- Farrah -
Okay, I'm going to have my second day as Princess Honiu's personal nurse.
While she was far more reasonable than I expected the decision I made yesterday makes me now quite anxious.
I mean, I can act as confident as I want in front of my family, which is actually the only way to convince them, but it's still about modifying my body.
You have to be like totally crazy to not even react to the severity.
Still, it doesn't sound too bad.
I'll simply sweat differently.
Sigh.
After quite a climb that makes me for the first time wish for wings, before I dismiss this idea very hard as it's an actual possibility and I've seen Erys struggle with them, I reach the district.
It's still a weird feeling when a whole troop of guardians simply lets you pass into guarded property because you belong here.
I mean, Erys courtyard is similar, but those big ones are of completely different quality and feel more foreign.
The first one I meet is Chitu.
Directly after my first sniff of her pheromones, I'm asking myself if being flustered might be her standard condition.
What is she talking about?
She is so agitated that it's concerning.
Okay... The way she talks about it, it sounds like the world just turned upside down.
I roll my eyes.
Seriously, if something isn't healthy here then how much everyone already has gotten used to Honiu's lack of physical activity.
<... I'm not sure.> (C)
<... You aren't wrong.> (C)
As I said, maybe she's simply permanently flustered.
So I leave her behind and enter Honiu's chamber.
I receive a bit of an irritated response.
She's clearly bugged about me.
Pun intended.
(H)
She's trying to maintain her dignity and stay calm but in reality, she's weirdly joyous.
It's an almost disturbing morbid elation about the opportunity to mess with my body.
I'm slightly worried.
The idea of getting new organs is disturbing.
Especially if I consider that there's limited space in my body.
The same goes for glands on my hands.
I'd like to be able to differentiate between both.
Without waiting for an answer, Honiu rushes to my side and has already my arm in her grasp, fiddling with it with four arms simultaneously.
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Even if I'd say that I'm fairly open and made an amazing effort in integrating into this society for my girl, that a giant insect comes rushing at me and touches my body is still startling.
However, if she notices Honiu completely ignores my issues, absorbed in whatever she's doing.
Yep, totally not the crazy researcher.
For a moment I sense a slight degree of panic around her, realizing this possibility but it quickly subsides.
(H)
If her ovipositor just wouldn't emerge so threateningly from behind her.
(H)
Somehow it doesn't feel like I have much of a choice at this point.
Urgh, I'm not too keen on getting stung.
I know this won't be pleasant, so I show my hands, where I'm supposed to get the change and look away.
A second later there's an impact in my chest.
A piercing sting.
Then two more on each of my arms in quick succession.
This caught me off guard.
Questioning I look at the perpetrator.
This expression might've been a little too simplistic, but in reality, my pheromones contained all the variants of the questions I wanted to ask.
From "Why my chest?" to "One sting wasn't enough?".
Which is a bit convenient in terms of communication.
That's something she really could have mentioned before.
Promptly I feel it.
My body starts to itch and I feel a rising heat everywhere.
But worse are only my arms.
The itch becomes so strong there that it hurts.
Also, the heat and pressure in them are extremely uncomfortable, while the flesh itself seems to warp.
Only my mental preparation, and the fact that I stayed close to a bench in case I lose my footing, prevents me from falling to the ground.
It takes far longer than I'd like it to.
But eventually, I can press through this ordeal and everything subsides.
Slightly disgruntled I turn to Honiu.
There's still a slight prickling in my palms.
Naturally, I inspect them.
Fortunately, I can't make anything out.
No abnormal big glands or a different colorization.
They look like before, which is kinda surprising as I can't believe what I just felt was about nothing.
Still, I feel like before.
Which is quite soothing but at the same time worrying.
(H)
After all, even if this was very intense, to believe that my entire inside changed just in this short moment and I don't feel any different at all is a bit odd.
Well, if she says so.
This means I have to think about producing a liquid I don't even know about its nature yet.
Nothing easier than this, huh?
Okay, fun aside, this is kinda weird to think about.
I only have to think I want it to come out of my hands.
Is this it?
But how would I control such a foreign effect?
Can I really... Oh, forget about it, my hands are getting damp.
I stare at my palms.
They're feeling sweaty, but aside from a bit of glistening fluid covering their surface, there's nothing unordinary.
And when I touch the fluid it feels like something between water and oil.
But not as clingy as the latter.
Seriously, the thought that this feels like my sweat but at the same time clearly is none is distressing me.
I use my cloth to wipe them.
For a moment it works to get rid of the liquid, but seconds later they're as damp as before.
She's once more annoyed but for me this loss of control over my own body is frightening.
With my voice, I could at least decide if I want to speak, but this liquid just continues to flow.
Is this how Erys feels with her eggs?
But no, Honiu says I can control this and I believe her.
I just need to understand how.
Trying to overcome my panic I concentrate on my palms and tell myself to stop this flow.
It doesn't work.
So I concentrate a little more on my hands, in particular, I retrace where the liquid comes from.
There's a strange sensation originating from inside my wrist.
Like prickling, or some strain in the muscles, but not quite the same.
And then I cut off the flow.
I didn't target a specific muscle or even know how my insides work.
I just know that I did it.
Like moving a limb.
You aren't aware of every single muscle, you control the entirety.
And this is how this works as well.
Sadly my hands still remain damp, as I have nothing to dry them with.
The cloth in particular is totally soaked by now.
Uh, well, I can't deny that this is part of the job.
However, I shouldn't forget to educate her a little.
(H)
This was more of a hiss than a request but I'll take it.
"Wieth pleeasure!" (F)
By now I believe to know how far I can tease her.
The pheromones certainly help me to gauge her state.
So I begin to use the soaked cloth to wipe her down.
"Ehk? Ie'm tryeing to practiece human spEech. You know, thee same you took from me. Iet wiell make mye Erys feel bEtter ief I rEgain thies ability." (F)
"Understood." (H)
"You can speeak iet as wEll?" (F)
"Ie learn fast." (H)
It's simply unfair that the one who ruined my voice now is so much better at it.
But I won't be petty about this.
At most I'll tomorrow teach her the meaning of "thank you".
However, with my new drenching ability, I can clean her quite well.
And it's kinda convenient that whenever it gets too dirty or dries I can simply wring it out and soak it again with the liquid from my hands.
Just to think that this stuff can also effectively treat wounds is quite a thought.
Honiu didn't even complain about my technique like before.
At most, she wondered why I wouldn't use my "claws" directly and I had to explain the advantages of a piece of fabric.
Like better traction or protection from hurting my fingers at her carapace.
The wings are still difficult to work on but I can manage without greater slip-ups.
It doesn't take too long and I'm done.
Quite good for using a completely new part of my body.