"... Levi..."
Just the mention of his name sent her flying into a fit of waterworks, supplemented by wheezing and coughing galore. All the work I'd done to ease the burden she shouldered during my initial triage was immediately reapplied under the weight of a single word. A single given name. As though I'd inserted a nasopharyngeal airway to establish the breath of life only to suddenly yank it back out and let her lungs collapse.
I didn't know how to feel, so I just asked.
"Levi, what's going on?" I began grasping for words to establish some line of communication between us, "Why?"
"I'm not stupid, Jasper," she answered, defiantly, lobotomizing my gaping curiosity with a piercing stare, "though maybe a little naive."
She paused before continuing.
"I knew what the risks were and I saw what I helped put you through. Don't forget that I rallied the entire building into the cause of saving your soul without them even knowing that's what they were doing. Because of that, I also know exactly what's at stake. I just didn't think the effects would pertain to just anyone AND everyone."
Another extended pause.
"Except for you. After seeing what was possible..." she gestured toward me, "I realized that I had an opportunity before me to be who I actually am, not just what I was born as. I don't expect you to understand."
She was waiting for me to say something. I just didn't know how to respond. There were so many things happening all at once. Too many things changing in only the span of a day and a half. I'd undergone a horrendous transformation of the body, been subjected to the sexual appetites of an entire college dormitory and barely scraped by enough of their essence to keep myself out of hell. Then Levi goes and does the exact same damn thing.
'All for what? A synthetic body?'
But then it hit me. Riley had tricked me into some demonic pact in which every reflection I held about myself was wrong. How many people would get to understand what it was like to live in a body that you knew for certain wasn't yours? The same way I had talked about how wrong everything felt during my entire crucible yesterday was exactly what Levi must've felt every single day, but I had to be sure. I needed to confirm it before I could pass judgement.
"L-Levi, have you... always wanted to be a girl?" I asked.
She thought for a moment, clearly surprised by my response.
"I never let myself ask the question until I'd seen what had happened to you, but the moment I recognized you through your transformation," she looked to the side, hair draping down to conceal her face, "the answer now, is yes."
And yet another awkward pause between us.
"That's why keeping the card on hand is so important. If its effects only last what I approximate to be midnight to midnight, or twenty-four hours, I'll need the card for the remainder of my life," she confessed.
"I don't understand," I admitted, "you can't possibly mean to-"
"I told you I'm not stupid, Jasper. The easy setting only requires a cup instead of a gallon. As long as I do that each day, I'll-"
"You can't be serious," I interrupted her, "What if you lose the card? Or worse! What if you forget or get complacent with it?!"
And now, we were properly arguing. Just like a bona fide married couple.
"I'm not going to do that, Jasper, and besides," she retorted, "what other options do I have to get genuine results like this?"
There was at least one thing going for us. The heat of the argument was slowly working to cook and evaporate away her tears. The more she resisted me, the less sad she seemed.
"You're just afraid of doing things the hard way. There are clinics, medicines-"
"I don't want to wait! I can't go back! For the first time in my life, I actually want to be here, to exist! I've never had that before, Jasper! I don't have to pretend anymore! Can't you just listen?!"
She was furious, passionate, but most of all... desperate. Any attempt to reason with her would undoubtedly result in something similar to a bite or scratch one might receive from removing the bowl from a food motivated pet.
'At least she isn't crying anymore.' I thought to myself, unable to take my eyes off her.
"What if we were to track Kabo down on our terms and strike a deal with him?" I asked, unsolicited.
She looked back to me, her hair flipping around to rest along her back and between her shoulders.
"What?" she asked, as if the idea was somehow more absurd than the fact that demons and hell existed in the first place.
"Well, they need us. Don't they? If they didn't then why would they use magic to compel us into extracting sexual fluids from one another?" I was beginning to audibly brainstorm. "If we can find a way into Hell, just temporarily, in order to reason or extort Kabo then maybe we can bargain to have him change you permanently."
It was a stupid idea and I knew it, but the way her face lit up at the development of it told me I was on the right track, regardless.
"So, what do you say?" I said, smirking and extending my hand confidently to her.
She accepted it in order to stand, and I turned around so that she could finish getting dressed.