╳ Monster;;

“Is there really a difference?” Jay asked with a chuckle. “I think that it’s only fair that we do, it will be great.” He laughed. “Great, so let’s get started. Unless you have somewhere that you need to be?”

“There is--- goofs make mistakes, and I definitely did not.” he chuckled. Flashes of Aria flickered in his mind, his own picture slideshow going on in his head. “Nah, I’m a lonesome loser. Let’s do this.”

Aria’s eyes closed and she shook her head. Regain control she told herself, Aria took in a deep breath and opened her eyes. “I know” She said and tried to smile but she couldn’t. “You have nothing to worry about, Ollie. I promise.” That was a promise that wasn’t going to keep and deep down she knew it.

Oliver didn’t know what was going on, but something was definitely off with her. But, trying to keep her anger to a minimum, he let her have a small, half-hearted smile. “Good--- I’m sorry, Ari. I guess I just over-worry about you... I’ll try and give you more space, alright?”

“… I really hope these dares get less…ew.”

“I honestly doubt that--- this is just the first one, they tend to get worse after the first one, don’t they?”

Part of her was angry at him and another part, a smaller part, was glad that he cared. She was angry because to her this was her decision and she had it all under control, she didn’t but she liked to think that she did. Her eyes narrowed and she shook her head. “What makes you think that I don’t?” She asked, her voice came out a bit harsher than she had intended it to, but every time that someone brought this up it annoyed her. They needed to understand that this was what she wanted. Her eyes closed at the sensation of his thumb against her skin and she nodded. “You don’t need to worry about that.”

In a blink of an eye, Oliver was filled with sorrow. He stepped back, feeling as if he didn’t have the right to hold her anymore. “A---Aria you know.. you know that’s not what I meant.” His voice was soft, almost scared. Of what? He didn’t quite know yet. “I’m just worried, is all.” He tried to defend himself, but he wasn’t sure if it’d work. “Promise?”

“If she can make you smile like a goof, which she does, then she will.” Jay told him. “I feel like we should watch Monsters University.” Jay chuckled. “Okay basically we will be in a maze  and we will use two of the robots from the training room. When the older robot appear you will turn, when the younger one appear you won’t turn. Does that make sense?”

“Hey! I’m smiling like an oaf, get it right.” He chuckled, though no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t loose the silly smile on his lips. “Oh wow, are we going to have a huge montagical bonding experience with this movie?” he joked, cocking a brow. Though as he explained, it seemed to register in the young one’s mind. “Oh, yeah, I get it now.”

She felt completely guilty about lying to him, but he wouldn’t understand, no one could. It had all started out as her trying to be like her mom—what little girl doesn’t want that?—however, things started getting more and more out of control and this was the only thing that she could control. Granted, her family and life in general was great now, but how did you just stop doing something that you have been doing all of your life? If there was a way, Aria didn’t know it, or maybe she didn’t want to. She smiled at Oliver and nodded. “I know and I love you too. You make me happy and… this is nothing that I can’t control.” That was the third lie; she no longer had control over it.

Oliver tried to see deeper into her. His eyes bored into hers and looked for any sign of plea, any silent cry for help, but he was without luck. Maybe he just wasn’t looking deep enough. He had always wished that someone would stare deep enough into his eyes to help him when he was in the same state, but no one ever seemed to. “I hope so, love... I just want you to be healthy, to love yourself like I love you.” He gave her a soft smile, the pad of his thumb grazing her cheeks. “You know that there’s always a line, right? Just... stay away from that line.”

“Good, she will keep you grounded.” He said as he recalled how Blake used to do that for him. “Probably with… have you seen Monster’s University? You know when they’re in the competition and they have to scare the kids but not the teens? With something like that. That will help you get control over when to turn. I could help you with that.

“I hope so...” He grinned to himself, remembering all the times that Aria had been there to keep him anchored. Though, the man’s words caught his attention. “What? That makes no sense...”

His words were well meaning, deep down Aria knew that. However, at the moment the words sounded more like an accusation than anything else. It was easy for him to say that, he was perfect. Aria’s eyes narrowed and she shook her head. “I’m not…” She took in a deep breath and closed her eyes for a second. “You don’t get it, please don’t pretend like you do. I eat enough and I’m fine so can we drop it?”

Oliver hated the tone in her voice, the hurt, angered tone that he knew she rarely ever used, but he bit his tongue. Giving a sigh, he stepped forward, placing a gently hand on her cheek, caressing the soft skin. “Fine, Aria... But just know that I love you the way you are. I’ll love you anyway that you decide to change your body, but no matter what, I love you.” He gave a last sigh, placing a soft kiss to her forehead and staring down at her. 

Aria had been lost in her thoughts when her boyfriend’s voice filled the air pulling her from her thoughts and bringing her back to reality. His question was not one that she wanted to answer, but it was one that she knew she had to. “Of course I am.” She said, that was the first lie that she had ever said to him but what else was she supposed to say to him? “I ate a big meal before coming here.” That was the second lie. 

He waited for her to recollect, but he knew there was something off. Her voice stayed steady, but the beat of her heart faltered, if even the slightest, though he didn’t point it out. “You promise? I don’t want you to feel like you have to be skinnier... “

“I know, especially when you can’t control it.” Jay replied. His question made Jay tense up, there was someone behind him finally accepting his power and he didn’t think he was completely ready to talk about that. “Um a girl.” He chuckled. “Someone that saw me for me, she didn’t know about my power, but she accepted all of me.” He shrugged. 

A girl. A small, dazed smile lit up Oliver’s face. “I have one of those... She uh, she knows about my power, though. But she’s kind of the only reason I’ve made the progress that I have.”

Jay looked over the younger male and saw what seemed like a guard not far behind. “Powers are tricky, if you’re scared of them they tend to know and they tend to work against you. When I first found out about my power I would shift so many times that I locked myself in my room and wouldn’t come out, but the more I accepted it the easier it became to control it. I get what you mean though.”

“It’s hard not to be scared of myself... How did you learn to accept it?” He questioned. It was an answer he’d been dying for since he arrived here at Lake grimstone. He just had no idea. He didn’t know how to accept himself, let alone control himself.

“It’s not, there’s other ways to do this, but of course the government doesn’t care how it’s done they just care that is done.” He said with a shrug. Jay smirked smugly at the other’s reaction. After a few more seconds, Jay switched back to his original self. A chuckle left his lips and he shook his head “I doubt that you would be able to keep me locked up for too long. I can help you train… do you not know how to morph?”

“I guess so--- The government doesn’t really care much about anything anymore.” He shrugged, though a smile perked up at his lips. “Kind of... I’ve only been able to do it on cue a few times when I really focus--- it tends to scare the people around me if I go full-fledged.”

“No, not every power requires the gym, but training in the gym helps with control.” Jay scoffed and shook his head. “I sound like I’m a spokesperson for the government.” He said. His brow furrowed at the other male’s words and a smile crept on to his face. “Beast Morphing” he repeated. Jay had looked in to a lot of powers, especially those similar to his and this one was as similar to his as they could get. “metamorphing… I can morph in to anything and anyone.” He said as he morphed in to him.

“I guess so, though I’m not sure if stuffing a bunch of power-infused kids into one training room was the best idea.” He noted, looking around at the others training in the rather large gym. When the man spoke, suddenly, it caught Oliver’s attention. his jaw dropped as he watched the other, seeing himself in front of him. “Okay--- You see, I’m going to kidnap you and keep you in my basement until you teach me how to do that.”

Jay turned to look at the younger male and shrugged. “Because if I don’t do it today then I’ll have to do it tomorrow or the next day and so on. I rather get it over with and be on my way.” That wasn’t the only reason why he stayed; the main reason why he stayed was because he wanted to see people’s powers in action. “What is it that you can do?” He asked.

“I guess that’s true. Not every power enforces the gym sessions.” He shrugged. Lately, Oliver had been feeling more confident in his power. He had the support of his friends, girlfriend, and even his trainer. Though he was still afraid of himself, he knew that his power was unlike any other. “Me? Well, they call is Beast Morphing, but it’s pretty much just morphing into anything I want. Though, right now, I’ve seemed to only be able to morph into a beast. Ironic.” He rolled his eyes at himself. “What about you?”