Chapter 12 - An impressive physical transformation (Part 2)

Damovotsk, Molkovia, Earth.

Seraphine's P.O.V.

Lost in her sexual fantasies, she could not help but mutter "I wish I could touch his body...", not noticing that the object of her muttering had already opened the door and was standing in front of her. At least until his voice resounded in the large corridor, his tone laced with curiosity. "Whose body are you talking about?" 

Demian's P.O.V.

After telling Seraphine to wait, he stopped procrastinating and finished his shower in record time. While swiping his body, he could not help but admire his own reflection in the bathroom mirror. While making different poses, he focused on how incredibly different he appeared. First, his height increased. Although he was not sure how much, he knew he was way past 1.75m (5ft7) from his previous 1.73m (5ft6). 'Maybe around 1.78m(5ft8)?' He guessed.

Second, his body proportions seemed a lot more harmonious. He was aware of the fact that every 'thing' is unique. Even the limbs of the same person. That meant that his right arm should be different from his left, whether in length or shape. They were not complete mirror images of each other, unlike what a lot of people thought. And it was the same for everything else in Nature.

However, his first Perk seemed to have overturned this universal truth. From his casual observation as the days went by, many of his physical 'differences' disappeared as his strength kept improving, making him more and more attractive. 'What was it again? The Golden number? I think it's also called the Divine Number... Interesting...' He thought with a pensive look, an intrigued smile appearing on his face.

The last visible change was the development of his muscles. As Bryn put it earlier, he went from having a below-average body with a severe lack of grown muscles to having the body of a beginner athlete, which corresponded, from what he could guess, to someone who had been exercising for months. And all that in two weeks.

'No wonder they were shocked.' He thought while chuckling in a low tone. Shaking his head to remove his stray thoughts, he promptly donned his clothes before opening the bathroom door, leaving him with a view of his younger cousin with a weird smile on her blushing face, her facial expression hinting at the adult-themed daydream she was having.

As teasing words were about to leave his lips, he was interrupted by her own intriguing mutters. "I wish I could touch his body..." Feeling curious as to who she was dreaming about, he asked, curiosity lacing his tone. "Whose body are you talking about?" 

That seemed to shatter her daydreams, with her body visibly stiffening, and the faded red color on her cheeks turning into a deep crimson. "I... I... I..." "Yes, you." He replied teasingly in his recently changed voice. Defying his prediction, however, she only used a brief moment to regain control over her chaotic emotions, her poker face being almost perfect but for the crimson hue still painting her cheeks. Nonetheless, even that was quickly fading away.

Amazingly, her voice was completely even as if what just happened was just a figment of his imagination. "I want to talk about what happened with Bryn." Saluting inwardly the way she masterfully changed topics, he focused on what she was about to say. After all, he was aware that she was more perceptive than him. His best guess was that because she lost her eyes, her empathic intuition increased greatly. In other words, she could feel and understand others' emotions easily, despite not being able to see others' body language. 

An amazing feat, to be sure, and one that pushed the three of them to always seriously listen to her words. At least when it came to emotions.

"Sure. Should we go to my bedroom? Or to the living room?" He asked, with a voice devoid of his earlier teasing. Taking a second to think, Sera replied. "Let's go to your bedroom. That way we won't get interrupted." As he was about to move toward his room, Sera's next words made him halt on the spot. "Give me your hand. I don't want to waste time feeling my way there."

Turning his gaze in her direction, he was about to question her words. However, he immediately noticed the slight blush creeping on her cheeks, prompting a rather strange thought to appear in his mind. 'Could she...? No. No way, she would...' Despite trying to stomp that forbidden thought, it kept growing more and more, helped in large part by her suspicious reaction as his hand held hers.

'Her hand is sweaty and she keeps fidgeting... I'm definitely right, aren't I? The first woman who likes me in this world is my cousin...*Sigh* Why does it have to be so complicated?' He thought while smiling wryly. His train of thought was disrupted as the feeling of her soft hand finally registered in his mind. Sighing inwardly, again, he simply decided to shelve the responsibility aside for his future self.

'What was that expression again? Always leave till tomorrow what you don't feel like doing today?... For some reason, it feels wrong...' Shaking his head lightly to remove his random thoughts, he let go of his younger cousin's hand, as the two reached their destination. Leaving his computer chair to the woman, he sat himself on his bed's edge, saying. 

"Alright. I'm listening." Making herself comfortable on the chair, Sera mumbled something unintelligible, a small smile adorning her cute face, before replying louder. "Mmmhh! I'm here to explain why Bryn acted the way she did. And also that she did not mean to hurt you in any way." Pausing for a brief moment to gather her thoughts, she began her explanation. 

"Sis's been the pillar of the family since she was very young. Well, she wasn't forced by any of us, but she decided on her own to put herself into that position. Since our father died when we were babies, we never had a paternal figure to look up to. And as you came along, Bryn probably felt that it was her duty to be the 'Man of the house'. Of course, her physical traits and affinity for fighting had a part in that decision."

Nodding to himself, Demian confirmed what he previously guessed about his older cousin. Of course, the previous Demian was incapable of understanding the signs, unlike the 'New Demian'. "Unfortunately, Sis thought she had to go the opposite way to the way Mom acted, which ended up with her bottling up all her emotions and making you feel like she was so cold that 'she'd be able to add another layer of ice to the arctic'." She made air quotes with her delicate fingers as an amused smile found itself on her small visage.

Coughing exaggeratedly to hide his embarrassment, he said. "So you were saying that the way she acted was not the way she really felt?" Not commenting on his deflection, she answered. "That's right. That's why you should talk to her about it. Also, you're not completely innocent in this story."

Her words made him slightly uncomfortable. "What do you mean?" He asked uncertainly. "I mean that you never tried to really understand her in the past, acting like she was your enemy. I hope you understand that, without her, you would have died in that accident a few years ago. And that's just one example among many."

She paused, letting her words sink in. "I..." Feeling dumbstruck, words kept eluding him. 'Acting like an asshole for years to one of the only people who cared about me... Great job Demian!' Now, he was already aware that his conduct was anything but stellar. However, it was one thing to know it and another completely different thing to have it thrown into your face by someone whose words and opinions you truly valued.

As that fact registered in his mind, a few words unwittingly left his lips, and a few tears followed along. "I'm sorry..." Sighing audibly, she replied. "I know. But I'm not the one you should be apologizing to." Taking a deep breath to gather his resolve, he wiped away the remaining tears marring his cheeks and declared in a determined tone in her direction. 

"You're right! I acted too selfishly with Bryn and now our relationship is too messy. I'm gonna talk to her right now and fix this. I don't want to lose any of you three, and especially not to some stupid reasons like that." Nodding, she replied, with her smile growing slightly bigger at his declaration. "Good! And don't forget that you need to try to know about people if you want people to do the same with you."

A small smile crept up his face at her advice, his next words filled with warmth. "I've known you all my life, and only now do I start to realize how amazing you are." Turning around to leave his room, he, unfortunately, missed the scene of the cute woman with burgundy shoulder-length hair blushing so hard that the color of her cheeks almost matched the color of her hair. "You charmer..." She let escape as a beautiful smile adorned her attractive face.