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BADLY IN LOVE By Ingrid Halb Bunnie Toy walked barefoot through a meadow. The soft blades of grass tickled her calves as she did. The long peasant skirt she wore was blowing in the gentle breeze, as was her hair. Her hair had grown considerably over the four years since her transformation and now the long black tresses played across her exposed shoulders, every now and then threatening her vision as they occasionally blew across her face. Bunnie sighed as she tucked a loose strand back behind an ear. It had been four years. Long enough, she thought, long enough for her to be in the firm grasp of genetics, as she stood on the cusp of womanhood. She was physiologically fourteen now and four years of experiments had come to naught as time had given her much of the curves she had sought to avoid. This point was brought home to her again as a stray gust of wind blew across her blouse. She caught a glimpse of Steele walking up the path towards her and shivered, though not from the cold. Steele too had changed over the last four years and now stood as tall as she was short. He was a lanky youth with shaggy blond hair and blue penetrating eyes. Bunnie admired the confident casual stride he had, imagining those strong lean thighs beneath those pant legs. She felt the heat rise to her face and turned her head to hide her blush from Steele. "Hello, Bunnie," he said in that husky voice he had so recently acquired. "Hello, yourself," she answered coyly. "I've been looking for you for a long time," he said, gazing down into her eyes, and over her body. "Well, you found me now," she said. Bunnie proudly held her head up and her shoulders back with her elbows at her sides. She let Steele look at her form, while she took in his. "And I'll never let you go, again," he said. Bunnie felt butterflies in her stomach and a tingling all over. There was a surge of warmth low in her abdomen that spread up through her torso and centered on her lips. Her lips were hot and the tightness on her breasts had nothing to do with the breeze. She felt soft, and her knees threatened to give way. "Oh, Steele," she cried, falling into his arms. "Ride with me," he said, holding her tightly. "Let me take you away." "Ride with you?" "Yes, on my horse," he said. "I made him for you." Bunnie looked beyond Steele to see a pure white stallion, with shining mane blowing in the breeze. A long spiral horn sprang from its forehead. "A unicorn!" she squealed. "You made me a unicorn!" Bunnie found herself astride the stallion, with Steele pressed close behind her. She could feel the strong rippling muscles of the equine between her thighs as she clung to its neck. The rhythmic thrusts of the gallop pushed into her repeatedly as she clung tighter. The warmth in her belly was getting hotter and the tingling was getting more urgent. "I have to tell you something, Bunnie," Steele said into her ear. His hot breath sending shivers down her neck. "What is it?" she asked breathlessly. "It's time," he said. "What?" "It's time to get up," he said, his voice sounding funny. "Time? What?" she asked. "Time to get up, Bunnie." Steele's voice sounded a lot like Deborah's, her foster mother. "Bunnie! Get up! You'll be late for school," Deborah said, a distinct note of impatience in her voice. "Hmmph?" Bunnie managed to grunt out, as she lifted her head off the pillow she had been clutching. Her eyes blinked against the uncomfortable light coming through her bedroom window from which her foster mother had just pulled the blinds. "You know, you wouldn't be so tired in the mornings if you didn't stay up half the night with your experiments," Deborah said. It was a dream, Bunnie thought, just a stupid dream. With unicorns. "Now, hurry up or you'll miss the school bus," Deborah said. "I'm up," Bunnie said, yawning as she disentangled herself from her bed sheets. "Barely. Now hurry up!" Deborah said. "I am not driving you to school again." Bunnie stumbled into the bathroom still thinking about the dream. It was silly. She would never wear anything like that. Still though, unicorns. She started brushing her teeth, but could not stop thinking about the clothes she had on in the dream. They were completely impractical, and probably a fire hazard. She could not imagine anything so diaphanous in the lab. Steele seemed to like it, though, in the dream at least. Thinking of Steele made Bunnie stop with the toothbrush in her mouth and consider herself in the mirror. She pulled back and down on her pajama top with both hands to highlight the curve of her breasts. She turned right then left to check out her profile then bent forward to see what they looked like from above. She knew she was large. The C cups of her bras were starting to feel a little tight. But how big would they get? And more importantly, what did Steele think of them? "Bunnie, are you getting dressed yet?" her foster mother called from the other room. "Mmph, Ma mam, meemph ma a miffle phiphaphee!" she yelled back, caused little droplets of toothpaste to splatter the mirror. That was so typical of Deborah, always interrupting her. How was she supposed to get any serious experimenting done with all these distractions? Especially distractions like Steele. Steele Strongshaft, like her, was physiologically 14-years old, thanks to their mutual transformation four years ago. Unlike her, Steele was all male and growing taller and stronger every day while she was female and stayed short. That was galling, not least because Steele was in fact her ex-wife. An inadvertent gender change had occurred during a rejuvenation experiment resulting in her becoming a ten-year old girl, while her ex-wife got the male matrix making him a ten-year old boy. It was not fair. She was supposed to be the boy. She had made just one little completely unavoidable mistake and was doomed to grow boobs while Steele got that lanky sexy body full of sinew and muscle. She sighed, thinking of that body. The worst part was the money. All the trust funds and patents were in Steele's name while she had to make do with a piddling allowance, paid to her foster mother no less. How did Steele expect her to continue her research without proper funding? Why, the particle accelerator alone had cost her three months of her allowance. There had to be some way to get more money from Steele. She thought of him as she laid out several outfits for consideration. Skirts were fun, and they did show off her legs. But today was Biology Lab, and she liked the way her butt looked in jeans. Therefore, jeans it was. Heels, of course. She was torn between the green spaghetti-strap tank top and the red off the shoulder silk blouse. Silk was probably a bad choice for Biology Lab, but she did have the perfect bra to go with it, and she still needed to talk to Steele about getting more funding. "Bunnie, are you dressed yet?" Deborah called. "I'm almost done!" she yelled back, angrily, then started taking her pajamas off. Red it was. For Steele. Thinking of him made her angry. He had money for the best private tutors for both of them, but did he use it? No. He wanted to go to an ordinary high school with ordinary teachers. So Bunnie had to go to an ordinary school with primitive science classes and stupid teachers. That was so like him. Bad enough he intruded in on her dreams, did he have to go to the same high school? The dream hung on the edge of her consciousness. It was something about unicorns. Maybe she should have shaved her armpits. "Bunnie, are you done?" Deborah called. "I'm coming!" Bunnie yelled back as she re-entered the bathroom to clean off her armpits. The ride to school was a frosty one, with Deborah berating her for missing the bus and going on and on about time management and how this was the last time and how she needed to learn responsibility. Blah, blah, blah. She had more important things to consider, like Steele, and why she kept thinking about unicorns. Bunnie got to her locker with plenty of time before Biology Lab. She dropped off her book bag except for her lab notes and lab coat. Bunnie grimaced as she pushed her way down the hall towards the labs. School was mind-numbing torture filled with oversized monkey-brained hormone factories for classmates, all of them taller than her. Not one could think beyond their gonads, as far as she was concerned. The only things that made it remotely tolerable were the science classes. And Steele, she thought catching a glimpse of him in the hallway. Bunnie felt her heart race and a big smile spread on her face as she waved and started towards him. Her hand froze and the smile evaporated when she saw that Steele was talking with Tracy Duncan. Bunnie dropped her hand in embarrassment, which changed to anger as she looked at Tracy. Tracy was a tall willowy girl with blond hair. She too was a freshman and shared a few classes with Bunnie. How did she know Steele? Why was she talking to him? Why was Steele smiling? Were they friends? Were they more than friends? Bunnie needed to know. Bunnie spied on the two for about fifteen or twenty minutes before they parted. She continued to follow Steele quietly while he made his way to his next class. She finally worked up the nerve to confront him just before he entered the classroom. "Steele!" she shouted. "We have to talk." "Bunnie? Is that you?" he said. "Don't you have a lab?" "Never mind that!" she said. "Why were you talking to Tracy Duncan and where is my unicorn?" "What?" Steele said. "Calm down, you're not making sense." "I'm not making sense?" Bunnie said, so angry she almost could not speak. "You're the one who wasn't wearing a shirt and I want my funding raised!" "Look, I can see you're upset," he said. "But we're going to be late for class. We can talk later." "Oh, we'll talk, alright," she said, and turned to storm away. Steele shook his head. He may have been born a woman, now almost seventy years ago, but darned if he understood the girls around him today. Bunnie stormed off. She was not someone whose feelings could be trifled with. She would show Steele, Tracy, and everyone. She would show them all! First, she was going to need a late slip. *** Kevin Miller sat in Biology Lab and cursed his luck. Of all the people who could have been his lab partner, he had to end up with Bunnie Toy. Sure, the girl was cute but she was also certifiably nuts. He looked at the dead frog lying on its back in the tray, waiting for dissection. "I know how you feel, bud," he said. Then again, maybe he was being too pessimistic. Even Toy could not screw up a simple frog dissection. Besides, she might not show up. She was temperamental like that and it was ten minutes late already. Kevin's heart sank as Bunnie came storming in. She was loudly muttering about unicorns and funding as she slammed the door and stomped up to the teacher's desk, slapping the late slip onto his desk. She was still muttering as she walked up to the lab bench she was to share with Kevin and banged her lab notebook onto the bench top. "Hi, I'm Kevin. I'm your lab partner," he said, trying to make the best of this situation. Bunnie did not seem to hear him but kept up with a steady stream of half-articulated complaints. Her topic seemed to have shifted to someone named Tracy who was too tall for her own good. "He was my wife!" she cried, turning to look at Kevin with confusion growing on both their faces. "Okay, that's just weird," said Kevin, trying to edge away from Bunnie. "Who are you?" she demanded. "I'm Kevin," he said. "Your lab partner?" Bunnie did not seem to understand. "We're supposed to work together to dissect this frog, and then write up the results. Together," Kevin said, nodding at the frog. "You... you're my assistant?" Bunnie said, her eyes growing wide. "Partner, lab partner," Kevin said, "but yes we assist each other." "I have an assistant!" she cried, throwing her arms around Kevin's neck. "I finally have someone to do my bidding!" "Uh... my name is Kevin," he said, horribly distracted by the feeling of Bunnie's breasts being squished against him as she hugged him. "Hush, don't speak," Bunnie said. "Let us just enjoy the moment." "Um, okay," Kevin replied, standing there with Bunnie clinging to his neck as several of their classmates looked on in curiosity. "So..." he said in growing embarrassment. "Are we going to dissect this frog?" "Frog? Phphhht! I have something better than a frog," Bunnie said, letting go of Kevin. "I have an assignment. And his name is Steele Strongshaft!" "So no frog, then?" *** "Bunnie! Thank god you're here," Steele said. Steele looked distraught. His hair disheveled and his crumpled lab coat hanging open, he looked like he had not slept in some time. "I came as soon as you called," Bunnie said, stepping confidently into the lab at Steele's house. She was dressed for a night on the town in a little black dress with translucent sleeves and plunging neckline. Her legs were encased in a pair of sheer black stockings and a strappy pair of heels. Her hair was professionally done, and hung in loose curls on her shoulders. She looked good and she knew it. "What seems to be the problem?" she asked, as she and Steele stopped in front of an incredibly complex machine that dominated the lab space. "There's been a divaricating event on the signal transduction pathways. And I can't stop it!" Steele sounded almost desperate. "I see," Bunnie said, thoughtfully considering the mechanism before her. "Have you tried re-configuring the steroid receptors?" "Yes, but the trans-membrane G-couplings keep dissolving in the media template," Steele replied. "Well, there's your problem," Bunnie said, pointing to several locations. "You used a zinc finger protein to bind to the promoter complex when you should have used a cyclic AMP and calcium-calmodulin mechanism. There's nothing to be done about it now. You'll just have to adapt your system to deal with paracrine signaling instead of a dimeric binding protein." "Of course!" Steel said. "Why hadn't I seen it before? Thank you, Bunnie." "Oh, don't berate yourself over it," she said. "I always was the more perceptive one in our marriage." "This calls for a celebration!" Steel said. "Care for a cigar?" "Why, don't mind if I do," she said. Steele handed her a large pink cigar that she put in her mouth. It felt warm and velvety to her lips and seemed to have more flexibility to it than she had expected. "There is still something I don't understand," Bunnie said between unsuccessful attempts to inhale smoke from the pink cigar. "What's that?" asked Steele. "Why are you naked?" Bunnie asked. "And why is that unicorn buzzing?" "That's no unicorn," Steele answered. "That's my cell phone." Bunnie looked from Steele to the buzzing unicorn to the pink cigar in her hand then back to Steele. "I'm dreaming again, aren't I?" she asked. "Why don't you ask Kevin?" Steele asked. Bunnie woke with the side of her face pressed against the counter top of her lab bench back at her foster mother's basement. Her cell phone was buzzing on the table beside her head. She fumbled for the phone to see who was calling. It was Kevin. "Mello," she mumbled into her phone. "Bunnie, it's Kevin." "Shh! Use our code names!" she hissed into the phone. There was an extended period of silence. "No," Kevin said. "Do it, or I'll make sure you fail biology class!" she said angrily. There was another longer period of silence. "I want a new code name," Kevin sounded almost petulant. "Report now!" Bunnie yelled. "This is Pixie calling Unicorn," Kevin said after another small delay. "This is Unicorn, go ahead Pixie," Bunnie said in crisp professional tones. "Seriously, I want a new code name," Kevin said. "Enough with the new code name already!" Bunnie snapped. "I need your report. Have you maintained visual on subject Adonis?" "You mean that Strongshaft guy? Yeah, I've been following him all day," he replied. Bunnie chose to ignore the breach of protocol in the use of Steele's name over an unsecured line. "Roger that, Pixie," she said. "Have you maintained your cover?" "You mean, did he see me?" Kevin asked. "Maybe, in the boy's room, but I don't think he noticed me following him." "Excellent work," Bunnie said. "Now I need a full report on every female person who had verbal interaction with Adonis." "Huh?" "Just tell me which girls he talked to," she said, with a hint of exasperation. "Um, okay," Kevin said. "He talked to Nancy Melnyk before first period, they have lockers right beside each other. He said hi to Heather Pettetucci, and I think Angela Jones asked him about their History homework, but I didn't hear them clearly." "Uh huh, Melnyk, Pettetucci, and Jones. Got it," Bunnie said, writing notes in her lab manual. "Anyone else?" "Well, there was the lunch lady. Does she count?" Kevin asked. "We better not take any chances," Bunnie said after a thoughtful pause. "Get me all of their home addresses. Follow them home if you have to." "Is that even legal?" Kevin asked. "Of course. You don't think I'd be involved in anything illegal, do you?" Bunnie looked over at the examination table where the unconscious body of Tracy Duncan lay in an induced coma. Wires and tubes ran from her to numerous machines and a mechanical arm was busy plotting points on her body that matched up to a 3-D visual display. Bunnie threw a few paper towels over Tracy's face to hide her. "Now, get me those addresses!" she shouted into her phone. Bunnie broke the phone connection and sighed. Good henchmen are so hard to find. *** Kevin was actually in a good mood when he rang the doorbell to Bunnie's house later that week. So far, being lab partners with Bunnie had worked out pretty well. He had gotten her the addresses she wanted and she had gotten him an A for the frog dissection. Reassembling it struck him as excessively weird, but he supposed he could put up with a few eccentricities if it helped his grade point average. "Oh, hello," Deborah said when she opened the door. "Are you a friend of Bunnie's?" "Yes, Ma'am. Is she in?" "Sure, come on in and I'll get her." Deborah let Kevin into the house and called after Bunnie. "Bunnie, you have a visitor." Deborah and Kevin stood for a while in awkward silence. "Bunnie!" Deborah called. "You have a visitor!" "She'll just be a minute," she said to Kevin with a smile. The silence continued. "BUNNIE!" she shouted loudly. "WHAT!" Bunnie called back from somewhere in the distance. "YOU HAVE A VISITOR!" "WHO IS IT? I'M WORKING!!" Bunnie shouted back. Deborah closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose, before turning to talk to Kevin. "What's your name, again, kid?" she asked. "Uh... Kevin," he said. "IT'S KEVIN!" Deborah yelled. "WHO?" "KEVIN!!" "Oh, that's my assistant, Pixie! I'm in the lab, send him here." Deborah counted to ten, audibly, before turning to talk once again to Kevin. "She's in the lab, third door on the left then down the stairs," she said. "I'm really just her lab partner, not her assistant," Kevin said, apologetically. "And my name's not Pixie..." "Go," said Deborah, holding her head in one hand and waving Kevin on with the other. Kevin made his way downstairs to a semi-finished basement with a painted concrete floor and numerous workbenches laden with tools, glassware, partially re-assembled pieces of equipment and several mice in cages. He found Bunnie standing in front of a dry erase board plastered with photos. "Pixie, good, you're here," she said. "Holy crap, is this all your stuff?" Kevin said in awe of the conglomeration of equipment that filled the basement. "I know, I know," Bunnie said, shaking her head sadly. "It's not much. Which is why we need to get inside Steele's head and get him to loosen those purse strings." "What's this?" Kevin asked, pointing at a helmet with wires coming out of it. "Memory induction unit," Bunnie answered. "And this?" "Soliton detector." "How about this?" "Probability matrix stabilizer." "And this?" "That's the television remote." Kevin pushed the power button and a television in the corner of the basement came on. He turned the channel a few times before Bunnie ripped the remote from his hands. "Enough!" she said. "We have important matters to consider." Bunnie turned his attention to the dry erase board covered with pictures. Kevin recognized them as pictures of the girls he had seen with Steele and whose addresses he collected for Bunnie. Most of the pictures looked like they were shot through an exterior window. Several of them were far too personal to have been consensual. "Consider these subjects," Bunnie said. "Each of them was able to hold Steele's attention for extended periods of time. There must be something they have but I can't find the common denominator!" "I think this lunch lady was just giving him soup," Kevin said, pointing at one of the pictures. "I thought of that," Bunnie said, nodding her head. "But none of these others served him food." Kevin was going to say something else, but decided it might be best to keep quiet. "Fortunately, we have another source of information," she said, drawing Kevin's attention to a high-resolution monitor. The monitor had a map of the neighborhood on it with a single flashing light. "I managed to implant a homing device on Tracy Duncan so that we can track her movements." Bunnie pulled up a series of images showing the movements of the single blinking light over time. "Thus giving us insight into the behavioral patterns of someone Steele considers conversation worthy." "Tracy Duncan?" Kevin said. "Isn't she that girl who disappeared for two days and was found wandering the streets with no memory of where she had been?" "Well, I can't be held accountable for what she doesn't remember, can I?" said Bunnie, rolling her eyes. "The point is, that I've been tracking her movements since her release and I've found she spends a significant amount of time in clothing stores." "So," Kevin said with a shrug. "So grab your bus pass, Pixie. We're off to the mall!" *** "You know, I don't think that Tracy girl is here," said Kevin. Kevin and Bunnie were in the Girls section of a large teen oriented clothing store. Bunnie was going through a rack of blouses, occasionally holding one up for closer inspection. Kevin was standing around looking bored. "You're missing the point," she said, holding up a long sleeve red top with a scoop-neck front. "Here, hold this," she said, handing the blouse to Kevin. "Missing what point?" Kevin said, folding the blouse over one arm. "The point, my dear Pixie, is that we are not studying a person, we are studying behavior." Bunnie moved over to a display of women's shorts. "What behavior?" Kevin said, following behind her. "Duh, shopping," Bunnie said, holding both hands up and rolling her eyes heavenward. "Okay, why am I here then?" Kevin asked. "Hello, you're my assistant," Bunnie said, as she started rummaging through the shorts on display. "And I can't adequately observe the behavior if I'm a participant. I need to maintain objectivity to gauge the impact of the behavior on any changes in the subject's personality." "You lost me," said Kevin. "I need to see you shopping to see if it makes you more likable." Bunnie found a pair of shorts she liked. "Hold up the blouse. Not like that. Spread it out so I can see it." "So you want to watch me pay for this stuff?" Kevin asked, holding the blouse up by the sleeves and against his chest. "Not exactly," Bunnie said, holding a black pair of shorts up against Kevin's waist. She shook her head in dismissal and tossed the shorts back. She started searching again. "Then what?" Kevin asked. "Aha!" Bunnie said, holding up a pair of white shorts. "Here, try these on." "Try what now?" Kevin said, taking the shorts that Bunnie handed him. "And these," she said grabbing a pair of sandals and handing them to Kevin. Kevin took the shoes and stared dumbly at the clothes in his hands. "Well, come on," said Bunnie. "You want me to try these clothes on," he said, disbelief evident in his voice. "Yes," said Bunnie, making it sound like a two-syllable word. "Why?" Kevin asked. "Because otherwise we're not shopping, we're just buying," Bunnie said. Her tone of voice left the impression that she was addressing a small child. "You know for an assistant, you ask a lot of questions." "I can't wear these!" Kevin said. "Why not?" Bunnie asked, in genuine puzzlement. "Because..." he started to say loudly, before shifting to a hushed tone. "Because these are girl's clothes." "Duh, what did you think we were shopping for?" Bunnie had her hands on her hips and was looking at Kevin as if she expected an answer. "Well, why don't you try them on then?" Kevin said. He looked around nervously, hoping no one could hear and wondering how he had gotten into this conversation in the first place. "I told you," Bunnie said, once again rolling her eyes. "I can't be an objective observer and a participant. That's just basic anthropology." "Then why can't we shop for boy's clothes?" Kevin sounded a little plaintive even to his own ears. "That's just silly," Bunnie said. "Why would Steele be interested in someone buying boy's clothes? Now get in the changing room and get dressed." "No." "What do you mean no?" Bunnie said. "You're my assistant, you have to." "I'm not your assistant, I'm your lab partner," Kevin said. "And the only reason I'm still your lab partner is because you got me an A on the frog lab." "Fine," she said. "Do this for me and I'll get you an A for a final grade." That got Kevin's attention. As a career C student, he did not see a lot of A's on assignments and tests, never mind as a final grade. Still, Bunnie was asking a lot. "It's not enough," he said. "I want more." "More?" Bunnie asked. "What else do you want?" "I want three A's. No, wait... I want all A's, every class." Bunnie scowled and looked at Kevin so that for a while he thought he might have overplayed his hand. But Bunnie's scowl broke into a broad grin. "There's a sneaky side to you, Pixie," she said. "I like that. Very well, you be my test subject and I'll do my best to see that you get straight A's. But you still have to do the work and take the tests. I can't magically change your grades." "Deal," Kevin said, holding out his hand. "Deal!" Bunnie said, spitting into her palm once before clasping Kevin's outstretched hand. "Now get in there and get dressed." Kevin regretted his agreement almost as soon as he made it. No more so than when he stood in the changing room, and considered the clothes that Bunnie had picked out for him. "What have you gotten yourself into?" he asked aloud. "Hurry up in there!" Bunnie called. "I'm hurrying!" he shouted back. Kevin took one more distressed look at the girl clothes then pulled off his t-shirt and jeans. Standing there in nothing but his boxer shorts and socks, he held up the white shorts. They were obviously meant for a girl. There was no fly and just a button flap to tighten the waist. The material was slightly stretchy and the legs had cuffs. The cuffs were pretty darn high, too, Kevin thought. There was not a lot of material to these shorts. He was chagrinned to realize he would have to take off his boxers as well, as they were bigger than the shorts. Sighing deeply, Kevin stripped naked and gulped down a wave of fear as he pulled the shorts up his legs and buttoned the flap. They were tight and rode low on his hips and high on his thighs, leaving him undecided whether he should pull them higher or lower. He had thought the shirt might be better. At least it had long sleeves. But it was worse. The material was thin and clung tightly to every curve of his body, plus there was something very effeminate about the way the sleeves covered his wrists and half his hands. He also did not care for the way the bottom of the shirt tightly covered most of his hips so that only the very edge of the white shorts showed as he stood there. It looked like a dress. The wide scoop neck made it worse and he tugged at it ineffectually. The only thing left were the shoes; sling back sandals with a block heel. "Might as well get this over with," he said, slipping his feet into the sandals and buckling the ankle strap. "Think of the grades, just think of the grades..." he whispered aloud, then took a big breath and stepped out. "Not too bad," Bunnie said. "I look ridiculous," said Kevin. "Nonsense!" she said. "Okay, maybe your legs totally need shaving. But with some makeup and a little more blond in your hair, this look could work for you. Especially if we added some boobs." "Can I change back now?" Kevin said. Talk of adding anything made him nervous and he desperately hoped he could change back before someone saw him. "No, you have to pose in front of the mirror and look at yourself from every angle," Bunnie said, as she rummaged around in her purse for something. "Then you have to try on other outfits before deciding which one you like best." "Other outfits?" Kevin said, a note of horror creeping in his voice. "Isn't one good enough?" "Don't be such a guy," Bunnie said. "You have to decide which one you like 'best', then change your mind, buy that one, then change your mind again and bring it back to exchange for the one you tried on first." "What?!" "Just get up there and pose." Kevin stepped up to the mirror with trepidation. He felt naked as he plucked at his shirt. His neck and collarbone were fully exposed. The material of the shirt was too thin and clingy to offer anything but token coverage and the shorts were barely visible. The sandals were no help at all. If anything, the two-inch heels made his legs feel even more exposed. He had to admit that Bunnie had a point, though. He was slender enough that the outfit did look good on him, if he were a girl that is. He might even have looked sexy, if he shaved his legs and had some boobs. He pivoted on the heels to look at the back of the outfit when he was temporarily blinded by the flash from Bunnie's camera. "What are you doing?" he cried, and was hit by another flash. "Stop that!" "Oh, hush," said Bunnie, as she kept taking pictures. "How else am I supposed to measure the visual impact? I need digital images for lab analysis." "I... who... but..." Kevin could not get out two coherent words in a row. Bunnie kept taking pictures. "Don't pay attention to me. Just look at yourself in the mirror," she said. Kevin did not know what to do or say. He just stood there, feeling himself turn redder and redder with embarrassment as Bunnie kept taking pictures. He had just about reached the point where he was ready to tell her he had enough when he saw Bunnie freeze up with a shocked look on her face. "Oh, my god! It's Steele! He's here. He'll see us! Run Pixie, run!" she shouted and bolted for the exit of the store. Kevin panicked. All he could think of that was that he was going to be seen wearing girl clothes. He tore off after Bunnie and followed her out of the store. Running in the heeled sandals proved problematic on the tiled floor of the mall and when Bunnie ducked behind a potted ficus, Kevin slid behind her and fell on his butt. "Hey, it wasn't him after all!" Bunnie said, peering over the edge of the giant terra cotta pot. "It was just some guy. Isn't that great?" Kevin crawled over on his hands and knees and peered around the side of the pot towards the front of the store. He could not see whom Bunnie was talking about, but that was not important. He was just relieved no one caught him wearing these clothes. "Do you girls want to explain why you ran out of the store without paying for that outfit?" said the security guard who had walked up behind them. *** "You know, Bunnie, I always thought you had a lot of potential," Steele said. He and Bunnie were in the library at Steele's house. He was looking for the right spot to put a book back in the shelves. Bunnie was looking for a mirror to check her hair. She thought it was good, but wanted to make sure it was perfect. Somebody really ought to invent a self-correcting hair care product, or at least a holographic projection mirror. "You have the imagination for truly original experiments," Steele went on. Bunnie beamed. She always did like compliments, especially from Steele. Now, if only she could get him to say something nice about her clothes, then this would be perfect. After all, she had spent considerable time making sure her outfit had just the right combination look of serious researcher and fashion model. Sexy schoolgirl was definitely the look to go with. "But you were always hindered by a lazy self-interest," Steele said, oblivious to the change in Bunnie's expression. Steele did not seem swayed by her looks. Maybe it was her outfit. Maybe it was just the shoes. Was it too much blue with the sheer navy nylons? She probably should have run a spectrum frequency analysis on her outfit and compared the harmonics with known patterns of Steele's preference. "It's that self-interest that usually leads you astray." Bunnie did not know if she wanted to get mad or cry. She was beginning to doubt her makeup choices now, too. Classic ivory foundation and pink rose blush should be perfect. Surely, her fashion magazines could not be wrong about that! Maybe the earrings. "Which is why I was so glad to see you take an interest in mentoring a fellow student." Steele turned to look at Bunnie with a warm smile on his face. "Wha' Huh?" Bunnie managed to say. "You know, that girl you were helping with her grades. What was her name, again? Trixie?" "You mean Pixie? My assistant?" "That's it! Has she expressed interest in a career in science?" Bunnie scratched her head in thought. This was not what she had expected. "Well, I guess so," she said. She had no idea what Kevin's long term plans might be. "I'm sure you're beginning to realize some of the obstacles that young girls face if they choose to pursue non-traditional roles." Bunnie nodded in agreement, with no real clue as to what Steele was going on about, but it did not matter. Steele was looking at her. Steele was smiling at Bunnie with those deep blue eyes and that boyish grin. She found herself leaning forward on the tips of her toes with her head turned up and her eyes half closed and lips slightly parted. "Pixie's lucky to have a friend like you," Steele said, turning back to the books. "One who can help her become a proud professional woman of science." "Huh? What?" Bunnie said, catching herself before she fell forward. "You know. Encourage her interest in science as she blossoms into womanhood," Steele said. Bunnie was puzzled. Steele wanted her to encourage Pixie to be a woman? Well, it happened to her, so there was no real reason against Pixie doing it too, at least as far as she could see. Still, it seemed a little weird. "Blossom, huh? Yeah, I guess I can do that," Bunnie said. She rubbed her chin as she started to think of everything she would need to start that process. Kevin was about 5'4" so he was definitely going to need a growth inhibitor now. He would also need androgen blockers unless she went right away with a more radical testicular-ovarian transformation of some sort. "That's great!" Steele said. "You know, seeing you in the role of teacher and mentor reminds me of why I married you all those years ago." There it was again; that warm tingly feeling Bunnie got whenever Steele looked her in the eyes and said nice things to her. "I know we're just kids again and not legally married in these identities..." Steele leaned in on Bunnie as he spoke. "But you're so beautiful now, I can't help myself." Bunnie's back pressed up against a stack of shelves as Steele moved in on her, and she loved it. She raised one leg coquettishly and grinned like an idiot as Steele bent down to speak softly. "Bunnie, would you be my girlfriend?" he whispered. Bunnie grabbed Steele's collar with both hands and pulled him down to plant the biggest most passionate kiss she could muster on his lips. "Is that yes enough for you?" she said after finally pulling away. "Bunnie, you've made me the happiest man in the world!" Steele said, hugging Bunnie tightly. "I'm tripling your research budget, and getting you that unicorn!" "Yay! Unicorn!" Bunnie yelled, and started to jump for joy. She woke with a start as she fell off the side of her bed and hit the floor with a loud thump. "Ow," she said. Oh, poo. Another dream. Another stupid dream where stupid Steele makes stupid promises then doesn't keep his stupid word when everyone's awake. Still, there was something about it. Unicorns? No, that was not it. Funding! That was it! Steele promised funding when he thought she was helping Kevin. It was something about mentoring or something. Whatever. She was already helping Kevin with his grades so it would be no problem to take a slightly different angle on that arrangement. Bunnie fumbled for her phone and punched in a number. "Pixie," she said when her call was answered. "It's me, Bunnie ... It's 3:37, why? ... Yes, I know it's still dark out ... Oh come on, the middle of the night was hours ago, quit exaggerating ... Never mind that, I need you here now ... Yes, now ... No, it can't wait till school starts ... I have to get you ready for school ... You know, our deal? ... Right, that deal ... Well, get over here as soon as you can then. There's work to be done!" Bunnie broke the connection and started to get dressed. There was a grim look on her face as she thought over the various procedures that needed doing. She had better hurry and fire up the lab. There was a lot of prep work to do before Pixie got here, and she had better get her calculations straight if she had any hope of helping Pixie blossom. This was going to be great! *** "This is just great," Kevin said, sarcasm heavy in his voice. "I know! Isn't it just!" Bunnie gushed as she squeezed Kevin's arm. "I was being sarcastic." "Well, I'm not. This is great," Bunnie said. The two were in the school gym. At one half of the gym, a couple of guys were shooting a pickup game of basketball. At the other end, approximately two dozen girls were informally practicing volleyball skills, or just standing around chatting. The girls were dressed in t- shirts and clingy shorts that tended toward the red and gold of the school colors. Bunnie and Kevin were dressed in exactly the same way. "Tell me again why I'm in girl's clothes," Kevin said as he fidgeted with the sports bra under his t-shirt. "Duh," Bunnie said, "you wanted straight A's, that means an A in gym class too, right?" "Not in girls' gym!" Kevin almost shouted. "I'll never get away with it. No one will think I'm a girl." "Nonsense, you totally pass." Bunnie was actually quite proud of the work she had done on Kevin this morning. Biology was never her strong suit but she had pulled it off pretty well, especially the facial reconstruction. Kevin's jaw line was a lot softer now, and his brow line was smoother and just a little higher. The affect was subtle, but pretty. Kevin had incorrectly assumed his new feminine look was solely because of the cosmetics Bunnie had applied. Of course, biology could only be stretched so far. Kevin may be growing naturally blond hair now but he would still need a good hairdresser once the accelerator had worn off. Plus, it would be months before his new hormones settled down into a regular cycle. Thankfully, she had talked him into nail extensions and shaving his legs. "How did I let you talk me into this?" Kevin said, shifting uneasily in his pastel-colored low sneakers. "Don't you remember? I blackmailed you," Bunnie said in innocent confusion. "Either you did this or I was going to put those pictures of you from the mall on the internet." "I know that," Kevin said patiently. "I just don't think this will work." "Oh, come on. Your makeup is perfect. You're a total babe. And quit fidgeting with your bra." "I can't help it. It itches," Kevin said as Bunnie slapped his hands away from his chest. "Yeah, they do that at first," Bunnie said, thinking about when her own breasts started to grow. Kevin assumed she was talking about the bra. "I'm going to get caught," he said, his emotions getting the better of him. "I'm going to get caught and they'll tell my parents. Do you know how weird this will look after getting caught shoplifting women's clothes?" "I think you'll find your parents are a lot more understanding than you give them credit for," Bunnie said, nodding solemnly. They had better be, she thought. If eight consecutive hours of watching 'A Parent's Guide to Gender Dysphoria' were not enough, then she was not sure what she was going to do. Those psychotropic drugs she dosed them with would be nearly impossible to replace. "Okay, there's Steele," Bunnie said, gesturing at the boys playing basketball. "Pay attention and take notes on everything he does and everyone he talks to, while we're playing volleyball." "How am I supposed to take notes if we're playing volleyball? Hey! Wait a minute," Kevin said. "Did you sign me up for girl's gym just so I can help you spy on Steele Strongshaft?" "No," Bunnie said, quite indignantly. "Okay, maybe it did figure into my calculations. But you are my assistant, and this works out best for everyone." "Works out best for... How the hell does this work out best for me? "Well for one thing, it lets you assist me better." "I... you... you..." Kevin could only sputter. Kevin was so upset that he failed to notice Steele and another boy walk up behind him. "Hi Bunnie. Who's your friend?" Steele said. "Gaak!" Kevin shouted as he whirled around. "Oh, hello Steele," Bunnie said coolly. "Pixie, this is Steele. Steele, this is my friend Pixie. I'm mentoring her and helping her blossom." "Er, okay," Steel said. "This is Greg." "Hey," the other boy said. "Say 'hello'," Bunnie whispered loudly before pushing Kevin forward. Kevin stumbled forward a step or two and found himself standing in front of Greg. "Um, hello?" he said. Greg stood almost a head taller than Kevin, and standing there, still sweaty from the basketball game, he made Kevin feel even smaller. "So, you two trying out for the volleyball team?" Steele asked. "Phthth. No!" Bunnie said. "But... Isn't that the girls' volleyball team?" "What? Oh, volleyball. Yes. I thought you said... something else." "Volleyball, huh. That's pretty tight," Greg said. "Me and Steele are on the basketball team. You should come out and see us some time. We're pretty good. Course I'm better." "In your dreams," Steele said. "Seriously, though. You should come and check out a game," Greg said. Kevin got the impression that Greg was speaking directly to him. It also seemed that Greg was posing and flexing slightly. This only served to confuse and intimidate Kevin more. He was also acutely aware of how he was dressed relative to the bigger boy. Greg's loose fitting t-shirt and floppy shorts stood in sharp contrast to Kevin's high-cut stretchy shorts and form fitting t-shirt. He felt exposed and vulnerable. He could twist me in half, Kevin thought, nervously licking his lips and brushing back a loose strand of hair from his face. He wanted to hide. He wanted to crawl in a hole and disappear. He wanted to be anywhere but standing in front of this boy, pretending to be a girl. "Um, that sounds nice," Kevin said. "Hey, you know what sounds nice?" Bunnie said. "Shopping. You guys should totally come to the mall with us tonight and hang out." "I don't know if that's such a good idea..." Steele said. "That would be awesome!" Greg said. "Steele and I were just trying to figure out what to do tonight. We'd love to hang out with you girls!" "Yeah, I don't think..." Steele started to say. "Awesome!" Bunnie said. "Pixie and I will, like, be there right after school." "Excuse me," Kevin said to Greg. "I just need to talk to Bunnie for a second." With that, Kevin turned to a quick huddle with Bunnie and started a very animated conversation in a fierce whisper. Greg and Steele just looked at each other and shrugged. All they could tell was that the conversation started with 'are you crazy' and was interspersed with phrases like 'he'll find out' and 'do this or I tell everyone'. The conversation ended abruptly with Bunnie pushing Kevin in the back and saying 'now get up there and act like a girl'. "So..." Kevin said. "See you tonight then... at the mall." "Great! It's a date!" Greg said. "Yeah," Kevin agreed, smiling through clenched teeth. "A date." "Great!" Bunnie said. "Well, we got to go. Volleyball is waiting. Can't get enough of that volleyball. Just want to get in there and start volleying balls. See you later." "Bye," Greg waved. "Dude, you totally owe me," Steele said once the girls had gotten out of earshot. "You totally owe me," Kevin said once he and Bunnie were out of earshot. "No need to thank me," she said. "He was just totally into you, girl." "I wasn't thanking..." Kevin started to say, then took a deep breath. "Don't call me girl. I'm not a girl." "Greg thinks you are," said Bunnie, a smirk on her face. "And if he finds out otherwise, the rest of the school will know by tomorrow." "I... I have to go on a date, don't I?" Kevin said with a sinking resignation. "Oh, come on. It'll be fun!" Bunnie said. "We'll make them buy us snacks and stuff. Maybe they'll even pay for a movie!" "You know I hate you right now," said Kevin. "Yeah, I get that a lot," she replied. "Let's just get this volleyball thing over with, so we can get showered and ready for the rest of our classes. I can't wait for tonight!" "Hey!" Kevin said. "How am I supposed to get into the locker room dressed like this? The other boys will see." "Duh, that's why I stashed your clothes in the girls' locker room." "In the girl's... Okay, then how am I going to take a shower?" "Relax, the girls' showers are semi-private," Bunny said, rolling her eyes. "Keep your towel wrapped around you and your thingy and you'll be fine. Why do you think I had you paint your toenails? What could go wrong?" "What could go wrong, she says," Kevin shook his head. "Only everything. No, don't say anything. I'll just be glad when I can wash all this crap off my face and get back into some normal clothes." Bunnie obliged him by not saying a word. She too was looking forward to Kevin getting dressed. She really wanted to see how he looked in that short black skirt and stripy top she picked out for him. Plus the red leggings would totally go with his blond hair. If her calculations were correct, it would only take a few more weeks for this kind of clothing to feel normal. *** Bunnie and Kevin strode into the spectator stands at the basketball game with a haughty self-confidence. Bunnie was dressed in her favorite skin-tight jeans and purple halter-top. Her curves were on full and glorious display as she flung her hair back with one hand and paused to let people see her. Kevin too posed at the foot of the stands. He had made considerable progress in his 'blossoming'. His hips and thighs had thickened and now tightly filled the short skirt he wore. His legs were smooth with a healthy shine. They looked even longer thanks to the four-inch heels he wore. Bunnie still had bigger breasts, but Kevin's definitely filled out the tight pink half-top tee. His hair shone like gold and hung in waves over his soft sloping shoulders. With a mutual nod, Bunnie and Kevin sat demurely and feigned disinterest as the teams were announced. They clapped politely when appropriate and stood respectfully as the anthem played. Kevin and Bunnie kept that air of indifference when the game started and spent most of the time checking hair or makeup or just looking bored. Their demure fa?ade began to crack when Steele and Greg entered the game. Kevin tried to keep his cool but could not keep his eyes off Greg. His heart leapt whenever Greg got the ball and he cheered every shot Greg took. Kevin did not give in easily to the attraction he felt. He made a point of looking away or pretending to look through his purse whenever Greg looked up in the stands and waved. Bunnie showed no such restraint. As soon as Steele came off the bench, she was hooting and hollering louder than anyone else in the stands. Her two-finger whistle was particularly shrill and occasionally interfered with the game. Steele cast the occasional furtive glance at the stands but mostly avoided making eye contact. She did calm down somewhat after being threatened with eviction. Bunnie's enthusiasm was infectious and both she and Kevin were soon bouncing in their seats and clapping with excitement. Neither one followed the score. They were more interested in following the boys as they ran, passed, and scored. Especially when they scored! There was something oddly pleasurable in watching the boys slam the ball through the hoop. By the second half of the game, both Bunnie and Kevin were on their feet and jumping up and down as they cheered the boys on. Kevin no longer cared if Greg did catch him looking as he waved and cheered almost as enthusiastically as Bunnie did for Steele. In fact, he was thrilled when Greg looked right at him, pointed, and then blew a kiss. The game ended in triumph for the boys, and Bunnie and Kevin cheered as loud as anyone did. But with the game over, they both regained their composure and after a quick check of their hair, resumed their strut as they left the stands. Aware of, but not acknowledging the eyes that followed them as they moved. "Okay, here we are," Bunnie said as they approached the hallway just opposite the entrance to the boys' locker room. "The boys will be out soon, so just stay cool and follow my lead." Kevin nodded his head, thankful for Bunnie's guidance but unsure where she was leading. He had not yet processed his feelings from watching the game and had no idea what he was doing here. Nervously he checked his face in his compact and touched up his lipstick. "There they are! Steele, oh Steele!" Bunnie waved furiously. "HEY STEELE!" Bunnie ran off to glom onto Steele while Kevin fumbled to put his compact and lipstick back in his purse. Finally succeeding in closing the flap with a snap, he turned to find Greg standing right beside him. "Hey Sexy," Greg said. "Oh! You startled me," Kevin said. Even in heels, Kevin was still shorter than Greg. He felt small, weak, and vulnerable, but in a way that excited him. His heart was thumping as Greg stepped closer. "I saw you play," Kevin said, breaking eye contact and looking down in embarrassment. His face felt flushed. "I saw you too," Greg said. He wrapped his arms around Kevin's waist and pulled him closer. Kevin giggled and threw a limp-wristed kitty punch against Greg's chest. "Stop it, you," he said, then ruined the effect by giggling again. "Or what?" Greg said, grinning wickedly and pulling Kevin tighter. "Are you going to do something about it?" Kevin giggled once more then smiled and licked his lips as he looked up into Greg's eyes. "Maybe," he said, still smiling. "Like what?" "I don't know... maybe something... like this." With that, Kevin tilted his head back and slightly to the side and reaching his own hands up and around Greg's neck, he stood up on tiptoes to kiss Greg with half-open mouth. Greg responded vigorously in kind. Kevin felt like he was melting; as if he could wrap himself around Greg and stay that way forever. He stifled a gasp as Greg reached a hand up to cup his breast. His nipples were so taut they hurt and he could feel Greg's rising erection pressing through the boy's pants. Without breaking lip lock, Kevin reached down with one hand to stroke the front of Greg's pants. "Eeeeek!!" Kevin shrieked as he woke and sat upright in bed. His heart was pounding and he was having trouble catching his breath. It was a dream. It had only been a dream. He quickly patted himself down and was relieved to find everything that was supposed to be there. He was especially relieved to find his breasts were a normal boy size and shape, although his nipples were still tender. He blamed this on their being stuck inside a bra all day. This was all Bunnie's fault. She had him parading around in a skirt and heels, no wonder he was dreaming about being a girl. And that date at the mall, what a nightmare that had been. Of course, Greg had been a gentleman and had not tried to do anything more than hold hands. Thinking of Greg, reminded Kevin of the dream kiss. He started massaging his breast a little more deeply without realizing he was doing it until the feeling of his hand brushing against his erect nipple startled him into awareness. They really were very sensitive and he wondered if there might not be something wrong with them. There was this knot of tissue behind each nipple that worried him. He wondered if he should ask Bunnie about that. He knew he should be asking his parents for help but they seemed kind of out of it lately. No, Bunnie was about the only one he could talk to. Anyone else would require his explaining the whole girl boy thing, and he was not sure he could do that even to himself. Kevin sighed, wondering how long he was going to have to pretend to be a girl. Bunnie had left that kind of open-ended. It would have to be another day at least and Kevin was beginning to think it might be a lot longer. Bunnie had gone to the trouble of re-registering him in all of her classes, so this charade might last an entire semester. The memory of being the blonde girl in his dream came back to him and he shuddered. Of course, that was just a dream. There was no way Bunnie would let things get that far, would she? No, that was silly. There was no way that was even possible. Bunnie may be smart, but it was not as if she was some sort of mad scientist or something. *** Bunnie sat in her lab planning the next experiments for Project Pixie Blossom. She was considering the ovary problem. Hormone production was one thing, but getting Kevin's gonads to start producing oocytes was proving devilishly difficult. The easy answer was to go the non- functional strictly cosmetic route. But did that fit the definition of 'blossom'? She was not sure. Maybe if she removed Pixie's testes and spun them down to get the stem cells, she could re-grow them in a female buffer pattern. It was worth a try. That way, the ovaries would be Pixie's own natural tissue. Why, she could build a whole uterus that way without any risk of rejection. Suppressing the Y chromosome should be easy, but she would need a donor X for the buffer. Maybe she could harvest a usable X chromosome from Deborah. That would kind of make Pixie almost Deborah's daughter, which would make Pixie her foster sister. Cool! For her part, Deborah was busy upstairs trying to balance the household budget. Food and rent were not a problem, thanks to the generous stipend she got from the lawyers for providing a home for Bunnie. The problems arose when she tried to match Bunnie's purchase requests against qualifying expenses under the research allowance. Bunnie kept trying for more funding by using creative definitions for her pet projects. Like this newest project of hers, Project Pixie Blossom. Bunnie described it as a psychohistoric investigation into gender equivalence. Deborah thought it was probably just another scam to get around the funding limits. The list of required expenses included a detailed list of feminine clothing, cosmetics, and salon treatments. "Huh. I could use a project like that myself," Deborah said to no one in particular. There were enough high tech sounding items on the list to lend the project some credence. Maybe it was a legitimate project. Although, this one seemed a lot more medical than Bunnie's usual experiments did. "What the heck is an osteo-morphic calcium demineralizer?" Deborah asked. The ring of the doorbell interrupted her train of thought. "Bunnie, could you get that, sweetie? I'm busy with the budget," she called out. The doorbell rang again after a short wait. "Bunnie! Could you PLEASE answer the door? I'm working," Deborah called, a little louder. There was no answering call before the doorbell rang again. "Sweetie, I'm trying to work on YOUR budget requests to get YOU more money. Could you PLEASE answer the door?" There was still no response and the doorbell rang again. "ANSWER THE DOOR!" she yelled. Deborah's head slumped down on the table with a thud when the doorbell rang one last time. She pushed away from the table with a sigh, and stood up to answer the door. All the time, she was muttering about not being paid enough, and how she should have entered beautician's school when she had the chance, and how this was the reason she did not have boyfriends. "WHAT!!!" she yelled as she threw open the door. She calmed down when she saw a very startled and somewhat frightened teenage girl standing there. "Um, is Bunnie in?" the girl asked. "Yeah, come on in," Deborah said, then took a double take. "Kevin?" she asked. "Yeah," the girl said, looking down in embarrassment. "Are you... did you go to school dressed like that?" "Yeah," Kevin said with a sigh. He was wearing knee-high capris pants and a pale yellow and white striped tank top under a fuchsia blouse worn open. The outline of a bra was clearly visible through the thin material of the shirt. His legs were smooth and his sneakers were pale yellow with pink laces. His hair was a shaggy blond mop that hung over his eyes and down to his chin. "But it's not what you think!" he said, brushing his hair out of his face and revealing the dangly silver earrings he wore. Deborah raised an eyebrow. She could not help but notice the mascara and lipstick he wore or the fact that his fingernails were long and painted purple. "No, really," Kevin said. "I only started dressing this way so Bunnie and I could join the girls' volleyball team and spy on a couple of boys." Deborah raised both eyebrows. "But then one of them asked me out, and I had to keep dressing this way to go out on a date with him." Deborah crossed her arms and looked askance at Kevin. "Anyway, I never would have started dressing like this full time except for that security guard catching me taking girl clothes out of the store and Bunnie said that she'd..." "That's alright, dear," Deborah said, raising a hand to interrupt him. "You can dress any way you like. You don't have to explain or be afraid in this house." "No, you don't understand," he said. "I didn't choose to be like this. I have to dress this way." "Shhhhhh, I do understand," Deborah said. "Now, go ahead downstairs. I'm sure Bunnie is in her lab." Kevin wanted to explain more, but did not know what else to say. He slung his purse over his shoulder and turned to head for the basement. "Oh, and Kevin..." Deborah said. He stopped and turned to look back at Deborah. "You look very pretty," she said. Kevin could only nod silently, then turned to continue on to the lab. Bunnie was downstairs at the holographic display terminal, studying a three-dimensional display of Kevin's pelvic bone, when Kevin entered the lab. "Hey, Bunnie. What'cha doing?" he asked. "Pixie?" Bunnie said as she flinched and hurriedly turned the display off. "You're here already? I mean, you're here already. Good... I was just ... studying ... things ... Anyway, you're here. Excuse me for just a moment." Bunnie hopped off the stool on which she had been sitting and headed to the base of the stairs leading up to the rest of the house. "HEY DEBORAH!" she yelled. "THANKS FOR WARNING ME... I mean... THANKS FOR TELLING ME PIXIE WAS HERE. THANKS FOR NOTHING THAT IS!" "Can you believe her?" Bunnie said, once again addressing Kevin, but pointing upstairs. "I get that kind of grief all the time." "I don't know," Kevin said. "She seems kind of friendly." "Yeah, let's see if you still say that when she's your mother." "What?" "Whoa! Hey!" Bunnie said, holding up both hands. "Don't get so worked up. It's not like anyone's planning on stealing her chromosomes and grafting them onto your genome or anything." "You know," Kevin said, "sometimes I have a hard time following your conversations." For her part, Deborah was trying to get back to work on the budget. She had just sat down and unlocked her computer when the doorbell rang again. "Bunnie, would you... Oh, who am I kidding," she said, getting up to answer the door. Steele was there as was another boy she did not recognize. "Hi, Deborah. Is Bunnie home?" Steele asked. "Hello, Steele. Yeah, she's in the lab. Come on in," she said. "Thanks, this is my friend Greg." "Hello, Ma'am," Greg said. "Hello," Deborah said. "Are you a friend of Bunnie's too?" "Not exactly," Greg said. "I was kind of hoping a friend of hers was here. A blond girl with short hair, named Pixie?" "Pixie? Ah. I understand now," Deborah said, nodding. "Yes, she's in the lab with Bunnie. You know the way, Steele." "Yup, thanks Deborah," Steele said. "Thank you, Ma'am," Greg said and hurried after Steele. "One second," Deborah said, then turned to call downstairs. "BUNNIE! COMPANY!" "Go on in," she said, turning back to the boys. "Uh, thanks," Steele said. Greg and Steele entered the lab and found Bunnie dressed in her lab coat and wearing elbow-length rubber gloves and rubber soled shoes as well as a pair of welder's goggles. Kevin lay on the table beside her with his eyes closed. There was a metal helmet on Kevin's head and numerous electrical leads on various parts of his body. "Bunnie?" Steele said. "Steele!" Bunnie said. "Pixie?" Greg said. "Greg," Bunnie said. "Steele?" Greg said. "Pixie?" Steele said. "Bunnie," Bunnie said. "No wait, I'm Bunnie." Kevin groaned as he stirred on the table. "PIXIE!" all three yelled and rushed to Kevin's side. "Greg?" Kevin said, looking at the boy holding his hand. "Pixie!" Greg said. "Steele?" Kevin said. "Let's not start that again," Steele said. "Bunnie, were you experimenting on Pixie?" "I resent that!" Bunnie said, trying to push a cart with syringes on it out of sight using her foot. "Bunnie," Deborah called from upstairs. "Leave the door open when you have boys over." "WE WERE JUST TALKING!" Bunnie yelled. "Well, leave it open anyway!" Deborah yelled back. "ALRIGHT I WILL!" Bunnie said, and then stormed off to the door to open it exactly one inch. "So, Steele," Bunnie said. "Have you had a chance to look over my budget requests?" "We've gone over this before," Steele said. "There's only so much funding available until the trust funds are ours." "You mean yours," Bunnie said with a pout on her face. What followed was an animated discussion on the merits of investing in pure research versus the importance of fiscal responsibility. It was a familiar argument that Bunnie and Steele bantered back and forth with the ease of an old married couple. Kevin and Greg rapidly tired of the discussion, and Kevin took it upon himself to show Greg around the lab. Greg seemed part