Coming home from her hair removal appointment, Amelia has to deal with more Cuber antics and then some friends over for a nice little dinner. Unfortunately, the night ends with a troubling message from work.

Remiel's Enlightenment - Chapter 12
by Zmeydros
(Edited by Tiliquain and Secretskunk)

As I walked into my place, I struggled to believe I'd gone to my hair removal appointment in the frilly light orange dress Ezzie had left with me. Today, I'd opted for wearing a mask because I needed to have nothing on my skin for the hair removal to work right. Cuber had insisted I get eye makeup before I went out, though. Part of me was annoyed that her new makeup artist hobby required my face, but on the other hand it had encouraged me to go out all made up in a dress almost every night since my amazing dinner with Aeidou. Even though it had all been errands, it was well worth it because I'd slept better and woken up more energetic last week than I had in years. In fact, I felt so good today that I'd sent a message to Aeidou, Ramda, and Ezzie thanking them for everything they'd done while I was in the waiting room of the hair removal place.

The hair removal process itself was creepy in that there had been millions of needles coming out of the tube surrounding me and they'd gone in without me feeling anything. When they all zapped me in crazy unpredictable patterns, I was glad they led me through a breathing exercise. In the end, it had all been so easy that I didn't even register it much. Well, other than the reusable bag full of lotion and a couple other skincare things they'd given me hanging from my arm.

As the door to my place popped open, having sensed the wireless signal from my implant, I pushed the bag of groceries I'd had delivered inside with my foot and then set the bag of skincare stuff down on the dining room table. When I took off my mask, Cuber came in balancing five more wireless hubs on the top of her cubical body. Two of her arms were holding them to make sure they didn't tip off of her, the third arm ready to unstack them.

"Cuber, I was okay minding my own business when you only had four wireless hubs, but I'm starting to get nervous. Where are you getting all those from?" I asked.

*Extra,* she sent.

"Who decided that?" I asked, already knowing the answer.

*Me.* She trilled with pride as she walked over to her corner of the sunroom.

 The sunset contrasting with the deep blue to black sky above distracted me for a moment. Being this far above the ground led to some incredible views. "So you stole them?"

*Were redundant. Low traffic staff area,* she sent.

"It's still stealing," I said.

*Not my fault architect = idiot,* she sent.

"What if they remodel or something?" I asked. "They might need them back."

*Remodel = update wireless infrastructure.* She was stacking the hubs in her area.

"Cuber, please put them back," I said, crossing my arms to look more authoritative.

*More conspicuous. Keeping safer,* she sent.

I didn't know how to argue with that, so I said, "You're going to make me worried sick if you keep stealing things."

*Not steal. I maintenance bot.* She looked at me and pointed at herself. *I fix.*

"But this city isn't your ship," I said. "Find other ways to fix things that don't involve theft. It's against the law and we could get in trouble."

*Understand,* she sent. *If help cook, you teach more language? Need understand law.*

"Shit! Everyone's coming over in a half hour and I haven't started on anything yet. I actually really need your help tonight." I stooped down and looked Cuber in her sensor cluster. "You're in charge of the beer caramelized onions. I'll send you the video recipe for it and I want you to ask questions if you get confused, okay?"

"Understand." Cuber hugged me. "You look woman. Pretty."

I started crying. Cuber was incredibly attentive to people's reactions and she'd learned that calling me pretty got me to smile.

*Happy cry?* Cuber asked.

"Yes, glad you know the difference now," I said.

*Past few days, many times, I learn,* Cuber sent.

"It's true, I've done this a lot lately," I said.

*How many people come tonight?* Cuber asked.

I let go of Cuber and dried my eyes. "Five. Crap, I almost forgot again."

All I needed to do was fry some bratwurst on both sides, simmer them for a bit, then add the curry sauce I bought in a jar and then maybe tweak it a bit with some spices I had. It honestly wasn't too different from things I'd done for myself over the last while. I'd given the hardest part to Cuber, but when she had good directions, she could do just about anything and that video I'd found was incredibly detailed. Oftentimes, I didn't watch her too closely because she did terrifying things with her three-armed dexterity that humans tended to suck at. For instance, right now she was getting a bowl out of the cupboard while setting a cutting board full of chopped onions on top of the counter. She probably could have cooked everything on her own, but wearing this flowery apron while my breasts were  on had me feeling lighter than air.

The Lezveioan bread buns smelled a bit like sourdough and molasses as I toasted them in the oven. Cuber and I were putting the finishing touches on our creations as my door chimed.

I was humming the opening song to a lesbian high fantasy show Ezzie had shared with me as I walked to the door. As it opened Hosannah's face went from lightly smiling to shock with her mouth hanging open. Julia's blue fox tail was sticking up and to the side while her matching blue fox ears were folded down in surprise.

My eyes followed their gaze right to the swollen bosom under my apron. "Oh fuck!" I said, crossing my arms in front of myself. My dress was girly, my stockings were lacy, and my nails were painted with cyan polish: something Cuber had insisted on trying before I went to my appointment.

"R-Remiel?" Hosannah asked.

"Nope, hon, we're having dinner with Amelia tonight," Julia said, acting like everything was normal now that the shock had worn off.

Words just bubbled up as my embarrassment strangled me. "I'm sorry--I was going to change--I didn't mean to--Shit-shit-shit!" I started curling up into a ball, my stomach threatening to implode as I blushed deep red all the way down my neck. 

Julia sat down next to me. "Why would you need to change, Amelia? That dress looks fantastic on you."

"Yeah, you look beautiful," Hosannah said, sitting on the other side of me. "Too bad Remiel couldn't make it tonight."

"You two can stop, it's okay. I shouldn't be in a dress, I don't have makeup on, and all the spots they put needles in are red. What was I thinking going out like this? It's not like anyone's actually going to think I look like a girl," I said, trying very hard not to cry.

"I know you're shocked to be seen like this, but you honestly do look really good in that dress, hon," Julia said. "And those breast forms you're wearing are the perfect size for you."

"I really like seeing girl you," Hosannah said.

"But it's not real," I said, feeling really tight in my chest.

"If you're like other trans people, your brain is physically different from a cis person. If it wasn't real, it wouldn't be so painful for you to live counter to how you feel inside," Julia said.

"Listen to Julia, with everything I've learned over the last couple weeks, she knows what she's talking about," Hosannah said. "And if real you is a woman, it would explain why I feel so safe around you. My brother and father were monsters and getting away from them was part of why I worked so hard to leave Trinity Stronghold. I've always been more comfortable around women. And before I met you and Luke, I'd struggled to make friends with male-bodied people."

"Wait, Luke is trans?" I asked.

"No, but he kinda doesn't do gender?" Hosannah said. "Sure, he follows the rules, but have you ever looked closely at his mannerisms or heard how he giggles when he gets excited about something? I think his superpower is that he's blind to social expectations. He's been able to be more himself more of his life than any of us."

"Huh, I never thought about it like that," I said, feeling less anxious.

"Statistically speaking, your brain is more feminine than a typical guy's and you feel like you should have more feminine attributes," Julia said. "Some women get their breasts and hips during puberty and other women have to wait until they have the courage to claim their breasts and hips later in life."

I smiled, fighting tears.

Julia patted my shoulder. "The women who claim their femininity later in life are badasses."

"Do you want to know what surprised me the most when you opened that door?" Hosannah asked.

"That I was in a dress?" I asked, blushing a bit.

"Nope. At first, I didn't even realize it was you because you seemed so at home in that dress. And then I noticed how you were filling out--"

Julia started laughing.

"Hey! Why are you sniggering?" Hosannah reached behind my back and smacked Julia's shoulder.

"It's nothing," Julia said. "Go on."

"Not until you tell me what's so funny," Hosannah said.

"When you said 'filling out that dress,' you were staring directly at her tits," Julia said.

"N-no, I wasn't," Hosannah said.

Julia just raised her eyebrow as her pointy ears stuck confidently straight up.

"Argh, fine! Yes, I was." Hosannah blushed.

"Hosannah here, is more into breasts than anyone I've ever dated," Julia said.

"Urgh! I had this whole thing I was going to say, but she ruined it, so I'll just say...Breasts look like they belong on you, Remelia, Amelia, I mean," Hosannah said.

The tears made it out, it didn't matter that she'd gotten my name wrong. Thankfully, it was very soft crying.

"Yeah, you have nothing to worry about, girl," Julia said. "You look like you belong in that dress and you have gorgeous hair."

"They're going to make me cut it." I cried harder.

"Hey, hey, before I grew out my hair, I wore wigs. Pretty darn good ones and I'm happy to give you a couple," she said. "Not like I'm gonna need them anymore."

"Oh wow!" I'd never thought of wigs and felt both incredibly stupid and incredibly happy.

"The bad part is going to be when you can't wear a wig," Julia got up and offered her hand. "Your workplace is diabolical."

"Yeah, I look forward to when I can finally leave," I said as I grabbed her soft, warm hand and let her help me to my feet.

As Hosannah got up, Julia hugged me from the side, her arm just under my tits. "I'm so happy to see you come out of your shell, hon."

"I'm not fully out yet," I said.

"But you have made some huge steps and seeing the girl inside you come to the surface like this is fabulous," Julia said.

I put a hand on her arm just before Hosannah hugged me from the other side. "Ramelia. Amelia! Damn it! Sorry it's gonna take some getting used to, but I like this change."

"Me too," I said. "And don't worry about it. I'm not used to being called Amelia yet, anyway."

Cuber was setting out the food so it could be served and drew Julia's eye. "Is this a chef robot?" she asked.

"No, that's Cuber, the maintenance robot from Ramda's ship that Amelia ended up with," Hosannah said, letting go of me.

"The one that caused all that trouble?" Julia asked, releasing me from the hug. "He's adorably alien-looking."

"She's capable of more trouble than you can imagine," I said.

Cuber cheered with her typical high-pitched 8-bit croak. 

Julia and Hosannah laughed as the door chimed.

When I opened the door, Luke stared at me while I stared at Ezzie, who was only a couple inches shorter than Ramda now. Her hybridization was well on its way: she had a green scaly muzzle that went a few inches out from her face, pointy ears with scales on them, a tail that went down almost to her knees, and scales splotched all over her body. Her hair was now more of a dark green mane running down her back from the top of her head.

Aeidou said, "Isn't Ezzie gorgeous?"

"Oh yes," I said, feeling a twinge of jealousy, especially about her tail at this moment.

Ezzie grinned. "You should've seen poor Luke when he first saw me on the front steps."

Luke didn't give any sign he was paying attention to the conversation and interrupted with, "Remiel, you have breasts now?"

I blushed deep red. "No, they're synthetic."

"Do you want to be a woman?" he asked.

"Let's get everyone out of the hallway so we don't block traffic," Ezzie said, saving me from Luke's question.

I stepped to the side and let everyone enter my place. When the door shut behind them, I was standing there awkwardly with my hands clasped in front of me, not sure how to answer Luke's question. "Woman" felt right, but slightly dishonest after what I'd recently discovered.

As Luke regarded me, about to ask his question again, I blurted out, "I want to be a herm." It felt good to say aloud, but also like my heart was going to explode.

Aeidou and Ezzie smiled, their scaly muzzles getting beautiful elongated curves that arched all the way across the sides. Luke's face lit up with excitement as he thought of follow-up questions. Julia was blushing slightly while Hosannah was blushing deeply. None of them seemed all that surprised which made the tightness in my chest worse, not better. How could they be this sure about something I'd only just figured out?

"Do you want to be a hybrid, like Ramda?" Luke asked.

I nodded shyly, the shock slowly wearing off.

"How much like Ramda?" Luke asked.

"I, umm, I don't know," I said, realizing that I had seen so many hybrids and too many options over the last couple weeks.

"She'll probably figure it out by trying out various configurations in VR," Ezzie said. "We should do that this weekend, actually."

"That's a very good idea," Julia said.

Cuber warbled as she pointed at the food with all three arms.

"Thanks, Cuber. I'm starving," Hosannah said.

Cuber made a pleased coo as she put two buns on a plate and handed it to Hosannah. 

I got out a small ladle to serve the curry the brats were sitting in and a pair of tongs to serve Cuber's beer caramelized onions, saying, "Cuber made the onions. I made the sausages and curry."

"This looks delicious," Hosannah said, putting curry in her buns, then brats, then onions on top.

"Yeah, it smells amazing in here," Luke said while Ezzie nodded in agreement.

Aeidou said, "I'm happy to see you embracing Lezveioan-human cuisine. Looks like you both did a fantastic job."

Cuber messaged me, *Green scales = Ezzie? She hybridizing?*

*Yep, she's becoming a tall hybrid dragon,* I sent.

Aeidou, Luke, and Julia got a plate with two buns from Cuber, but when Ezzie came up, Cuber gave her a plate with only one bun while giving me a plate with three. 

Ezzie tried to grab another bun, but Cuber intercepted Ezzie's hand, making a wrong answer sound.

"Cuber, be nice," I said. "Ezzie taught you how to do makeup, remember?"

"Cuber did your makeup?" Hosannah asked.

"Yeah," I said. "She likes doing it so much she won't let me do my own."

Hosannah stepped closer to Cuber, "Could you show me how you layered Amelia's eye shadow later?"

Cuber made a happy trill and bounced in place.

While Cuber was distracted, I gave Ezzie my third bun. Then we loaded up our buns with curry, onions, and sausages before going over to my dining table, which I'd folded out bigger. Normally, dinner and conversation went together, but everyone was making pleased noises and enjoying the food so much that no one stopped to talk, other than tell us how good a job we'd done. Cuber's onions were slightly overdone, but the bit of sweetness in the curry balanced out the excess bitterness perfectly. Julia and Hosannah split Hosannah's second currywurst and Julia gave her second one to Ezzie, who was quite pleased to have more fuel for her growing body.

As most of us were finishing eating, Luke turned to Aeidou and said, "Your race has two prehensile penises?"

Hosannah swallowed wrong.

Julia was quick with a pat to Hosannah's back and Hosannah coughed out a chunk of bratwurst.

"A question like that with no warning can be dangerous," Aeidou said with an amused smile at the edges of her shark-like muzzle. "The Lezveioan way of answering your question would be to just show you my anatomy after dinner."

Julia laughed along with Ezzie. Hosannah's cheeks were a new shade of pink while I started thinking about Aeidou being inside me. It had felt so damn good and I wanted to ask her to stay after dinner along with Ezzie. I bit my lip as I fought to keep my cock from getting hard since I didn't want a tent in my dress when I got up from dinner.

Luke was blushing for the first time since I'd met him. But his surprise lasted only a second before he said, "That's a very efficient way to answer my question."

"Anyone ever told you that you think like a Lezveioan?" Aeidou asked.

"No, never," Luke said.

"That's unsurprising given where you grew up," Aeidou said.

I said, "Yeah, even talking about Lezveioans was looked down on back home. The government tried to make your race seem boring and like us."

"While I grew up on Earth where 'thinking like a Lezveioan' was either an insult or high praise, depending on the context," Julia said. "Though, I always considered it a compliment, myself."

"It's infuriating how Trinity Stronghold treats us. If we felt more shame, we'd be incredibly awkward in our dealings with them. Shame is their main currency as far as I'm concerned," Aeidou said.

"Ugg, tell me about it, I had a bit of a panic attack when I realized I was a lesbian," Hosannah said.

"But I was there and you made it through to the other side," Julia said. 

"The other side?" Hosannah asked.

"Yep, now you're an evil lesbian like me," Julia said.

Everyone, except Luke, laughed.

"Evil?" Luke asked.

"From Miramanna's perspective? I'd say so," Hosannah said.

"Huh, that does make sense," Luke said, before turning to Ezzie. "What does the hybridization process feel like?"

"It feels itchy, tingly, achey, throbby, prickly, arousing, and pleasurable. Easily the most distracting experience I've had. Even the most basic things are needing adjustment: I've been practicing how to say "s" sounds after work without hisssssing." She laughed. "There we go. An example of why having your tongue change shape isn't all good."

"Oh, is your tongue more reptilian now?" Luke asked.

Ezzie stuck out her tongue which had a bit of a fork in it and was very dexterous. She coiled it and even grabbed her finger with the fork of her tongue. Hosannah squirmed in her seat, getting a chuckle out of Julia. Aeidou's ears were fanned wide while I got a bit warm in my crotch. Ezzie knew she had everyone's attention. Even Luke was blushing. Ezzie and Aeidou had both made Luke blush...did he have a thing for scales?

Once she was done teasing us, Ezzie said, "The tongue part is hard, but that's not nearly as disorienting as having a tail and getting taller. I'm glad my horns are coming in, because I'm hitting my head more than is probably good."

I missed Hosannah's response to Ezzie because I got a heart-stopping calendar notification from work:

"Dress Code Compliance Appointment: Tomorrow at 1:15PM, TrinityCutz, Miramanna Complex."


THE END

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