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It seemed Liamh was going to be disappointed.

The bone-jarring pain built to a climax, the extremes of his body reaching their new, ridiculous lengths. But things were not finished. Not yet.

With a sudden violence, the fire shot inward, to Gaius' core, and erupted through his back. Gaius doubled over, finally finding his voice to below with raw agony. The tiny winglettes, which he'd loosely bound that morning in their usual bandages, swelled and strained against their confines until the thread dug painfully into the flesh. In a series of loud snaps, the bandages came undone. Freed of their reistance, the growing wings shot up, tearing away the last of the shirt clinging to his back, and arched upward like two groutesque, reaching arms. Long black quills thrust out from the smooth skin, wet and slick at first, but rapidly drying as they reached the air, fanning out into raven-black feathers. But they only covered the wings in clumps, at best, scattered here and there over the otherwise naked flesh.

At last it was done. Gaius slumped forward, his muscles suddenly all loosed from their tensed state. He lay panting on the floor of Liamh's bathroom, just focussing on getting air through his abused throat.

He flinched away from the touch, but only because everything else he’d experienced in the past moments had been pain. When the touch didn’t bring the agony Gaius had braced for, he relaxed, wearily. His entire body shuddered and he heaved a sigh.

Slowly, rational thought began to return. It was a change. That’s what had just happened to him. That’s why his own body felt so alien to him, moving at odd angles.

Grunting, Gaius pushed himself up on his elbows, wondering why he could still feel the tile against his cheek. His shoulders felt heavy, so heavy. He lifted his head up, feeling dizzy for a moment as the blood rushed to keep up.

“I’m… okay…” he said. Trying to shift his weight back to a sitting position brought more protests from his body as things refused to move properly. Gaius took a deep breath, trying to fight back the panic bubbling inside him and set his jaw determinedly. “I need to see myself.” He needed to assess the damage.

Gaius tried to stand up, but as he pulled himself up, he tried to stand back on the heels of his feet. He instantly felt something about his center of gravity was ‘off,’ too much weight higher up, and his feet no longer supported where they were supposed to. Flailing his arms frantically, Gaius toppled backward, crashing into the side of Liamh’s shower. He winced. That’d leave a bruise or three.

With his legs sprawled out, Gaius finally got a good look at his feet. He blinked, brain attempting to grapple with what he was seeing - ridiculously long appendages that stuck up oddly. His toes wiggled experimentally – at least he still had control of them. But… how was he supposed to stand on them?

Gaius wasn’t to be daunted. He pulled his legs back under himself, this time careful of his long feet. However, actually getting up would take some work.

He thrust his hand out at Liamh, an obvious demand for help. He had to do this. He needed to see himself.

Gaius scrambled to his feet with Liamh’s help, catching himself on the counter before his balance could give out again.

What he beheld in the mirror stunned Gaius.

A neck, but far, far too long, and thicker at the base than his head. Gaius stared in disbelief. No, that couldn’t be his. There was no way that was physically possible. Intending to prove it, he ducked his head. The thing in the mirror did likewise, the entire neck bending downward even as his own did. It stretched up with him, and moved side to side.

Unable to tear his eyes away, Gaius reached a hand up to where his head should have been located, but what his hand brushed was skin, and a pulse beneath that. His hand continued up, inch after inch, until it finally touched his jawline – his hand should have been reaching over his head at that point. He shuddered, but didn’t pull his eyes away.

He brushed newly-black hair back out of his face and turned his head to inspect the new location of his ears. Poking at one made it flick back instinctively, far more mobile than before… and separate from the other ear.

“Weird…” he muttered.

Further inspection found his grown wings. He ran one of the feathers between his fingers. Somehow, out of everything, that one change relieved him. Now at least he knew they were wings for certain.

He let out a deep sigh and slumped forward over the sink.

“I… I look ridiculous, don’t I?” He didn’t look up at Liamh, not wanting to see his reaction. “Trying to wear a shirt is going to be hell…”

Gaius pulled away instinctively from the prodding at his ear, the long neck making any head movements more exaggerated than he intended.

“I wish I knew too…”

He’d done what he wanted. He’d seen himself, not that it helped his situation at all. If anything, it was more depressing to confirm, but it was also reassuring. At least he knew for certain now. It just hurt… how inhuman he looked. Before, he could have passed for human. Hide the ears and tail, bind the wings… sure he had a funny nose, but that could have been explained as an injury. Even plastic surgery. Now? His eyes darted back to the mirror. It was too late. If he escaped now, by some miracle, all he’d be was a freak. There was no avoiding it. And it was all his fault. He’d gone and distracted himself with silly projects – who cared about furniture anyways? Now they seemed as empty and useless as his shoes.

Grappling with that inner turmoil, Gaius turned away from the mirror – he’d seen enough. “I think I need to go home… I need some time to think.” He looked down – now that he easily towered over the skinny guy – with an apologetic face. “Sorry you had to see that… I know how nasty it is. If you end up with nightmares, you have full permission to come kick me or something…”

He took a shuffling step forward, slowly shifting his precariously balanced weight from the balls of one foot to the other – standing on heels was out of the question, unless he wanted to land on his rump again. Tentatively, he let go of the counter, but he instantly felt his balance giving way, teetering forward. "Gah!" he yelped, flailing his arms, stumbling a couple steps until he caught himself on the door.

“I think I need some help… I can’t walk.” Gaius flashed Liamh an apologetic half-smile as his already battered ego took another blow. Not only deformed, but crippled too.

Gaius gratefully took the support, propping an arm over Liamh's shoulder to support his moved center of gravity. It was difficult, trying to walk on his toes, essentially. "Yeah, some practice... Maybe I'll grab a walking stick or something..."

He waited patiently as Liamh closed the door, raising an eyebrow when he didn't lock it after he'd taken the time to grab the keys.

The stairs proved to be the most challenging, considering his legs bent differently with their new proportions. The first step nearly took both him and Liamh tumbling down as his toes slid off, but his hand caught the railing in time. Gaius was glad they only had to go down... until he remembered his own stairs. He let out a groan. "Why'd I have to have a top apartment?"

Gaius made a sulky face, though it was playful. "Sorry, it all seems to have gone to my, uh, neck." It certainly was an odd sensation, being so far removed visually from where he thought his shoulder and arm should have been.

"Hey now, no need to be picky now! I'll have you know I did just shower this morning - and you should be grateful, considering I slept all night in my costume after yesterday! Just imagine how I smelled after that!"

They made slow but steady progress across the distance. Gaius was grateful for the low number difference too. Though it occured to him as he stepped on a rock, wincing, that he'd left his shoes back in Liamh's bathroom... and the tatters of his shirt for that matter. Both equally useless at this point. "How'm I supposed to wear shoes now?" he muttered. That was a good question.

"Sure ain't no place like it," Gaius chuckled dryly. Taking the railing in one hand, he shifted his weight off Liamh. Standing was still a bit rocky, but if he had support, it wasn't too difficult.

Gaius' hand went instinctively to the back of his neck to scratch, but stopped short at the black mane, and dropped awkwardly to his side. "Thanks... for the help and all..." It was hard, feeling so helpless as he was, after being an independent and able-bodied man for so many years. He shrugged it off, forcing a lopsided smile. "Don't worry about me, I'll manage the rest of the way... I have something to catch me if I fall here at least," he chuckled and patted the railing. "You can go home and stuff... and... take care, okay? I'm sorry you're stuck here too... And sorry about the hair stuff." He ducked his head. It wasn't just himself who was suffering, after all. "Anyways... I'll see you around."

He would wait until Liamh started heading away and wasn't looking before turning to tackle the stairs and make his slow and clumsy way up to finally collapse on the floor of his duplex.