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They plan out every detail. They spend days deliberating upon it, talking, suggesting, arguing at times. But afterwards they always fall silent and then they start to laugh because God, they’re still alive right now and that’s more than they ever expected.
Finally, they reach a decision.
“Are you ready?” she asks. Excitement flutters in her chest. She has waited so long. Still, there is a hint of trepidation in her voice. It’s not for her though. She is so very sure of what she wants. She doesn’t fear for herself. She fears for him instead. She fears he will regret this. A very small, very important part of her fears that she is not something worth trapping himself for.
But his silent voice does not waver. <You bet.>
The transformation is quick due to lots of painful practice. She watches feathers melt together. Wings stretch and bend. Fingers begin to emerge. Bones crack and rearrange.
He grows taller in a great spurt of growth. Hair replaces feathers at the top of his head. More and more soft, pale skin appears along with a grey t-shirt and too-tight jeans.
Rachel’s heartbeat quickens and laser-beam eyes soften, widen. Eyelashes sprout around the edges and the gaze turns dreamy and distant. Beak fades to pink and is replaced by lips and teeth.
Then the last of the feathers fade and everything stops. It has only taken a minute, but the red-tailed hawk has disappeared. Now there stands a young man with unruly blonde hair.
“Done,” Tobias says, looking down at his hands and flexing them.
Rachel hurriedly pulls her phone from her pocket and hit start on the timer there. Two hours.
Then she smiles at him, a full wild grin, and rushes over to stand in front of him.
He smiles back at her in return, a small shy smile.
She puts her hands on his shoulders and kisses him because he has lips to kiss and she can.
He hums and gently touches her cheek.
“Do you wanna go now?” he asks when she pulls away.
She laughs. “Not with you dressed like that.” It’s alright for morphing, but she refuses to let them go out on a date as important as this while looking anything less than perfect.
Tobias is used to her fashion-minded ways. He has told her once that it’s one of the many things he loves about her and he’s content to let her pick out clothes for him since it makes her happy and it’s not like he knows anything about clothes anyways.
Once she’s satisfied they both look great—and she tells him so—they head out into the world.
Tobias remarks upon the difference between how the world looks from above and from within. She tells him different doesn’t have to be a bad thing. He nods.
They go to a movie. Tobias appreciates the taste of coke and popcorn. Rachel appreciates the costumes. Both of them laugh at how tame the action sequences are.
Mostly, they savor being with each other. Rachel savors the feel of Tobias’s feather-free hand.
The movie lasts for one hour and twenty-seven minutes.
When Rachel checks the timer, it says they have fifteen minutes left. Tobias looks at it. He swallows and asks if she wants to go for pizza.
She squeezes his hand, flips her hair over her shoulder, and agrees.
They order a large pizza because they decide they deserve it and they can afford it. There are plenty of opportunities for war heroes to make money, especially beautiful ones like Rachel who look good on advertisements for the Gap.
The timer goes off as Rachel is telling Tobias about Cassie’s newest environmental campaign. He starts to say something in reply, but then he startles.
“Huh,” he says. “Is that it?”
“You okay?” she asks.
He smiles and leans over to kiss her. She twines her fingers through his beautiful human hair.
“Let’s go home,” she whispers with a sly grin, “and I’ll show you some more good things about having a human body.”