Jay slowly opens his eyes to virtually no sunlight.
Honestly, he's tempted to go back to sleep.
Checking his phone though...well he can't see the time for one.
He squints and brings it close to his face.
One? Zero? 10 AM?
He probably should stop sleeping in so late.
Maybe when he returns to normal.
After a long, drawn-out yawn, he looks around the living room.
It doesn't seem like anyone else is in the room.
Tilting his head, he starts moving blankets, poking at them, flipping them over.
Yup. Everyone else already got up.
He stands up slowly, realizing how much longer his tail is. Cole was definitely right.
Once he's on his feet, he can feel his back crack, with pops carrying all the way down to the tip of his tail.
It felt good, but ew. A(n already out of place) limb that once could barely be pulled into his lap can now probably wrap around and touch itself. That's probably not a good sign of anything.
He pokes and prods at it. There's a strip of seemingly newer scales in a ring around the appendage. If he picks at the edges of the ring enough, he can pull up the old scales surrounding it.
Not now. Did stress really make him start shedding earlier? He should've had another week or two before he'd have to do that again.
Then again, stress made several more changes to his body.
With a sigh, he drops his tail. He can tell he has more control over it than before. It seems super close to the floor.
He starts walking out of the living room, headed for the kitchen.
The dinner table is littered with boxes, Jay doesn't even need to ask or touch anything to see all the boxes on the table.
Cole's hugging something? It's long and white and Kai's laughing about it.
"Come on, let's all pitch in for an anime girl cover for him," Kai cackles.
"Can she at least be holding cake or something?" Cole chuckles.
"Sure, we can shop around for one," Kai giggles.
"What's going on?" Jay asks.
"Mail came!" Zane announced happily.
"We were expecting mail?"
Zane nods. He holds out a blob of something.
Jay grabs it.
Oh, it's fabric.
OH
It's clothes.
Warm clothes.
"Thanks!"
Kai's barely masking his giggle. "Jay, I wish you could see what Zane bought Cole."
Cole tucks the white rectangle under his arm. "It's not that funny. It doesn't even have anything printed on it."
Jay squints. "That a body pillow?"
"It is!" Kai laughs.
He pulls out his phone and leans closer to Cole.
"Okay so I found this one-"
"Kai, I'm not sleeping on a picture of anime tits."
"This one has cake covering them-"
"No," Cole snickers.
"What about anime guy tits?"
"Please stop." A slight laugh creeps into Cole's voice.
Zane looks at Kai's phone. "What if we bought Cole a very pretty, decorative cover for his pillow? One with an image of mountains or-"
"Maybe," Cole answers.
Pixal opens a box of something. "Does anyone wish to build with me later?" she asks.
Jay smiles. "I'd like to!"
Everyone turns towards him.
He doesn't need to see, he can feel that there's an air of...worry?
"Let's take you to the doctor first," Zane says gently.
The doctor was a bust.
It was understandable, how was the doctor supposed to respond to a fangpyre bite victim? Jay's the only one of those down there.
So instead he sits in the library. Zane, Pixal, Cole, and Kai came with him.
Acidicus looks over him, inspecting his face, shining lights in Jay's eyes, checking his teeth, tugging at his ears, ruffling his hair.
The snake general takes a step (slither?) back.
"So, what's the issue?" Jay asks.
"It's a stress response."
"Yeah, I kinda figured," Jay mumbles. "And?"
"And what?"
"Am I done? Is this as far as it'll go? And if I am still changing, can I still be cured then? And why did some of these things in particular happen?"
Acidicus claps his hands together. "Serpentine young are often nearly blind. Our eyesight doesn't develop fully until we hit puberty."
"I'm literally an adult. Trust me, I know I look like I'm missing a growth spurt, but I'm just a short adult. My girlfriend? She was shorter than me when we met. Last time I saw her she had at least two inches over-"
Cole slaps a hand over Jay's mouth.
Jay licks his hand, causing Cole to jump back and remove his hand.
Acidicus seems mildly amused by that little rant. "Right. It might be due to you recently turning. Your body is adjusting, eyes included."
"But I could see before yesterday!"
"You also went through several more changes yesterday. Give it a few days, considering that everything else with you seems accelerated."
"Okay," Jay sighs. "And the teeth? Tail? Claws? Any of that?"
"Your teeth were probably your body's attempt to recreate the tusks that we venomari are known for while not causing much bodily harm. Most serpentine have claws, you probably lacked them initially due to generally still being more man than snake. The tail, while not every serpent has one like that, some of us do. It might've been out of the feeling that you need protection."
"Is that all this is? My body trying to protect itself? Because I'm sad? Because it's doing a shit job."
"Possibly. I can call Fangtom over for better explanations if you'd like."
"Please."
"Ah yes. This is a stress response." Fangtom's heads take turns with the sentence.
Jay rolls his eyes. "Thanks. Totally brand new information. Greeeaaat."
Kai slaps Jay on the back of the head.
"Listen, I just wanna know why. Yeah, whatever stress. But is this normal?"
"I have personally never seen this," one of Fangtom's heads starts. The other continues, "however I had heard a tale from my father decades ago of something similar. He saved someone who was awfully sad and went through several...phases. Always at their lowest."
Jay crosses his arms. "Come on, I'm not that pathetic."
Kai looks around the library, trying to avoid commenting on the fact that they all know why Jay's sad. Why they're all sad.
"What about a cure? If he's still subject to change, would the antivenom work on him?" Zane asks.
"I don't think so," Fangtom says softly. "Any bite victim, regardless as to when they transformed, is a lost cause after the initial transformation."
"Can we at least try?" Pixal asks. "Or would that be a waste of resources?"
"It wouldn't do anything," Fangtom answers.
Acidicus brings over a journal. "Alright any withheld information-"
"Yes yes, I'll fill that out in a little bit. We have guests."
"What if we catch me in the middle of a change?" Jay asks.
"That's actually a good question," Cole points out. "Can that at least prevent more from happening?"
The fangpyre considers it for a moment. "Well, how would we test this theory?"
"Make him feel like he's in danger?" Zane suggests, standing behind Jay, ready to attack with his cold metal hands.
"Make him sad?" Kai says flatly.
"Send him into an existential crisis?" Cole asks.
"Stress him out with a quiz," Pixal shrugs.
"So what, the plan is to force me to change?" Jay asks.
He feels cold hands clamp around his neck.
The hands quickly leave.
He whips his head around to look at the white blur that he's 90% sure is Zane. "Give me a warning next time!"
Zane stands there with his hands innocently folded. "That was the point."
"Well that didn't do shit," Jay hisses.
"Wu and Lloyd left just because of you," Kai whispers in his ear.
"Very funny."
"You may never see again," Pixal chimes.
Jay rolls his eyes.
He's scooped into a cold hug.
He fights against Zane's grip.
Cole pulls at Zane's arms. "Buddy, you can let go, I think you're actually hurting him, he can't be that cold for too long."
Zane lets go.
Jay slumps over in his seat, trying desperately to warm up, curling into his sweater. "Thanksss for the attempt." He pulls his tail into his lap. "I used to love Zane's hugs."
Maybe he can make himself cry over that.
He misses Zane's hugs.
He misses playing with ice.
He misses ice cream.
He misses popsicles.
He misses air conditioning feeling good. Now it just feels like an attack.
He misses not needing to stay so warm.
He misses not needing these sorts of accommodations at all.
When he could enjoy things normally.
Even if some things like heating pads and the sun feel good, it weirds him out sometimes.
It shouldn't be like that.
He shouldn't be like this.
Why can't he just go back to normal?
Why should he even have to be here?
How did his life go to such shit that he ended up needing snake medical advice?
After a moment of forcing himself to internally panic and freak out, he doubles over.
Did he even force himself to think this, or was it just a train of thought unraveling all at once because he let himself think about it?
Cole places a hand on Jay's back.
Jay picks his head up. "I have a headache and I feel freezer burnt, but I think I'm fine."
"Actually fine?" Pixal asks.
Jay rubs his eyes. "Yeah? I mean, I feel like shit but not in a traumatic 'I might pass out and get scalier or some shit' way. More in a general 'I ate ice cream without caring about the consequences it has on this body' way."
"Can we just bring some antivenom home for him?" Zane asks quietly.
"Only we can store it properly," Fangtom answers. "Much of its potency comes from our staffs and ancient magics that reside within them. What that magic is, no one really knows anymore. It can no longer be replicated."
Jay's eyes get big. "Magic?"
"Yes?"
"If we found out what it was, could we by chance- I-i don't know- alter it in some way to completely undo a transformation?"
"Hey, Wu and Lloyd already left out to find you a cure," Cole whispers.
"But what if that doesn't work? This could be a huge backup."
Zane glances at the rows and rows of books. "It might not hurt to look."
No luck.
Jay flops back on his bed.
It only took maybe fifty tries to convince everyone that he could walk to his bed on his own.
Granted, some of it was a joke.
But the joke wore out quickly.
They didn't get through the whole library, and the ninja aren't entirely familiar with serpentine languages, but what could be deciphered wasn't much help.
It's late though. He's just waiting on dinner.
While he's waiting, he may as well take care of the shedding issue. It came so early that he isn't even itchy outside of the busted line of scales on his tail.
With a sigh, he pulls the limb into his lap and starts feeling for the line of old, split scales.
With a tired, angry hiss, he starts picking and pulling at the scales.
Even the fresh ones.
It wasn't intentional.
He just got carried away. Then he felt his claws dig in a bit too far.
It didn't hurt much, it wasn't deep, but he could feel the small sting.
"Shit," he hisses.
Maybe he does need someone to watch over him. Someone to be his eyes.
...
...
...
Nah.
He can take care of himself just fine. He navigated himself to his room. He's been able to get himself to the bathroom. He made his way out of the living room this morning. He can't see clearly, but he can get around just fine.
It's just a little gnash on his tail, it (probably) doesn't even need a bandage, it's not the end of the world.
He sighs and keeps pulling at the old scales.
Pixal happily walks into the dining room with bowls of noodles, Zane in tow with one more bowl.
Truly, they were impossible to mess up.
After setting up the table, Pixal hesitates. Should she leave the room?
Zane reaches for her hand.
She takes a seat at the table. "I don't see why I should-"
"Because we like being around you," he answers softly.
"But I cannot eat, is it not pointless?"
"Is it pointless to spend time together?"
She thinks it over for a moment.
"How about we find a middle ground and eat dinner in the living room? With a movie?" Jay suggests, walking into the dining room.
Cole follows right behind him. "Nah, not tonight. This is a serious talking night."
"Serious talk about what?" Kai snickers. "What's the conversation, 'oh geez sorry Jay, please stop being a depressive fuck because you keep scaring us?'"
"Actually, yes," Zane answers.
Everyone sits down at the table.
"Unless we figure something out, we need to prevent Jay from getting stressed in any way," Zane states.
"Seriously?" Kai sneers. "How? Listen, as much as I'm all for taking care of my family, what are we supposed to do for him?"
"I don't know," Cole mumbles. "Just keep an eye on him? Comfort him when we notice something's wrong?"
Jay frowns, twirling the fork in the noodles. "I'm fine, I can handle myself."
"Can you?" Cole asks. "No offense but you haven't exactly been stable lately, and you can't see right now-"
"Stable? At least I can let my emotions out instead of playing loner," Jay hisses, gesturing towards Kai.
"Hey, I opened up to you yesterday," Kai deflects.
"Yeah, then you went back to pretending nothing hurts you. But we all know you're fucking hurt. Maybe I'm not the one we need to worry about."
"But Kai didn't become a snake, and Kai doesn't run the risk of getting physically hurt from crying," Zane says nonchalantly, less as if he's taking sides and more as if he's just pointing it out.
"Listen, I just don't wanna be monitored so closely," Jay mutters. "Now I feel less protected and more like you're all looking at me like some freak just waiting to snap."
"We aren't 'waiting for you to snap,' we're just worried, buddy," Cole says gently.
Jay pushes his half-eaten bowl of noodles across the table. "Whatever, I'm gonna take a bath. And I think I'll sleep in my room tonight, it's safe in there."
The blue ninja storms out of the room.
"Wouldn't he be safer sleeping in the living room with us?" Pixal chimes.
Zane puts a hand over hers. "Let him. He needs space."
Cole looks over at Kai. "Do you wanna talk about things that bother you?"
Kai shakes his head dismissively. He too pushes his bowl away. And he too gets up.
He's out the door just like that.
"More noodles for me, I guess," Cole sighs.
Even with Jay missing, three ninja and a samurai gathered in the living room.
It's a closeness they haven't felt in a long time.
It's stuff Wu probably would chastise them for, to be honest. Why did he give them nice rooms to sleep in when they're just gonna sleep on the living room floor?
But it's so comforting, falling asleep close together.
"May we build the tiny city tomorrow?" Pixal asks, bundled up, ready to fall asleep.
Cole smiles. "Sure thing."
"Why do you get to call the shots?" Kai asks playfully.
Cole raises an eyebrow. "That's not true. Zane and Pixal call them sometimes too."
Kai rolls his eyes, smiling, looking up at the ceiling.
They agreed to leave Jay alone.
That's okay.
They can still watch movies and crack jokes without him.
Jay sits on the beach's shore.
When he places his hand in the water, fingers lace with his.
His lips curl into a smile.
Kind of a sad smile.
"Wish you were here," he says softly.
The fingers grip tighter.
The water feels solid, but it's not ice.
Slowly, something rises in the water, and Jay finds himself helping this entity out of the water, his fingers still laced with hers.
It's not just an entity.
It's Nya.
She puts a hand to his face, looking him over.
Her hands feel solid.
Tears welling up in his eyes, he practically lunges to hug her.
She's solid.
She's here. She can come home and catch up with everyone and hug Kai and Kai can ruffle her hair and tell her to never do that again and she can help Pixal dust off the Samurai X gear and and-
She pulls away from the hug.
He looks at her. The blank look on her face. "You have to leave again, don't you?" he whispers.
Her blank expression turns to one of disappointment.
"You have to go, don't you?" he repeats.
She holds his face in her hands, looking over him curiously.
Her curiosity turns to disgust, her lips curling back and nose scrunching.
"What is it?" he asks.
Her disgust turns to fear.
Water rises.
He can feel the air leaving his lungs.
It doesn't make any sense.
She kissed him on their first date. He was almost a full-blown serpent and she happily kissed him then, it seemed like past the initial shock and concern, she was unbothered. She accepted him so easily. Even when he'd talk to her at the shore or in the shower she seemed to find him adorable. So why is it an issue now? Why why why-
Is he really that unrecognizable now?
Does she even know it's him?
"It'sss me," he gurgles with his last breath.
Then someone- or something- pulls him out of the water.
He can't tell what it is.
Someone is yelling for him to wake up.
The weird, warped version of Nya is next to him again.
She stands over him.
There's yelling for him to wake up again.
She launches an attack.
The water grips and shakes and suffocates.
The shaking is the most real.
On instinct, feeling the need to protect himself, he lunges and bites at the water, despite knowing deep down that a bite won't hurt the water.
The water feels solid when he bites into it.
"Motherfucker!" the water cries.
Jay's head is slammed into the soft sand. It's not the most painful experience, but it did throw him off guard.
The water holds him there, his cheek to the sand.
Cole stands by Jay's bed, holding the snake's head against the pillow, looking over a wound on his own arm.
It's a perfect round series of bloody indentions shaped like teeth.
"Wake up!" he shouts, gritting his teeth together, shaking Jay harder.
Slowly, Jay cracks one eye open.
He still can't see anything, but he gives a little hiss, followed by a look of confusion, followed by a small "Wha?"
Cole opens his mouth to explain but he feels woozy. He needs a moment. His brain still won't let him let go of Jay, if anything he's gripping harder.
Kai storms into the room. "What's going..." he trails off seeing Cole's wound.
"Go get Zane, I can deal with Jay," Kai demands.
Cole nods, taking a deep breath, feeling some sort of effect already start to set in. He lets go of Jay and exits the room without a second thought.
Jay rubs his eyes. Everything is still blurry. "What happened?" he asks groggily.
"You had a nightmare and took a chunk out of Cole," Kai answers. He sounds almost angry? Concerned? Scared? All of the above? Generally upset?
"Took...a chunk?"
"You bit him, asshole."
Oh. That's why he's upset.
Oh.
Oh shit.
Wait fuck no that's bad that shouldn't have happened shitshitshit
"Is he okay?!" Jay panics.
"I don't know! It literally just happened. He should be with Zane."
Jay looks at the red blur that is Kai.
He senses some sort of fear from Kai.
Kai looks at Jay, whose face is contorting into one of fear. Kai falters slightly. "Hey, it was an accident- was it?"
Jay closes his mouth tight. Running his tongue over his teeth, he can taste the blood.
Cole's blood.
He starts shaking.
"It was an accident, right?" Kai asks again, almost accusatory this time.
Jay starts retreating further back on his bed.
Eventually, his hand misses the mattress.
His whole body goes falling off the bed.
He hits the floor, the thud barely even registering as he immediately scrambles onto his feet.
Kai asking him if he's okay barely registers.
All he knows is he has to get out right now.
"Hey, wait, I'm not mad at you! For the most part." Kai's words barely pass through Jay's brain.
Kai's probably running after him right now.
Jay slams the bathroom door shut.
The locks click loudly.
It's nowhere near as loud as his heart pounding in his ears.
He turns on the faucet and splashes water in his face.
Looking in the mirror, he can barely even see anything more than a green and blue blur.
If he squints enough, he can vaguely make out the image of a monster.
Humans sure as the cursed realm won't want him after this. And the serpentine? Why would the serpentine take him into their peaceful community? After this? Oh yeah sure 'watch out for washed-up Jay there, he has night terrors and bites the people he cares about.'
He ultimately decides to curl up in the bathtub.
He probably shouldn't try leaving until his eyesight clears up.
He'll just stay here, it's fine.
It gives him time to think about where he'll go.
"I'm okay," Cole slurs.
"No, you aren't," Pixal chastizes as she helps Zane look for the first aid kit.
They had a few, one of them should've been in the kitchen.
"Yeah, I know," Cole sighs.
Zane found the kit under the sink. He didn't even say anything, he just rushed it over to Cole.
Cole looks scared.
"Whatever you're seeing, it's not real," Zane affirms. "So stay still."
"I know, I know."
Zane opens a tiny packet. It's a cloth soaked in peroxide.
He puts it against the wound.
Cole hisses and grunts in pain.
"Sorry, but I have to do this to clean it up."
"Yeah, I know, it just stung like a bitch. More than it should."
"Could it be a chemical reaction with the acid content of venomari venom?" Pixal suggests.
"Might be, but we still need him cleaned up," Zane says as he carefully places gauze over the bite. "Even if that is so, the worse it can do is burn. Venomari don't kill with poison, they kill by making their opponent intoxicated to the point that they can no longer identify reality."
"Any idea what a bite means? Does it take longer to wear off?" Cole asks anxiously. "When they so much as spit in Kai's eyes, don't forget that it took hours for him to get over it."
"I'd imagine it would take longer for your system to flush it out, yes," Zane answers. "Do you need assistance?"
"Nah, nah, I'm good, probably gonna sleep it off, was just wondering."
Zane finishes wrapping up the wound. "Alright."
Cole sleeps on the couch, gripping his body pillow tight. He's barely moved, the only hint that he's alive is his snoring.
Zane and Pixal watch over him in concern.
Footsteps echo through the room.
Kai looks annoyed.
"No luck?" Zane asks, watching as Pixal checks Cole's vitals.
"No luck, he's not even talking," Kai huffs.
"And you're sure he's in there?" Pixal asks. She gives Zane a thumbs up to let him know that Cole is fine.
"Yeah, I kept hearing the water running. He's definitely in there."
Pixal, Zane, and Kai find themselves on the floor, laying on their backs, staring at the ceiling.
Their whole mood of the room- no, the whole building- can pretty much boil down to "well, damn."
