“The First Rule of Robo-Spinners” (78.8) (Marmalade)

I stared at myself in the mirror for maybe an extra hour after I got my dress on. The longer I stared, the less I liked what I saw. I had quickly slipped into some kind of dysphoric haze, which was made worse as I really was looking forward to getting some euphoria from wearing a prom dress.

My damn shoulders. I hate myself, I hate myself, I'm so tall. Why am I so tall? Kal's gonna see me and be like blegh, I know it. Everyone's gonna look at me funny. I look stupid. Do I look stupid, really? I probably look stupid. Hell, I hate this. Why'd I even want to go to the dance? At least my hair looks...kinda alright. Ugh. Ugh!

Looping thoughts like that over and over getting worse and worse. Making matters more difficult, Kalei was right outside, because like dopes we just got into our prom wear in our room, not making a big scene out of it. Kalei was out there in her tux already, and she was gonna see my way-too-tall way-too-broadly-shoulders not-girly-enough self and...I didn't know what she'd do, but I wasn't too optimistic.

I managed to tear myself away from the mirror and step back out into our room. Kalei looked fantastic in a tuxedo, unsurprisingly, making me feel even more like a dweeb in her presence.

"Yeah...I dunno about the dress..." I said. Kalei waited by the front where we had our games set up. She got up, eerily quiet, eyes wide. I wondered if I was dreaming this and she was about to like shriek or something. "Uh, Kalei?"

It felt like someone threw powdery snow at me. In a flash, Kalei had shifted into her full Downside form, this time leaving a gust of snow on everything. Not enough to wreck stuff, it was a mist by the time it touched anything, but that was new.

"Ah, hell," I said.

Kalei looked at her shifted self. Each time she went into the Downside form it was a little different appearance wise. Always very...monstrous. But sometimes she looked more werewolf-y, and sometimes it was some other kind of monster I couldn't put my finger on, something otherworldly. This time was very werewolf, with a dog-like face with an expression that made me want to give her headpats if I could reach. My worry about my height wasn't as bad standing under a giant wolf monster girlie whose head nearly touched the ceiling.

"Why'd you shift this time? Do I look that bad?" I asked.

Kalei shook her head so aggressively she looked like a dog trying to shake water off.

"Oh...you don't think I look bad?"

More head shakes, which were a definite boost to my self-esteem.

"Well, at least Zeta's at her place so we don't have to worry about her seeing you like this," I said, then shivered. "Or feeling the cold."

Kalei looked bashful now, grunting something.

"It's OK," I said, assuming what she meant there. I noticed her clothes had shifted. "Good thing the prom clothes are adaptive, I'd hate to think how much it'd cost if you exploded a tux just now."

I thought Kalei started barking at me, but she was laughing, the noise coming out like "ACK! ACK! ACK!" Her voice was so deep like this I could feel it vibrate through me.

"Though maybe I wouldn't mind the view," I said quietly. I don't think Kalei heard that one, which was probably good. We'd skinny dipped together so it wasn't completely out of left field. "We should probably get you back to normal, yeah? Unless I take you to the dance like this..."

I pictured how that would go, me slow dancing with Downside mode Kalei. Everyone staring either in shock, confusion, or jealousy.

"'My Hot Monster Date to the Prom...I'd watch that anime." I said. "Do you wanna scratch me again?" I held my arm out to her. No glow from me this time. Kalei didn't seem to have an urge to grab me this time, either. She held up a single, clawed finger. "OK, you got something?"

Kalei nodded. She clapped her hands together and took a big step to the side like she was about to duel me in some kind of niche sporting match. She took a deep breath, and...

In another flash of snow, Kalei was back to normal, her adaptive clothes adjusting back to her tuxedo. I kind of wished it was like a magical girl anime where I'd get a glimpse of her under it mid-transformation, but even when shifting the adaptive gear kept us well covered up.

"OK...I think I'm good," Kalei said. "That was out of nowhere."

"Did you feel it coming on at all beforehand?" I asked.

"I...dunno," Kalei said. "But I've been practicing. I dunno how I landed on the clap stomp deep breath, but it works."

"That's good at least," I said. "So do you wanna take a few more minutes? If you're not up to the dance, I won't be mad if it's a Downside thing."

"Hell no we're not skipping this, not with you all dolled up," Kalei said.

"Heh, you really don't think Iook bad? I was really not feeling it when I looked in the mirror," I admitted.

"No way, you look amazing," Kalei's smile practically sparkled, but maybe that was bits of snow from her shifts making it look that way. "Did you call me hot, by the way?"

"Well, I mean. Yeah? Look at you," I said.

Kalei's smile got a bit more bashful, but I could tell she liked the praise. "Two hotties headed to the dance."

"Yeah! Let's have fun, kay?" I said. "Don't worry about talking to the others later, or any Downside stuff, just...focus on...having fun." I almost said focus on me, but that felt so selfish and egotistical to think.

"Sounds like a plan," Kalei said as both of our phones buzzed at once. We checked to see a message in the top secret Downside group chat.

"It's Aira," I said. "She says...it's very urgent."