13.2. Her New Wings - Part 2

"Thanks, Aefener," Liana says when I help her eat. "I don't feel comfortable being fed by Dr Stein or even by Hana. It just feels weird. You're my close friend so I don't mind."

"No problem," I smile at her, happy that she thinks of me that way, and deliver another spoonful into her mouth. "It's the least I can do for giving me refuge."

"I kind of envy you having Erik," she admits between munches and looks at my boyfriend with a bit of envy. "You're such a nice couple."

"T-thanks," I blush.

My phone beeps but since I have my hands full, Ingri takes if for me. I thought it's just another social media thing but Ingri looks horrified and shows my phone to Erik.

"Delete it," Erik wrinkles his nose and feels pissed.

"Huh? What is it?"

"You don't have to see that," Erik shakes his head.

"I think I do," I use telekinesis to get my phone back. I'm becoming really good at it.

I read a few lines and freeze. My second lover did write back after all. But it's anything but pleasant. How could his mind even attract me? But... I guess nobody can truly know how someone will react when millions of people inexplicably start turning into totally different species. Not even a telepath.

"What a piece of shit," Erik rages. "Delete it, Ryuu, and block his number."

I do but Liana manages to take a glimpse of the text.

"Wait, you had more boyfriends at the same time?" she realises.

"He wasn't my boyfriend, just an... acquaintance with benefits," I try to make it sound like it's not a big deal. "It was before me and Erik officially became a couple," I add quickly.

"Whatever," she continues eating. I'm glad she's not judging me. "Still, it's horrible that someone you know would think of you that way."

"It's a natural reaction," I shrug. "I was extremely lucky with Erik."

"Yes, you were," Erik smirks and I grin back.

I deliver another spoonful and notice that Liana's left wing is itching. I scratch the spot to relieve her and want to continue feeding her but Liana frowns.

"Ehm... how did you know?" she's totally confused.

"What?" I'm confused as well. Then, to my horror, I realise that I felt her discomfort with my telepathy and acted upon that on reflex. It's sometimes impossible for me to differentiate what is normal to perceive and what is not.

"How did you know where to scratch me?" she narrows her eyes.

"Y-your left wing was twitching," I quickly come up with a lie.

Ingri and Fefnir look up from their plates. Fefnir is totally oblivious but Ingri looks at me questionably. Fortunately, Erik comes to my rescue.

"I found out this is the Celestial sweet spot when it comes to scratching," he touches the exact same place on my left wing.

I shiver because it's damn pleasant and thanks to that my cover is solid and they buy it.

"The true sweet spot is elsewhere, though?" Fefnir can't help it when there's a space for jokes.

"What do you mean?" Liana blinks.

"Oh, I forgot you were sleeping when we talked about it," he realises and points with his scaly hand between my wings. "The Celestial weak spot seems to be erogenous in real life."

I watch Liana turning red. Huh? I'd never think someone like her would feel embarrassed about erotic things. But she does which is surprising. Could she have less experience than me even though she's older? Well, if she's afraid that people are only after her money, she might be actively avoiding dating.

She's more normal than you in this area, Ryuu, Erik is laughing in his head. You do realise that having several sexual relationships at the same time isn't exactly normal for a university student?

I... I guess, I reluctantly admit. I've never thought of it that way. I can't resist when someone's mind attracts me.

Dummy, normal people don't work like that. And Liana especially needs to be wary of other people since she's the Laura Richter.

"My Queen and King are calling!" Ingri exclaims excitedly and saves the embarrassing moment.

"Oh, is their transformation over as well?" Liana guesses, relieved the topic has changed.

It turns out that's exactly the case. Twyla's and Werden's faces appears on the screen, their skin now completely green and eyes as well. But that's not necessarily the only Earthborn colour, they will probably be able to make themselves however colourful they wish. After they manage to perfectly control their body functions, of course.

"Hello Li, I can see your wings are out," Werden smiles. "How do you feel?"

"Weak but otherwise fine," Liana says. "What about you two? How's the Earthborn transformation?"

"Exhausting but unlike you not dangerous," Twyla answers. "Growing an entirely new organ is no joke but there's no bleeding, no skin tearing apart."

"How do you know your wallascula finished growing?" Ingri asks curiously and pats her ribs.

"Because we can connect to plants and even animals now," Twyla answers, looking proud.

She shows her palms to the camera and tiny roots appear. But they aren't really roots, they just resemble them. For the Earthborn, their rooty tentacles are a sensory organ through which they can absorb genetic information from various sources.

"W-wow," Ingri is astonished and excited about her prospects. "Did you test it?"

"Sure," Werden nods. "We tried connecting to our horses and various plants. It's hard to describe really and we can't control it yet. Still, the point is that it's highly probable we'll become genetical engineers even here."

"Coooool," Ingri prolongs. "And you have horses?"

"We own an organic farm," Twyla explains.

"You were Earthborn even before your transformation," Fefnir chuckles.

"Pretty much," they're smiling. "We get it that people panic and everything but we've never felt better. How is it with you?"

"The same," I confirm. "It was scary at first but now... I just love my wings."

"I don't think our people will mind that they've transformed into their avatars," Werden says. "Sure, it's scary and confusing and everything changes for us but..."

"It's a dream come true," Fefnir finishes the sentence.

"The transformation might have changed our mentality as well and brains in general," Werden suggests. "I mean... not might have... definitely has. We just feel different, our perception feels different."

I look at Liana and think of how she dealt with the leaker. It was beyond acting tough as a CEO, it was true Celestial wrath. Liana herself probably didn't realise that but what I felt from her wasn't a human emotion.

"So the problem won't be Draconians becoming depressed about their transformation," Liana summarizes. "How humans react to us, whether they accept us or not, will be the problem."

"I'm afraid so," Twyla nervously nods.

I gulp. Humankind has finally overcome racism based on one's skin colour but now we're in for a new kind of racism?!

"We have to act," Liana says. "We have to establish some kind of network to support each other. We should also unite for dealing with governments all over the world and ensure our rights and law protection."

"So it comes down to choosing our representatives," Twyla points out. "But how? Do you think it should be us, the original race rulers? We have no expertise for this, Li, we're just farmers."

"And Aefener a student," Liana shrugs. "We have to do what we can. Sure, we could hold some sort of online election but it'd inevitably come to who the players know so race rulers would most probably win anyway. What I'm proposing is using your publicity to reach our people and unite us."

"We'll gladly help however we can," Werden nods. "Just don't expect us to know about politics."

"That will be my job, don't worry," Liana waves her hand but suddenly whines because she accidentally moved her wings.

"Li, you have to rest for a few days," I gently push her back on her side and cover her with a blanket while leaving out the wings.

"We should but it doesn't seem we can," Twyla sighs. "Are you watching the news?"

"We are, nothing good for us," Fefnir says darkly. "You're right, we have to start acting quickly. Liana's IT department set up a cool command centre for us so we can take over while she rests."

"I... I can at least...," Liana is struggling with me but she has no strength in her limbs.

"Li, I mean it," I try to be strict.

"So... I should let my Emperor do the job?" she finally gives in and yawns.

"I'll do my best," I promise her and wait until she falls asleep which is almost immediately considering her condition.

We move to the study and let Hana and Dr Stein watch over her. Then we call the Earthborn rulers once again and connect also Deminas, the Dragonkin Patriarch. It turns out he was about to call us himself because he also has news to share.

"My tail is out," he blurts.

His head is almost all scaly, eyes yellow and he has no hair anymore which makes Fefnir sigh even though it seems he came to terms with it. Deminas's wife is sitting next to him and is rolling her eyes when he shows his butt to the camera with obvious pride. It's there, a little scaly tail.

"Still nothing from Emi," I'm beginning to worry sick.

"The Clawfang Alpha has always been wild and unpredictable," Twyla shrugs but it's evident she's worried as well.

"I know but this is real life. What if her family forced her to go to hospital?" I say. "Being a high-level, they'd be probably doing all sorts of experiments on her."

"There's a chance the government is ignoring our human rights," Werden looks gloomy. "Especially if they concluded that we're not technically humans anymore."

"Damn, do you even realise how much work there is ahead of us?" Deminas sighs. "Just as I was about to finally retire. Though... I think the committee will get rid of me sooner or later."

"They can't fire us from our job just because...," Twyla protests but Deminas doesn't let her finish.

"Yes, they can," his yellow eyes sparkle. "It doesn't look good to have a reptile as a school principal. If parents complain and they surely will, I'll lose my job."

"Oh, what about my studies?" I realise only now.

"Well... you can't go back to university any time soon," Erik says. "Even if people accept Draconians somehow, you're still a world celebrity, Ryuu."

"That's why I never wanted to show my true face," I sigh.

"We're also reluctant to accept it but we have responsibility to our people," Werden says. "I know it sounds ridiculous to think we're still race rulers even in real life, but... I'm afraid we kind of are. It's not only about our ingame fame, Aefener. We assume that if our transformation is so fast, our abilities might also be above average."

"And becoming a race ruler was all about being the top player," Deminas nods.

"You think our original levels will mean anything here?" I doubt.

"It might be the case, yes," he says. "But first things first. I think we really need to..."

"Sorry to interrupt you, my liege," Fefnir suddenly speaks up and his emotions flutter which isn't a good sign. I turn my head to him and find out he's been checking his tablet during our conversation.

"Did something happen?" I ask and expect the worst.

"We half-expected it but hoped for the better. The better didn't came true, though," Fefnir signs. "Your telekinesis is out, Aefener."