Brooke blushed, unable to meet Sarah's eyes for a moment before quashing the instinctive embarrassment. No. No she wouldn’t be embarrassed about being athletic and having fun with it! “Yeah, well, I just think people would prefer seeing me shake my ass than kicking a ball. Besides, isn’t using demon strength against humans in a sport kind of cheating?”

 

Sarah shrugged, still grinning wide. “Eh, can’t say you’re wrong about that. Your demon form has given you a serious glow up. As for the other thing… Well that’s why I don’t? Our human forms limit us to, well, human limits. Avoids demons accidentally forgetting to hold back ya know? So don’t go thinking I cheated my way to the top! I earned my spot with blood, sweat, and tears!”

 

Brooke held up her hands in mock surrender as she began making her way towards the upstairs shower she’d already begun getting used to. “As much as I’d love to hear more about your blood, sweat, and tears, I'd really like to shower off before dinner’s ready.”

 

Sarah giggled for a moment before sniffing the air. With a puzzled look she leaned in closer, sniffing more until she was practically on top of a very nervous and deeply blushing Brooke. “I’m… not actually sure you sweat anymore. Or if you do it certainly doesn’t smell like sweat. All I’m getting off you is the dirt and grass.”

 

Brooke blinked, lifting her arm and giving a sniff of her own. Then she began poking around at all the places she’d have expected to find sweat, only to come back dry. “Huh. That’s… weird. That’s weird right?”

 

Sarah shrugged. “A bit? Then again you kinda look like you’re made of stone, so losing a few organic features isn’t super surprising. You should still probably go shower. You’re absolutely covered in dirt and grass.”

 

Brooke nodded at the suggestion, making her way towards the shower as the revelation teased at her mind. She’d noticed her skin looking rather… stone-y and her claws and horns looking kind of… gem-y. But was she actually going to stop being flesh and blood? She assumed she wouldn’t just end up as an inanimate statue, but was she actually going to end up made of stone and gems? She poked at her body as she stripped, particularly at her chest. She was still soft and warm. But how long would that last?

 

She climbed into the shower in a state of melancholy. Getting a body that looked perfect, only to have it feel wrong would totally be the kind of outcome befitting a devil's bargain. She let her secondary claws work at her arms as her primary hands used a rough scrubbing brush to clean a wider area. She lost her train of thought for a moment as she indulged in the sensation, the feeling of the brush scraping away the dirt and grass was like a gentle massage that left her skin tingling. 

 

She didn’t think for a while, just scrubbing herself clean, then going over the raw, sensitive skin with a softer cloth coated with body wash. It was an utterly meditative experience. Scrubbing raw, then soothing it with the cloth. Each section seemed to grow smoother and shinier as she passed over it, and she found herself deeply satisfied by the result. No hair, no blemishes, just perfectly smooth and shiny skin. She even spent some time on her claws, enjoying the way the sparkles danced as she worked to enhance their already radiant appeal. 

 

She finished with her hair and stepped out of the shower, still awash in the afterglow of the trance, still urged on by newfound instincts. She picked up her towel and began to dry herself off with meticulous care, losing herself once more in the circles she was drawing across her body. It was deeply satisfying seeing her polished skin without the water drops in the way, and she found herself smiling as she worked. Polished. It really was the only word for what she had done. Her skin looked radiant, and she somewhat regretted the need to cover it up.

 

It was that thought that finally broke her from her stupor. She finished drying herself quickly and made her way to her room, eager to locate clean clothes to cover up with. From among her options she picked a simple dress that covered both sets of arms and nearly brushed the floor, eager to resist her apparently budding nudism as heavily as possible. 

 

She thought back on the shower with concern. How deeply she’d fallen into a task she’d never done before, and how much she’d enjoyed it concerning her. It was art class all over again... She hadn’t even been brought out of it while washing her chest! She sat down at the table with several new concerns to broach with her mentor in all things demonic, and began to fidget anxiously. How could she not? The source of her confidence was the exact thing she was worried about!

 

Fortunately, she didn’t have to wait long before her ministrations were noticed by Ms. Zwavel, who took a seat with a smile. “It’s got another twenty minutes, so why don’t you tell me what’s got you so worked up?”

 

Brooke had almost hoped it would have to wait until after dinner, she didn’t want to get bad news and have it ruin what was almost certainly going to be an otherwise lovely meal. Of course, she also knew she’d worry herself sick all through the meal anyway, but she was somewhat struggling with logic at the moment.

 

“I’m… uh… Okay first, I’m worried about the transformation? Or manifestation? Or whatever it’s called? I… I look like I’m made of stone and gems right? Apparently I don’t even sweat anymore! Am I… Am I going to actually turn to stone? Like, what’s the point of finally getting boobs if they’re just going to end up made of rock?!” She only realised what she’d said a second after it had left her lips, and she desperately wanted to take the embarrassing words back.

 

Ms. Zwavel for her part simply chuckled at the outburst, taking the stunned pause as an opportunity to ease Brooke’s fears. “Don’t worry sweetie, you’re not going to turn into hard, cold stone. These kinds of changes are rare, but certainly not unheard of, and I expect you’ll continue to follow precedent. Which is to say, while you’ll look like stone, you’ll continue to feel like flesh and blood. That said, you’ll likely also gain the ability to change that fact at will, hardening your body when desired. Please don’t fret if you notice it happening, it’s entirely voluntary, and entirely reversible alright sweetie?”

 

Brooke let out a breath. That was… more than a relief. That was actually better than she’d hoped for. She could actually choose to be stone if she wanted to! Which was something she wasn’t exactly sure she should be excited about, but she was. A part of her wondered how it’d feel to go out into the garden and just stand there like a statue, made of stone, enjoying the warm sun and cool breeze and admiring gazes of anyone who happened to see her...

 

She shook off the thought as it brought up her second, apparently more pressing concern. “Th-that’s great and all but, uh… The second thing is that… I think the changes are messing with my head? Like… I completely zoned out while washing up in the shower, and when I looked in the mirror a part of me was sad I had to wear clothes! Then, just now, I was thinking about how fun it’d be to just, like, be a statue? And the hunting stuff! Like, there’s tons of ways it’s messing with my head right? That’s… kind of terrifying.”

 

Ms. Zwavel continued to smile warmly as Brooke spoke, all too familiar with the fears she was sharing. “I think it’s important to clarify something before we continue. All the changes you’re experiencing are derived from your own mind. There’s no outside force working to change you into something you’re not. It’s just you, changing yourself. Do you understand?”

 

Brooke gave a slight nod, and Ms. Zwavel continued. “As a result, it can’t change your mind, because that would change what it’s trying to accomplish, which would just be a whole mess. No, what’s happening is it’s giving you the tools and knowledge needed to explore what was already there. You probably always wanted to run around and play, and now you have a body that not only allows it, but encourages it. You wanted a body you could be proud of, so of course once you have it you’re a bit sad to cover it up. Yes, you’re going to think new thoughts and feel new things, but at their core, they’re all in service of who you really are. That’s why resisting your new urges can be so dangerous. Because you are, in a quite literal sense, resisting who you really are.”

 

Brooke let her eyes sink to the table as she thought about what she’d just heard, and Ms. Zwavel gave her the time she needed. By the time Brooke looked up a mountain of meat and vegetables was present on the table, and Sarah had taken up a seat beside her. “So… what? I’m just supposed to go around naked?”

 

Sarah spit out her water as she desperately tried not to choke. When she’d come in Brooke had been practically insensate and she’d simply let the other girl think, then the first thing she said was “I’m supposed to go around naked?!”

 

Ms. Zwavel was lost in a fit of giggles as Brooke looked at both of them with a frown. Finally, Ms. Zwavel got her giggles under control enough to reply. “No, no you’re not dear. Some demons do, but the fact you’re even worried about it implies you won’t end up being one of them. The feeling you had was a desire to show off, not to go without clothes. So what I’d recommend is wearing clothes that let you show off your body, without being so skimpy as to make you uncomfortable.”

 

Brooke let out a relieved sigh as Sarah finally got her breathing under control. “Okay wait what? What were you two talking about before I arrived to get to that conversation?!”

 

A quick explanation between generous bites earned a sympathetic smile from Sarah, and led nicely back into a topic they’d abandoned upon arriving home. “Right! So what’s the deal with demonic hyper-fixations?”

 

That caught Ms. Zwavel by surprise, her fork freezing partway to her mouth. “Oh! Already?” She looked to her daughter who gave a big smile and some energetic nods, which earned a sigh from her mother. “Oh dear. Well I’m sorry for not getting to that explanation before you ran into it. Hopefully it wasn’t too bad? Do you mind explaining exactly what happened?”

 

She certainly couldn’t think of any reason to hold back and so went into as brief an explanation as she could about her experience working with the clay in art class. She even got so into it she stopped grabbing bites to eat! When she finally noticed that fact she pulled her ramble to a close and awkwardly began tearing into the food in front of her.

 

Seeing her opportunity to speak Ms. Zwavel set down her fork and got into properly explaining the situation. “First thing’s first. As always, this isn’t anything to fret about.This is just another part of your demonic puberty that all young demons go through. Demonic Fixations are the result of your brain struggling to understand your budding arcane affinity, and as your affinity stabilizes the fixation will weaken and eventually disappear.” 

 

She took a moment to take a drink, which was Sarah’s opportunity to step in. “At least until you develop a new affinity! Mom had to explain this whole thing to me when I was 5 because she was developing a new affinity for plant magic and would spend hours out in the garden if I didn’t come drag her inside!”

 

The revelation painted a slight blush on her mother’s face, and earned a fake cough to clear her throat as she formulated a response. “Yes. That is also true, but not especially relevant to the current situation. Secondary affinities don’t begin forming for at least a decade, and even then two or three is more common. For your situation right now the important thing to know is that you’ll likely require external help pulling yourself away from your fixation. How often do you have that class?”

 

Brooke tore off one last chunk of the bone she’d been chewing through and set it down with a slight sigh of regret. Both for having to pause her indulgent gluttony, and at the reminder of how infrequently she’d be getting to work with the clay. “Once a week. Same time and day every week...”

 

That got a satisfied nod from Ms. Zwavel. “Alright then. Sarah, can you go get her at the end of class or if something comes up?”

 

Sarah gave a thumbs up as she finished chewing. “Sure thing! I don’t have practice on Thursdays so we should be walking home together anyway.”

 

With the practical side sorted out Brooke did have one slightly more fantastical point of concern. “Sooo… what type of affinity am I developing?”

 

Ms. Zwavel had been expecting it, but never got any less exasperated by young demons trying to get that answer out of her. She gave a slight, lopsided smile and spoke with an exhausted sigh. “Unfortunately it’s still too early to say. It could be something as explicit as stone or art magic, or something more tangential like illusion or emotion magic. Regardless of what you get however, it’s going to be a part of you just like the rest of your changes so I promise it’ll be something you’ll enjoy. Okay?”

 

With that, and the majority of the food, out of the way the dinner soon came to a close, and with it out of the way it was finally time for… homework. There wasn’t a lot of it, but she’d never been the brightest student, and a bit of extra studying was often needed to keep her grades up. With a sense of resignation she got to work, blazing through the actual homework before settling in to go over class notes.

 

It was as she was picking out music to study to that her phone decided to inform her that she had many, many missed messages on discord. She was immediately aware of the fact she hadn’t signed on in two days. For some people that would be perfectly normal, but not for her, and based on the snippets of messages her phone was using to lure her in, her friends were a bit worried.

 

Putting aside plans to study she opened up discord and began the agonizing trek through two days worth of missed messages. She quickly found them repeating themselves and decided to deal with everything at once. Opening up the group discord she prepared a message, ignoring the pings and messages of people noticing she was online.

 

[Hey! Sorry for being MIA, things have been kind of crazy? The big news is… Yes I’m trans. Yes I’m aware some of you totally called it. No you may not rub it in. No I can’t explain what finally cracked my shell, it just sort of happened. Also, I’m staying at a friend's place for… obvious reasons given that. Unfortunately, I didn’t exactly grab my PC before coming over so I’m stuck on mobile for a bit. I’m doing good though. Being a girl’s great. You can call me Brooke, she/her.]

 

The flood of messages that followed was about what she expected. Their group was down to a single cis person so she knew they’d be accepting, and also that they’d indulge in a great many “I told you so”s. Apparently saying they couldn’t rub it in didn’t dissuade them.

 

Overall though it was an absolute flood of affirmation and love and it felt absolutely great. She did regret her inability to come totally clean, but figured her friends would survive. It was a shame she wouldn’t be able to share pictures or do voice chat for a while though.

 

She ended up spending the night chatting with friends, going into a bit more detail about coming out at school, and her plans for transitioning. She’d had to do a lot of lying for the second part unfortunately, but she was sure they’d understand if they ever learned the truth. After that it was mostly chatter about games and daily life and all the random nonsense that tends to occupy a discord server. It was a much nicer way to end the night than studying.