Adain woke up early on Tuesday morning to shower, powder himself, and cautiously wiggle into a pair of leggings with an asymmetrical skirt. He then wore a sports bra and undershirt underneath a crop top. As much as he found the clothes aggravating and uncomfortable, he had a point to prove that day. And, if that meant wearing a more feminine outfit than usual, so be it. For the first five minutes of wearing the ensemble, he kept tugging at the leggings' crotch area beneath the skirt. He'd never had to worry about a female wedgie before. When comfortable enough to walk around, he gave it one more test by bending down low. 

"Aid, what in the seven hells are you doing?"

A bright red hue rose to Adain's extra-feminine face. "Yeah, about that…."

Talon's pale brown eyes widened, his mouth agape, as he noticed something unusual on his best friend's face. "Are you wearing tinted lip balm?"

"Listen," Adain explained as he began to pace. "You said it yourself. If I don't…pretend to put my mark on you, the entire female body, except maybe lesbians or asexuals will try to paw the shit out of you."

"Paw the…what?"

The young Warlock in female form paused to raise his arms in aggravation. "They'll try to seduce you, okay?" He clarified. "And we have enough to worry about than to have you all kinds of indisposed between classes when we should use that time to think of what to do and which family members we haven't gotten a hold of yet." 

Talon Williams was rendered speechless by one Adain Calistro for the umpteenth time that week. He took a deep breath and chose to walk away and get ready instead. "I'm going to use the bathroom now."

When the blond headed off, Adain gave himself one more glance in the full-length mirror of the hallway. He didn't care what Talon said. From what he could see, Adain's female form was a solid 8 or 9. After a kiss, the lip balm's mauve pigment would remain on his taller friend's lips. If that didn't inform the rest of the student body that they were together…wait a minute. A frown formed on Aid's face, and his heart skipped a beat when the reality of the situation finally hit him. 

Even though it was for show, he would still have to kiss his best friend on the lips and in front of a crowd. A small gasp escaped his lips as he felt the smallest butterflies fluttering low in his stomach. No, there was no way this counted as his first kiss. He wasn't even in his regular body! 

For the rest of that morning, the tables had turned. Talon was the one who did most of the talking, while Adain remained quiet and gave only the most minimal of responses. The blue-haired man didn't even realize when Talon opened his car door again. Their hands being threaded together barely even registered. 

"Ready? Just kissing on the cheek would do, what with your tinted lip balm." Talon teased in a whisper, startling Adain back into awareness. 

"No," Adain responded with another frown. "It has to look real, right?"

The corner of Talon's lips tugged upward. He wrapped his arm around the back of Adain's waist and dipped his head down until their lips were a few millimeters apart. To the students that walked past, the motion was unmistakable. When he heard whistles and gasps, Talon straightened himself back up. 

Adain was furious. His heart had raced wildly when Talon closed the distance between them. But who did the blond man think he was fooling? He sported not a speck of the mauve pigment on his lips! "Talon, you thick-headed twat," he hissed momentarily before taking hold of the blond by the collar of his shirt and tugging him back down. Aid tilted his head slightly as he firmly pressed his lips to the blond's lips. The cat-calling and lewd comments around them grew louder, just as Aid expected. 

Adain didn't expect to feel the tip of Talon's tongue along the seam. He parted his lips and felt the warmth of the blond's tongue sliding along his own with such fervor that his entire body reacted. A twitch and pulse between his legs had him close them tightly to his knees. Of all the thoughts that fled his head, one of the few that remained made him feel utterly duped. Girls didn't really get weak in the knees. They were just desperately trying not to leak! 

How Talon pulled away from such a rousing kiss was beyond the young Warlock. He was fucking dazed. Worse yet, he was unsure if his female form was that responsive or if that was his genuine reaction to his best friend's kiss. Damn, they needed to do that again. Maybe not just then…but definitely again. 

Talon lifted two fingers to his lips before glancing at them and then showing them to Adain with a raised eyebrow as if to ask if he was satisfied. Both fingers had a residue of the mauve lip balm. But, the blond's attitude ticked Adain off enough for him to pull himself together.

"Now that was a fucking kiss," Adain hissed as he stormed towards his first class. 

Talon looked on at his departure, unable to wipe the satisfied smirk off his face. 

The rest of their morning was relatively uneventful. Adain found it a little harder to concentrate than usual in his morning classes because whenever he let his guard down, the sensation of Talon's lips and tongue on his kept replaying in his head. Thank goodness Aid didn't have to see his face again until the afternoon. On Tuesdays, the two of them had different lunch schedules. So, he was surprised to cross paths with Talon on his way into the cafeteria. 

The blond grinned as they neared the doorway and dipped to kiss the corner of Adain's lips before ducking away. Adain's heart rate had a fucking field day. A squeak and some giggling sparked behind the Warlock at the gesture, but Aid scowled. Sure, it was his own idea to make their kisses as believable as possible. But a little bit of warning would have been nice! Forget the fact that he had given Talon no notice that morning. He totally accepted his own hypocrisy. 

"Your friend can be a real jerk sometimes, you know?" Adain complained to Lynne after the two of them sat beside each other. 

"I don't entirely disagree," she responded. If she was surprised by how casually Adain spoke to her in his female form, she didn't show it. "Though I must warn you that he has a long-term crush that hasn't fully dissolved."

"You know about his crush, too?" Aid questioned as he tried to ignore the strange spark of annoyance that stirred up at the thought of Talon's crush. "Is it really on a guy?" 

Lynne hesitated for a moment before nodding. "Do you already have deep feelings for him?"

"Romantic feelings? No way," Adain replied without even thinking about it and then winced when he realized that might not be one-hundred percent true anymore. "W-we're just putting on a show so I don't get harassed left and right." 

Lynne turned to give Adain her full attention, her eyes trying to memorize the features on 'Niada's' face. "How is your brother doing?"

Adain choked on a tater tot. "Bro…r-right," he said after a coughing fit. For the briefest moment, he had utterly forgotten his own cover story. "H-he'll be back before we know it." 

The brunette's eyes narrowed slightly, but she nodded. "I wish him a full recovery."

"Same," Adain replied. He was truthful at that time. While being in female form wasn't the complete nightmare he thought it would be, he still wanted his old life back. Did any of his family members figure anything out yet?

Then, as if his thoughts had summoned it, Adain received an e-mail notification on his phone. Who'd send an e-mail rather than a text? The stray thought passed through his mind before he remembered that none of his family members could call or text one another due to the weird interference. Was it one of his professors? The spork Adain had in his hand fell onto the table when he read the sender's name. Rosie! As in his cousin Rosie. How had she managed to send anything out? 

::

from: Rosie Calistro <Roca@Passing-Stones.com>

to: FirstAidKit@Accident-Prone.com

subject: You're Kinda Fucked

Aid, 

Since we can't call or text each other, I'd like to see if an e-mail works. Tested it with Avery, and it worked. So, I'm passing on the information to you. While we're still sorting out what's happening with phones and our family, I extensively researched the types of curses that can be layered onto a ward and found that they are tied to Lunar cycles. The longest time between the full moon and the new moon, or vice versa, is around 15 days and 14.5 hours, while the shortest version lasts about 13 days and 22.5 hours… which leaves roughly 14 days to become uncursed from start to finish. This means you have 10 days left or less before you're stuck switching back and forth forever. We're coming over to Grandpa's sometime tonight to patch up our theories and will see you then for an early cousin-meet. We had planned one for the weekend but at desperate times…

Your smartest cousin,

Rosie 

P.S. - We'll seriously need snacks and these three brands of coffee: Boostello, Foljers, and Maxdell. It's part of our theory, so be sure to have it ready when we arrive!

::

Ten days? Adain hadn't exactly been slacking in his attempts to break his curse. But, between exams, hunting down family, and researching…ten days felt like a mere ten hours! 

"Are you feeling alright?" Lynne asked in concern. 

Adain briefly contemplated outright skipping the rest of his classes for the day. But, since his cousins said they would gather at night, there was little of a point to rush home and fret for hours. He stood up and picked up his tray with a sigh.

"It's just family stuff," he finally replied. "I'll be fine." He hoped. 

The lunch he had just eaten felt unstable in his stomach from the stress. His family resorting to e-mails to communicate was better than visiting every unit in person. But, the fact that his cousin said they were still coming over in person to talk meant that there was more that she had found. Whether it was because it was too much to type into an e-mail or whether she was afraid that their e-mails were being scanned, Adain didn't know. 

His body ran automatically for the rest of his classes regarding note-taking and assignments. But, he paid no attention to anything around him. Some young men sitting behind him in one of his classes snickered about idle gossip. Adain was usually all over gossip like the nosy punk he was. This time, he tuned it all out. Since he was playing the role of his own sister, it would have been odd if he behaved the same way he usually did, regardless. 

When Talon met back up with Adain in the afternoon, the expression on his face fell when he saw 'Niada's' serious face. "What happened?" He asked immediately. 

"I'll tell you on the way to Grandpa's."