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”Make it stop. Please. God almighty, make it stop.”
The sound of it startled him. Ky had been silent for what felt like an eternity, and it came with no warning as it broke.
”I’ll give you money. I’ll give you my life. Anything- a-ah, please, please, please, I can’t bear it anymore-”
Sol was perfectly aware that he was not the most comforting presence. He still did what he could, wrapping his wings around as a blanket and letting the ambient heat of his body turn it into a warm cocoon. He could feel the other man squirm from inside, but paid it no mind.
Any more of Ky’s protests were cut off before they could start. Only a pitiful, stretched whimper managed to escape alongside an uncomfortable cracking. Talking was new, but this wasn’t. The writhing intensified, and Sol could feel the space his wings made growing more cramped. A stray claw grazed the membrane, and he bit back a hiss until the scratch fused together.
After being relatively certain that he wouldn’t be bitten, he unfurled just enough to peer inside. Though the blue-white veins seemed to glow, they offered no light, and the only illumination was a pair of slitted red eyes, pinched in discomfort. As the outside light slipped in, the pupils tried to shift and adjust.
“S-Sol. Please.”
More darkness had overtaken his face, inching along in a miserable crawl. The black scales were just starting to brush the inner canthus of his other eye, and there was something minute but noticeable pulsing from under the skin, right on the plane of his cheek.
Sol could only sigh, preparing himself for the inevitable. “I can’t. I can’t do anything. You just have to let it happen.”
“No, no no nonono-” he pleaded, “It hu-uuurts- !”
Another round of thrashing squeals poured out. Sol could hear the bones slide and crunch, pushing the skin overtop to its limit but never enough to fully split it and leave a wound. The Gear cells made any injury heal almost as soon as it was made, but it didn’t take away the pain of the initial shift. He could feel another limb pushing against him, a tail that whipped back and forth more on instinct than any intention to move. Ky had never had one before, why would he know how to use it?
Sol tried for a reassuring purr, nuzzling his muzzle against the other man’s face. All it got him was a harsh zap. He paid it no mind.
“It won’t hurt forever.”
Ky panted in exhaustion through staggered breaths. “Kill….kill me…”
“No. I’m not gonna do that.”
The other eye squinted shut as the black scales started to overtake it properly. “Get- get…my sword-”
“Ky, ‘m not-”
“I’ll do it. I-I’ll-”
“I already said. You’re not killing yourself. Just breathe. I know it hurts. You’re almost done.”
It wasn’t true, but Ky needed a comfort, even if it came in the form of a lie. Most of his body had already been consumed, but given how slow it had been so far, there was still more to go.
Ky was offered even less of a reprieve the next time. His whimpers turned throaty and wet. As Sol peered down, the angle of his jaw shifted to the sound of a muffled snap. Ky’s eyes flew open, but his mouth stayed firmly shut. The muscles twitched in place, but the only real movement was coming from his lower face as it started to fully deform.
Twitch. Twitch. The bob of his throat moved up and down, but no sound came out. Were his vocal cords reshaping, or was the sensation just so intense that it had stolen his voice? Ky seemed to notice it as soon as Sol did, and his eyes began to well with noiseless tears.
“Do what I said. Deep breathing.”
The man tried for a timid nod, but he was too wracked with spasms to control much of himself. The ridge of his nose pushed in as he tried to breathe, and the prominence of his jaw pushed out. Even when he didn’t arch, Sol could feel his too-long shoulders brushing against him. None of it was absurdly oversized for a Gear, but it was all too big for Ky.
He fought off a shudder. How strange. This had become so familiar over the decades, but seeing it now, from the perspective of someone new, reminded him of just how horrid the process was. He was grateful it went by so quickly for him.
And it would for Ky, too. Someday. But clearly, that was not today. All there was to do was curl up in a safe, dark space and wrench as much comfort from that, because he would not be finding much comfort anywhere else.
It took several moments for Sol to realize that the peculiar hissing fizzle was the sound of Ky’s tears evaporating as soon as they left his eyes. He looked up at Sol with a look of something like betrayal. There was nowhere else to vent his anger and suffering aside from the man directly across from him.
“It’s okay. It’s almost over.”
His face didn’t soften. Even if it wasn’t twitching and reshaping itself, Sol could tell just from the glint in his eyes that Ky didn’t believe him anymore.