Prism rubbed the side of his bald head into the soft beige pillow of the overly soft, overly large guest bed within Leanna’s apartment. In the dark stillness of the room he lay in, he listened out for any more signs of the energetic lovemaking he’d heard earlier between Leanna and Jipso.

  The three of them had left the underground nightclub a few hours earlier, after one more round of carefree dancing. On their way home, Prism had learned that Leanna initially met Jipso while she was still a student at the Red Wolves Academy.

  “Don’t worry; I was 20 at the time.” Leanna had told Prism when she’d seen his eyebrow raise at the lighthearted story she’d told him. “Yes, he was a professor, but that just added to the thrill of it.”

  He’d also learned that despite Dipso’s twenty-something appearance, the man was actually 41 years old. Prism shook his head at the implication of a 35 year old Dipso sleeping with his 20 year old student, but Prism wasn’t really able to judge the man negatively. After all, Prism had slept with people centuries younger than him. It was part of the reason that the elementeitan preferred to keep his chronological age to himself.

  Prism wanted to fall asleep as soon as they’d gotten back to the condo, but his mind ached from the drug fumes of the club and the conversations he’d had with Jipso. Combining the two had been a bad idea, Prism thought, but not entirely unpleasant at the time. Prism enjoyed meeting people that expanded his perception of the world, especially when those people were well-informed and well-connected.

  But what kept Prism awake was the misunderstanding that kept plaguing him; the perception that he was some sort of child soldier slaying swathes of enemies for fun.

  Prism rolled over in the bed from his side to his back, letting the duvet slip from his upper body. He looked down at his youthful chest. Its musculature was taut but underdeveloped. He then raised his small, smooth hands over his head to examine them more closely. He preferred to gauge a person’s physical age by how many wrinkles were on their hands, a method that had rarely given him a bad estimation.

  “Time for a change.” He thought with a sigh.

  Prism kicked the thick duvet off the bed and rolled back onto his side. After closing his eyes, Prism began to surround his body in several layers of intricate magical energy. He mouthed the words of a spell he’d learned as a boy, easing the formation of the magical shell that soon enwreathed his body. Prism soon drifted to sleep within a glowing light-green cocoon that hid his physical form from view.

  ****

  KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK

  “Prism, open up! I’m starting to get worried.”

  Leanna put her ear to the white door, but heard nothing on the other side. She looked back at Jipso, who was nude and standing close behind her. With a raised eyebrow and a gentle smile, he rubbed Leanna’s slender shoulders and tried to pull her close. She placed a hand on his pink-haired abs and slowly pushed him away.

  “You should go.” Leanna said softly while looking up into the man’s light-hazel eyes. She sounded remorseful, but her face told a different story.

  “Is this normal? Maybe I can help if it isn’t.” He said as he reached over her and placed his hand on the guest room door.

  “It’s normal.” Leanna said, her voice becoming sterner. “Please, put your clothes on and go.”

  “Yes ma’am…” Jipso said with a mock salute before walking back down the hall to her bedroom. Leanna couldn’t help but stare at his muscular posterior as he walked away. Unlike him, she was fully clothed.

  She stood by the door and waited for Jipso to get dressed; fearing what might happen if he witnessed something alarming about Prism. She knew that Jipso couldn’t be relied on to keep such things in confidences. Any new, substantive information about Prism was more valuable than any Etrysian database Jipso could get his hands on.

  “Hurry up in there!” Leanna yelled down the hall, sure that Jipso was taking his sweet time.

  “Almost done!” He jovially yelled back.

  Leanna smiled. She’d fallen for the man’s charm more times than she could count, but not when it came to her work. He walked by her a minute later, giving her a passionate kiss on his way out.

  “Call me if you need any help.” He said while holding her body close to his own.

  “I can take care of myself.” Leanna said as she tapped Jipso on the tip of his nose.

  “I know. I’ll stay in the neighborhood just in case.” He said before leaning down for one more kiss.

  When he’d finally left the condo, Leanna locked the front door behind him and got the key to the guest room from a white cabinet in her kitchen. She’d been surprised that Prism had locked his room’s door. He hadn’t shown much of a need for privacy in the past.

  As she put the key in the door’s knob, she felt it turn before she could unlock it. The white door slowly opened, revealing a dark-skinned man that was taller and slightly older-looking than her. Like Jipso, the man sported a buzzed hairstyle, but with a distinctive fade that made the sides of his head appear bald. The stranger even had a neat patch of black hair on his chin, much shorter than Ursun’s goatee.

  As she peered into the man’s dark-brown eyes, she felt a familiarity that both titillated her.

  “Prism!?” She gasped.

  “In the flesh.” A deep voice that was new to her replied.

  Her eyes widened as Prism stepped out of the room and into the hallway, revealing more of his new body to her. He walked nakedly before her, almost proudly so. She couldn’t believe how differently his body looked; darker, older, and stronger. He still looked young, but at the edge of youth instead of near its beginning. He smiled slightly at her as he enjoyed her amazement.

  “You…you’ve…”

  “I’ve changed, yes.” Prism said for her.

  “Why? Why now? Why like this?” She said with a wild gesture at his body.

  “Do you not like it?” He asked in his more mature, velvety voice.

  “That’s…that’s not the point!”

  Leanna put her hand on her forehead and sighed. She started to consider the logistics of his transformation; how it would be received by the other Red Wolves, what problems it would create for identification, and so on, and so on.

  “I’m not a child soldier.” He said soberly. “I may be developmentally in my late teens, despite how long I’ve been alive, but…I’m not a child. People shouldn’t see me as one.”

  Leanna looked seriously into Prism’s eyes. Having to look up at the man who was shorter than her just last night felt surreal to her, but she pushed those feelings aside.

  “I can understand that sentiment.” She said calmly. “But this new look of yours presents a host of challenges for all of us.”

  Prism began to stroke his bristly chin hair, taking in the pleasant new sensation. He then closed his eyes as if in deep thought.

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  “I figured it would. It’ll be worth it in the long run.” Prism said with a decisive nod. He then slowly opened his eyes. “This body is more powerful than my last one. It’s born of all the power I’ve gained over the last year.”

  “So this is permanent, then?” Leanna asked skeptically.

  “I can’t promise that, but I’ll certainly keep this form for the foreseeable future.” Prism said.

  Leanna sighed and tousled her long, lustrous green hair. She’d been up long enough to brush it, and the morning was close to its end.

  “I see Jipso was an inspiration.” She said as she looked more closely at his face and upper body. His increased muscle mass was especially appealing to her, and he could tell. “But you kept certain things roughly the same, if not…proportional.” She smirked as she pointed to his prominent nether regions.

  Prism grabbed his sculpted, muscled belly and laughed heartily at her observations. He nodded before walking back into his room and trying on some of his old clothes. Leanna watched him with great interest, examining what mannerisms he’d kept and how differently he moved in his new body. She giggled as he struggled to put on the briefs he’d worn hours earlier.

  “Just use your magic, silly. We don’t have all day.” She said.

  “Good idea.” He replied as he held up the small gray underwear in his hands. He threw them back onto ground near his red tank-top.

  With a snap of his fingers, the transformed street clothes he’d left scattered across the floor vanished and appeared on his body in their original form, albeit a bit a larger. Leanna leaned within the doorframe, thinking to herself with a half-smile. The black t-shirt and red leatherine pants of the Red Wolves’ casual uniform suited Prism’s new body better than it had his old, she thought.

  “Let’s go back to base. We can find somewhere to eat on the way.” Leanna said, already cleaned and dressed to go out. “I don’t exactly keep this place well-stocked.”

  As the two of them left the apartment and made their way to a nearby brunch restaurant, Prism sensed a familiar presence watching them. He magically expanded his perception down the city block to see who it was. He sneered out of Leanna’s view after seeing Jipso watching them from the patio of a cafe.

  Jipso’s eyes narrowed when he saw Leanna walking with a man that had similar proportions to his own. Jipso felt the call of his Telyo instincts to assert his dominance. He imagined ambushing the two of them, but he resisted the urge. Just as those genes made him seek power over others, they also gave him a great deal of self-control.

  In his internal struggle to remain calm, Jipso didn’t fathom that the man beside Leanna could be the youth that he’d met last night.

  “He’s watching us, isn’t he?” Leanna turned around and asked Prism, who wasn’t surprised by her insight. It was her job to be perceptive.

  “Sure is.” Prism bobbed his head whimsically and said.

  “When you do things like that, I can tell it’s still you in there.” Leanna said before she turned back around to lead Prism down the busy sidewalks.

  They walked briskly for a few blocks through the clusters of morning passerby, leaving Jipso to his own devices. The downtowners, dressed in all manner of attire, hailed from every corner of ?ba. Prism eyed many of them with inquisitive eyes, not realizing how intimidating he looked.

  Leanna slowed her pace once they were across the street from a corner restaurant with extensive outdoor seating. Prism could make out Srell and Lorias sitting at one of the many wooden picnic-style tables outside the brunch place, near the wide sidewalk that wrapped around the street corner. Lorias and Srell were dressed in simple attire, not the uniforms Prism was used to seeing them in.

  The two men were joined by a long-haired, brown-skinned woman that looked similar in age to them. A small child that resembled Srell sat beside her, eating from a plate of colorful sliced fruit in front of him. Srell sat on the other side of the boy, happily patting the child’s curly black mop of hair. Lorias sat alone on the opposite bench of the table, calmly drinking from a small mug of espresso.

  “This your latest boyfriend?” Srell said with a point and a chuckle after Leanna and Prism crossed the street and approached his table.

  Srell’s finger was directed at Prism, who remained tight-lipped to the question directed at Leanna. The wiry-haired man held the child beside him closely, almost protectively. The boy, clinging tightly to Srell, looked up at Prism with curious, dark-brown eyes.

  “Sorry, I should’ve told you we were meeting up with them for breakfast. I thought it’d be a nice surprise.” Leanna turned and said to Prism, ignoring Srell.

  Leanna smiled and shrugged, putting Prism at ease. He looked at Srell, then at Lorias. The two of them stared at him without saying anything.

  “Please forgive my friends; they’re not known for their social skills.” The other woman said before flashing Prism a kindhearted smile. Her face was round and feminine. She stroked the child’s hair while Srell kept him close. “I’m Uluba, and this is my son, Kiel.”

  Prism remembered how beautifully Uluba had danced on stage when he’d first seen her many months earlier. She was a famous dancer within the city who specialized in traditional Sguvan dance. Srell had been proud to introduce her to Prism then. He’d told Prism how far she’d come since arriving to the city as a refugee. Srell had acted like he was showing off a girlfriend that he knew was well out of his league.

  “It’s very nice to meet the two of you.” Prism said with a disingenuous smile. His new, deeper voice still sounded strange to him. “I’m Prism.”

  Lorias, who’d started looking back at the street behind Leanna out of boredom, turned his blue-eyed gaze back onto Prism. His eyes narrowed only slightly as they scrutinized Prism’s new face. Srell then let go of the child, stood up quickly, and walked over to stand directly in front of Prism. He had to tilt his head up to stare into the face of the human-looking alien, who was now taller than him.

  “No freakin’ way…” Srell murmured when Prism smirked down at him.

  “I was just as surprised as you guys.” Leanna nodded her head and crossed her arms. She looked smugly at Prism, who looked to be enjoying the confusion a bit too much. “He apparently underwent this transformation last night in my guest room.”

  “You finally decided to grow up, eh?” Lorias snidely said before sipping on his drink.

  “That’s the gist of it, yeah.” Prism said as Srell reached out and groped his muscular chest. Prism swatted the man’s hands away. “Come on Srell, not in front of your family.” Prism joked.

  “You’ve gotta be kidding me…” Srell said as he took a step back. He looked Prism up and down, furrowed his brow as he did so. Srell then frowned as intensely as his facial muscles allowed. “Did you really have to make yourself taller and beefier than me?”

  “Try passing me off as your “little cousin” now.” Prism said, crossing his burly arms while looking away from Srell.

  “You still haven’t let that go!? You’re too sensitive.” Srell said. He shook his head and took a seat beside Lorias. “This is gonna be an absolute mess for Security to deal with.”

  “I told him.” Leanna said, waving her hand at Prism in exacerbation. “You’re probably going to have to get another full-physical from Liam. He’ll need to get your biometrics all over again.”

  She resisted the urge to smile when she saw Prism’s eyes widen.

  “You’re Prism?” Uluba said, pointing confusedly at the masculine-bodied elementeitan. “The young man I met at the Zazidala show? You looked like a teenager, then. That was only six months ago.”

  “I’m in disguise.” Prism said flippantly, earning him an elbow jab from Leanna.

  “Let’s talk about all this later.” Lorias said in a gentle tone to Uluba, who nodded slowly at him.

  “Yeah, anyway, uh, this is my son, if you hadn’t figured that out.” Srell said to Prism while motioning to Kiel. Prism’s eyes softened when he heard how shy Srell sounded.

  Prism walked around the table and crouched down in front of Uluba and Kiel. Kiel looked down at Prism. The child’s eyes were still curious, but also excited. Uluba looked worried as she held her son a bit more tightly.

  “What’s your favorite color, Kiel?” Prism asked in a playful, boyish way.

  “Umm…” the child held his finger up to his mouth as he considered the question for a second or two. “Red!” He then shouted excitedly.

  Prism grinned and held out his palm before Kiel. Prism quickly closed his hand into a fist. The boy’s eyes gleamed when he saw the fist glow with a red light. Prism then opened his hand back into a flat palm, revealing a miniature red wolf made of ruby.

  “Whoa!” Kiel exclaimed as the ruby wolf began to walk across Prism’s hand before it sat and howled silently at the child.

  The figurine started to grow until it was the size of Kiel’s head. The ruby material it was made of soon morphed into the hair of what became a stuffed animal toy.

  “No way!” Kiel shouted again, reaching out his hands at the toy. His mother kept him from leaping out of his seat. “Can I have it!?” He asked Prism.

  Prism looked up at Uluba, who looked to be in a state of mild shock. Prism pursed his lips and said, “That’s up to your mom.”

  “Please, Mommy!? Can I have it!?” Kiel said as he tugged on the stringy orange blouse that Uluba wore, snapping her out of her state of disbelief.

  “As long as it’s safe.” Uluba said, giving Prism a questioning look.

  “It is. I promise.” Prism nodded to her and said as sweetly as his deep voice allowed.

  Uluba took the wolf plushy from Prism, turning it over in her hands for a few seconds as Kiel groaned and continued to plead for it. She then glanced over at Srell, who gave her a quick nod. She wasn’t entirely sure of the toy’s safety, but she trusted Srell. She handed the stuffed wolf to her son.

  “Thank you, thank you, thank you!” Kiel said happily as he hugged the furry toy close before moving its little limbs with his little hands.

  “You’re…” Uluba started to say to Prism before he stood back up. “That was very kind of you.” She said with a degree of uncertainty that bothered Prism.

  Prism wanted to share some more words with Uluba, but thought better of it. He simply smiled at her and walked around the table to take Srell’s seat. Srell shook Prism’s hand and quietly thanked him before returning to his seat beside Uluba and their son.

  It hadn’t been the first time that his teammates had seen him make a toy for a child. It was, however, the first time that he’d seen them hold their breath while he did it.