Chapter 4 b Transformations

Then, with a gentle push, Iggy sank into the tub at last. There was a great comfort in the lack of air and gravity when placed neck deep in the hot water as it helped to loosen his muscles and relax his solidified joints. It washed away all of the filth from his skin. Nastiness carried away along a subtle current and vanished into a hole in the bathtub wall, where it was discarded.

Nansen dipped a towel in the water and wiped off the extra blood that had hardened over Iggy’s lower face and neck. He wiped under his eyes and over his cheeks. Everything was quiet, almost serene, but then Iggy gazed up at him.

Nansen’s mouth went dry and he pulled his hand away from Iggy’s face. He forced himself to look away anxiously, as it would be to turn his cheek to a venomous snake, and brought his attention away from Iggy’s hazardous eyes. He rinsed the sweat and loose hair off of Iggy’s head to cover up his reaction, but unsatisfied with the lingering embarrassment, he dunked Iggy under the water to further distract from his own awkwardness. He artificially chuckled once Iggy resurfaced. “Well, well… What happened to all of your scratches?” He re-wet the cloth, held Iggy’s arm and wiped downwards toward his left wrist. “And your wrist?”

With his head planted against the ledge, Iggy peered down at his submersed limbs, and through the water, he couldn’t see a single imperfection in his smooth white skin. Only a smudge of shiny scar tissue remained across his left wrist. Oddly, he couldn’t see what he saw. For his entire life he had the disability and now, in a relatively short matter of time, it was erased, but the ingrained memory of it was not. He lifted his right hand out of the water and stroked the side of his head, carefully, and to his surprise he felt very short hair growing from his scalp. Fuzzy and soft.

Nansen stood, seemingly absent minded while he hummed, and grabbed the metal file from the countertop. He knelt down near Iggy’s head. He knocked his knuckles along Iggy’s chin. “Open up,” he commanded. Iggy opened his mouth, yet his eyes were still looking, and because of that a shudder passed through Nansen. “Close your eyes, too,” he added.

Iggy obeyed willingly and tired. Nansen applied pressure with his fingers to each tooth that was expected to change. The top lateral incisors, the canines, and the first premolars. They all felt loose in their sockets and near to falling out, but they were actually crumbling away from the new teeth coming in through them. Iggy heard a loud crack deep within his ears as Nansen pulled out a wad of tooth shards with his fingers. He continued cracking off pieces of tooth for thirty minutes, then he used the metal file to scrape off the stubborn leftovers. He drew his attention to Iggy’s bottom jaw, where he did the same to crack off pieces from his lower canines and file off what was left. Then, he pulled away from Iggy’s face, filled the paper cup up with sink water, and handed it to him. “Wash your mouth out with this, but don’t swallow it.”

Iggy bowed his head, sucked up some water, and spat it right back out. Bone particles and body residue floated in the water before his eyes. Grungy disgust propelled him out of the water, giving a great splash of water to the floor.

Nansen flung a towel around him and helped him step over the tall bath ledge without so much as glancing at the puddle around their feet. He gestured toward the mirror hanging behind the sink. “Take a look, brother,” he encouraged. “Come on, now.” Iggy clenched the towel tight around his shoulders with only one hand, as he was used to, but swallowed dryly and shook his head refusing to look. Nansen pinched his love handle and his tone became borderline aggressive. “I said, ‘take a look’.”

Iggy cringed as he opened his eyes and looked at his reflection for the first time. He could not recognize who was standing before him. Sure, it was him… but was it?

The soft boyish curves of his face and body had been chiseled, he looked many years older, about twenty three or so, and his hair was only about an inch long and a much deeper shade of black, giving great contrast to his faded skin color and his multicolored eyes. The oval shape of his eyes was exaggerated and given more depth with an ability to reflect light subtly, yet clearly. While thick brows were growing above, dark purple circles lingered beneath, and the colors… were beautiful.

Feeling the ache in his jaw, he opened his mouth and saw his new razor sharp teeth. They were not much longer than his human teeth, but they were still pushing out from his bright red and tender gums, raw. His lower canines were just as sharp as the top canines; which was surely an uncommon bite.

He drew his eyebrows in and turned his head toward Nansen’s reflection. He studied Nansen’s mouth, waiting for him to open it so that he could at least glimpse his teeth, too, and as if Nansen could read his mind, he parted his lips.

Iggy was right.

Nansen only had sharp teeth on the top, not on the bottom. “What?” Nansen laughed, closing his mouth. “Am I missing a pair?”

Iggy hooked his bottom right tooth with his fingertip. “Is this… normal?” he asked.

Their eyes locked through the mirror’s reflection and Nansen jerked his head side to side. “You’re a bit different. Baine had something interesting in his blood, because no one has sharps on their bottom jaw, except for you and KillJoy-” he smirked “-That’s what I started calling her… KillJoy. She hates it.”

Nansen broke eye contact and leaned around him. He unfolded the clothing from the countertop, and knelt down at Iggy’s side, holding the soft gray pant legs open for him to step into. Iggy’s range of motion was better, but still comparable to that of a hundred year old man’s. After the pants, Nansen wrapped a navy blue sweater around the crown of his head and pulled it down along the length of his aching arms. He finished him up with a pair of soft white socks.