“What did I miss?” the mother asked, looking at her daughter’s gleeful expression.
“Your daughter was asking about their rtionship status,” Chris said, steepling his fingers before him.
“Elbows,” Beth said quietly to her husband, who leaned back from the table and nced at the smirk on his oldest son’s face.
Beth looked to Henry. “I’m told you’re the CIO for an investment house in Manhattan. You seem young for such a role.”
Henry grinned. “Yeah, I get that a lot. I’m younger than most CIOs, perhaps the youngest, but they’ve invested in me, and so far, they’re happy with the results.
“What’s a CIO?” Danny asked.
Henry smiled. “Chief Information Officer. I’m in charge of theputer systems at my office, from the hardware to the software that runs on them.”
Danny seemed disappointed. “I thought you were a magician or a wizard!”
Henry chuckled and shook his head. “Magic is a recent addition to my skill set and not my favorite.”
Danny was shocked to hear that. “How could magic not be your favorite?” he eximed.
“Danny, indoor voice,” Chris said to calm his son.
Henry held the young man’s eyes. “My experiences so far with using magic haven’t been very happy. Lots of danger and people I care about getting hurt. Not pleasant memories.” The boy frowned, and Henry shrugged. “The Magic Door spell has been really useful.”
Beth spooned portions of the pasta onto the tes as Chris went back to the kitchen to bring out a wine bottle. The kids were given grape juice.
“Could I have grape juice as well?” Henry asked. The kids brightened up to see an adult who liked it too.
“No wine for you?” Chris asked.
Henry shook his head. “I have a very low tolerance to alcohol. I need to avoid it.”
“Not the worst lifestyle choice,” Beth said with a little smile for her sister. “Not one Dayshia’s previous boyfriends shared.”
“Beth,” Dayshia growled, but Beth just shed her eyes at her sister.
Henry nodded with a smile of his own.
“Do you go to church, Henry?” Beth asked.
“Beth!” Dayshia eximed.
Henry shook his head but kept his smile as he looked into Beth’s eyes. She really did share Dayshia’s lovely features. “I was raised by an adoptive grandmother who had no time for church or anything she considered frivolous.” Henry held up his hands. “I don’t share her attitude, but I also had no exposure to religion during those critical early years. Somehow, I think I developed a good grounding in right and wrong fundamentals, good and evil. I’ve certainly been exposed to examples of both recently, and my moralpass hasn’t led me wrong.”
She held his eyes for a bit as she put the lid back onto the pasta and took her seat. She reached out a hand to Danny and Henry. He didn’t hesitate to take it. Everyone held hands as Chris said grace.
Beth smiled at Henry after they let go. “You have strong hands for a keyboard jockey.”
Henry snorted softly and caught Chris’ look of interest. “Yes, it’s been all the non-CIO activities that have put so much strain on my body recently. I think it’s also a default state for Satyrs. We’re strong, as my Valkyrie friend tells me.”
“You are a Satyr!” Danny eximed. “That was you on the TV in Washington?”
Henry nodded.
“Howe you don’t look like that now?” Danny pressed, and Chris looked both annoyed with his son yet interested in hearing the answer.
“I’m wearing a disguise made of magic. It’s called a mor. It lets me appear Human so people will feelfortable around me.”
He scooped up some of the pasta and put it into his mouth. As he chewed, he smiled. It was really good. Then the spices kicked in, and his eyes watered a little.
“Hoo! This is really good, but it’s got a kick!” Henry gasped.
The kidsughed, and Beth smiled. Henry noticed Chris wasn’t smiling. He seemed to have something on his mind. Henry wiped his eyes and looked to the man, encouraging him to ask the question on his mind.
“People are changing into new forms as they absorb this energy from another dimension. Will everyone get one of these mors?” Chris asked.
“What’s more likely to happen is that people with mors will just stop using them as everyone will be in their new forms. They won’t have to hide any longer. The world is bing a much more interesting ce. I know I’m looking forward to that day,” Henry said.
“But what if we don’t want to change our bodies to something else? It’s not like we’re being given a choice!” Chris argued. Beth looked at her husband in concern.
Henry could see Chris was bing agitated. The thought crossed Henry’s mind that Chris may have some form of body shape fixation. The man was obviously very fit and probably spent time maintaining that. He was proud of his physique. It would be particrly upsetting for him to know he was going to spontaneously change into something different.
“I see you’re particrly concerned about this. I get it,” Henry said with a nod. “The process of getting a mor is not simple as the people who did it aren’t able to work with the new dimension’s energy.”Belongs to ? n0velDrama.Org.
“So, I have to be happy with whatever random chance throws my way?” Chris snapped.
“What about Tish?” Dayshia blurted, and Henry looked to her in surprise with a raised eyebrow.
“What’s this about Tish?” Beth asked as Chris watched Dayshia too.
“Maybe we should finish this delicious meal before we… discuss that?” Henry suggested.
Dayshia nodded in embarrassment.
They ate their dinner, and the conversation was awkward. Even the kids picked up on it.
Finally, Henry pushed back. “That was really good! Thank you! I think we’d better address the elephant in the room, or in this case, the Satyr.”
“Let’s retire to the living room where we can getfortable,” Beth suggested.
Her husband led the way, and Henry paused in the doorway. The room was decked out for Christmas,plete with a lit and decorated tree. The room’s warmth was so inviting. He sighed and smiled. “Now, this was what I missed growing up! It’s beautiful!”
Chris smiled and gestured to the love seat. Soon Dayshia and Henry were sitting across from the Nelson family, who crowded onto their couch.
Dayshia ced her hand on Henry’s. “I need to say something first.” He nodded. “I shouldn’t have mentioned anything about Tish before making a confession of my own.” She swallowed and took a breath. “Over a year ago, I was exposed to arge amount of Wild Magic, and I… transformed.”
Beth squeaked in surprise, but Dayshia raised her hand to calm her. “I changed, but Henry arranged to get me a mor. What that cost him is something I regret to this day, but that’s a story for another day. I changed, though my alteration wasn’t too dramatic. I’m going to drop my mor so you can see what I now look like.” She smiled at the kids. “It isn’t the slightest bit scary.”
Dayshia’s eyes were suddenlyrger, glowing in subtle shades of blue, gold, and green, and framed with long featheryshes.
“OH!” Beth and Chris yelped. The kid’s reactions were far more dramatic.
“Auntie Dayshia! Your eyes are beautiful!” Emily gasped.
“They light up!” Danny eximed.
“Pretty!” Tommy squealed and pped.
“They let me see in all kinds of different ways, across multiple frequencies. I can use them even when my mor is active, so when I’m examining patients, I can see into their bodies to see the injuries or growths so I can operate more precisely and urately,” Dayshia admitted.
“You have x-ray vision? That is so cool!” Danny said enthusiastically.
She nodded but raised a hand. “Except it isn’t x-rays. I tested it with an x-ray sensitive te at the hospital’s radiology department, and it didn’t register at all.”
“This change was random?” Beth asked.
“Yes.”
“And nothing else changed,” the older sister asked.
“No visible changes. I didn’t lose any weight or grow wings. I definitely feel better than I did before, so that’s a bonus,” Dayshia said smiling at her sister.
Beth stood and approached as Dayshia stood and met her halfway. The older sister took her younger sister’s face in her hands and looked at her new eyes closely. “They truly are breathtakingly lovely. If I were to change, I wouldn’t mind bing this.” She turned to face Chris. “Would you still love me if I had eyes like Dayshia’s?”
Chris looked scandalized. “Beth! Don’t say crazy things! You know I’ll love you regardless of what you be!”
“I feel the same about you, but you seem to be having a harder time with epting the change,” Beth acknowledged.
Chris frowned then controlled his expression as he nced at the kids. “I-I just don’t like surrendering control over something I thought was mine.”
Dayshia looked to Henry, and he shifted ufortably as what she was asking was not guaranteed. He wouldn’t deny her, though. He finally nodded.
“Please, let’s sit again as I have more to say,” Dayshia said to her sister. Once everyone wasfortable, she continued.
“The same night I was exposed to the Wild Magic, Tish was too. The difference was, Tish became a Faun-that’s just another name for Satyr. She was holding Henry’s hand to her stomach while she changed. We think she became a Faun because of this contact,” Dayshia suggested.
Henry shifted ufortably. “That cause and effect connection hasn’t been proven. It might have just been random chance that she became a Faun. No controlled testing has been done.”
Beth looked to her little sister. “How can you test it if we don’t know when we’ll reach the threshold of energy that triggers the change?”
It was Dayshia’s turn to fidget.
“I’m a source of Wild Magic. I can provide a stream of energy that would trigger the change.”
Eyes turned to Henry, and Chris stood up, pulling his family with him. His expression told them he was not happy.
“I’m not a danger to anyone. I can control the flow,” Henry assured them.
“Chris, you said it yourself. You’re not happy losing control over the change. We might be able to give you some control. You could choose the race you’d be,” Dayshia insisted.
He red back at them then Beth pulled away. “I know I want the option to choose. I like the idea of bing like Dayshia. It isn’t a major change, and her eyes are so lovely!”