Jesse's face turned the same hue as a blank piece of clean white paper upon our emergence from the women's restroom. For as quiet and sporadic as he was, Jesse's mind also operated at high levels of cognitive and perceptive performance. It made me wonder if the whole 'nervous wreck' identity that he constantly left on clear display was authentic or simply a facade for others to underestimate him with. If it were the latter, he was quite possibly a borderline genius, rivaling even some of the most capable of warlords.
'Sun Tzu could even learn a thing or two from him', I reckoned.
The three of us, with Jesse and I on each side of Levi, returned to the safety of her room. With her roommate out for the day, we wouldn't have any unexpected guests. The silence that followed in our wake was deafening.
Jesse was the first to break it, "So you're on the chopping block too now, huh?"
Another maddening minute without any other acknowledgement.
"Why?" Jesse asked.
"Levi's a woman, Jesse," I interjected on Levi's behalf.
"Yes, I see that, but-"
"She's a woman," I stated, the influx of my voice hinting at a deeper definition for him to search for.
Jesse stared, processing my statement.
"Ah," he said, "That actually explains a lot about the problems in our past relationship."
The toes of Levi's feet, even in their shoes, wriggled together nervously. Her hands were playing with the edge of her shirt where it met and slightly obscured her pants pockets.
"Jasper thinks we can get the demon who gave us this card to make the change permanent," she contributed.
"That's not normal, or natural," Jesse replied.
I glared at him subtly and watched as he glanced between myself and Levi's renewed expression of shame. His face softened upon reflecting on the way his words landed on her.
"Not you, Levi," Jesse elaborated, "It's just that there's a process for something like this that's more natural. A gradual process that is still a reflection of you rather than... this."
I nodded subconsciously in agreement. I understood exactly what Jesse was worried about. The body that the card had given us wasn't ours. It was somebody else entirely. How had I described it?
'Synthetic.'
Levi looked to me for some kind of follow up statement.
"You know I feel the same way," I said, "but whichever route we go, you get to lead the charge. Plus, I'll be there to support you the same way you supported me, every step of the way."
Now it was Jesse's turn to nod in agreement.
"We do have the immediate problem that we might want to address in the interim," I continued.
Levi's face scrunched.
"The quota," I said, "How do you want to handle that?"
Now her cheeks were turning a sly tint of red, and she started to bite her lower lip.
"It's only a cup," Levi replied, "Do you think that we could accomplish it with just you two?"
I was learning so many new things about her. She was totally different than she'd been when I was the one with payment due.
'Bloody altruists,' I thought to myself.
"If that's what you're comfortable with, I'll do whatever I can to keep up with Jesse over here," I answered.
I winked at Jesse, who was beginning to shift uncomfortably. Something was wrong with him, just as it had been before when I had been with him. He wasn't sure of himself. From one foot to the other, back and forth.
"I'm still not feeling very well from yesterday, but I'll do everything I can," he said with a sincere smile.
He turned to me with almost the same sheepish expression that Levi had given me earlier.
"Would it be ok if we kissed a bit?" he asked.
Jesse was gay-gay.
'Holy shit, the well runs even deeper.'
The discomfort, the apprehension, the sheer effort it took for him to keep himself erect during our bouts. Jesse was an actual homosexual, Levi a transwoman, and as for me... I didn't really fucking care. I was learning so much in such a little amount of time. I didn't have the context behind the issues with Levi and Jesse's old relationship, but if I was applying things together properly then it could only be that miscommunication is a massive, unapologetic bitch. The mistress of severed ties and the devourer of lust. She was everything explicitly contrary to human connection.
"I don't mind at all," I answered, absolutely thrilled by his proposition as much as the idea itself, "Settle in. We'll be here for some time."