Claire's first skin

About a dozen minutes later, the doorbell rang, and I went to open the door. I was surprised to see Dahlia accompanied by my mother, I didn't expect them to come together. Dahlia seemed less tense than yesterday, I assumed she and my mother spoke beforehand.

"Good morning, Elise. How are you?" Mother asked with a gentle smile.

I stepped aside and let them in. "Morning, Olivia, Dahlia. I'm doing okay, all things considered. Claire, though..."

When they walked into the living room and saw the state Claire was in, they gasped.

"I didn't expect it to get that bad so fast." Mother commented, approaching Claire. "But you'll get better soon, my child. Dahlia, give it to her."

"I was about to, no need to order me around." Dahlia replied, coming closer.

She put down a large backpack she was carrying and opened it. From it, she took out a deflated skin, surprising both Claire and me. It was a male skin, from the looks of it.

"It might not be ideal, but it will help you short term." Dahlia continued. "It's the skin of one of my neighbours, Jason. It was the easiest one we could get our hands on."

"We?" I asked.

"I came to visit Dahlia this morning, I wanted her help in finding a good temporary skin for Claire. And I also wished to learn a bit more about my potential daughter-in-law~" Mother said with a teasing grin, making both Claire and Dahlia blush. "She's an interesting one, full of surprises."

Claire grabbed the deflated skin, observing it with a stunned expression. "So I... I wear him?"

Mother took her hand. "Yes. Come with me, I'll help you get suited and give you his soul."

She grabbed the backpack and led Claire to her bedroom. Soon, she'd be wearing her first skin... A male skin, at that... Would she like it? I was intrigued and nervous at the same time.

Dahlia gave me a reassuring smile. "It'll be fine, Ed. Wearing Jason for an hour or two won't be enough to fully quench the urges and get rid of the discomfort, but it'll last for a few days. When we're back from your hometown, I'll help Claire find a better skin."

I sighed. "I can't help but worry about how well she's going to adapt to this life. And I won't even be there to support her..."

She put a hand on my shoulder. "I'll watch over her, Ed, I promise you. And we'll make sure to stay in touch."

"I know you will. Thanks, Dahlia. But why did you choose your neighbour for Claire to wear? Wouldn't Laura have been fine too?"

Dahlia looked away. "It... It was the easiest option, and I would prefer not having Laura be worn a second time, in all honesty. With you, I was... too excited, and I wanted to show you the depths of our abilities. But Laura is a dear friend, I don't want to do that to her again."

"I see."

We waited for a few minutes before Mother returned, followed by Claire wearing Jason, appearing somewhat sheepish. I was stunned. Seeing this man and knowing it was my sister, it was so uncanny...

"How are you feeling, Claire?" Dahlia asked, immediately rushing by her side. "Any discomfort or dysphoria?"

Claire looked down, observing her borrowed body. "A bit, maybe...? It feels... really different?" She shyly said in her much deeper and manlier voice. "Being a man, and having someone else's memories and feelings... It's trippy..."

Mother giggled. "You'll get used to it."

"You... You think? I don't know if I will..."

"Well, my lineage tends to favour wearing skins of the gender or genders we are attracted to." Mother explained. "It was the case for my mentor, and same for me, Oliver, and our children. You might feel more comfortable wearing a woman than a man since you are a lesbian."

"Your... lineage?" I asked, confused.

"When you turn someone into a skinwalker, some... traits of the progenitor can get passed over to the newly born skinwalker. It might explain why you seem so comfortable as a woman now, my child. From my earlier discussion with Dahlia, she does seem to have a deep aversion for male skins."

Dahlia looked away, shameful. "It's a possibility, yes..."

"I see..."

I wasn't sure what to reply. It would indeed be a plausible explanation as to my newfound interests. But it wasn't really the time to be all introspective.

"It's only temporary, Claire. We'll find you a female skin when we're back." Dahlia replied, hugging her.

Claire hugged her back, smiling. "I'd like that, thanks." She then came to me, hugging me as well. "And thanks for being there for me, Ed."

The height difference was a lot more pronounced now that Claire was Jason. Dahlia and I were so much shorter than her now.

"It's weird, isn't it?" Claire then said, giggling. "I felt the same way when I saw you yesterday."

I giggled softly. "Yeah... I guess it was as confusing for you as it is for me right now."

"I'm glad you're feeling better, Claire. Our plane will depart this evening, and I just finished arranging a place for you and Dahlia to stay the night." Mother said, waving her phone. "Meanwhile, since I'm here, why don't you three give me a small tour of the town?"

I glanced at Claire and Dahlia, who both nodded, and then spoke. "Alright. Athough, there's not much to see, honestly."

"I know a few nice parks." Dahlia chimed in. "There's a beautiful one close to the church I sometimes go to."

"The church, huh?" Mother commented, frowning.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Religious organisations tend to have ties with hunter groups, contracting them to get rid of nonhumans they hear of. I'd rather avoid going near a church with an unorthodox group like ours."

Claire and I were surprised to hear that. Dahlia did tell me about hunters before I left for my hometown, but she didn't develop further than that. Although, it made sense for religious groups to want to get rid of beings they considered as dangerous monsters. It also meant they kept secret the existence of nonhumans on purpose, probably to avoid causing panic.

Dahlia looked pensive. "I've spoken to the bishop a few times before, when I was at the park... He's fairly... intimidating, but he's a kind person."

"They often appear that way, yes." Mother said, her tone becoming a lot colder. "But their 'kindness' only extends to humans."

"I am aware..." Dahlia replied in a low tone. "But you're right, it's better to avoid the church's surroundings. There's other interesting places to see around here anyway."

Once done with this conversation, we left the flat. Our first destination was the park I often went to to work out. It was small, but cosy, I liked jogging there during the mornings. There was also a pole installed for doing pull-ups, allowing me to stay in shape without having to pay for a gym membership.

Dahlia observed the flowers planted around, smiling softly. She seemed more at ease here, more relaxed.

"You like flowers?" I asked her.

She nodded. "Yeah. You probably didn't notice it with everything that happened recently, but I have a lot of plants in my flat."

"It's an interesting hobby, unusual for skinwalkers." Mother commented.

"Is... Is it something you picked from the original Dahlia?" Claire questioned afterwards.

Dahlia appeared melancholic for a brief moment. "No, it... dates from when I was still human."

It seemed to be a sensitive topic for her, judging by her expression, so I thought it was best to avoid digging deeper for now.

"I see. I don't know much about flowers, but these are quite pretty." I replied, smiling at her. "I might need your advice when I'll have to choose flowers for the wedding reception."

"Sure, I'll help you." Dahlia said, smiling slightly.

"The wedding?" Claire asked.

"The wedding of John and Elise... or well... me." I said, my cheeks reddening in embarrassment. "You know I'll be living as Elise for the next few years..."

"Ah, right... How... How are you feeling about this?"

"I'm still coming to terms with it..." I admitted. "It won't be before a while anyway, but I'll inform you two when we have a proper date planned. I'd like for you to attend."

After that, we spent a little longer in this park before exploring the city more. At her request, I led Mother to the bar I used to work at, which wasn't open yet. Afterwards, we briefly stopped at the library, a place Claire and I frequented fairly often, and then went to the cafe near Claire's now old police station for lunch.

When we arrived, we were greeted by the usual barista. Her name was Angela, she was a beautiful blonde woman with purple makeup and around my age. We spoke a few times when I was here with Claire, and I knew Claire was on good terms with her, even if they weren't really friends yet. She sometimes told me she wished she could get closer to Angela and befriend her properly.

Angela led us to a table for four and gave us the menus. Claire kept glancing at her discreetly but curiously even as she left.

"Is she someone you'd like to be?" Mother asked Claire in a low tone, surprising her.

"H-huh?"

"You seem really interested in her. She's really cute, isn't she?"

Claire blushed deeply and avoided our gazes. "S-she's cute, yes..."

If she wasn't before, she was definitely thinking about trying to wear Angela, now. She might enjoy the life of a barista, it was probably a lot less stressful than working in the police. And I knew Angela was her type of woman, physically and mentally. A beautiful, confident, kind, and curious woman.

Dahlia gave Claire an amused smile. "We can talk about this more when we're back, if you want."

Claire simply nodded, not saying anything else. We waited for our food and then enjoyed a nice meal together. It was strange, sharing a meal with Claire and Mother again after all this time. All three of us were skinwalkers, now, but we were still a family, albeit a very uncanny one. And Dahlia was here, too. Someone we learnt to trust and who deeply cared about Claire and me.

Despite the strangeness, it was nice, I had to admit. Mother was a lot **** now, sharing stories with Dahlia and Claire, and even Claire seemed less nervous being around Mother. She was smiling and chuckling, and it made me happy. I knew she'd be fine with Dahlia even with me away.