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Of Weres & Transformation

Chapter Three

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Written by Arian Mabe (Amethyst Mare)

Commissioned by Roland Latore Speed

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With the first week of school over, Devi was glad to enjoy her weekend. She had met rather a few people there so far, though things had not all gone quite as she'd wanted them to. She had an itching to change into her were python form but, in the shared dorms, she just hadn't gotten the chance, not quite yet, to let that side of her out.

As much as she wanted to, she still had to be cautious. But the were python could still work off a little bit of her energy by heading to the campus recreation centre, which also housed a gym.

It was a relief to move, consciously so. She had to think about how she was moving, how her arms were swinging, feet pumping, all on the elliptical machine. It was one that she had to think about for the motion did not come as naturally to Devi as she might have liked, though that was more than okay. She had time enough there to relax into the motion, even if her body itched and ached to be winding and slithering back and forth in the truth of her were python form and body.

“Oof…"

She grunted faintly as she exerted herself, working harder still, sweat beading on her brow. There was a good selection of cardio equipment at the campus gym and, truthfully, Devi had never really seen all that much point in doing weightlifting for it was something that came naturally to pythons. Their strength was in their grip and limited to hauling their bodies sinuously up trees, winding and twisting through the branches. They didn't need to grow their strength in any way.

Flexibility and suppleness work, reminding her of how she could drape her body over a branch in soft loops, was up her street too and she smiled to see that there was a good amount of matted floor space in which she could work on that side. Whether it was stretching or yoga or dynamic movement, there would be good use made of that part of the gym too.

The weightlifting section was quiet that day, set up with a few racks, a Smith machine, other bodybuilding machines and a good selection of dumbbells. There didn't seem to be as much space for barbells over there but, really, that wasn't of any concern to the were python. She'd heard that there was a dedicated, old-school type lifting gym attached to the sports centre, which was probably why the people attending that gym were nice and spaced out.

It was good to have room to move.

Finishing up on the elliptical, she smoothly wiped the sweat from her brow and investigated further, her eyes caught by a sign up by the door to the locker rooms.

“Huh…" She tilted her head, the small symbol confusing her for a moment. “Oh!"

It was a steam room. The only reason that she had not seen it before was because she was used to ones that were shared with men and women and everyone, not putting them in separate facilities. Even though those did exist, of course, in her country, she did not mind sharing the space. Especially there, it was expected that users would be clothed in some way, whether they were wearing swimsuits from using the adjacent pool facilities or using cotton shorts and other clothing, some even with towels over the top too. They were regularly monitored too, under normal circumstances, but the staff were busy checking on other parts of the gym and facility as it grew closer to closing time.

In fact, as she settled down on the bench, warm, moist heat sinking into her, she exhaled faintly, wondering if anyone else would join her in there at all. Most of the staff had indeed left for the night and students were keen to meet up and hang out for the weekend parties, for serious studying had most certainly not gotten going with only the first week of getting used to their classes at play.

So, she could let the steam sink into her, hissing faintly from the generator. It was not as traditional as the ones that she had enjoyed before but it was more than enough for her as she relaxed with a long, slow sigh.

“Mmmm…"

She kept an eye on the door, for she had brought her towel along with her for a reason, even though it was a little wicked to do what she was doing in there. She'd wanted to make sure that, first of all, she wasn't making anyone uncomfortable if she shed her clothes like snakeskin, sitting in only the towel. As long as Devi was covered up, there shouldn't be any problems: but people could be funny like that.

She tucked her clothes to the side, sitting in her towel but letting it pool around her as the steam condensed wonderfully on her skin. There was nothing quite like that, how the water droplets condensed and careened new paths down her back and her front, between her breasts. There was nothing sexual about it, revelling in the lightly tingling sensation as it rolled down her back, between her muscles, her shoulder blades pushed back.

Devi could not help herself from sighing again, her skin bare, even though it was a little tantalising to be exposed like that. Sure, she was keeping a close eye on the steamed-up door, though there had been no sign of anyone else at all out there before she had slipped into the steam room, so she didn't think that she had anything to worry about at all. Not when it came to allowing the beads of moisture, sweat and vapour, pooling faintly in the tiny crease of her thigh as she sat there, relaxed and leaning back.

It was just like being home with the weight of the damp air around her. A faint smile brushed her lips.

She could feel how her body wanted to pool and melt into the warm bench. It could have been too warm for human skin and she wouldn't even have known, not as the urge to transform into her were python form pulled at her, itching and aching at the back of her mind. Such a pressing, insistent urge was difficult to ignore, even though she could almost feel the tip of her tail curling back and forth even then.

Should I do it?

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Devi might well have done it…if not for the clicking.

It caught her attention, picking her head up, brow furrowing. That was odd… It didn't sound like machinery or any kind of cleaning equipment that could be used in the gym or locker rooms. It didn't even sound as if it was coming from the active gym floor, as if a machine was caught or stuck, perhaps. It was strange, very strange, though she didn't know what to make of it, nipping curiously at the inside of her lower lip.

Hm…

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The thought of transforming into her were python form slipped from her mind as she investigated, sparing only a moment to wipe herself over with a towel. She had changed into cotton shorts and a crop shirt for the steam room, which was modest and comfortable without actually putting on swimwear. It would have felt a bit odd for her to do that specifically for the steam room after working out, though she would have done so if she had been slipping into the steam room after the pool instead. Her clothes were dropped on a bench in the locker room as she passed through, only needing the towel in the quiet seclusion of the gym.

Still, she did not spare enough time to head to the shower first, thinking that that could easily be done in a moment, since she would need one. They had private showers there and she followed the odd clicks, interspersed with squeaking whistles that hit a higher pitch than her ears were comfortable with. That was partly due to how the noise bounced and echoed off the tiled ways, everything in the locker room area and wet area designed so that it would be as easy to clean and to dry as possible. Devi understood that.

Another whistle popped off and she headed down past the showers, following the sounds. It seemed like it was coming from the pool? That was even stranger to her, for she couldn't think of anything at all that would be in a pool and making noises like that.

The lights had been switched off in the hallway that ran down to the pool and she made her way carefully through. It was dark on the other side also, though Devi found that strange, for surely they would be on a sensor. However, there were enough lights within the pool itself, presumably to light up the water for emergency purposes, for her to see what was going on inside.

And yet…that didn't explain anything either. Not as a bottlenose dolphin with smooth, unmarked skin devoid of any spots or any other dolphin-like markings, swam laps around the pool. That was just where the clicking and whistling had come from, though the aquatic mammal was under the surface at that time, moving rapidly around with strong, fluid pumps of their tail.

They moved beautifully through the water, as if they were a part of it, flying through what Devi could only dream of being able to embrace so fluidly. And yet…what was a dolphin, of all things, doing in the pool?

Something tugged at the back of her mind and her lips quirked in a smile.

It can't be…

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But she had to see, she had to know. Creeping closer, trying to get a better look, her leg connected with something with a bang and a scrape.

“Ow!"

Devi grunted, grabbing her leg, trying to pull back too late from the deck chair that she had very nearly tripped all the way over. Yet there was no saving the moment, the dolphin alerted to her presence as they popped up above the surface, spy hopping to check her out.

The bottlenose dolphin whistled and Devi drew back hesitantly, though she was sure, kind of. It wouldn't have made sense otherwise… Yet all was revealed as the dolphin dove under the surface, leaving nothing more than a ripple in their wake.

She leant over the edge of the pool, trying to follow the dolphin's path through the water, though she only caught a glimpse of a smooth, plumping tail fluke from time to time when they crossed the path of the lights beneath the surface. She might have been better off turning away and drawing back from the scene before her, though Devi was fascinated. Why were they in there? She had seen many strange things during her life, to be fair to her, but a dolphin in the pool was not something she had come across so far.

And that was okay too. Even if Devi had an inkling in the back of her mind that something was afoot, she didn't have to press so hard for information when, literally, it was going to swim up to her anyway.

After a minute, even though she had tracked the dolphin to the other end of the pool before losing them in the blurry ripple of the water, a young woman, about the same age as her, emerged from the water. Devi's eyes widened, though she did not yet reveal what she was so sure that she knew.

Of course, the woman was naked, water dripping from her form, streaming down her skin, though Devi was quick to politely avert her eyes. Even if it was natural, it was no reason at all to leer. The woman grabbed a towel from a chair beside the pool and swiftly wrapped it around herself, her hands moving in sharp, deft motions and tucking the end of the towel back into it and under her arm, just for a little more security.

Devi drew back a step, not sure of what to say. It was not like her to be so tongue-tied, though she could not see the detail of the other woman's face when the lights were off. She might have been able to sense more, however, by flickering out her tongue to taste the air, if she had been in her were python form.

But she couldn't shift right then and there… Unless…

“What are you doing here after hours?" The stranger asked, a sharp edge to her tone, though it still remained to be seen just how things would play out between them. “There's not supposed to be anyone else here."

Devi raised an eyebrow.

“I could ask you the same thing," she said, by way of reply. “I didn't even know the place was supposed to be closed, it's not like anyone came to get me out of the steam room. Is that even meant to be still running?"

The stranger shrugged, though seemed a little more at ease, even if Devi had not answered her question.

“Well…someone could have forgotten, or I may not have kept track of the time," she said, evasive as if she really was a dolphin slipping away through the water in that moment. “It was so quiet that perhaps I thought it was later than it was… But you've already seen everything anyway."

She took a deep breath, meeting Devi's eyes with a level challenge, though it was hard for her to be too serious, apparently, when there was a hint of a smile dancing on her lips. Just like the smile of a dolphin's, as if it was not all that easy for her to wipe something like that from her lips.

“I'm Naia… And, as you've probably seen already, I'm sure you've heard of others… I'm a were dolphin."

Devi's heart lurched and, for a moment, she couldn't draw a full breath of air into her lungs. Another were! She'd known that there were others like her all around the world, yes, of course, but she'd never expected to meet another one so soon! Some were open about what they were but one could never be sure, not completely, what the reception to them being a were would be.

Fortunately for Naia, she had found an ally.

“I'm Devi and…I'm not going to tell anyone about you, don't worry," she said, seeking to reassure Naia as soon as possible. “I didn't expect… I mean…"

She didn't know how to explain to Naia, though Naia took it for her being surprised.

“I know, it's different," Naia said with a firm smile. “But the school's swim team let me use the pool during closing hours, I spoke to the coach about it. I didn't expect anyone else to be around and I get itchy if I don't get into my true form often enough. I'm sorry if I startled you!"

Devi grinned and shook her head. Oh, how much Naia had to see…

“No problem, I'm sorry for coming upon you like that, I think I must be the one that frightened you!" She said warmly. “But…I think you should come with me. Do you want to go to the steam room and chat for a bit?"

“It's not the pool, but it's still water to me!"

They, a strange pair, padded, doing the hallway to the pool, after Naia had slipped on her flip flops too, to protect her feet from the floor of the hall and swimming area. She didn't seem all that comfortable with them, however, making a face when the wet slap of them hitting the floor caught her attention.

Naia, of course, could not have anticipated just what Devi had in store for her, even if she had to have known that there were other weres in the world too. She was from another country to Devi, both of them in a foreign land to them and in strange waters, quite honestly, but they had so much more in common than they could have anticipated.

Slipping into the steam room, Devi perched on the bench, though Naia expected them only to talk. She had a lot to see, however, and Devi was more than confident in revealing her true self to Naia now that she had found that she was a were dolphin.

Devi took a breath, not saying anything as she thought of her were python form, letting the moist heat close in around her, water droplets beading on her skin. She had been mostly dry before and it was easy to shed one skin for another as she let everything move over her, breathing slowly and evenly, a faint smile on her lips even as they stretched, her jaws getting longer and stronger, teeth aching as they shifted.

It was not like when she really got to sink into her were python form and enjoy the patience of the change. She wriggled, letting her body slump back into the bench, the heat sticky on her skin, but that was merely the tickle of snakeskin forming – not scales but something entirely of its own. A change into her were form did not come with shifting one body part at a time but all over, everything at once, a moderate, gradual, steady change that had her shifting within the towel.

It was not needed, pooling around her as her breasts shrank, her body seeking to urgently take on the form of a were python, her tongue narrower in her mouth too. Her eyes shifted slightly, still forward-facing but the eyes of a predator, her vision dimming slightly as other senses took dominance.

“Wow…"

Vaguely, she was aware of Naia there with her, though focused on her change. That was all that mattered to Devi as her legs melded softly together, everything about her body becoming longer and more supple, the flesh of her legs fusing from the crease of her inner thighs all the way down to her ankles and then her toes, bit by bit. Her buttocks softened, easing into muscle, for Devi would not need them any longer.

The smooth, pulsating form of her were python self closed in on her and she relished in the rippling, pulsing sensation, muscle moving under the skin, her spin cracking lightly. Her arms had to shrink too, easing in against her body, arms folding in against her sides while the substance of them was used for her serpentine form. It was always strange to give up her arms like that, lying and stretching out along the length of the steam room bench for a little more space, yet it was more like going home again rather than something that had to come with any sense of worry for her.

Condensation trickled down her long, gradually more serpentine back, the patterning of her snakeskin slowly becoming more and more evident. It was hard to see with the steam wafting around her, but she relaxed into it with a gentle exhale, her face finally flattening nearly into that snake-like shape, her nostrils narrow slits, though more than enough for her to breathe through. She blinked, teeth slipping back into her jaw where they had slipped down to nothing more than nubs, though the ache of them fading was gratefully allowed.

Her fangs remained, just the ones that she would need to grip prey, if she was ever hunting in her were python form. That helped, of course, even if she would constrict her prey, being a were python. Devi had not hunted for a while, not when it was easy to feed herself as a human, though the nature of that was something that she would have to explore more deeply for herself at another time.

She was only there to show off her body, her legs fused completely and her arms gone, only a long, sleek form remaining. Her flesh bubbled faintly as it settled into a more serpentine form, her only bone that of her long spine, which allowed her the flexibility that she needed as a were python.

It was better to be in that body, she thought to herself, drifting and floating, content to settle where she was as she pooled and coiled herself onto the bench. The last changes eased through her, slimming her down some, her dark markings stark on her hide, her tongue teasing back and forth, eyes dark with shiny intent.

Naia sucked in a breath.

“That…explains a lot."

Lifting her head, Devi eyed her up, snaking her head back and forth in a python-like gesture of amusement, her dark tongue flickering in and out of her mouth, moving lightly over her lips. It was the easiest way to show Naia that she was not the only were there, though Devi had, admittedly, always had something of a flair for dramatic effect.

“Thank you for trusting me, Devi," Naia said softly. “I'll keep your secret too."

And thus, a friendship, between weres, was begun.