon had no idea how to answer that question. "Well, Niada and I grew up together. Though she ended up going to another campus for college, I've always remained faithful to her." He lied with finesse, stepping around her to sit across from Adain at the table. His light brown eyes shot the other woman a side glance. "After all, Nia is my first love." That last part hadn't been a complete lie.

At first, Adain wanted to know what Talon and Debbie were discussing. But, when the blond joined him, he merely shrugged. "You really are Mr. Popularity around here, aren't you?" He teased. If he was honest with himself, he'd admit that he was annoyed whenever girls fawned over the blond. He briefly wondered why Talon never tried to date one of them.

"I did try to warn you," Talon replied. "You didn't have to worry about such things before, so you chose not to notice." His gaze fell down to his food.

"Besides," He mumbled to himself. "It would be unfair to lead them on, especially as I might end up waiting my entire life..."

Adain snorted. "Please! Trust me, I've noticed. I've just never said anything."

"It's just that leading them on wouldn't be fair. Not when I'd rather be with someone else."

"Well, when this is all over, I think we both should look into dating again," Adain whispered to Talon so no one overheard him. "Deal?" He asked, holding his hand out to shake it.

The blond reluctantly took the offered hand and shook it. "Alright, deal." He decided, silently vowing to do just that if Adain never returned his feelings.

As the day went by, Talon was intercepted by girl after girl in between classes and lunch. The questions were phrased differently, but the subject was the same. Who was this Niada? Why was she so special? Why would he set his sights so low when clearly more beautiful and well-endowed girls were on their campus? It was enough to thoroughly annoy him.

Towards the end of the day, it finally started to die down. Talon held out a hand to Adain so they could walk to his car hand in hand when yet another girl tugged hard on his sleeve. "Whoa!"

"We need to talk," the student council president, Teresa, insisted as she dragged the blond off to the side. "Is that girlfriend of yours a freshman?"

"What? No, she's a junior." He replied with a sigh. "Look, I know that she looks like she belongs in her first year of high school, but I assure you she's twenty-one."

While Talon took most of the brunt that day, Adain was also annoyed by the endless questions. Part of him wanted to strangle the entire female student body. When it was time to head home, he had never felt so relieved. But then the student council president herself literally snatched Talon away from him. What the ever-loving fuck?

Worse yet, Teresa was talking loud enough for everyone within several feet to hear! Adain sent her a slight glare. Had Teresa just questioned his age? Aid might be a man, but even he knew better than to ask a woman her age.

Adain's patience had finally fizzled out completely. If he was honest with himself, he was even a bit jealous. But, a smirk formed on his face as an idea developed in his mind. The hexed young man began to mutter under his breath as he glared at the top of SCP Teresa's head. He felt rather pleased with himself when he saw a dark little rain cloud forming over her.

Aid had a rain cloud affinity inherited from his water father and mist mother. He was sensitive to humidity and friction in the air during storms. When they were kids, he'd constantly taunt the weatherman about the overall inaccuracy of his forecasts. Talon always asked him to pretend to be a meteorologist himself and always followed Aid's predictions instead.

Creating discreet, tiny rainclouds was Adain's specialty. So, he felt pretty smug at the perfect cloud he formed over Teresa's head. However, the smugness fell right off his face when the cloud dumped a heavy downpour on her. His eyes widened in shock. That was different from how his affinity usually worked!

Talon's jaw dropped when, all of a sudden, a curtain of water was poured all over the student council president. He looked up just in time to see a familiar cloud dissipate. The blond reacted quickly, running over to Adain and grabbing his hand as they ran to the car.

::::

"What were you thinking!? In plain sight of everyone?" He reprimanded Aid as they got in the car and buckled their belts. After a moment of silence, Talon turned to stare at his friend. "I thought your cloud spells were a lot lighter than that."

"First of all, we're pretending to go out, and she, along with every other girl in school, is turning into some kind of hellhound!" Adain replied with a huff, folding his arms against his chest. After a moment, though, he began to rub his arms. "Secondly, I didn't actually mean to do that. I swear, I didn't know that the little cloud would practically turn into a waterfall over her! It was just supposed to drizzle." His affinity was much more potent than usual, and he wondered why.

The mystery of the raincloud fled from the blond's mind when he noted the hint of jealousy in Adain's voice. Talon couldn't help the smirk that formed on his face. Maybe there was hope for him after all. "Maybe they will stop if they see how serious our pretend relationship could be. We could always...fake a kiss?" He suggested.

"Fake a kiss...?" Adain repeated, blushing a little. He quickly looked away as if he wasn't interested. Though that was a big, fat lie. Despite himself, he liked that idea. "F-fine. But you gotta wipe that smug smirk off your face. It's creepin' me out."

"Then that will be our plan for tomorrow," Talon replied, unable to keep the smirk off his face if he tried.

Adain frowned when he heard the kiss would wait until the following day. But that would make the most sense. People would actually have to see them kissing for the plan to work.

After a moment, Talon spoke of more important matters. "So, which family members should we pay a visit to today? Still no news on the communication problem?"

"I was able to sneak texts to Lynne back and forth during lunch... girl's been acting weird around me all day. But, no response from anything. I tried to send Dad and Grandpa. So, I guess we should visit the Calistro-Llywelyns next." He sighed, feeling frustrated by the communication problems. What could be causing them?

"The Calistro-Llywelyns it is," Tal replied, following Adain's instructions towards that house. A van and a car took up the space on the driveway. So, they parked on the street in front of the house.

A teenage girl was pacing on the sidewalk as she texted on her phone. When they approached, she tilted her head and stared at the blond. "You look familiar. Do I know you?"

"Adain's birthday. I'm his best friend," He explained as he rang the doorbell. "And this..." He said as he motioned toward Adain's female body. "Is Adain. As you can see, he's not quite himself."

"Aren't you funny?" Adain huffed as he mimicked Talon. "Not quite himself..."

"Adain!?" She squawked as her attention shifted to the blue-haired female. She looked Adain over from head to foot, taking hold of his face. "Holy shit, it is you!"

Aid whined and groaned when his cousin approached him and grabbed his face. "Avery cut it out...!" He sighed when he finally broke free from her. "Is everyone else inside? We obviously need to talk."

The door finally opened, and Adain's first cousin stared blearily at them. He was a writer, and his sleeping hours were all over the place. "Can I help you?" He asked through a yawn.

"Dad!" Avery squeaked. "Dad! Adain's been turned into a girl. Just look at him!"

Lance Llywelyn stared blankly at them; no outward reaction was visible. "Come inside," He drawled as he allowed them in. "I'll go make coffee."

After Lance consumed caffeine, Talon briefly summarized what happened to his best friend. He then spoke about their problems with communication. That was when Avery interrupted him.

"OMG!" Avery squeaked out in letters. "Is that why I haven't gotten through to Rosie? All this time, I thought it was that she had a shitty service provider. "So it's just our family members we can't contact? That's so wrong."

Lance rubbed his face as the caffeine finally kicked in, and he absorbed everything said. "Sounds like someone out there has it out for your bloodline, Adain. Though your gender-swapping tragedy sounds like something my aunt would have done as a prank. The inability to cast archaic messages doesn't seem like a mere casualty. My wife Della-" He trailed off and frowned, rubbing his forehead as if he couldn't get his facts straight. "In any case, I wish I had the time to help you more. But, I have deadlines to meet and food to put on the table."

"That's it? Nothing is above deadlines for you?" Avery placed her hands on her hips and glared at her dad. "Family's supposed to look out for one another! Whatever, Dad." She turned towards Adain. "Listen, cuzzo, whatever help you need, Aura and I are so in. 'Cousin Meet' this weekend?" She suggested as she held out her fist to Adain.

Adain couldn't remember the last time they talked of his mother. While upset that his cousin Lance refused to help, he totally understood. He felt his hope rising when Avery offered to help in his stead. Aid smiled and held his fist to the girl as they fist-bumped. "Sounds like a plan."

Having at least conveyed what they needed to say and having verified that the Calistro-Llywelyns were okay, Talon and Adain headed back to their apartment. After they walked inside, Talon pulled Adain into a light hug. "Don't lose heart. We'll get you back to normal somehow."

"I'm fine, don't worry," Adain replied with a brave face, though he found quite the comfort in the warmth of Talon's arms. "I'm just worried that there's more going on than we know." He admitted as he returned the affection.

"For the sake of your family, I just hope they're wrong about that part," Talon sighed. He peered out the window and frowned when he saw the orange hues of the approaching sunset. "Alright. Time to change out of your clothes. You don't want to hurt yourself at sunset again."

At Talon's warning, Adain gulped and quickly let him go as he made a mad dash for his room. He was not going to live through that pain again! Hell no!
Talon chuckled at Adain's speed and waited patiently until after sunset to look for him. He knocked gently on the door to his room. "Safe transformation?" He asked.

Adain quickly pulled off the feminine clothes and wore his regular pajamas. He sighed in relief when he managed to change completely before the shift. He was relieved to feel the body he was most used to again. He walked over to the door and opened it for Talon. "Thankfully." He responded to the inquiry. "Thanks for remindin' me."

"What are you in the mood to eat?" Talon asked as he leaned against the doorframe and smiled at his friend.

"I say 'breakfast for dinner' night!" Adain suggested with a smile that lit up his entire face. "And I wanna help tonight since you've been helping me so much with all this crap."

"Then, it'll be French toast sticks, eggs, and ham with hash browns." Talon conceded as they headed towards the kitchen to get started. The blond did most of the cooking, but Adain handed him what he needed whenever needed. When their 'breakfast for dinner' was done, Talon sat on a stool while Adain sat on the counter next to him.

Aid kicked his feet happily as he ate his food. "Your cooking's the best, Tal."

"Adain..." The blond began cautiously. "Have you ever had a crush on another guy before?"

The ravenet blushed and looked down at his plate. "...maybe. Why?"

Talon cleared his throat a bit and sipped some of his grape juice. "You wouldn't be…opposed if I ever dated a guy, would you?" He continued.

"I guess not? I mean, I can't stop you from dating a guy if you want to." Adain answered, though he honestly wasn't sure if he liked the idea of Talon dating anyone. He was starting to wonder if turning into a girl affected him and how he usually felt about Talon. "Is this about that person you liked? You better at least tell me who it is. I'll kick your ass if you run off and get married to some person I don't even know."

Talon gave him one of his rare, warm smiles. "Don't worry. It's someone you know rather well."

"Well, that's good, at least. But that still tells me next to nothing." He huffed, lightly shoving Talon with a hand. "You better tell me eventually, you jerk." Though he tried to sound serious, he couldn't help but immediately smile afterward.

Talon chuckled, accepting the playful shove. "Most certainly."