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The State of Tennessee
☀Andrew S. Hickory☀

Tennessee paused in his munching when he noticed North Carolina sliding under the covers to sit next to him in bed. He blushed faintly and glanced around almost as if afraid there might be someone watching them or waiting to take a picture if he lowered his guard. It was a bit of an odd paranoia, but he had known Charlotte and Christian to be particularly notorious for conspiring to take "cute" pictures of him. When it looked like the coast was clear, he relaxed again and went back to chewing on his meal. North Carolina was probably the only woman in the world he didn't mind being in his bed even though it was a little embarrassing to recall why exactly. As a baby he hadn't thought a thing in the world about crawling under her covers at night and sleeping on her. Back then he hadn't been aware of how men were supposed to treat women other than you couldn't punch one or spit in front of them...

"Liechtenstein?" he repeated absentmindedly before finally recalling earlier that day. The boy frowned as his dull eyes hardened slightly with concern. "I was goin' to get some aspirin and wound up at the park when I saw her... but it wasn't her! Not really," Andrew insisted. "She changed shape and said she--uh... he said he couldn't remember his own name or what he looked like or nothin'!"

Grade 9
The Volunteer

The State of Tennessee
☀Andrew S. Hickory☀

Tennessee blushed lightly when North Carolina brought up the barbeque and glanced away. Now that he was a little more aware of himself he realized how strange his promise to Alistair was.

"U-Um... when I get better I'm supposed to go visit with him and Miss Liechtenstein. I offered to bring barbecue," he explained while struggling to pretend he didn't realize how crazy that sounded. "It seemed like the neighborly thing to do..." Which probably didn't make a great deal of sense considering he was talking about a friendly get together with someone he was accusing of being a kidnapper.

Grade 9
The Volunteer

The State of Tennessee
☀Andrew S. Hickory☀

Andrew's brows drew together in confusion when Charlotte said the school had been attacked by monsters. To his knowledge the only monster that was real was apparently the Thunderbird... Her awkward laugh and less than convincing attempt to reassure him there was nothing funny about her barbecue made the boy pause. He wasn't able to quite look her in the eyes as he mumbled an agreement. "Y-Yeah, sure... If you say so," he said.

The Tennessean blinked when Charlotte told him she didn't want him to go play with monsters alone. He blushed lightly and grabbed his sandwich again to take a stubborn bite. "I'd be fine," he mumbled into his meal, remembering all too well how his former 'Mother State" used to try to keep him out of trouble as a kid. "I don't think he's that tough of a guy anyhow. All he does is use that funny camouflage or... whatever you'd call it..." Shape shifting seemed like way to weird of a term.

Grade 9
The Volunteer

The State of Tennessee
☀Andrew S. Hickory☀

Andrew blinked as he listened to North Carolina's confession about the strange things that were going on in the school. Attacking shadows? Possession? This all sounded a little far fetched to him. He didn't like to doubt his sister, but he also knew how excitable she was when it came to supernatural things. He made a soft, thoughtful sound as he let her story soak in.

"He's a bit strange, but callin' him a monster seems kinda mean," he said. "It's not that weird his body changes, his eyes turn red when he's mad or he's so cold... George's eyes get funny lookin' sometimes when he's real pissed." He hesitated a moment. "Um... she's real pissed..."

Tennessee sighed. It was so weird that Georgia was a girl right now. He couldn't get over how odd she looked to him. There was just enough resemblance in the face and eyes he could recognize her somewhat, but... his brother had boobs... Why was everyone else so calm about it? Andrew unhappily nibbled on some of the crackers that had been provided to him by his gender bent sibling. He was far more upset over his big brother being a big sister than he was about Alistair potentially being an evil monster.

Grade 9
The Volunteer

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The State of Tennessee
☀Andrew S. Hickory☀

Tennessee slowly nodded when North Carolina mentioned that Georgia would be back to normal soon. Thank goodness. He was certain that Christian was a really nice girl, but he liked having his big brother around better. Andrew hesitated when he saw his big sister suggested he get some sleep. That did seem like a good idea... He blushed awkwardly and glanced away from her a moment before shifting and lowering himself in the bed. He couldn't quite bring himself to look at her.

"You gonna stay here?" he asked awkwardly and maybe a little hopefully. "I-I don't care if you do or not..."

Grade 9
The Volunteer

The State of Tennessee
☀Andrew S. Hickory☀

"I didn't say I wanted you to," Andrew denied as his cheeks turned more red, but he didn't object to her laying back down. He was still for a few moments as he mentally debated what to do and glanced over at his big sister. It had been a long time since they had shared a bed together. Actually, he couldn't remember the last time... Tennessee sat still for a while before finally laying down as well while he kept his gaze at the ceiling.

"... You were smaller back then, too," Andrew mumbled after a few moments. Well, perhaps not in height, but Tennessee remembered when his sister was still young and hadn't finished blossoming into a fully grown woman just yet. The boy glanced briefly at her chest and internally sulked over how much her coastal regions had developed since then. Her sudden burst in popularity lately and the attention her beaches were getting hadn't exactly set well with him... He didn't like it when people stared at his sister. The last thing he wanted was for her to become the next Florida.

... Or, worse, if the sudden influx of transplants convinced her she was no longer southern and she started to look down on him. Andrew didn't mind it when others made fun of him or called him names for being simple, but if his sister started to snub him for not being as progressive as her or others, what would he do then? Tennessee frowned lightly at the thought as he pulled the covers up over him a bit more.

"You... don't figure you'll get much bigger, do you?" he asked. "You've been growin' a lot lately and... I think you've grown enough so..." Andrew wasn't sure what he was trying to say, to be honest. Sure it was nice their populations were growing, but what if they lost their identities and shared cultures in the process? He had seen it happen to other states in the past. "... s-so I think it's fine if you stay like you are right now..."

Grade 9
The Volunteer