College Brings About Change pt6
#6 of College Brings About Change
A short chapter finishing up the rest of the week before Bruce wakes up completely orc-ified.
[Friday Morning: 1 day remaining]
Bruce rolled over, out of his bed, and on to the floor, jolting him awake. Heaving himself up, he walked over to the mirror to check himself out as usual.
His hair was now pitch black, and his teeth stuck out from his mouth, even while closed. His ears were slightly pointed, and his skin had finally taken on a semi-greenish tint. He was much heavier than yesterday, and taller as well, having to bend down a little to just to see in the mirror. His face had gotten hairier as well, as he had a pair of thick sideburns, and a bit of a goatee now.
In addition to his top half getting bigger, his bottom half had as well, his legs becoming thick and powerful to support his girth, and his feet were wider as well.
He loosened the drawstring on the shorts a bit, and let himself relax. All in all, he looked like he was about done being human, and about to start being orc.
Right on cue, Jeb came in, stopping in his tracks at the sight of Bruce. "Bruce, is that you?"
"Yup." He said in a deep, gravelly voice. "I don't look half bad, do I?"
"Naw, man, you look good." Jeb said, walking up to him. They were at eye level now, and Bruce was grateful for that. "Heh, I can finally stop looking up at you now." he flexed his arms. "And if I keep growing, I might even have to start looking down."
"Don't get too ahead of yourself, meathead." Jeb said with an amused grin. "You look about done growing, I think."
"You think or you hope?" Bruce said, sitting down and digging in immediately. "Man I am starving. Not a minute too soon."
"A bit of both." Jeb said, sitting down himself. "So, you ready for tomorrow?"
"Whats tomorrow?" He asked.
"Tomorrow you'll be fully transformed, and that means you need to start thinking about how you're gonna fix the problem with our lack of males that doesn't involve your buds getting put through all this as well."
Bruce nearly choked on his food. He'd gotten so caught up in the becoming an orc thing that he totally forgot about sparing the other college students the same fate.
"Don't tell me you forgot?" Jeb said, sounding disappointed.
"Uh, yeah. I guess I got a little too into this." Bruce admitted. "But don't worry, I think I have something figured out."
"Oh you do?" Jeb asked. "Please, do tell."
Bruce shrugged. "I figured I'll go around and find a few orcs who look like they'd fit in here, and invite them to come and live here."
Jeb frowned. "You don't think I've tried that?"
"Yeah, but you did it your way. I'm gonna do it mine."
Jeb leaned back in his chair and stretched. "I don't get you sometimes. But hey I'm not gonna stop you."
"Thanks man." Bruce said. "You've been really reasonable about all this.
Jeb sighed. "I've been thinking about it, and I am starting to believe that the original plan I had in mind was a bit messed up, ethically speaking." he motioned at Bruce. "I mean, you seem happy, and easily adjusted, but you said yourself you don't have any family, and so you could easily disappear if you had to. But not everyone is like that, and it seems wrong to drag people away from their own families just for my own needs."
"That's what I've been trying to say." Bruce told him. "I mean, you're lucky I was the one to go and walk in on Van Heim and not someone else."
Jeb shook his head. "I don't think it was luck, I think it was Fate. You were destined to do this. All of this. And you wouldn't be here if you weren't going to make a difference."
"Thanks for the words of encouragement." Bruce said sincerely. "But don't go treating me like I'm some sort of chosen hero. I'm just a kid who stumbled into a giant conspiracy theory."
"Call it what you like, but I doubt you would be here if all you were gonna do is turn your back on us, or the kids at the college."
[Friday Afternoon: less than 24 hours remaining]
Bruce spent the remainder of the morning after breakfast thinking about what Jeb had said. He wasn't here to turn his back on anyone, he was here to fix everything without sacrificing the lives of others.
Digging through the pile of books, he found the one he was looking for. A map of the world, with areas marked that showed different kingdoms. He traced out several possible routes with his finger about where he'd go, and finally settled on one.
At lunch he ate quickly so he could get back to studying. Only this time, Jeb didn't leave as usual. He stayed behind and watched as Bruce poured over each of the books.
"Hey man, just because I pointed out that you hadn't talked about this for a while doesn't mean you have to go at it nonstop to make up for it." he said. "I mean, I didn't expect you to even leave right away after you were let go. I figured you'd stay a while, get some work experiance, meet the other people in the village... you know, bonds and all that."
Bruce looked up. "Yeah, so had I. But I feel guilty ignoring the important matters at hand in favor of my own problems."
Jeb shook his head, and gathered up everything from lunch. "Alright. I'll leave you alone, but if you need something, just give a shout and the guards will come get me."
"Thanks." Bruce said, returning to his books.
[Friday Evening: less than 12 hours remaining]
By the time dinner rolled around, Bruce was sprawled out on the bed, having been unable to read any more for the day. Despite having just sat there and read and thought, and planned, he was fairly tired out. Not physically, but mentally.
"Yo, dinner time." Jeb said, coming in. "I made plenty of everything today, so feel free to go wild." He said.
"I was wondering when you'd get here." Bruce said, getting up. "I've been bored out of my mind waiting."
"Hm? I thought you were studying."
"I was, but I can't take any more. Food however, I'm always in the mood for." With a grin, he sat down and began to eat, piling his plate high with a little bit of everything.
"Well, then you'll be happy to know that I'm in need of an assistant in the kitchen, and I wouldn't mind having you around to help out." Jeb said. "Plus I figure this way you'll learn more than you could in those books."
"What about your kid? I thought he was working with you."
"He was, but we could always use more help. Its just the two of us working there. You're like family to me anyway, so I bet he wouldn't even mind."
"Family, huh? Thats quite a jump considering you haven't known me all but a week."
"True, but I know that you are also on your own and starting all over, and given what I already know about you, its probably more than anyone else would know if you were still back at the college."
"Yeah, I guess I see your point." he finished his plate. "But don't expect me to be changing diapers or anything."
"My kid has been out of diapers for about ten years now, Bruce. You don't have to worry about that."
"Hey I've only ever heard his voice. For all I know, he could be one of those freakishly intelligent babies that are always showing up in horror stories."
"He's bright, but I wouldn't call him 'freakishly intelligent', really."
"My bad, my bad. So what is his name, anyway?"
"I never told you?" Jeb said, surprised. "Weird. Anyway its Don, but most people call him Donny."
"Sounds like the name of a hitman in the mafia."
Jeb laughed. "I don't expect him to do anything like that, but who knows."
As night rolled around, Bruce took one last look at himself in the mirror, trying to pick out any human features he could find in the dim lighting, but without much success. Shrugging, he climbed into bed and went to sleep.