Embracing the Chaos (and the Cleavage)

“Awe richt I dinnae ken Mark, that seems awfy bold even for me,” Merida questioned, looking at the outfit he had picked out of her closet. “I'm no' sayin' naw but... like we are plannin' tae be takin' a trek through the wids richt? Because this is no' whit I wad ca' appropriate attire for that.”

“Oh, come on. It is perfectly suitable. It is light, flexible, the shoes are comfy, and intended for physical activity.”

“Dinnae forget, skimpy, slutty, an' showin' a butt load o' skin.”

“Hey, it was in your wardrobe, which either means you already had it or specifically bought it to model it for me. Am I wrong?”

“Naw... Aye, I had it afore comin' on here. Dang. The thocht o' modelin' it for you is noo really gettin' me gaun again. Fine! I’ll wear it. No' like onyone else is gonnae see me in it.”

“I mean… Hilde might? You know when we leave.”

“Naw, no' ready for that, we are sneakin' oot then, or ye are askin' her tae leave.”

“Okay, I can send her away. Not a problem.”

Mark: Hey, Hilde, are you still up here at the Rose-Crown Court?

Hilde: No, Chloe wanted me to take her and Aubrey somewhere on the resort. I am currently at the edge of town. I can be back in a minute or two if you need me, though.

Mark: Okay, that’s fine. I wasn’t looking for a ride. I was actually looking for a bit of privacy with Merida. So if you could not come back up here when you’re done, I would appreciate it.

Hilde: Not a problem, I’ll let Freya know too.

Mark: Thank you, Hilde. Also, tell Chloe and Aubrey, I hope they have a good time on their date, for me, will you?

Hilde: Ten-four bossman!

“Okay, Hilde won’t be coming back; she's taking Chloe and Aubrey somewhere. So no sneaking required.”

“Perfect.” Merida said, shouting from the bathroom. Then walked out, “So? How do I look?” she said, leaning forward, showing off her cleavage in a tight cheerleader’s uniform.

Don’t say fuckable. “Very nice. You really fill that out well.” Mark was unable to help but stare right at her cleavage.

“Mark, ye should ken that I can tell exactly whaur you’re starin' at me. The pleasure is a wee bittie mair concentratit there.” Mark glanced away slightly embarrassed. “Ach, I didnae say ye needit tae stop. Juist be aware, I can tell. Weel I can tell at least while posin'. Hmmm come tae think o' it that has some interestin' uses. I could strike a pose an' If I got aroused I wad ken someone wis lookin' at me... That could be really useful.”

“So, do you just want to go traipsing through the woods, or would you like me to ask for a place to go towards?”

“Findin' things is hauf the fun, ye ken that. Sae naw, I dinnae want a thing tae go tae.”

“Should I at least ask Freya for a general area that we might find something interesting in? I would hate for it to be a bust, because we chose the place where it’s just trees.”

“That is fine. Aye, I wuidnae want tae go somewhere where there wis naethin' at a' interestin'.”

Mark: Hey Freya is there anywhere on the resort, you would recommend going looking around if Merida and I were looking to explore some? Not looking for any distinct landmarks, just a general area.

Freya: I would recommend you not do that. Followed by recommending below Merida’s waist. Followed by not going exploring the island outside of the designated paths.

Mark: Freya… I get you are concerned, but we would like to go exploring, and we’ve already taken your other suggestion…

Freya: Sigh, so you didn’t really need me to leave the palace, you just wanted to sneak off without Hilde noticing. Mark, if you must ignore my very sensible advice and proceed with this folly, I would recommend the area around the Rose-Crown Court, as the enchantments there are all temporary and non-harmful. They are also all overtly sexual, so don’t say you weren’t warned when one of you ends up tackling the other to have sex or worse.

Mark: Did you really type out your sigh? It was that important. And again, thank you for your concern and assistance. Have a good night, Freya.

Freya: SIGH! You too, Mark, you too.

Wow, she is being cheeky. Not even one day lifting her speech restrictions and already sassing me. “Okay, Merida, I have a general area. Freya says we shouldn’t do this and that we are almost certainly going to end up finding sexual enchantments making us want to fuck like rabbits in heat.”

“Look, I’m no' sayin' I want tae pit oot on oor first date, but screw it. We hae chosen tae embrace chaos.”

“Hahahahaha”

“Mark, whit's funny?”

“Oh, just that, there is a video game Allie and I play all the time together that has essentially that line said by the final boss, and I don’t know, it was just really funny to me.”

“Whit kind o' game? Is it ony guid?”

“An ARPG, and yeah, honestly, one of the better ones in my opinion.”

“Awe richt, weel I hae nae idea whit that is but since we are gonnae be thegither, I micht as weel learn yer hobbies. Whit is an A-R-P-G?” Merida had tae soond oot the letters very carefully tae owercome her accent.”

“Hmmm, ever heard of Diablo?”

“Ay ma da played it a' the time afore... it’s fine aye sae that’s an A-R-P-G?”

“Well, more of the well-known ones, yeah. Also, that tidbit right there, Merida, about your dad, tells me we would have gotten along really well. I’m sorry, I don’t really remember him that much.”

“It’s awe richt, he knew aboot ye an' liket ye, tellt me I should dae somethin' aboot that crush o' yours afore it ruined oor friendship.”

“Something? Not let me down?”

“Uh... thinkin' aboot it ay he didnae actually gie me ony specific advice on hoo tae handle it juist no' tae let it go unanswer't. Mebbe he thocht I wis sweet on ye? That’s kind o' a nice thocht. That ma da didnae hae a problem wi' ye an' me.” Merida had a nostalgic smile on her face.

“Merida…” Mark was hesitating to say his thought.

“Whit is it, Mark?”

“Okay, I don’t want to give you false hope or anything, and I hope you don’t become reckless trying to pursue it. But I feel like I need to tell you. It’s probably possible to use the wish to save your Dad. Make it so he didn’t die in that accident. It… it would probably change our histories, but you could probably do it.”

Merida just blinked at him in utter disbelief. “Whit…” she didn’t dare hope Mark was being serious. “Are... are ye bein' serious richt noo? Like, truly serious.”

“I know bringing someone back from the dead isn’t impossible for the producers of the show. It has happened. So I don’t know why the wish wouldn’t be able to be used for that. I just didn’t think it was right to not tell you when I saw your expression and thought of it. And look, I’m not going to tell you not to play the game and try to win the wish, but please don’t end up hurting the others, just to get it.”

Merida rushed over and hugged Mark. “Thank ye for tellin' me. I’m no' sayin' I’ll be able tae be completely rational aboot gettin' the wish but I’ll try ma best no' tae mess wi' the ithers for it. I can tell ye I wuidnae let onyone get eliminatit for it. Naw way I could live wi' masel'. But I’m no' sure if I wuid gie it up tae get someone ower the ane-hundred point threshold. Sorry if that isnae whit ye wanted tae hear.”

“I understand, and I wouldn’t ask you to give up the chance to save your dad for something like that. If they were close enough that you could make a difference, it wouldn’t be that bad for them to receive an exit transformation at ninety-plus points. Not to the point I could ever ask for something like giving up on saving a loved one. It’s why I’m not mad at Talia for taking the deal, either. I don’t have to like it, but I definitely understand it. I’ve lost people that I would do a lot to be able to spend another day with them. To just be able to say goodbye to them.” Mark was getting a little melancholic.

Merida looked up at Mark, “Aye, I ken whit ye mean. But enough o' that. I juist got ye perked up, dinnae want ye sad a' ower again let’s go.” Merida stopped hugging Mark, grabbed his hand, and walked towards the door.

“Awe richt, mebbe we should hae gane doon the road first,” Merida admitted to Mark as they were once again dealing with a rather steep climb down a hill.

“Oh? You think? I told you that this was too steep, but you were like, ‘It’s fine, where's your spirit of adventure? I’ll tell you, it disappeared with my knees' ability to bend without ever popping when standing up.”

“Hey, at least we're almaist at the bottom, look we juist go ower tae that ledge an' drap doon a wee bit. An' we’re on the forest flair.”

“THAT DROP?! You’ve got to be kidding, that has to be at least ten feet.”

“Probably closer tae twal', but juist grab the ledge an' lower yersel' doon ye’ll only actually drap like sax feet, since ye’re sae tall.”

“Why did I let you talk me into this?”

“Because ye’re a pushover wha needs tae learn no' tae be. Otherwise we wumminfolk will keep takin' advantage o' ye.”

Mark just shook his head. “So what exactly was it you saw, in the distance? Because I didn’t see anything interesting from up top.”

“No' sure exactly. That’s whit maks it excitin' tae explore. But it definitely glittered. An' naw way wuid I hae been able tae get the richt direction if we took the path doon first look up. See richt there.” Merida pointed up to the top of the ridge they had spent a good thirty minutes climbing down. “We came doon richt there, which means...” She pointed in a direction into the woods, “That whatever I saw is that way.”

“Okay, fine. We’re down. So it’s done, but we are not climbing back up this way.”

“Aye.”

With that, the two started their trek through the woods to find Merida’s glittering treasure.

“Here you go, ladies,” Hilde said, stopping the carriage. “This is as close as I can get you. Follow this path, and it should lead you to the springs in twenty-five to thirty minutes, depending upon your speed. Have fun, and unless you want to get really horny by the time you get there, I would not stray from the path in the least, so do your best to stay on it even if it is overgrown a bit.”

“Thanks, Hilde, we really appreciate it. Bye!” Aubrey waved as Hilde drove the carriage towards town.

“Are you sure you want to take the path?” Chloe asked, only partially joking.

“Chloe…” Aubrey said, unamused at the implication.

“It was a joke.” Aubrey’s expression conveyed great skepticism at Chloe’s words. “Okay, mostly a joke.”

“See, not that hard to be honest. Now let's go, and we are most definitely staying on the path. It would defeat the purpose if I were so aroused that it wouldn’t matter if I found you attractive or not when we got there.” Chloe questioned if it might not still be worth it despite Aubrey’s point.

They walked silently, holding hands, the sun occasionally peaking through the trees as they walked through the woods, just enjoying the walk together. Chloe eventually broke the silence, “Umm… Are you nervous about this at all? I’m kind of nervous.”

“Hmmm? No, not really. I find it hard to believe I wouldn’t be attracted to you if I were bisexual, but Maja was right, I should check. Otherwise, we’ll just have to find another solution. If and when we reach that point.”

“And if there isn’t a solution?” Chloe asked with a hint of fear in her voice.

“Chloe! None of that. If I decide that I am in love with you, we will figure something out. I don’t care what it takes. I’ll make a deal with Cassandra or something if I have to. But we aren’t at that point yet. I’m doing this because I want to know if I would need to look for other solutions or not.”

“Okay, and thanks. Sorry, I’m worrying so much about this.”

“Totally understandable to worry about if your girlfriend finds you attractive or not.” Aubrey consoled her, seeing Chloe perk up when she used the ‘g’ word. “Oh, look, I think I see it up ahead.”

Sure enough, there was a large gap with sparse trees up ahead. Enough that there was still shade covering most of the springs, but still containing the springs themselves. In the center of the clearing was a very large, thick oak encircled by various springs.

“Wow, there sure are a lot of pools.” Chloe mused, “Do you think it matters which pool we use or that they're all the same?”

“Let me check the info that Maja sent me.” Aubrey looked over the message carefully. “Hmm, well, the message says that there is a hot spring at this location, not springs, so I think even if they are separate pools, they do the same thing. Otherwise, I feel like Maja would have mentioned it. Though I will say the message says one of the enchantments will make me a young bisexual woman. Meaning there are probably others. Are you okay with that, Chloe?”

“I’ll take the plunge if you do.”

“Okay, I just realized we didn’t bring swimsuits… or towels,” Aubrey mentioned. “How could I have forgotten to grab those back in the room?”

“It’s okay, we just skinny dip, right? Not like we haven’t done it before.”

“Yeah… That was a great memory.”

“I think that’s when I started to fall for you.” Aubrey went bright red at that info.

“WHAT! But… that was like ten years ago.”

“Hey, I said I started to fall. I didn’t realize it for another four or five years for what it was.” The two of them heard something off to the side of the springs. “Is that—Are those voices? Who would be out here?”

“Oi, Mark see whit I tellt ye, I knew we were gettin' close. I could feel the rise in temperature. There are hot springs here.”

“You had been saying we were getting close for the last ten minutes, and I’m pretty sure that it isn’t just the hot springs that’s causing the rise in your temperature. I don’t care what Cassandra is calling them, but I’m calling these woods the Horny Acres Woods.”

“That’s actually a pure guid name, for ance.”

“For once? What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means that ye hae a penchant for puns that are daft.” Merida finally saw the other two women staring at her, and Mark's mouth was agape. “Och, hey, Aubrey an'... IS THAT YOU, CHLOE!? Dang, that is one hell o' a makeover. Looks pure guid tho'. Looks richt on ye, can’t say why tho'.”

“What, are you two doing here!” Chloe exclaimed.

Mark was just as confused to find the girls here. “Uh, well, Merida had wanted to explore the island a bit for our date. Various things happened, but we left from my suite, climbed down the ridge, and traveled through the woods, which turns out to have an enchantment to increase your arousal over time. But I guess you already know that.”

“Well yeah…” Aubrey started, “But we were sensible and took the path to get here, even if it was a bit overgrown. We only stepped off it a few times, so we actually didn’t experience it much.”

Mark took in a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “There… there was a PATH!” And he glared at Merida.

“Hey, an' noo we ken that. See, we explored an' foond oot somethin' new.” She said a little sheepishly, knowing just how horny both of them were.

Chloe and Aubrey couldn’t help but burst out laughing.

“Okay, that’s fair, it is pretty funny.” Mark conceded. “So why are you two here? Weren’t you out on a date? Seems a bit far, just for that.” Mark looked at the hot springs, and his brow furrowed. The springs reminded him of something, but he couldn't quite place it. “Also, Chloe, sorry I got distracted, Merida is right, that outfit and your hair look really good.

“Well, thank you, Mark. I’m glad you like it because it’s what I’ll be wearing for quite a while, if not permanently. Not this specific outfit, mind you, but the style. The hair is actually permanent; it will now naturally be this way. As for why we came here… well, we went to Maja’s shop, as we wanted to do a bit of shopping. I got new clothes, and my hair done. Aubrey was told she was perfect, which I can’t disagree with. And Maja wanted to say thank you to Aubrey about ASTRID, so she told her about these springs, and what they can do.”

“Eh? Whit dae ye mean whit they can dae?” Merida questioned.

“Well…” Aubrey was being evasive, but continued. “Mark, you know what we talked about yesterday. If things went well with Chloe? Well, the effects here are temporary, but they should allow me to see what being bisexual would be like. Maja pointed out that just because I became bisexual wouldn’t mean I would be attracted to Chloe, so we came here to find out.”

“Okay, that makes a lot of sense.” Mark nodded, “Would you like Merida and me to leave so you two can be alone?”

“Whit? But we juist foond this place, an' we’re a' het an' sweaty. I want tae tak' a dip. Aulso ye owe me, buster, ye said an' I quote ‘Nae sneakin' required’. Ye need tae mak' it up tae me for leein' tae me.”

“I didn’t lie to you. How could I have known they would be here?”

“Weel tuch, I’m takin' a dip, I dinnae mind findin' the lassies attractive for a wee bit. If it really bothers ye twa, we can be on opposite sides o' the tree, but I think we should a' juist hop in ane pool. Ye need the points, Chloe, ye’re currently sittin' at zero. Och, look by the tree, there are towels and stuff too. Sae we can dry aff, sae whit dae y’a' say skinny dippin'?”

“I’m game,” Chloe said without hesitation. “Aubrey?”

“Umm…” She glanced at Mark

Mark spoke up, “Aubrey, sorry, between everything, I should have said this first. I’m sorry, Aubrey. I shouldn’t have gotten upset with you this morning. You were right, I would be selfish to deny Freya that opportunity if it came up.”

“I’m sorry too. I yelled at you until you complied, and that wasn’t right either. Can we move past it?”

“Let’s.”

She let out a sigh of relief. “Okay, I guess… I guess I’m okay with us being naked in the pool together. What’s the—” Chloe clapped her hand over Aubrey’s mouth.

“Nope, you’re not allowed to finish that sentence,” Chloe said sternly. “In fact, don't even think about it.”

“Awe richt let’s go ower tae the big aik tree an' pit oor claes by the towels an' hop in a nearby pool ower there.” Merida suggested.

As they walked between the pools, something was nagging at Mark. This really reminds me of something, but what? Probably some harem anime and a hot spring episode. It nagged at him because that didn’t seem right, though.

They took off their clothes and put them down by the towels. Merida didn’t mind Mark seeing her nude after what they had already done. Chloe and Aubrey were a bit more shy about it, but eventually, with determination, uncovered their breasts and just let Mark look while also looking at Mark’s body in return.

+5 VP Fully Naked for Master (Chloe)
+2 VP Showed Breasts to Master (Merida)
+1 VP Fully Naked for Master (Merida)

“Wow… umm, didn’t you say you were seven inches. Also, you seem to be in a lot better shape than I thought you were.” Chloe said, looking him up and down. “Because…”

“That’s a lot more than seven inches, so I’ve heard. Multiple times. Apparently, it doesn’t revert back to its normal size after being with someone, and either it isn’t changing because Merida is here, or you’re all size queens. I’m blaming Merida.”

“Oi, that’s no' fair. It could be because ye arenae daein' sexual things wi' them.”

“Anyway,” Mark deflected, “Shall we?” And they all got into the hot spring.

“Sae, Aubrey? Want tae hae sex wi' Chloe noo?”Merida asked.

“I don’t know, I don’t really feel different.” Aubrey thought about various women she knew who she knew were pretty or beautiful throughout her life, and she didn’t really find any attractive. “Maybe it takes some time? Because I feel normal.”

“Ummm. I started to feel something.” Chloe mentioned, “Like a tingling through my body,” and then they all felt it. A warm tingling sensation ran through their bodies as the magic took hold of them.

Then they heard a high-pitched, extremely girly scream.

“WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?” And Aubrey, Chloe, and Merida all turned in the direction of the scream. They saw a black haired woman with small B-cup breasts, who was smaller, thinner, and younger than any of them.

“Wha the hell are ye?” Merida exclaimed, “An' whaur is Mark?”

+1 VP See Mistress's Breasts (Merida, Aubrey, Chloe)(x2 First)
+1 VP See Mistress's Pussy (Merida, Aubrey, Chloe)(x2 First)
+1 VP see Mistress's Fully Nude (Merida, Aubrey, Chloe)(x2 First)

The small woman shouted. “CASSANDRA GET THE FUCK OUT HERE RIGHT NOW BECAUSE YOU HAVE SOME EXPLAINING TO DO, AND DON’T EVEN DARE THINK ABOUT COMPLAINING ABOUT NOT USING THE PHONE.”

~Pop~

“Well, don’t you look adorable. I mean, I knew you were adorable. I have seen your other selves. But I don’t know, do you still want to be called Mark, or would you prefer Mary, in this form?”

“EXPLAIN NOW!” The young woman screeched.

“I don’t see what the confusion is. I mean, Maja did tell Aubrey what the pool did. Right, Aubrey?” Cassandra was enjoying this immensely.

“What? She didn’t tell me this.” Aubrey exclaimed, “So you’re Mark? You have to believe me, I didn’t know I would have told you.” God, I would love to taste her. What was that!? Right, I guess the pool made me bisexual, and I am still attracted to Mark. Mary? She glanced at Chloe. Okay, well, that’s good at least. Definitely my type. “Maja didn’t tell me this.”

“She absolutely did.” Cassandra contradicted her.

“Stop lying, Cassandra. I was there. Maja said it would make Aubrey bisexual, among other things.” Chloe yelled at her.

“Oh yes, I know. But Chloe… Did you read the message that Maja actually sent Aubrey?”

“What are you talking about?” Chloe asked.

“The message. That she sent. To Aubrey. On her phone. You know? The one with the information about the springs.” Cassandra couldn’t help but enjoy the dawning look of horror on Aubrey’s face. “Would you like to share it, dear, or should I, because you were definitely told what the effects of the spring were?” After not getting a response from Aubrey, “No? Okay.” Cassandra projected the text onto a hologram in the air.

Maja: Aubrey, attached is a map with the location of the spring. Just go ahead and soak for a bit, and it will turn you into a young bisexual woman. It has a few other effects, like arousal building and some other fun things that Maja will not ruin the surprise for if you stay in long enough. Have fun with Chloe.

“See as I said. Maja told you that you would become a young bisexual woman. Why do you think all of you are between 18 and 22 years old right now?” Cassandra said with mirth.

“CASSANDRA, THIS ISN’T FUNNY!” Mark was fuming.

“Oh, calm down. The effects are temporary, or are you really going to say in front of these three that being a woman is so horrible? I would understand you being this upset if it were permanent, but it isn’t. I would never have allowed you to enter uninformed if it were permanent. The girls… maybe. But not you. That would be a problem… You should be back to your male form in a day or two. The end of the round at the latest. If you aren’t back to yourself by then, I’ll reverse the magic forcibly.”

“REVERSE IT NOW!”

“No. For a few reasons. That could actually be harmful and have lasting consequences, first and foremost. Second, I'm sure that the Audience is going to love this. Third, I don’t think you will actually mind this as much as you are protesting right now, would indicate, and fourth, it would be a unique opportunity for the girls here to earn some points.”

Mark was fuming, “Fine. You’re right, being a woman for a couple of days won’t be the end of the world.” Mark was still mad but regaining his composure. “Can we at least have some clothes that fit? Because I’m pretty sure that none of us is the same size as we were.”

“Now that I can accommodate.” Four sets of clothes, replaced their clothes near the towels. “Don’t worry, I sent your previous clothes to your wardrobes. Now, is there anything else?”

“Yes, actually.” Mark said, “Why am I so tiny? It's really jarring, and I feel a bit dizzy. I feel like I lost more than a foot in height.”

“Actually, you lost one foot six inches; we’re now the same height.” Cassandra beamed at him. “As for why, well. This would be you if you had been born female. Well… in most cases. But in the realities that you are female, this is typically how you look. Obviously, before any aesthetic differences like being a girly girl or a goth, or something.”

“Okay, so besides being what? Eighteen? Nineteen?

“Twenty actually.” Cassandra corrected

“And… bisexual… Can you tell me any other changes I should have to worry about these next few days?”

“Hmmm, I suppose that’s fair. Well, feel free to soak for a bit, but unless you want to be an animal girl for the duration of your time as a lady, I wouldn’t stay more than an hour. Not that this should be a problem… but you are capable of getting pregnant, like this. So like, don’t sleep with Smug, I guess? As if you get pregnant, I can’t revert you to your male form even by ****, until it is over. Ummm… In general, you are still you, though. It isn’t like you became an alternate universe you, but a female you. It is possible that the difference in hormones may affect your tastes slightly, but it isn’t like you are going to suddenly dislike things you liked or vice versa.”

“Fine… Can you tell me what kind of animal girl I would be?”

“Oh? Want to go for the full experience. Hmmm. Let's see… Oh, it says Ryumusume.”

“Ryu… that sounds familiar.”

“It means Dragon,” Cassandra explained. “Now have fun or don’t, your call. Bye”

~Pop~

Aubrey looked over at Mark, “I’m so sorry, Mark, I really—”

“Aubrey, it's fine.” Mark was clearly not happy. “I understand it wasn’t your fault. I’ll be okay. As I said, it isn't the end of the world to be a woman. The thing that is really bothering me right now is I’m feeling a sense of vertigo, and would like one of you to help me sit down and lean up on the side of the pool.” Aubrey and Merida, who were closest, both moved to help Mark sit down. “Thank you. The difference in height and having my weight redistributed like this is honestly more jarring than anything else.” Mark closed his eyes, trying to deal with the sensation of things being wrong.

“So… Mark?” Chloe began delicately, “Umm… Just wondering. Would you be up for doing anything like this? Because I don’t know about the other two, but I definitely find you really attractive, and I sort of want to protect and take care of you, with you being so small.”

“I mean sure the lassie is pure drap deid gorgeous an' I wuid like naethin' mair than tae mak' her scream oot in pleasure especially after whit she did tae me earlier, sae she can see hoo much fun it is. But dinnae ye think that micht be a wee bit much tae expect o' her? She’s been a wumman for a' o' 5 minutes.” Merida rebuked Chloe.

“Actually, that brings up a good question,” Aubrey said. “Umm, Mark? Is that what we should call you? Because I noticed Cassandra actually didn’t call you by your name or use a pronoun for you after asking what you want to be called. She also kept saying male form or female self and stuff like that. So… I guess... Are you still a guy on the inside? Or… are you a woman right now? Because that is what the spring does, right? It turns people into young bisexual women, and you aren’t really freaking out too much about being in a female body or complaining about the wrongness of it all. Just discomfort about your height and weight being different.”

“I’m not sure, Aubrey, it is a good question. I am sort of overwhelmed at the moment. I think I would rather not be an animal girl right now, plus I have a feeling the longer we are in here for the longer I’ll be a girl. Can someone drag me out of here because I really don’t want to open my eyes and fall over from dizziness at that moment.”

Merida and Aubrey got out and started to lift Mark out of the water, as Chloe grabbed onto Mark’s legs and but lifting from beneath. Mark just lay down on the ground, eyes closed. Mark just lay there thinking while the girls got dried off. Aubrey brought over a towel to Mark. After a few moments, Mark opened his eyes again and sat up. “Okay, the things have stopped spinning. Aubrey, I think you’re probably right. I don’t feel wrong in this body besides the height difference, even though I know it isn’t my body. I feel comfortable. Maybe it is an effect of the spring making me like that, maybe I would feel like this without it. I don’t know. Being called Mark right now does seem odd to me. So please call me Mary for the time being. I do know this, even if I feel comfortable like this, I want to go back to, I guess it would be, my male form. This might not feel wrong, but being male feels more right. Chloe, Merida, to respond to your questions and statements… I don’t know, maybe? Like I said, I am comfortable in this body, and I mean… I am curious. So I guess we could try something. But I’d like some more time to acclimate. Also ummm. If it isn’t too much to ask, I would really like it if you two would come back with Merida and me to the suite. Sorry, Merida, I know it’s your date night and all—”

“Save it, Mary, whatever ye need at the moment. I get, wantin' extra support, when ye’re gaun through somethin' unexpectit, an' strange. Sae ay, they are mair than welcome tae come.”

“Of course Mary,” Aubrey said, taking her hand.

“Won’t hear any complaints from me. It’ll be like a slumber party.” Chloe said.

“I dinnae ken aboot that, I mean it isnae like onythin' raunchy happens at slumber pairties.” Merida said.

Chloe and Aubrey both looked at Merida in bewilderment.

“Ach, Why are ye twa lookin' at me like that?”

Chloe and Aubrey glanced at one another. Chloe was the one to tell her. “Merida, I would say it isn’t uncommon for girls to experiment with each other at sleepovers. I know I did.”

Merida just looked at them in confusion. “Wait! Are ye sayin' that is why the ithers dared me tae kiss Kari back then!”

Aubrey tried helping. “Uh, yeah, probably. Honestly, they might even have done it because this Kari girl was into you or something. I know that wasn’t uncommon at high school parties, where boys were at, that I went to. For people to dare someone to kiss someone they knew the person was crushing on. Was that not a thing for you?”

“I... I wasnae invitit tae mony pairties. Maist folk thocht that I wis kind o' mopey an' a loser, because I wis dealin' wi' stuff, an' no' daein' weel in schule.” Merida said, part embarrassed, part glumly.

“OH! Well, that just won’t do!” Aubrey exclaimed. “Then we are definitely having a sleepover party tonight. Mary, it’s your call, it can just be us four or… we can invite everyone up to have a sleepover. Whichever you are more comfortable with. I think it would be more fun to have everyone, but I get that it could be overwhelming. And we can tell them about you being Mary or not before they show up. What do you think?”

Can I handle that right now… Fuck it. “Aubrey, I think I’m going to choose to embrace chaos. Let’s invite everyone, but keep it a surprise.”