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Half a day later.

Nithya, human once more, flops tiredly onto the hotel bed, the softest thing she has lied on in weeks. She gives a deep, relieved sigh. A moment's respite from the... everything.

They had managed do re-do the ritual about a mile away from nearest buildings without being seen. Much smaller fire was sufficient, and Nithya somewhat suspected it might just being able to focus on a moving fire that matters, not the size of the 'ritual flame'. They changed back just right... well, Clay was still a woman, but this time it was rather expected, if unfortunate.

Making their way into the town near Petropavlovsk airport, they did some quick searching for a hotel, ending up with one that was some distance away from the airport and nearby businesses... but was just one street crossing away from a patch of forest when they would inevitably need to shed the deer form again.

Some quick food acquisition later - avoiding meats in case their new changes would react badly to it - they finally got to a room and could relax.

"I might not leave this bed at all tonight. Hope that's okay."

Clay walks into the room and sets her pack down, looking at the very tempting bed on the other side of the room. Her transformation met with a quiet resignation, and while Nithya gave her apologies that it didn't work as they might have hoped, Clay was still struggling with just how okay she is with this.

"I think that's fine... I'm a bit afraid to lay down for much the same reason, but I do feel so exhausted just in getting this far." She turns to sit at the end of the bed, not quite fully laying down yet.

Nithya gives Clay a smile: "Hey. We made it this far. We're a short walk away from the airport, now. We can relax for a second."

Clay smirks, "Guess you're right at that." She flops back into the bed, "I never imagined a bed like this could feel so good... even after some of the long hikes we've been on."

Nithya smiles: "Yeah... we were out there a while, and..." She waves a hand towards the ceiling: "You know, all of that. It's nice to have some semblance of normality for a second." Their meal together earlier was very uneventful, the two just eating quickly and quietly as they both just wanted to get to this point.

Clay hums, spreading her arms out to luxuriate a moment, "You can say that again. I didn't realize how much I missed 'normal'."

Nithya sighs slowly and calmly. "Yeah. I mean, we still have some hurdles ahead of us I'm sure, but... not right this instant."

Clay tilts her head to look over at Nithya. "A good meal and a good bed. No, right now, everything feels pretty good. I don't know what tomorrow brings, but for now, I just don't want to worry about it all."

Nithya mm's. "A soft bed and a meal that's not directly forest gathered, and once I can summon the energy to get up, a very long shower."

Clay hums in echo, "Mm, yeah. Hot clean water. We really did it. All the trials, all the fear, we made it. Heh."

Nithya laughs softly: "We did, despite all the insanity of it." She glances at her friend: "Couldn't have done it without you."

Clay returns a warm smile in her direction, "Or without you. This is our victory."

Nithya nods: "I'll take that." She takes a deep breath. "I'll... I'll take that indeed."

She is quiet for a moment, before glancing at Clay again: "Do you want to take the shower first, or can I?"

Clay shifts his head back to look up at the ceiling. "You can go ahead. I don't mind waiting. I'm admittedly a bit nervous about it anyways."

Nithya gives Clay a look of sympathy: "Yeah... I can see that." She gets up to sitting with a groan, then starts undressing all the grimy clothes. Once in her underwear she pauses for the briefest of seconds... then relents, reminding herself that even if Clay hadn't seen her undressed because of various incidents over the years, last two weeks he sure as heck has enough times for it to so very much not matter. In moments she has no clothes on and she just winces at how sore and dirty she feels.

"I need to go do some basic clothes shopping tomorrow. And I think I'm not alone in that."

Clay does her best not to stare, keeping her eyes on the ceiling, but she does shift up at the mention of clothes shopping. "O-oh... guess so, huh. Your clothes are alright, but it might be nice to have some that fit right." Something cute... She glances away, not acknowledging that thought.

Nithya nods as she walks to the bathroom door: "We're both kind of differently sized from before. I don't know about you, but my breasts are killing me for wearing too-tight bra for that much trekking." Whatever sense of modesty Nithya had before when it was just the two of them, she seems to have lost the last bits of it in that forest.

Clay reaches down to touch her chest somewhat gently, "O-oh... yeah. Mine too?" She reaches back to unclasp the bra, not quite stripping just yet, just letting herself breath and relax. "I don't really know how they're supposed to feel, I guess."

Nithya steps into the doorway, and leans back with a small wink: "Not painful, certainly." She doesn't fully close the bathroom door, just so they can continue talking.

She takes the first look at herself in the mirror since before the trip... and winces. She does kind of look like she's been dragged through hell, kind of like she's always been after an excursion, but there are some bits especially around her eyes that tell a story of something much more stressful than the usual trip.

She runs her hands through her now longer and thicker hair, down to halfway her back in lenght. Still a bit curly, but to her curiosity... "Huh. I think my hair lost some of the natural curls. It's straighter than it used to be", she calls out of the bathroom. "Much longer though. Kinda crazy since that's one thing I've definitely hoped for before..."

She trails off as she next looks at her breasts in the mirror, and... yeah, absolutely no doubt she's gone up in size, from a C to almost definite D. She frowns a bit as she realizes that means a lot of bra shopping, not particularly an activity she has ever enjoyed. Clothes are bought almost universally for practical reasons, and style rarely if ever enters the tan lady's thoughts when buying them.

Clay hums, calling back out, "Oh? I sorta noticed, but just figured that was... stress and time talking. Not like we had access to a barber out there. Where were a few other things that seemed like bigger changes besides your hair though."

Nithya chuckles as she feels her breasts for a second: "Yeah, no kidding." She sighs a bit: "I hope this doesn't mean post-trek back pain is in my - our - future either. Boobs just get in the way at a dig."

She then stops delaying and steps into the shower, letting the water run until it's properly hot and stepping under it. "Oh God this feels so good... More so than usual even..."

Clay chuckles, "Just try not to use all the hot water." She pauses, to consider herself. After a moment, she gets up from the bed, and while Nithya is showering, she also strips down, though she does feel a bit self-conscious about it still, she takes the moment of semi-privacy to examine herself more closely, having been almost afraid to simply look at herself too much. Now she is letting her hands idly explore just the shape and feeling of her body, familiarizing herself with how her body feels.

Nithya just enjoys the hot water for a long moment, before getting to soap and scrub herself from head to toe. If she's going to grow fur again tonight, at least she's doing so clean. She does take her time, but eventually reminds herself that there's another that also wants the shower.

With some reluctance, she eventually turns the water off, feeling much better, physically speaking. "Mm. All yours", she calls out as she starts wrapping herself to a towel... and realizing she better wrap her new long hair into another.

Clay relents her exploration with an unfamiliar reluctance, and steps towards the bathroom to take her turn in the shower. "Ah, thanks. Just the steam from your shower feels good already~"

She pauses as she gets a glimpse of herself in the mirror, blinking for a moment as she stares, then gets closer to wipe off the steam. Her skin seems a shade paler, with faint freckles on her cheeks. Her red hair is somewhat matted, down to her shoulders, though her eyes are the same green, simply seeming less dull in color.

She reaches up a hand, almost as if to make sure that this is actually a reflection. "H-holy shit... is... th-that me?"

Nithya is standing just outside the bathroom and peeks in. "Think that beautiful woman is you, now. Yes." She pauses at her own statement, but brushes it off. She didn't mean anything with it. Right?

Clay 's hand reaches her face, pinching her cheeks, running it up along her head to trace the lines, both familiar and utterly new. She lets out an unnerved laugh, "B-beautiful... woman..."

Nithya considers: "Even if jury's still out on the 'woman' part, you do look quite pretty, Clay." She leans back to just out of sight, so her friend doesn't see her wrestling with her own thoughts after that statement.

'Goddamnit I really do like her, don't I?'

Clay blushes, feeling just how strange and 'good' that compliment makes her feel. She squeaks out a faint "Ah, th-thank you..." before she snaps out of it, "B-best take that shower now."

She starts the water back up, stepping into the shower and letting the hot water run over her, washing away a suprising degree of grime just on its own before Clay can bring herself to lather up and actually clean off.

Nithya sits on the bed, quietly questioning herself on things said and thought.

'I can't... I won't fall for her... him. Not gonna ruin our friendship, and career, and all this is just not something I am doing right now. Or ever.'

She glances towards the bathroom and sighs quietly.

'Let's get us out of Russia at the very least, first.'

Clay takes her time, emerging some point later, with a towel wrapped around her chest, and absolutely no clue what to do about her hair other than to dry it off as best she can. She returns quietly, and makes her way towards her bed, where she gives Nithya a small smile. "I really am a woman, huh? I mean, I knew... but... I don't think it really clicked."

Nithya looks up at Clay coming from the shower and by sheer force of will manages to not react with a blush or saying something utterly stupid.

"Yeah. You are now. I can imagine such a change taking a bit to hit home."

Clay nods a bit vacantly, lost in his thoughts, but not seeming upset, "Y-yeah... yeah." She takes a deep breath in, and lets it all out in a rush. "This... whole body feels different. Different to move, and different to touch... b-but I don't think I realized until I saw myself... that it's me. Just... different."

Nithya smiles as she looks up at her friend. "Like I've been trying to tell you... You're still you."

Clay chuckles, "N-not saying I didn't believe you. Your words helped more than I could have asked for, but it just... part of me still felt like I had changed into someone else."

Nithya shrugs. "Who? You gotta be yourself, everyone else is already taken." She gives the other woman a wink.

Clay laughs, then lies herself back down on the bed. "I don't know who else I can be either, I've a lifetime of practice so far..."

Nithya looks at Clay, but turns to look the other way as she starts to feel... Well, starts to feel. She lies back on her own bed. "T-that's how it usually goes. Not that there's anything usual about our situation here."

Clay hmms, folding her hands over her belly. "No... but it all feels... doable. Hard, sure. But nowhere near impossible. I... I'm okay like this I think..."

Nithya considers her words again for a moment. She turns to her side, leaning on her hand as she looks at Clay.

"I guess you can't say it's the deer side talking, now."

Clay shakes her head, "I don't think so... I feel very much like 'Clay' right now."

Nithya dares a small smile. "That's good, I think. Gotta feel at home in one's own body, right?"

Clay lets out another deep breath, "Yeah... yeah, I guess so." He tilts his head to look at Nithya, "How are you feeling now?"

Nithya looks up at the ceiling.

She swallows the first thing she almost says about things long since promised and recently changed.

"Relieved. Confused. Worried. Hopeful. Somewhere in that territory."

Clay watches his friend worriedly, but nods, "Yeah... yeah, same then." This is not where I imagined this trip would end up... but I'm glad we've made it here."

Nithya glances at Clay with a smile: "You know what? Me too. We're here, we can relax until we likely change later tonight, it's okay."

Clay nods, "It... It is. It actually is, huh?"

Nithya takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. "Y-yeah. Right here, right now, we're good."

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