ALL NOVEL 54. Another Reunion
Looking at her slice of cake Aurora easily identified it as a cheesecake, and judging from the aroma it was of the passionfruit variety. Letting her fork slice into the delicacy, she brought a small piece to her mouth.
The flavour exploded across her tongue and she was immediately enamoured, letting out a quiet moan, immediately checking to see if anyone had heard her only to sigh in relief that she was alone.
She noticed this was becoming an unconscious habit she would need to stop from happening, but for now, she didn’t care since she was too busy revelling in the rich flavour of the cream cheese with the fruity undertone of the passionfruit.
After finishing what was quickly becoming a favourite food type to her, Aurora returned to her office in order to make a start on the new pile of documents that had arrived since her supposed death while waiting for Roxanne, Ben, and Marie to arrive.
It only took around ten minutes before Ben walked into her office, stopping in the doorway as he laid eyes on her. It was clear by his expression he still held a slither of denial that she had become a woman.
Rolling her eyes, Aurora created a small pea-sized ball of ice and flicked it at Ben. It hit him square in his forehead and immediately snapped him out of the slight trance he was in, causing him to finally walk in and casually sit down on one of the two sofas in the middle of the room while rubbing where he was hit.
“Man, what kinda greeting was that!”
Aurora rolled her eyes again as she answered, putting down her pen and moving to sit on the sofa opposite him.
“Considering I flicked ice at you, I would say a frosty reception.”
Ben stared at her for a moment before sighing.
“You know that pun was shit right.”
Aurora slumped in her seat as she responded, a slight air of dejection hanging around her.
“Yeah, I knew the moment I opened my mouth, but what can I say, I tried.”
They both shared a laugh as Ben brought up the main issue.
“Damn, I still can’t believe all of this that’s going on. Time travel? Sure. A game that impacts reality, sure. Now gender-changing gods? Why not add one more crazy to the already long list? Wait, hang on, where did you get the ice from?”
Seeing Ben glance at her desk to see where she might have got a piece of ice from and finding nothing, she simply answered by creating a fist-sized ball of ice in her hand which caused Ben to pause at the sight before letting out a defeated sigh.
“And there is the next crazy to add to the list. My now female best friend is the second coming of Gandalf. Fuck, ima need to roll a fat one later, shits getting too crazy.”
Aurora giggled as she sat up, crossing her legs as she became serious.
“Joking aside, what Fortuna said was all real. Check out the documents on my desk and the letter in the golden envelope.”
Ben got up from the sofa with a serious expression as he moved to the desk. Seeing him going through and heavily scrutinising some of the IDs and passport, Aurora could only be thankful that Ben was his usual self, and they could joke around like usual.
She noticed his eyes kept on checking her out, but she could somewhat understand since not only was she now a woman, something that he was still getting used to, but her appearance was captivating, so she could fully understand.
Aurora decided to say something if this continued after a while, but for now, despite feeling slightly uncomfortable being checked out, even if Ben’s gaze held appreciation instead of lust, she would ignore it.
She had faith that once Ben got used to the change he would return to normal.
Aurora was brought out of her thoughts as Ben who was reading the letter spoke up.
“Yeah, no matter how you look at it, Fortuna forgot the date of your meeting with the Vice Chancellor and glossed over it. Minerva was definitely the one to do all the work.”
Aurora let out a giggle as she leaned against the armrest as she spoke to Ben, unconsciously showing him a glimpse of her cleavage.
“She is an airhead after all. I’m just relieved I couldn’t find any obvious errors or missing documents. But you know, as annoying as the whole going to uni again aspect may be, it will be a great chance to go to some of the student parties again. I did miss the shenanigans we got up to when I visited you in Bournemouth.”
Ben let out a snort as he finished reading the letter and returned it to the desk. Moving to sit back down, Ben briefly glanced at her chest with a raised eyebrow as if to say ‘really?’ to which she rolled her eyes after realising she was unconsciously showing off as he started to reminisce.
“Man, we had some good nights out, that’s true. Apart from the first time you came to visit and spent the night throwing up. Like who doesn’t even make it past pre-drinks?!”
Aurora giggled as they continued the conversation, waiting only ten minutes before Roxanne and Marie entered the office.
Unlike Ben who paused at the door, both Marie and Roxanne gave her a once over to confirm the truth behind the photo of herself that she sent earlier before giving her a warm smile.
Roxanne was the first in and came to give Aurora a quick hug, sitting down next to her, followed by Marie who sat down next to Ben.
“I can’t believe you are really this beautiful outside of Caelus, Aurora! I am honestly quite jealous, I know you are still getting used to being a woman, but I’m sure you will become comfortable and enjoy it soon on. Trust me.”
“I know right, doesn’t Chezi look so elegant and beautiful! It’s a shame that I won’t get to see our favourite stoic guy, but at least it means there is one more girl in the group!”
Aurora let out a sigh, exasperated that her female friends were gushing over her looks. It would take her some time to get used to such words, after all, up until now any compliments she had received had been along the lines of cool or handsome.
After everyone had greeted each other, Roxanne was the first to speak, a hint of excitement evident in her tone.
“So, Aurora, Harold mentioned when he let us in that we are going clothes shopping, how are you feeling about that?”
Aurora let out a slight hum in thought as she decided on how much to admit to her long-time friends, eventually choosing to throw caution to the wind and tell them everything.
“Well, this may come across as a bit weird but to be honest I’m a little excited. Back when I had a chance to reflect on things, one of the positives I found was that I would enjoy dressing up, more specifically seeing such an attractive girl wearing whatever I liked. While I am still a little reluctant to wear women’s clothes, it’s not like I’ve never worn them before, after all, I did dress up as a princess on that Halloween night out a few years ago. And besides, I feel that putting it off will just prolong getting used to being a woman. I may as well just commit to it, you know.”
Ben raised an eyebrow as he looked at Aurora, surprise in his eyes.
“That's quite the short time for you to accept the whole gender change thing you know.”
Aurora sighed again as she leaned back into the sofa, closing her eyes as her memories drifted to the past.
“Well, I am by no means going to get used to it quickly, but I feel this is easier to accept when it’s a fact I can't deny. I lived through 3 years' worth world shattering events impacting me, and that has somewhat allowed me to become used to having to adapt to large changes. Granted becoming a woman is somewhat more impactful than being able to throw magic about, but I have found focusing on the positives has helped me accept things a little easier.”
Ben let out a hum as Marie spoke up, concern in her voice.
“I’m glad to hear that, but surely it can’t be that easy to accept things, right?”
Aurora opened her eyes and rested her hands in her lap as she pondered on how to answer, her mind thinking back through her day so far.
“Well, I did have a panic attack when I first exited the pod, but after regaining my composure I was somewhat ok. Having a bath I feel my attention was more focused on getting used to the physical aspects of my body, and that helped me focus on the new reality instead of freaking out. However, if I had to say the main point where I was able to accept things would be after eating some chocolate that Fortuna had sent me created by the patron god of baking, Fornax. It had a mind-soothing trait similar to some rare items I have encountered in the past, and it certainly lessened much of the turmoil in my mind.”
Hearing Aurora’s revelation about goddess made chocolates, Roxanne spoke up with a tinge of excitement in her voice.
“Wait, Fortuna sent you such an item? That’s so kind and helpful of her! I don’t suppose you have any we could try?”
Aurora couldn’t help but let a smirk play on her lips as she stood up to retrieve the box from her desk.
