#aphyuriweek2016

Dániel Héderváry walked into the little coffee shop to the jingle of the bell. He grinned at the woman behind the counter, a familiar face. “Marie,” he said as he approached her. “How are you?”

Looking up, Marie smiled widely. Her short, blonde hair framed her delighted face and she had put in a green band to push the strands out of her face. As usual, she was wearing her uniform: a green apron over a white shirt. A cloth was in her hand and she looked as though she was in the process of wiping down the counters. There was no-one in the place, the sound of traffic outside muffled and the clock ticking, counting down the time Dániel could be in the place. He glanced at it and grimaced, realising that he was going to be late.

“I'm fine,” said Marie, drawing Dániel's attention back to her. “Your clothes are in the back.”

“Thanks, dear,” Dániel replied, hurrying towards the staff door. “I owe you one.”

“You owe me several.” Marie looked amused, shaking her head at him. “Hurry up, already. You still need to tell me what you've been up to today.” Her eyes flickered over Dániel's form, taking in his ripped and dirtied clothes.

Shrugging, Dániel laughed and pushed open the door. Once through, he headed down the corridor and to the familiar locker room. It was actually the women's locker room but, since this was a small place and Marie was the only one in at this hour, no-one would notice him go inside. He immediately stripped down to nothing (probably illegal in a workplace, when he thought about it) and binned anything that didn't look salvageable. Before he could forget, he pulled out the band which he'd used to tie his hair back with, dropping it on top of the rest of his dirty clothing.

Then he shifted.

Every time this happened, Héderváry was amazed, despite how long they had been doing it for. The genitals between their legs contracted and slowly morphed until there was nothing visible. That was mainly because the flesh around their nipples expanded until they formed two mounds, perfectly sized in their opinion. Additionally, their hair grew longer and thicker, falling around their shoulders, tickling their neck. Without looking in the mirror, they couldn't see the changes in their facial structure but they could watch their legs and arms getting slightly thinner and their hips widening.

Finally finished, they moved to stand before the mirror, examining their face and hair. Everything was fine and, once again, it looked as if the cut which they had received a few hours before had disappeared. Sighing in relief, Elizaveta went looking for her fresh clothes, shivering as she realised it was cold in the locker room. Marie obviously hadn't noticed that the air conditioning was on too high, what with her own power to regulate her body temperature constantly.

Elizaveta had met Marie on their first day in Ailateh High, the school for superheroes. They learnt a great deal there, mostly about how to be clever about dealing with foes and how to keep their secret identities from the villains and the public. Because of her ability to change into a man, Elizaveta had reckoned it would be easy but Marie had, on numerous occasions, pointed out that it may be more suspicious if people were observant enough. That was why Marie brought changes of clothes to her workplace. Elizaveta could go in and out at busy times when it was harder for people to notice her entering and leaving. Sometimes Elizaveta would be too busy dealing with villains from Tehalai High, the school for superheroes and mad scientists, so she would have to enter and leave at quiet times anyway. On those occasions, they just had to hope.

It had only been a few years since Elizaveta and Marie had met but it had felt like forever. They had instantly connected on the day they met and had been best friends ever since. Everyday, they would meet in the coffee shop where Marie worked and Elizaveta would even be made waffles if she came at an appropriate time. Movies, bowling, the park; whatever the activity, they would both be together. Sometimes they even went out fighting together but Marie didn't have powers that lent themselves to an all-out fight so Elizaveta usually went out on her own.

But therein lay the problem.

Dániel, at least, had no problem with the way Marie and he were best friends: he had no desire to see her in a romantic or sexual light. But Elizaveta had spent so much time with Marie that she knew she loved the woman. Since her situation was an odd one and she wasn't sure how to go about it, Elizaveta had been forced to ask Francis for help. Then she had whacked him over the head and stalked off, insulted by his smug grin. Arthur hadn't been much help either, providing scenarios he had read about in books. Then again, seeing as he had his own relationship problems (that he probably wasn't aware of), Elizaveta shouldn't have expected much different.

Sighing, she drove those thoughts from her mind and inspected her plain black t-shirt and trousers. She was always amazed at how well they fitted her after transforming. For some reason, she always had this niggling fear that she would end up with legs too thick to fit or arms bulging from the sleeves. Relieved and ready for her shift in the bar, she made her way downstairs to find that Alfred had arrived for his shift and was chatting to Marie.

“Yo, Liz,” he said when he spotted her. “How's things.”

“Okay, I suppose,” she replied. “What about you?”

Alfred frowned. “Well, did you know...?” He paused and glanced around before leaning forward to address both Elizaveta and Marie. “Did you know that Arthur fixes clothes and stuff for those guys?”

Elizaveta blinked in surprise. “He does?”

“Yeah! I totally saw General Winter's costume in his apartment when I went to visit. He hid it straight away, though, and he just dismissed it when I asked! And then-!

“Al,” said Marie, calmly, still smiling. “You're getting a bit loud, you know. And you never know who's listening.”

“Sorry...” said Alfred, grimacing a little. “But! Can ya believe him?! Bet that's why his apartment is so huge and fits all those old, boring books. Have ya seen them?! They're all massive and leathery and stuff! And-”

“Aw, Al,” said Elizaveta, sighing and shaking her head. “Is someone jealous?”

“Huh?” asked Alfred, looking very confused. Elizaveta decided not to elaborate and merely shook her head again.

“You're going to be late, Al,” Marie told him, nodding at the clock. Glancing over, Alfred's eyes widened, he swore under his breath and rushed for the staff door. Once the door had swung closed, Elizaveta giggled behind her hand.

“Someone isn't aware of his own feelings.”

Marie nodded but her eyes were staring into the middle distance. She was biting her lip and looked worried. Elizaveta wondered what was wrong and immediately went onto the alert. Sweeping her gaze over the café, she saw nothing out of place or dangerous. She couldn't even see the slight shimmer which sometimes happened when someone invisible was nearby.

“What is it?” she asked, turning to Marie. She was surprised to see Marie smiling at her, gaze soft and fond. “What is it?” she repeated, moving closer.

“I was just thinking that he should tell Arthur how he feels... Or someone should, anyway. And then I realised I was being just like Alfred, if a little less now that I've stopped denying my feelings.”

“What feelings?” Elizaveta asked, heart in her throat. Was Marie in love with Arthur, too? If so, would Elizaveta be able to deal with that? Perhaps Dániel could – but she usually only turned into Dániel when she needed his improved physical strength. She was loathe to turn into him when it was to do with her personal life as she identified as female far more than a male; letting a man deal with her problems was a coward's way out. With that decided, she clenched her fists, trying to calm herself as Marie responded.

“My feelings for you, silly. I've loved you for quite a long time now but I've been too scared of losing you. I almost expected that you'd become Dániel forever in my presence to save anyone being hurt and I didn't want you to force yourself.”

With Marie's words and kind smile, Elizaveta felt as if she'd been struck by lightning. She gasped, her eyes widened and she stared at Marie in disbelief. Had she heard her right? Once she realised she very much had, Elizaveta felt herself fall in love with Marie all over again. All those little things she loved about her – the almost constant smile, her readiness to help, her determination and refusal to back down – Elizaveta loved all of it all the more.

A smile spread across Elizaveta's face and she stepped closer. “Marie...”

“It's not a joke!” Marie cried, looking upset. “A-And it's not a mistake. I don't love Dá-”

Seeing that she had paused too long and caused Marie to become discouraged, Elizaveta stepped closer and grabbed Marie's arms, pulling Marie towards her and into a kiss. It was soft and chaste but perfect for everything it represented. When she pulled away, Elizaveta smiled fondly at Marie and said, “I love you, too, you know. I've been fretting for months about how to tell you.”

“A plus on that,” said Alfred from behind them and both of them spun to face him, faces red. He grinned at them. “If you're finally official, can we have a party to celebrate?”

“A party?!” Elizaveta exclaimed, still feeling tense from being discovered.

“Yeah. Kinda feel like cake,” Alfred added, examining the cake counter. When silence greeted him, he glanced up to find Elizaveta and Marie still watching him, both wary about their discovery. “Ah, hey, don't worry. I ain't gonna tell anyone. Not till you do or whatever. Or you have your first date or something.”

“Al-” Elizaveta growled but behind her, Marie gasped and she immediately turned to her, wondering if she was hurt. “What-?”

“Liz!” Marie interrupted her, pointing at the clock she was staring at. “You're going to be late!”

“So what did you want to talk about?” Louise is the first to get the ball rolling. Sakura shifts in her spot uncomfortably. Yes she did ask them to join her for a day to talk out what’s on her mind, but now that she has to it’s seems like a daunting task.

“Can’t this wait till after cake?”Felicia whines a little with a crossing of her arms. Louise gives her a look and Sakura sighs.

“No, I need to talk about this.” She admits softly. Her best friends give her odd look but lean closer to give proper attention. Under their stares she can feel her cheeks heating up.

“I..” Her words get stuck and she covers her face with her hands.

“I think I have a crush on Akiko,” It’s so much more embarrassing to actually admit to it. She peeks through her fingers at her friends who are staring at her dumbfounded.

“And?” Louise asks plainly like Sakura didn’t just wear her heart on her sleeve. She sputters a little and waves her hands about.

“What do I do?” She covers her face again. The feeling only surfaced a month or so ago. Her normal flustered reactions increased more so when Akiko pulled her close in teasing ways. The lingering feeling of disappointment sent shocks through her when Akiko didn’t follow through with those teases.

At first she did not want to acknowledge them, forget they exists, and played them off as normal. It got harder and harder until she really had to accept the feelings. They scared her a little. She’s even surprised her and Akiko get along as well as they do.

While she had a habit of staying up till 2 in the morning drawing or doing something other than seeping, Akiko had a habit of revving her bike as loud as possible when coming back from hanging with her own friends. She thought she would never get along with Akiko and her choppy hair and mischievous ways but she’s gentle with Sakura in a way she doesn’t see Akiko act towards other people.

“Well does she like you too?” Felicia asks. Sakura shakes her head.

“I do not know though I have my doubts,” It comes out a little sadder than she means too. Felicia puffs up her cheeks.

“Well that’s no way to look at it,” She huffs out. Louise shushes her.

“You either tell her or you don’t,” She states matter-o-factly. Sakura mulls those words in her mind. That is the first obstacle she faces all in all. It all sounds so blunt when put like that.

“How am I supposed to go about that? She..” Sakura’s words leave her again and she goes back to shifting awkwardly in her seat.

“What if it makes it tense between us?” The question comes out soft. Yes Sakura is scared. Meeting Akiko had been a roll of chance to begin with. She needed a place and Akiko needed a roommate. It fell into place and she spent some time with Akiko before living with her and they actually got along surprisingly well. They can hang out and be at ease with each others. There are very few people who Sakura can be around that aren’t draining.

“Out of the people who wouldn’t make it weird,” Louise tells her with a deadpan tone, leaving off the end of her sentence though Sakura can see where it will end either way.

“Akiko is fun~ She’d totally be cool with whatever,” Felicia finally chimes in, pointedly ignoring the look Louise gives her. Sakura laughs softly to herself. they finish their little outing with their cakes and tea, keeping away from the Akiko topic knowing Sakura needs a moment to assess her options more so.

When she gets back to her small home Sakura merely stands outside the door for a moment. she hasn’t even walked in the door and already her heart is pounding in a way she finds stupid. It’s so unlike her to be off her head and yet here she is.

With a deep breath she opens the door to find Akiko sitting upside down on their couch, staring out the window with her phone in her hands. Sakura opens her mouth to ask her what she’s doing but Akiko cuts her off.

“Ya know,” She says loudly causing Sakura to jump a little at the unexpected words. The door shuts behind her and she fidgets with her small kitten purse. When Akiko manages to pull herself up right and there’s a devilish smirk on her face Sakura knows she’s up to no good.

“When one is to, oh I don’t know,” Sakura backs up into the door when Akiko swings herself up to her feet, still with that look on her face that says she knows more than Sakura would like.

“Confess feelings for someone,” She goes on and Sakura knows what true horror feels like. She covers her mouth wither hands as Akiko stalks closer to her, leaning down a little into her space when she’s close enough. Sakura refuses to meet her eyes.

“It’d be best to make sure their phone is not calling the person they have feelings for,” She coos out the last of her words and Sakura whines. Why did this have to happen to her. She still refuses to meet Akiko’s eyes even when she guides Sakura’s face to wards her.

“Come on kitten look at me,” The nicknames serves only to make Sakura more flustered but she does as asked. She takes a quick glance at Akiko and words want to tumble out of her, to explain herself, and maybe even deny the accusation to something else if possible. They do not make it out as Akiko does lean into her space and places a soft kiss to her lips. Sakura will admit to expect more roughness from Akiko yet glad that is not what the kiss was.

“I’ve been wanting to do that, for months,” Akiko whispers against her ear. Sakura shudders at the feeling but a inkling of happiness fills her at the mutual feelings confessed to her. Though completely red faced she’s able to make eye contact with Akiko easier.

“Anything you wanna tell me?” Akiko smirks at her knowingly. Sakura huffs at her, pushing past though smile comes to her face especially when arms wrap around her waist and swing her lightly in the air.

“Akiko!” She chides but the tone is over run by a small laughter that is joined by Akiko’s.

“Don’t leave me hanging kitten,” She coos. Sakura shakes her head a small twitch of nerves getting to her Akiko puts her down and makes them face to face.

“I..” She starts. She bites her a lip a little, forcing the confidence needed to say her feelings.