Chapter Text
Kryoz trudged through the snow, his hands in his pockets. The cold didn't bother him much, but people would find it weird if he went out in just a long sleeve, so he resorted to wearing thin jackets.
Today, however, was different. It was all that his mind could think of, even as he got to work and did his boring job. That morning, he had noticed his ears starting to come to a sharp point. Easy enough to hide under his long hair, but... Strange. And they had started to develop a deep pink tint, almost as if he was constantly blushing, only at the tips of his ears.
Kryoz once more trudged through the snow, his work day over. The sun was low in the sky, leaving harsh shadows across everything. He stopped, looking toward the woods that was next to the town. He passed it every time he walked to and from work, but he'd never gone in.
He needed to think.
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Kryoz wiped a bit of dust off the kitchen counter, laying out a towel and and all the ingredients he needed for his lunch. He had decided to move into the house he found in the woods a couple of days after he discovered it, reasoning that not only would it be safer if his condition continued to develop, but it would also be cheaper, not having to pay rent and everything.
He was saving up for a generator so he could have enough electricity to power the fridge, and probably a few other appliances.
His ears had started shifting to a darker color, almost looking black. The only thing he could think of to compare the effect to was frost bite.
With living out in the middle of nowhere in a house that was probably illegal to be staying in, he had wanted to get rid of his phone, worried of it somehow being traceable. But he still needed it for his job, so he was stuck with it, despite how he really didn't want to be.
He finished packing his lunch, grabbing his phone and thin jacket that looked much thicker than it was, heading out to make his way to work. He took his time, the sun a faint whisper in the distance, hinting at a calm winter morning.
He held his jacket in his arms, enjoying the cold encompassing him for as long as he could. The trees were bare, the whole scene pale and bleak in a peaceful kind of way. He could imagine himself laying in a snow bank for hours as gusts of wind and flurries of snow buried him in their cold embrace.
He reached the edge of the woods, breaking out of his wishful thoughts as he put his jacket on, continuing his walk through the town to his job.
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Kryoz struggled to look at his back in the mirror, frowning. His ears had finally settled, ending up coming to a sharp point and appearing horribly frost bitten, though they didn't hurt at all.
But now he was dealing with wings. Growing out of his back was a pair of small, fragile looking wings, colored the same as pure ice. They were about the size of a baby birds, barely wings on him, but he was sure they'd grow in. Which he really didn't want.
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Kryoz leaned against the AC unit, his eyes closed as he let the cool air soak into his skin. Summer was kicking his ass! He felt like his skin was about to melt off his bones, leaving him a rotting carcass in the break room.
He always hated summer. The unnecessary heat of everything, only getting worse and worse as more people filed into the same areas as him, filling rooms with their body heat.
No one bothered him during his breaks, having since come to the understanding that he couldn't handle the heat as well as they could. They always joked that he was cold blooded, but a few were sweet.
He always found a fresh ice pack in the freezer during his break, and sometimes a few of his coworkers would dump an ice cube or two down his shirt. He was sure it started as pranks, but it had become routine and kind gestures now.
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Kryoz looked at his wings, which were once more growing larger as it got cooler out. They had shrunk once it hit summer, constantly dripping cool water down his back as they melted little by little, the heat faster than their growth.
But now that winter was approaching again, they went back on their growth spurt, stretching down his back. He had edited some of his clothes to adapt to the change, cutting slits in shirts to slide them through while he was at home. They were surprisingly flexible, and easily slid through, settling behind him.
They were more proportionate to him now, still small but less awkward. They looked like bat wings, but made of ice, coming to sharp points with thin, false webbing between each spike.
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Kryoz had gotten into a routine. Suffer when it was summer, his only saving grace being ice packs he hid in his jackets, which he had edited to have thin pockets on the inside lining, and pray no one noticed the added thickness to his jackets when winter hit and his wings thrived.
His wings had also settled into a routine. They shrunk a bit during summer, becoming small and frail, but thrived during winter, settling at a size that was much larger, but not too difficult to keep hidden.
Kryoz was currently hiding in his house, laying on the floor on his stomach with an ice pack on the back of his neck. He hummed in satisfaction, feeling as the cold sensation soaked into his skin.
His lovely evening was interrupted by a yell. He sat up, the ice pack falling to the floor as he curiously stood and make his way to one of the windows, grime covered with a spider web crack sprouting from the corner.
He couldn't see anything through the tall grass, so he went to his back door, hyping himself up as he hid his wings under a jacket hanging next to it before stepping out, the sun immediately attacking him.
He powered through the feeling, pushing his way through the tall grass until he reached the trees. He continued walking around the lake, following a faint path filled with roots and rocks.
After a while, the trail stopped. He looked around, finding the lake in front of him and a bike leaning against a tree, a shirt and shoes next to its back tire. He looked over the bike, a quaint, lidded basket situated in front of the handle bars.
A noise from the lake drew his attention, and he looked over, freezing in shock at finding a fucking mermaid scrambling at the sand as they pulled themself out of the water. They had a large, pale blue tail with light pink accents, and gills along their neck.
They tried to speak, but instead let out a choked sound, leaning forward and coughing. Kryoz rushed forward, looking them over to try to find out what was wrong.
"You need to get back in the water," Kryoz deemed, pushing them toward the lake. They tried to fight it, but Kryoz was able to roll them over, and they immediately gasped in the air that supplied them, coughing as some water got in their mouth.
This was new.
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Kryoz watched as Puffer rubbed his cheek against the dirt wall, letting a small smile slip onto his lips. The man had settled into being a literal merman pretty well, all things considered. Sure, there were hoops they had to jump through, but they had gotten through them, and now Puffer was thriving.
His tail was half of his body, trailing lazily behind him as he held on to the wall. He had fins behind his ears, pressed to his head so as not to get damaged as he rubbed his scaly cheek raw on the dirt wall.
Kryoz let the man be, picking up his book. He honestly never used to read much, but now there wasn't much else to do. Plus, it was an excuse to hang out with Puffer.