"Who said masochist?/ Nothing with a closed fist/ Just a little damage with the tongue/ Kinky little dark side/ Play a little hard to like/ Just try to have a little fun/ Stickin' it in stickin' it out Mother Fucker/ Are you shittin' in your own back yard/Why do I like it so hard?"

"Beautiful When You're Mad" by Out Of Your Mouth.

OoOoOo

Ok, no more suit.

There was a whirl of shifting colors around him until he was wearing the traditional blue Storm Hawks uniform- similar to Aerrow's but built to fit Lark's broader chest. He had gone all out when he made himself male. After all, if you were going to gender bend, wouldn't you want to be an attractive example of the other gender? It was pure escapism, not that Lark had any problems with how he looked physically while female. He was just narcissistic that way.

The only thing that kept the same was the straight black hair reaching just past his shoulders. He tried the original style only to find it looked gay on a boy and settled for parting it down the middle, letting it fall naturally. Of course a real boy wouldn't put this much effort into hair alone, but...

Poof.

They were all too used to his sudden appearances. Not even Stork flinched, and everyone else just continued eating breakfast and drinking coffee, mumbling "goomornin" to him without blinking their gummy eyes.

He cleared his throat, and said, "Hi."

Jumping at the unfamiliar male voice, Aerrow got to his feet and started to pull out his weapon before stammering. "Whoa- who- who are y-"

Shwing TACK t-t-t-ng. Lark only moved his eyes to look at the crossbow bolt quivering in the metal wall next to his head. Finn stood at the ready, alert and focused as Junko and Aerrow powered up their weapons and Stork shrieked and hid under the table.

Piper chose that moment to walk in, a towel over her shoulder and her hair wet from a shower. She walked past Lark without looking at her, mumbling, "Oh, get over it you guys. It's just Lark." and then sitting down and pouring herself a cup of coffee, strong and black, and waited for everything to resolve itself.

OoOoOo

Finn waved his armed over his head. "Dude! You're a dude!"

Lark beamed, a big shit-eating grin spread over his face as Junko served him some eggs and bacon. "You gonna eat this morning?" the wallop wanted to know, because Lark didn't always indulge in eating.

"Naturally," he said, twirling a fork in one hand. "I have to maintain a certain protein level to keep this body mass at this size and form. The other form is easy to keep with minimal energy input because its the way I'm supposed to look." Aerrow wouldn't stop staring at him. Stork had moved from hiding under the table to perching just on top of the sink faucet, precariously balanced with his yellow amphibian eyes wide as dinner plates.

"Um," Junko said, scraping the last of the eggs onto Lark's plate. "Right. Uh, that's cool."

"It means I have to keep myself fueled," Lark explained. "Like a skimmer can't run at full capacity without crystals, I can't keep my body looking all pretty and manly like this without fuel. Carbs. Protein. Cholesterol. Vitamins and stuff. Everything a body needs. You get me?"

Junko made a long noise of understanding and sat down for a third helping of his own breakfast.

Seeing that Piper looked as happy as a wet cat, Finn did what he was best at and made her angrier. "Looks like you're the only girl on the ship again," he cracked, already getting over his shock because it meant extra rib-poking for Piper.

Piper seriously contemplated cracking her coffee mug over his head.

Lark sighed, sitting back in his chair. "I don't know," he said. "I still feel like a girl on the inside."

Stork snorted from his vantage point. "Heh, eyeah, I can tell by the way you're sitting."

Lark looked down to see that he was sitting rather femininely, with one leg crossed over the other. "Uh, I'm a gay guy?" he said. Then an idea hit him. Lowering his eyelids and leaning forward, he formed a steeple on the surface of the table. "And may I comment on just how fabulous you look this morning, Finland?" He said, speaking with a pronounced lisp.

Finn turned bright red as everyone around the table laughed. "Uh oh, someone's got a secret admirer," Aerrow said, nudging Finn.

"Yeah, right," Finn muttered, looking down at his plate of eggs like his life depended on it. So flustered his brain stopped working, he forgot himself and added. "If she likes anyone on board, it sure as hell ain't me."

Piper felt a twinge of alarm but Lark didn't seem too bothered. Instead he poofed right onto Finn's lap, his arms around the boy's neck. "Oh Finn, don't be that way," he purred, kissing Finn's forhead. Finn screamed and flailed, knocking his chair and his plate over while Lark just popped away to float just above him, safe from the egg juices and bacon bits flying all over.

"I like guy Lark," Junko commented to Stork with a smile.

OoOoOo

Stork lifted the lid on one of the crates in the hanger, mumbling to himself as he and Piper searched for the maps of the area. They rarely came by this place, and Piper wanted to see if everything was up to date on all their charts. When they found the right one, he helped Piper haul it down the hallways towards the bridge, shuffling forward awkwardly under the uncomfortable weight. As they made their way down the ship, Finn ran past them headed towards the opposite direction, squealing, "Stay away from me-e-e!"

They both paused, and a few moments later Man-Clonis literally flew down the hallway after Finn. "Finny-y-y!" He called out. "Oh FI-INLA-AND! Come back here!" and disappeared as well.

Stork licked his dry lips, silence stuck in his throat as his yellow eyes glanced from the direction the two had gone and back to Piper again. Shrugging, Piper said, "He's having fun."

Stork grunted and they kept on moving the crate. "Ahuh. So. Is there a reason she-?"

"No."

"She just wanted to-?"

"Yeah," Piper said, tone clipped.

"You don't seem very-"

"I don't want to talk about it."

That was signal for Stork to stop talking too, but he had to know. He cared about Piper in his own way- not exactly as a sister, or even a friend. Younger than him by several years, he had come to think of himself as something of a guardian to the other Storm Hawks (and the Condor). Or at the very least the voice of reason, and a warning against the dangers of the world that they were obviously too young and inexperienced to know about, like Spiny Gorge Sloths. So he said, "Is she doing this so you can finally tell Aerrow about your relationship with her?"

Piper bristled. "She's not."

"Because, you know, I think it's about time to tell him. He's probably already guessed something."

They walked in silence.

"Lark can't change back into a girl yet," Piper finally muttered. "Such a drastic change is going to take more time to reverse."

"Uh. Oh. I see. And-"

"-When she's back to the way- when she wants to change back- if she changes back-"

His ears flickered upwards in alarm. "Oh come on, she's not seriously trying to be a dude for permanent, is she?"

"I don't know, Stork."

"Did she say she was?"

No. But Piper was feeling insecure anyway. "When and if she changes back, I'll tell Aerrow."

That was when they reached the bridge, and the conversation was over by default.

OoOoOo

Lark spun in his chair, looking up at the ceiling for inspiration. He needed Piper's help, but didn't want to even consider starting any drama, so the crystal on Piper's desk remained unrefined and in fact a mystery, since he couldn't for the life of him break it down to see what it was or what it did.

Aw, man...

He pouted in his seat, crossing his arms and using his long legs to continue propelling himself in circles. However, his self control was slight, if not nonexistent, so he soon found himself sending, Piper?

And a surprisingly easy response. Yes, Lark?

I need your help with- and he sent a summary of everything, all the tests and the frustration of a Rubik's Cube left unsolved, in a single thought. This.

Be right there.

Huh.

Lark swiveled until Piper arrived, thinking hard. When she showed up she went straight to the desk, holding the crystal up to the light to see it better. "Is this what's giving you a hard time?" she wanted to know.

Sort of wary, Lark mumbled, "Uh-huh."

Piper laughed before setting the crystal back down, eyes closed. "Well I have to say I'm surprised you couldn't figure it out. You're reading too deep into it, Lark- the solution's really simple."

Lark stopped spinning. "It is?"

"Mm-hmm." Piper pulled up another stool and sat down to explain it to Lark, step by step. When she was finished they sat in silence, not exactly uncomfortable, but definitely tense.

Piper, Lark finally sent and was surprised to see Piper taking his hand, gently lacing their fingers together. Are you still mad at me?

Piper shook her head no, and scooted closer. "I wasn't mad," she said.

Well you certainly weren't happy.

I was scared. I overreacted.

"Why would you be scared?"

...Can't you tell?

"No." He frowned. "You've completely blocked me out of your mind all day long."

I have?

Familiar, yet still a little strange, he felt her hand in his hair. "Yeah. It's a little bit more open now, but-"And a thumb over his cheek. "But-" And her weight on his lap, causing him to start. "Piper?"

Deadly serious, she took his face in her hands and tilted his head up so he could look her in the eyes. Half to make sure she wouldn't fall off and half because it was natural to him, he put his hands on her waist, steadying her. "Well, go on in," she said. "It's open now. Feel free to look around."

So he did. Sure enough, he could feel her again. And what he saw inside her mind surprised him and disturbed him. There was an incredibly strong physical attraction for his male form, and a deeply rooted fear that this was somehow a form of infidelity towards Lark as a person. Quivering hesitation and self-doubt, she even wondered if Lark had done this as a way to pressure her into not being so scared to show affection to female Lark in public.

He hadn't meant for her to feel this way at all. "It was just a joke," he said, somehow ashamed and feeling insensitive- of course him swapping genders was going to be jarring to her, why hadn't he seen that sooner? She felt his thoughts and was quick to suppress it and reassure him that she knew he hadn't meant to shock her this way, and that he wasn't at fault.

But it had made her see something.

"I love you," she said. "And I'm going to tell the others about us as soon as you're back to normal." And after a moment of hesitation, "You know... if you want to change back."

Lark laughed. "Why wouldn't I want to change back? Except for being able to freak out Finn, there isn't much fun in being a guy. Oh," he added in a lower tone, leaning in closer. "And I'm actually flattered you find me attractive."

She flinched back a little, averting her eyes. Like an impenetrable steel veil, the connection between them was slammed shut with more force than a bull sky shark at a headbutting contest.

He winced. "Sorry. Too much?"

Letting loose a shivering breath, she closed her eyes. "Y-yeah, too much. Christ it's like-" she struggled for the words. There weren't any. Even transmitting the message mentally came short. It was something neither of them had felt before. In the end, Piper resorted to blowing a loud raspberry.

"That's informative."

"Thanks, I try."

OoOoOo

A/N: EPIC WRITER'S BLOCK IS EPIC. This will now be a four-chapter story while I get my shit together.