Chương 22: 22-Checkup

Tanya looks down at the…

egg in her pouch for a moment, then back up at the full length mirror mounted on the inside facing side of a closet door. Staring at the creature reflected in the silver, Tanya reaches down and pokes the shell, then reaches back up and gently feathers an arm across the frills bracketing her face.

Even that faint touch on the lowermost left protrusion twitches like a whisker, making her shiver as she feels subtle movements in the air across that newly sensitive portion of her anatomy.

But even as the analytical part of her mind is breaking down this new sense and tries to map it to the gentle movement of things in the room to turn the ability to her advantage, the rest of her mind is just…

Baffled.

Her memories surrounding the moments immediately prior to and following the…

event are blurred and distorted to an incomprehensible haze of emotions. But her… prudishness about her species evolution did not prevent her from learning about the need for a catalyst.

The idea she had control over when the evolution was going to happen was what gave her the excuse to avoid looking into the topic.

So how…

She pokes the egg again –slightly harder– and notices how her bulk ripples slightly, like a water bed.

How did this happen!?

Amelia blows her nose again, then gently puts the used tissue in the wastebin with the rest as she takes a shaky breath and stands from her bed.

"I– We…

We need to tell mom… everything…" She says hesitantly, ducking her head slightly as if trying to shy away from the idea before catching herself and straightening up.

Tanya tilts her head slightly, glancing between her partner and the mirror.

She's not actually needed down there, as she cannot communicate with Joana, so it makes no functional difference… if…

The thought trails off as she gets a better look at Amelia, her left fist clenched and subtly shaking as her breaths cycle in a slightly too precise rhythm while her bloodshot eyes look steadily back across the room into the middle distance, so dilated there's barely a hint of pupil separating the reddish white white and black.

There's a beat of silence as Amelia lets the implied request hang, neither pushing or retracting.

Tanya holds back a sigh as she tears herself away from the mirror and closes the closet door.

"Alright. Lead the way."

Amelia nods and moves slowly and with deliberate smoothness, as if a single uncontrolled twitch or breath could spell complete disaster as the pair navigate the stairs.

At the bottom step, just before stepping off, Amelia looks across the open ground floor plan at her mother as she stands over a stovetop with her back to the rest of the room, stirring something in a pot.

"Dinner's not ready yet hon, give it–"

"No. I– Mom." Her daughter interrupts, voice admirably normal for the state of her body language.

"Mom I… I want to… No, I am going on a journey."

Joana stops stirring, other subtle movements falling to stillness.

She doesn't choose to respond before Amelia hastily continues.

"But that doesn't mean I'm not going to school, I am.

I just– I need to– I didn't want to need to, but then after today– and Happiny evolved and I just couldnt…" She trails off as Joana straightens her back and puts down the spoon.

"I tried!

I really did! And I'm not giving up! And I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner, I just didn't want to–" She's cut off mid sentence as her mother flashes a look over her shoulder too quickly to read her expression, before she turns and almost sprints through a nearby side door.

Half a second later there's the sound of objects being violently moved around, followed by a crash.

Every sound and moment that passes has Amelia hunching further into herself, new tears forming in her eyes just as Joana screams from the other room."

Finally!" She shouts with a confusing mix of exasperation and excitement.

"I was worried you'd run off one of these nights and leave a note!"

There's another crash from the adjoining room as Amelia freezes, shocked into a baffled statue as her mother comes back into the kitchen holding a large cardboard box.

"Whu–"

"You still planning on doing correspondence school? You'll need better clothes, I talked to your Aunt Tammy because she got a badge between year one and year two and she said–"

"What?" Amelia cuts her off, completely lost as her mother drops the heavy box on the counter between them.

"Mom I– How did… How did you know?"

Joana offers an amused eyebrow as she opens the box and rummages around.

"Amelia, sweety, light of my life, you weren't subtle." She says with a huff.

"What did you expect me to think with all that studying ahead?"

"I only decided to do it five minutes ago!" Her daughter says, all other emotions temporarily buried under a tsunami of teenage indignation.

Joana smirks, and lets the statement linger for a moment before she responds.

"Of course… my mistake." She says, then continues before Amelia can respond.

"You're lucky I was 'mistaken'" She says in quotes, holding out a sheaf of papers.

"I've already completed as much as I can for you to enroll in that school I 'thought' you were staring at wistfully every time junk mail came in."

"Mom… I–" Amelia's interrupted again as her mother places an unmarked envelope on top of the pile in her daughter's arms.

"Here's some money I set aside for you to get any gear you couldn't…"

Joana trails off as Amelia puts down the papers, rushes around the countertop separating them, and hugs her mom with a warbling sniff."

Thank you."

The woman pauses for a second, then pulls back and looks at her daughter and blinking as if only just now seeing her, eyes lingering on the red face and gentle shivering.

There is a moment of shock, then her gaze softens into a deep affection tinged with regret, and Joana pulls her daughter back into a hug."

Always."

Lingering on the embrace for a full half minute, eventually they pull apart and Joana shoves the cardboard box the rest of the way across the countertop with a smile.

"Well, things are about to get busy tonight! The circuit opened today and my friends at the chiropractor say the first days are the most important part of a journey!" She says, then glances down at Tanya.

"And I've got to give you a checkup, you evolved big but you don't show any signs of–" She doesn't get to finish the sentence as the sound of hissing water from an overflowing pot hits the burner and instantly vaporizes. The sound makes her yelp and rush back across the room.

"Agh! The noodles! Amelia! Move your journey stuff to the living room!" She points at Tanya from behind her back as she moves a pot off the heat with one hand.

"Dont move! I'm gonna ask you some questions! Puffin!"

Jigglypuffs voice calls back from up the stairs, muffled to the point of inaudibility to Tanya's ears.

"Yes! It's curry with rice noodles! Happiny evolved! Get my house call bag from the bedroom and the big bathroom scale! Amelia told us!"

–_– Tanya gingerly removes her egg from its pouch and lightly waves it around the room, marveling at the novel experience of being able to feel where it is relative to her despite being completely detached from her body, as if she'd somehow disconnected a chunk of her flesh without losing sensation.

Then, after a few seconds of her pouch lacking egg, Tanya feels the urge to tense… something inside her gut but holds back the instinct.

The first time it had happened she'd been too surprised to stop her body from moving on its own, causing another egg to show up in its place. The action had disconnected the first egg from her senses and earned her a stern reprimand from Joana for stressing her body so soon after evolution.

The Joy, having put a nurse's hat on top of her casual dress, wraps a measuring tape around the widest section of her patient's bulk, then slides her hand against the grain of Tanya's fur, revealing a cross section of equally pink skin underneath.

"Epidermal elasticity looks fine… no signs of strain in abdominal fascia. Good." She mutters, putting away the tape measure before reaching up with one hand and pushing into Tanya's bulk near her left arm and pressing against her rotator cuff as the other hand puts a stethoscope in her ears.

"Windmill your arm for me please? …Good."

Tanya is distracted from the checkup for a second as Jigglypuff walks by, still damp from a shower and scrubbed up with a face mask and nitrile gloves.

The 'mon drags the stepladder to the kitchen and hops up to the stovetop, adjusting a burners temperature as she does.

Then, as Tanya tries to return her attention to the checkup, she finds her eyes catching on Amelia as she sits at the foot of the couch in the living room, filling out paperwork with perfect focus as if –were she to stop before it's done– the documents would disappear like a mirage.

Joana presses a stethoscope to her patient's chest as her other hand pulls a sterile plastic package simply labeled 'blood test' from her kit bag.

This content has been misappropriated from; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"Breath in deeep for me? …Good, hold it? …aand release." She says, then moves the stethoscope lower for a moment, before pulling the stethoscope from her ears and hanging it around her neck.

"Ok, now I'm going to need to take some blood. I know you've had it done before but I'm the best at it. You'll barely feel a thing!" She says with a reassuring smile.

Tanya avoids rolling her eyes as she offers an arm as the nurse rips open the bag and begins cleaning a spot with alcohol.

It takes quite a lot of pain to make her flinch. Joana would have to do an unfathomably bad job to get past that pain tolerance.

Said pain tolerance turns out to be unnecessary, as the woman turns out to be quite adept at drawing blood, as the needle piercing skin proves significantly less painful than the last time.

But, as the blood pools in the vacuum ampule, Joana does not look reassured by Tanya's lack of reaction. Removing the needle, she quickly places a spot bandage on the skin and runs her finger over the cloth.

"Could you feel that?"

Tanya nods.

Pressing her lips together, Joana looks at Jigglypull as the 'mon walks past her and toward the low dining table, carefully balancing a red hot pan of curry above her head as she does.

"Puffin, do you mind giving Chansey here a pain split? Possible transient evolutionary neurapraxia." She says as she places the ampule into a matching slot on a plastic box and inserts a long strip of various test papers on the other side.

Jigglypuff grumbles behind the mask, carefully sliding the pan onto the low table.

"Give me a moment.

I'm not singing nursery rhymes with that. It takes some focus." She says, adjusting the pan slightly then steps back, before her eyes start to glow and Tanya feels something saturate her flesh.

Joana looks back down.

"I need a second ampule anyways. Other arm please."

Tanya complies, and as the needle pieces her arm she notices the pain is significantly diminished, followed by Jigglypuff wincing and reaching for a spot on her arm roughly the same place as the needle."

Nhg.

Nope. She's feeling it just fine."

Joana blinks, then almost seems to reach for an imaginary clipboard before catching herself.

"Alright then…"Follow current ɴᴏᴠᴇʟs on NoveIＦire. net The nurse places the other ampule in a similar looking portable blood tester along with another sheet of test paper.

Reaching back into the bag, she grabs a fancy looking egg timer and turns it to three minutes before pressing down on twin plungers over the now sealed boxes –and after a bit of resistance– they depress smoothly.

With a nod Joana, places the plastic boxes onto the table and slides over the scale.

"Hop on."

Tanya complies, and out of an idle curiosity, tries to look down at the scale only to be blocked by a wall of pink.

After a moment Tanya reaches down and tries to push her bulk away to see her feet, but finds it too firm.

Joana watches her struggle for a few seconds with a smirk before poking a finger into the pink flesh.

"I was worried it was some kind of accelerated maturation disorder, but you've still got allll this baby fat. You're just gonna end up tall."

She motions for Tanya to step off the scale just as the timer gives a buzz and she quickly pulls the sheets of test paper out of the plastic box and places them in a glass tube full of a strong smelling chemical.

Sealing the tube, she puts everything else in a biowaste baggie and closes it.

"You're going to puff up for another few weeks as your body finishes the adipose rarefaction phase. You might start looking a bit… overstuffed. But don't worry, you'll grow into it." She reassures, before looking toward the living room waving Amelia over.

"Dinner's ready! Leave the paperwork!"

Amelia sheepishly puts a stack of papers back down and walks over.

Everyone takes a seat at the low table, the humans crossing their legs under the table as the two 'mon are put at eye level with everyone else.

As soon as everyone sits down Joana picks up the serving ladle and tongs and begins filling up her plate, Amelia taking a sip of water before she looks at her mother.

"How'd Chansey do?"

The matron hums thoughtfully.

"Blood test hasn't developed yet, but she looks healthy." She passes the serving tools to her daughter."

Big though."

Amelia glances at Tanya.

"... How big?"

"One hundred twenty one centimeters tall and forty four kilograms."

Amelia pauses, seemingly running though some numbers in her head and furrowing her brow as she seems confused with the results.

Meanwhile, Tanya's kicking herself once again for allowing her hesitance to learn about her species' version of puberty. Allowing that vague sense of discomfort at the idea to control her actions.

Amelia lifts her hands and starts tracking numbers on her fingers, but seems to come to the same unsatisfactory answer.

"How big does that put her at the end?" She asks finally.

Joana runs through the same calculations.

"... that doesn't seem right." She mutters before continuing, louder.

"I don't know. She'll get an actual checkup from a specialist when she gets back to the nursery tomorrow." She picks up the vial of test papers and shakes it slightly, washing away the residual blood and looking at the rainbow of circular swatches with an expert eye before smiling at Tanya.

"But I can confidently say you're perfectly healthy, just a little low blood sugar with post evolution exhaustion. So eat up!

Tanya nods, picking up her utensils with a flare of psychic mana as she suddenly realizes she's starved, her stomach giving a warning grumble.

It's almost worse than the first months after hatching at the nursery!

With that the meal begins the first few minutes silent as everyone has their mouths full.

But, as Tanya finishes a second portion, Joana looks up from her half finished plate.

"So… do you have a… uh… route? Path?" She starts, but almost immediately stops again as she trips against unfamiliar vocabulary.

"Route." Amelia chimes in, and Joana snaps her fingers.

"Yes! You have a route picked out yet?" She pauses, then sees her daughter looking hesitant to answer, and that same flash of shock that transitions to loving regret crosses her face.

"Come on? I'm curious. I've never planned for a journey, what am I missing out on?"

Amelia hesitates for a second longer.

"Well… I have a general idea of where we're going." She says cautiously.

With that single crack in her hesitation, she begins to cautiously describe her plan to head south, picking up speed and energy as Joana simply listens with an inquisitive expression and a few clarifying questions.

From there the night turns into a blur of food and conversation. Jigglypuff occasionally chiming in to ask a question that Amelia seems to almost understand as she squints and gives approximate answers.

Tanya, at times, pipes up as well. But finds her attention more directed to filling the seemingly bottomless pit in her stomach with curry.

The quartet sits there long after dinner is gone, yet even after the bowls were put away they remained at the table, Amelia weaving a hundred possible futures all the while carefully ensuring everyone at the table understands she's carefully making time for schooling.

But after a good meal and better conversation finally eases the awkward mood, the conversation keeps flowing strong as the hour grows later, chatter ending with Joana glancing at the clock with a yelp and hurriedly ushering everyone off to bed.

Amelia protests, eyes flickering at the paperwork needed to make her dream a reality. But her resistance quickly runs headlong against her body as bleary eyes and large yawns eventually convince her of a hesitant compromise to complete the work tomorrow.

Arriving back in her partner's room, Tanya assists the human as she vaguely lays out a blanket and pillow on the floor then falls into bed with a flump, asleep almost as soon as her head touches the pillow.

But, as Tanya settles into the barebones bedding after grabbing a spare blanket for more padding, the 'mon remains awake despite her exhaustion.

Looking around the darkened room, it's unsurprising she's having difficulty falling asleep.

It's been a little over a year since she's slept without the sleeping chirps and breathing of her sisters, by contrast this room seems almost deafening in its silence.

But, as the thought of her sisters comes into her head, she feels… something.

A gentle tug, similar to that straining feeling during her partner's emotional episode. But softer, not a warning of something being stretched, instead like someone gently pulling a rope to show they're on the other side.

That sensation is greeted by another.

And another.

And another.

On and on, something gently pulls at Tanya's soul in a way that escapes her understanding before, suddenly, her siblings feel as if they're pressed up against her on all sides once again and her eyes gently drift closed.

Sleep comes quickly after that.