Chapter 10

The ripples started from the tips of his fingers, spreading a coat of black fur on his arm. His ears got larger, furry white and shifted a bit on his head. His dark brown locks were slowly changing, streak by streak, to the colour of rust -- "Agh, no,"

The whole thing quickly reversed, leaving an exhausted, defeated Caleb, sitting on the carpet. "I'm sorry." He said, and he was. It was apparent in his downcast brown eyes.

"What did I say about apologizing, Caleb?"

"Uh, it's stupid? "

"No, it's unnecessary. Your brother is stupid, don't mix it up."

"Got it, hungry now." He went for the small, warm bowl of Carrot Ginger soup on the table; courtesy of Jerry. Whenever he came over, he brought along a meal for the two. Tom had mentioned wanting to save some money, and he wanted to help. But today, Tom decided to skip, and this wasn't the first time.

Jerry didn't remember the last time he'd actually seen Tom eat a full meal, and he was getting worried.

He took the bundle of money on the coffee table and put it in the vase with the others.

"Tom's room is the one across yours, isn't it?"

He swallowed a mouthful of soup. "Yeah, you wanna go see him?"

"First, you tell me why you're so scared of turning?"

"I'm not scared, but... what if it hurts, like before..." He pushed the rest of the food away and lay on the carpet with a sad sigh, staring at the ceiling.

The first time Caleb had turned was an unpredicted shock. He was thought to have been another immune person, so he didn't receive the pain treatment to relax him and make his parts flexible. And being only 3 years old, it was a miracle that he survived at all.

It was only natural that the boy didn't want to do it again, the circumstances when he turned were also another reason; it was the night of his parents' death. He would have gone renegade if Tom hadn't been there to anchor him in sanity.

That wasn't the only time Tom had helped someone with that.

And after, even though Caleb had done the treatment, he was still wary of turning. He kept reminiscing the past when he tried to turn, and that held him back.

"What do I need to do to make you believe me when I say it won't?"

The boy shrugged.

"How about this, let's do it together, and whenever you feel the least bit uncomfortable, we'll stop. I just want see what you are. "

It is impressive that he can actually change at all, that's enough for now. As he grows, he'll be able to turn completely, by himself, that is, if he wants to.

"I guess that's okay. I've never seen you turn before," Caleb's brown eyes lit up with curiosity.

"I don't do it often. You should close your eyes, don't think about the pain, just focus on that second mind. " Taking of his shoes, Jerry knelt beside the boy, who sat up and shut his eyes.

The changes began again, this time, quicker. And Jerry kept his eyes on Caleb the whole time, to detect any discomfort and to identify which creature he was turning into.

Meanwhile his own body was changing, a unique pattern drew on his skin and sprouted up, his eyesight sharpened to a great intensity, and so did his hearing. Right when his hands and feet changed, Caleb's left cheek twitched.

"You can stop, Caleb. It's okay."

He sighed and opened his eyes, looking at his furry black paw as it changed back into his hand. "I'm so - uh, Tommie is stupid?"

Jerry laughed, earning a glance from Caleb, a glance which turned into a long stare. "Whoa, y-you're a bird!"

Long, feathers covered his arms and legs and touched the floor he knelt on. His eyes were almost black, his lips had darkened, and his ears were gone. "Precisely, gyrfalcon. What did you think I was all this time?"

"A mouse? I mean, Tommie calls you little mouse all the time, so..."

Jerry rolled his darkened eyes, "That's just him being annoying, and I'm guessing you're a red panda, seems so. That's so cool, "

"You're a pretty bird, " Caleb said, crawling closer and gently petting his feathered head causing his eyes to widen. "Can I fly with you?"

The bird-boy chuckled, "I haven't really carried anyone before, but my brother could, he does that all the time."

"No, I want to fly on you." The boy sat again, still not taking his eyes off him. "I promise by then, I'll be able to turn all the way."

***

A soft knock came from the door, with an even softer voice, "Tom?"

His foggy mind barely registered it.

A lot of other things were said, but weren't heard, then came the soft click of the doorknob turning, "I'm coming in."

Tom's room was big for one, and dark; the lights were very dim. Jerry could barely make out anything in there.

Is Tom already asleep?

"Tom, are you -" A whine came from the desk.

Jerry paused, zooming in with the eyes of his falcon, he saw a shuddering Tom huddled under the desk.

"Tom! What happened? What's wrong with you?" He pushed the chair away and squatted in front of him. "Are you okay?"

Pained yellow eyes looked back at him, widening and wondering why he was in there.

"I just want to help, tell me what's wrong?"

Tom grunted, his golden eyes glistening, even in the dark. "You should be at home by now," His voice was rough and gritty, not the same.

Sure it was almost 10:00pm, and Jesse was probably waiting up for him, getting ready to yell out his worry. But there was no way he was leaving Tom like that.

Completely ignoring what he said, Jerry made the move to take his arm and take him to his bed, but retracted his hand instantly after touching him. "God, Tom, you're burning up. Are you sick? Should I call Dr Shen?"

"Hell no, I'm perfectly fine. Too fine, in fact. " He said while pretty much dragging himself out from beneath the desk. He was sweaty and reeked of alcohol.

"Shit, what have you done?" He eyed the empty bottles of Hennessy on the table with suspicion.

"Gotten wasted, that's what." He mumbled, eyes closed. "Go home now, or Jesse's gon' murder you."

"You can't sleep on the floor,"

"Says who?"

"You have to take a shower,"

"Ugghh, I already showered," he groaned.

"Well go shower again!"

"Fine!" He tried getting up rather too quickly, wobbling the whole time, and when he finally stood, his body was immediately falling back down, but Jerry caught him by the arm.

He grumbled while the brunette wrapped an arm around him and put his arm around his shoulder, helping him walk to the bathroom.

And it was when they were in there that both realized the predicament they were in.

"Y-you can shower by yourself, right?" Jerry asked, the blush on his face, along with a few flustered feathers on his cheeks, worth more than gold.

"Sure, if you want me to trip and break a bone." His usual maliciously daring smirk spread his lips as he locked eyes with him. "And you said you wanted to help, didn't you?"