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It's not too long after sunset. Enough time for them both to get themselves put together and maybe grab a bite to eat. Well, for Finley... a lot to eat. They'd basically gorged themselves, finding a few different people to pull under Obfuscate to nom from.
But now they are home, and their apartment looks about the same as the last time Cian was here. Had Cian been here? Well, El knows what it looks like, at least.
They'd made sure that Calamity wouldn't be around for the night, to assure they had their privacy.
When Cian texts that he's there, they move up to meet him at the front door, smiling, and Prettyed--their usual, these days. "Hey. Come in."
Cian isn't Blushed this evening, and dressed in a look Finley, and Fofo, have seen many times - a loose and flowing linen shirt paired with tighter trousers. He smiles at the Prettyed Finley when zhe answers the door, and looks around curiously. It's been a while, at least - though it's still the same apartment.
"How have you been?" Cian sits on the stairs to remove his lace up boots.
The apartment does look more lived in though! There's some personal items of Calamity's scattered about and the kitchen looks used and stocked
"I've been well. You?" Zhe moves to sit down on one side of the couch, looking up at him. "Please make yourself at home."
"Do you have a roommate?" Cian arches an eye as he takes in the stocked kitchen. "Or - ah. You said your friend was staying with you while they recovered, yes? I hope you didn't have to send them away on my behalf...?"
Finley nods. "Um, yeah... They're feeling a lot better now though. It's okay, don't worry about it." A soft smile. "Have you been thinking about this any...?"
"Quite a bit, yes." Cian nods and runs a hand through his hair. "I do admit it's quite overwhelming, though. To suddenly have untold numbers of options..."
Finley smiles softly. "Try not to be too overwhelmed. None of this is permanent unless you choose ahead of time to be. We can keep changing things every couple of weeks until you're completely satisfied with your body."
"True enough." Cian is quiet for a moment, staring at the covered up window as he thinks. "How...how much can I change things? I assumedly can't decide to look like an entirely different person, correct? I don't want to, I'm merely curious..."
Finley shakes their head. "No. You can't look like a completely different person. All this will change is your primary and secondary sex characteristics." A beat pause. "Have you had any sex reassignment surgery at all?"
Cian gestures to his chest. "Before I was Embraced, yes...will that affect things?"
Finley looks to his chest and nods. "No. I can change your genitals and leave your chest the same. Um, you can change the sex characteristics seperately without any issue. Or if there's any changes you'd like made to your chest, I can try--but I don't think very much would be different. I can't... remove scars or anything like that. Just change what is there."
"Ah. I was...hoping to be able to remove the scars, too. But I understand." He nods, looking more thoughtful than anything. "I'd like my jawline a little sharper, more...masculine, I suppose. How specific do you need me to be, with everything?"
Finley tilts their head in thought. "I... can try to remove the scars? But I don't want to make any promises." Finley stares thoughtfully at Cian's jawline and nods, then pauses. To their credit, they don't look too uncomfortable. They just seem to... turn off the emotions and take on a more doctorly professional tone. Totally fine talking about their friend's new dick. Totally fine.
"As much detail as you think is necessary. I... want to get everything as close to what you want, as possible."
Cian, on the other hand, curls his shoulders slightly - if he'd been Blushed, his face might be a little red. Perhaps this is why he didn't. "I did...do some research." And, in fact, that research wasn't just fucking Simon thoroughly. He pulls out his phone to swipe through pictures for zhem to see - a few men's faces, all with similar jawlines, a handful of torso shots. To his credit, he's managed to find images that are fairly similar for the most part, and give a good sense of the sort of man he wants to look like.
None of them are too far off from his current body, either, though as a whole the men in the pictures have slightly broader shoulders and slightly smaller hips.
He clears his throat, quietly and unnecessarily, as he swipes through to dick pics. Nothing too disproportionate, though erect they all have an upward curve. He's even compiled some flaccid ones - he'd clearly rather be a grower than a shower.
"Does...this help?" He gestures to his phone, looking at it instead of Finley.
"Research is good," Finley says encouragingly, nodding. They scoot closer and lean in so they can see the phone, watching Cian swipe through the pictures. "This should all be fine," Finley says. "I might not be able to get your shoulders quite this broad, but I think you will be able to notice the change. Your hips will slim down as well, naturally, when your current reproductive organs are gone."
Zhe sits a little straighter when they get to the dick pics, but zhe still forces themself to look at each one. Finally Finley leans back and takes a deep breath, stabilizing zhemself. "It does, yes. That is... also doable."
"It's...all the little things. The things you don't think about, you know? And they probably seem more disproportionate to me than to anyone else, but..." Cian sighs and sits back on the stair. "They do make a difference."
Finley's eyes soften. Zhe nods, then reaches over to squeeze Cian's hand gently. "I promise. I'll do my best to make all those little changes perfect."
Zhe glances towards the closed door to their bedroom/bathroom, then back to him. "Are you wanting to do it tonight? Or do you need more time?"
Cian squeezes back, and gives zhem a soft smile. "I know you will. This is...thank you. I...don't have any plans for the rest of the evening, though I didn't prepare specifically to do it tonight. I don't know what more time would do, though, aside from increase my anxiety about it all."
"Then I'd... rather go ahead. While all your preferences are fresh in my mind." And save them from having to study dick pics again later... "I prepared already, just in case."
"That's fine with me. Even the worst case scenario, it will only last a few weeks..." Barring an accidental blood bond, of course. How does one make sure to not ingest Vitae, when they're absolutely surrounded by it?
Finley nods, then pushes up to their feet. "You're not hungry, right? You're going to be submerged in my vitae. I... can try putting a mask over your face, to keep you from accidentally inhaling, but if you are hungry and try to swallow it I'm not sure I can stop you."
"Ahm. Not entirely full, but not so hungry as to pose any danger." Cian follows Finley's lead, standing and slipping his phone back into the pocket of his pants. "I don't anticipate it being a problem. I've been addicted in the past, but that's neither here nor there." He waves a hand. "Lead the way."
Finley gives him a sympathetic look, but doesn't question. They open the bedroom door and lead the way into the bathroom, which looks like part alchemy lab and part witches brewery, with the large antique polished copper tub and shelves of containers and bottles filled with all sorts of liquids, minerals, herbs, and other chemicals. There's even a large pot and burner--which Finley goes to first and fills with water. Apparently the water needs to be boiled to purify it.
"This will take a while, so you can make yourself comfortable..."
It's going to be a bit of a process, but eventually several pots full of water have been boiled and poured into the copper tub. Then they start pulling down bottles and containers, sprinkling salts and oils into the water, some smelling fragrant and some smelling chemically. Finley mixes it all together with a large cooper spoon until it all dissolves together.
"Okay," they speak back up sometime later, taking a deep breath. They finally move to a sharp looking knife resting on a shelf, picking it up. "You... you can undress now." Finley keeps their back to him though, standing beside the tub as they use the knife to deeply slit their wrist. They hold their arm over the water as... a lot of vitae spills into the water, turning it pink, then a deep red.
Cian looks around the bathroom with open curiosity, his dull, dead eyes still managing to look bright and interested. He asks questions too, what the salts and oils are, how they work with the Vitae to produce the intended result.
Once a Dragon, always a Dragon.
He waits to be sure that Finley is indeed turned around before he tugs his shirt up over his head - and lets it fall to the ground, entranced by the Vitae flowing from Finley's arm and into the water. A deep, mostly unnecessary breath - not to get oxygen, but to get the smell of the blood that's so much more than blood.
A moment later he remembers himself, and removes his pants and then, slowly, his underwear. After that, he turns away from Finley still more, so there's no chance zhe'll see any full frontal nudity.
Finley does their best to explain things. Some things actually make some chemical sense, but... some of it? Straight up occult magical weirdness. Some things just can't fully be explained with science.
The Nossie... keeps bleeding. And bleeding. Until they're looking quite pale--but then, finally, the vitae stops flowing. The smell of vitae is thick in the air, sweet and entrancing like honey. Finley doesn't look back at him, instead staring at the lip of the bathtub as they kneel down beside it, setting the knife aside. "Quickly, before the vitae looses it's potency. Sit in the bath, then I'll submerge you. It... might take several minutes."
Sitting in a tub full of blood means no one can see you nude, right? Cian slips in, trying his hardest not to splash any over the side, pulling his knees up to his chest and taking another breath in as he leans against the copper. "Christ, it is tempting..." he murmurs, eyeing the vitae that surrounds him with obvious hunger.
"Please... try to control yourself," Finley murmurs, then puts a hand to the back of his neck, cradling there. Cian is guided down until his whole body is submerged within the vitae bathe.
It takes a few seconds for Cian to really... feel anything. And even then, it doesn't hurt. It's a strange sensation, but not unpleasant. His whole body tingles, like there's some sort of chemical reaction happening with his skin and the vitae-water. The vitae seems to bubble and foam and fizzle over every inch of him.
But god, the temptation is overwhelming. It at least distracts him from the weirdness happening to his body--the hunger, the maddening thirst, so easy to give into...
It's all Cian can do not to gasp in surprise as his body starts to tingle. He keeps his mouth clamped shut, his eyes closed, squirming under the vitae-water as his body begins to shift.
A huge step in the right direction for him, finally free of the crippling dysphoria he's suffered through for the past three and a half decades, and yet...it's the vitae that calls to him, overwhelms him with thirst. Enough that a bubble of guilt forms in his gut - even a ritual as meaningful as this pales in comparison to the hunger. His Beast thrashes - it has no sense of gender, only ceaseless bloodlust.
Cian makes fists with both hands and grits his teeth. Focuses on the tingling, the fizzing around him, the bizarre feeling of his very bones thickening and sliding into slightly different places.
Not just his bones. His flesh is felt moving and changing, organs shriveling and disappearing, others growing, others rearranging themselves. But still, no pain. The fizzling seems to be numbing his body, saving him from the true horrors of a body evolving at a more and more rapid pace.
A minute passes. Then a second. Then a third--and by now the vitae-bath feels like its boiling all around him.
Then, suddenly, Finley grips the back of his neck again and lifts him up, guiding him to sit upright and suck in a gasp of air.
The vitae suddenly stops bubbling and goes still. All at once the intoxicating smell fades, to a more muted, duller scent--the vitae turning to normal human blood.
Finley, still pale, watches him intently. Their eyes are wide, staring at him with mingled desperate hope and nauseous anxiety. They know the trauma of having your body changed all to well, but zhe hopes that this time it will be different. That this time it will make someone's lives better. "How... do you feel...?"
"Mary mother'a God..." The Irish lilt in Cian's voice is nowhere to be heard - 'God' comes out sounding like 'Gahd' as Cian slips into his native Boston accent. But he sounds...full of wonder, not horror, as he gasps out the curse. He brings a hand up - his hand, maybe a little larger, a little rougher, but not by much - and slides it through his blood-soaked hair.
"I...Christ I don't know how I feel..." His Irish lilt his back, and his expression is so very serious as he shifts slightly in the tub. His hand slides over his shoulder and back under the bath.
"I don't...think I quite believe it." He's reached the 'logic through the emotions' stage, clearly.
"In my experience... it takes a little while for it to... sink in. To feel... real. But this is your body, still." Finley touches his shoulder gently, then takes a deep breath and pushes up to their feet. "Just... wash the blood down the drain. Then wash off. I'll--go. And let you..." Examine yourself. "Take your time. Towels are on the shelf there..." The nossie smiles softly, then turns to slip out of the bathroom, closing the door gently behind zhemself.
The touch makes Cian jump, like he somehow didn't expect to feel it. "It is my body," he repeats with quiet, nervous laugh, and slides into the bath a little more, until Finley has left him alone.
The blood is mesmerizing, going down the drain, and Cian focuses on that, watching it as it swirls away, leaving wet red streaks down his chest and legs. His arms fall limply to his sides when the tub is empty, and he just...stares.
It's one thing, to have an image in your mind of what you want to look like. Quite another to see that image brought to life - or, unlife, as the case may be. He reaches out to fumble with the tap, finally turning the water on just as a choked sob escapes his lips.
The water stays on for long minutes. Probably longer than it might take to fill the tub up, if Finley's paying close attention. But it ceases eventually, and there are the faint sounds of Cian drying himself off and re-dressing.
He's got a faint smile on when he finally returns to the living room, and his posture has already shifted. Taller, more confident, with his shoulders back instead of hunched over.
"Thank you. Fin - thank you."
Finley is sitting on the couch when Cian comes out, their legs tucked up to their chest, arms wrapped around them. They mostly seem to be just... staring off into space. The wound on their arm healed by now, skin pale still.
They blink, snapping out of it and looking up at Cian. Zhe looks him up and down a moment, a small hopeful smile tugging at their lips. "You... you look happy. Please tell me you're happy...?"
"Yes, Finley - of course I'm happy. I'm overwhelmed, still. A little...feeling like it's not my body, yet. But it is, and I'll get used to that, and -" He cuts off, and nods as he blinks. Like he's holding back nonexistent tears.
Finley's shoulders slump with relief, smiling wider. "I... I'm so glad. C-can I hug you...?"
In response, Cian strides across the living room to gather zhem into a tight hug, squeezing his eyes shut. "You did everything right," he whispers into zher shoulder.
Finley wraps zher thin but inhumanely strong arms around him in return, squeezing. Zher eyes close tightly, soaking in the embrace for a moment before pulling back to smile widely at him, eyes soft. "You look so handsome, Cian..."
Cian dips his head, his smile sheepish. "This might be the first time I've actually believed it, d'you know that?"
"You always were really handsome," Finley murmurs sheepishly. "But you're confident and happy now, and that's what really makes all the difference." If Finley was also Blushed, they'd also be crying, no doubt. "You don't know how happy this makes me, Cian. To see you like this." They pull him in for another tight hug, briefer this time.
"Enjoy it. Figure out how it makes you feel. And in two weeks we can make changes, or we can do it again--and make it permanent, next time."
He's shaking slightly now, and he clings tightly to Finley's shirt, giving zhem one last squeeze before he pulls away. "You're wonderful. I'll let you know, if anything needs to change, but...I don't think it will." His voice wobbles a little with emotion - he'd probably be crying, too.
"Is there...anything I can do to repay you?" Cian slowly extricates himself from the hug and goes to put his boots back on.
"There's nothing to repay. If anything, I owed you, for... saving me," Finley murmurs. "Just... keep being my friend."
"Absolutely." Cian smiles and nods, standing and opening his arms again for a goodbye hug. "I wouldn't give our friendship up for the world."
Finley falls into his arms again, hugging around his waist with a soft delighted giggle. Then zhe steps back, beaming at him. "Go knock 'em dead."
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