wanted to say, only that he didn't want to say it in that unearthly boom.
Hesitantly, almost bashfully, he shifted back.
His tremendous, fearsome muscles folded into themselves, and shrunk to merely huge proportions – large and powerful by human standards, but nothing on the scale of his bear form.
He shrunk down – if the word “shrunk” can ever be used about such a large man – and into the alien comfort of the skin he had been born in. The fur retreated – though his chest, forearms, and legs were still covered in thick hair, but of a totally human variety, this time.
It was only then that he remembered what had happened to his clothes.
He looked down, to see himself as naked as Adam.
He hurriedly looked back up.
Lizbeth's eyes had gone larger and rounder than they had when he had transformed into a 10-foot tall bear in front of her. Her mouth hung open in a totally un-selfconscious gawp, as she stared somewhere between his legs.
With a panicked jerk worthy of a schoolgirl whose skirt had just been flipped, he moved his great (human) paws in front of himself, to cover the last remnants of his modesty.
“I... I... Oh fuck...”
Lizbeth's mouth still remained in that gaping... almost inviting O, but she flicked her eyes up to meet his. Somehow, that was even more embarrassing, which shouldn't have even been possible.
“I'm sorry. I... I'll put on some clothes...”
He turned to go, before realizing he had instinctively headed towards the front door.
He did a heel turn, considerably gracefully under the circumstances, and almost shyly tried to scamper towards the bedroom. It was a disconcerting motion to see, in a man so confidently large.
“W...wait!”
That one word took Lizbeth more courage to say than anything ever had in her life.
More courage than it had taken her to spend weeks planning her escape in secret, hunting down clues to track down the only man she knew would understand how she felt toward her father. More courage than it took her to walk out of everything she knew in her life, and hitch-hike the countless miles all the way here, to the back end of nowhere...
And with that word, she reached out, and laid a delicate, trembling finger on his great bicep as he tried to rush past her.
Somehow, that tiny force managed to hold him back.
Bryan could only dumbly force out a few words. She had totally depleted his daily stock of shock.
“I... you....... what?”
Lizbeth's face, which had so few seconds earlier been blanched white, now flushed a bright shade of crimson.
“It's just... I meant to say... that I guess you don't have to put on clothes if you... if you don't want...to...” And then, in a flurry: “I mean, umm, I've seen it all before, right?!”
“You have...?”
“Yeah, though, umm, I guess you were a bear at the time, so maybe it doesn't count...”
She laughed weakly, wishing secretly that people could die out of sheer shame.
Bryan, though, after so many months and years without meaningful human contact, had been dealt one too many sucker punches to the mind, and was reeling internally, his tongue cruising on auto-pilot.
“I... don't understand. You want me to... not get dressed?”
“Aaaagghhh, Bryan, you idiot !”
She usually would have dealt with this better. But going from heart-clenching terror to heart-throbbing embarrassment was just a little bit too much...
And the next thing he knew, Lizbeth was hitting him, with all the force she could muster in her distracted state – which, against his corded muscles, wasn't much. She stood there, flailing weakly at his chest, shouting that he was a “dummy”, and a “jerk”, and an “idiot” again.
He stared dumbly down at the commotion for a few seconds, totally lost, until one of her exasperated punches unbalanced her, and she stumbled. He reached out to steady her, his hands
Hesitantly, almost bashfully, he shifted back.
His tremendous, fearsome muscles folded into themselves, and shrunk to merely huge proportions – large and powerful by human standards, but nothing on the scale of his bear form.
He shrunk down – if the word “shrunk” can ever be used about such a large man – and into the alien comfort of the skin he had been born in. The fur retreated – though his chest, forearms, and legs were still covered in thick hair, but of a totally human variety, this time.
It was only then that he remembered what had happened to his clothes.
He looked down, to see himself as naked as Adam.
He hurriedly looked back up.
Lizbeth's eyes had gone larger and rounder than they had when he had transformed into a 10-foot tall bear in front of her. Her mouth hung open in a totally un-selfconscious gawp, as she stared somewhere between his legs.
With a panicked jerk worthy of a schoolgirl whose skirt had just been flipped, he moved his great (human) paws in front of himself, to cover the last remnants of his modesty.
“I... I... Oh fuck...”
Lizbeth's mouth still remained in that gaping... almost inviting O, but she flicked her eyes up to meet his. Somehow, that was even more embarrassing, which shouldn't have even been possible.
“I'm sorry. I... I'll put on some clothes...”
He turned to go, before realizing he had instinctively headed towards the front door.
He did a heel turn, considerably gracefully under the circumstances, and almost shyly tried to scamper towards the bedroom. It was a disconcerting motion to see, in a man so confidently large.
“W...wait!”
That one word took Lizbeth more courage to say than anything ever had in her life.
More courage than it had taken her to spend weeks planning her escape in secret, hunting down clues to track down the only man she knew would understand how she felt toward her father. More courage than it took her to walk out of everything she knew in her life, and hitch-hike the countless miles all the way here, to the back end of nowhere...
And with that word, she reached out, and laid a delicate, trembling finger on his great bicep as he tried to rush past her.
Somehow, that tiny force managed to hold him back.
Bryan could only dumbly force out a few words. She had totally depleted his daily stock of shock.
“I... you....... what?”
Lizbeth's face, which had so few seconds earlier been blanched white, now flushed a bright shade of crimson.
“It's just... I meant to say... that I guess you don't have to put on clothes if you... if you don't want...to...” And then, in a flurry: “I mean, umm, I've seen it all before, right?!”
“You have...?”
“Yeah, though, umm, I guess you were a bear at the time, so maybe it doesn't count...”
She laughed weakly, wishing secretly that people could die out of sheer shame.
Bryan, though, after so many months and years without meaningful human contact, had been dealt one too many sucker punches to the mind, and was reeling internally, his tongue cruising on auto-pilot.
“I... don't understand. You want me to... not get dressed?”
“Aaaagghhh, Bryan, you idiot !”
She usually would have dealt with this better. But going from heart-clenching terror to heart-throbbing embarrassment was just a little bit too much...
And the next thing he knew, Lizbeth was hitting him, with all the force she could muster in her distracted state – which, against his corded muscles, wasn't much. She stood there, flailing weakly at his chest, shouting that he was a “dummy”, and a “jerk”, and an “idiot” again.
He stared dumbly down at the commotion for a few seconds, totally lost, until one of her exasperated punches unbalanced her, and she stumbled. He reached out to steady her, his hands
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