same world, different life

Chapter 4. Adapting to a new body.

we both headed back inside, and he looked like we accomplished something good. "You're adapting to this very quickly, but why don't you try that new form for an entire day," he told me.

"Sure, I'll give it a go; I've got an itch to stretch my new wings anyhow," I replied before turning into my dragon form.

"Well, go stretch your wings outside. I'm going to have company over, and I'd bet they'll be playing with you in that form for a while," he replied.

Once they came over, they were astonished by my scale color. "He's beautiful you lucked out on his scale color," one of them said to the commander. Another one was scratching behind my ear, which was relieving an itch.

"Is this his first day, I bet he'd love being with our group. Getting together with his kind and playing some games, some with our twists will help him settle into this new life," Another one told him.

"Yeah, just tell me where you meet. At least their social media is good for something if in the right hands," he replied.

"Does he have an account on any of them?" one of them asked.

"he has quite a few. I'm trying to get him more active on them," he replied.

After talking inside, they were playing with Daniel and me outside. "So how's Daniel doing Machiavelli?" One of them asked the commander."

"He's doing a lot better, and I didn't even do anything, Nathan got him enjoying it with stride," He replied.

"Well good for him, he relived him from depression early. I'm sure Daniel will be a good friend to him," he replied.

After they all left, it was just Machiavelli and me on the couch in front of his smart TV. "Good to see you so relaxed. It's good for both of our kind to unwind once in a while," I heard him say. I let out a smile in agreeance. Never have I felt so comfortable away from home, let alone in a different body. I could care less if he knew what my favorite shows were that I watched on Earth.

When it came time to go to bed, he did something he hasn't done yet; he had me sleep on top of his bed. It was mostly covered in that Infested, but he did have some soft covers on top of that. "Nathan, I wish I could show you on a scale how happy you're making me right now. You make me feel like a father again, and I know you're trying to make me happy, so thank you for that," Machiavelli told me before falling asleep. I soon did the same as he held me close. Hearing the joy in his voice felt rewarding for me.

"Nathan, Nathan, wake up," I heard something say.

"It's like what 3 AM, let me sleep," I replied before realizing it was the hive queen.

"Nathan, this is important," she replied.

"Yeah, but so is Machiavelli's sanity. I'm helping him coop with his loss of his son. He's holding me anyhow, and I don't want to wake him," I replied.

"Yeah, that just the thing, I may have a lead on where he is," she replied.

"We can talk about it when I'm well-rested. I just feel unusually tired today," I replied before falling back asleep."

"Nathan!" She shouted into my brain.

"Alright, alright, what do you know?" I replied.

"He might be in a wild Infested hive on this world," she replied.

"You know this how exactly?" I asked her.

"He was linked to the hive mind like you, and I just now managed to feel his presence," she replied.

"Thank you for that. I'll tell him in the morning," I replied.

When morning came, I got woke up by him getting out of the bed. "Nathan, why don't you try one more meal in that form before I have you turn back and we head to that group," he told me. Once in the living room, he laid down two dishes, one with water and one with chopped up fish. I dug into the fish quickly, but then I felt a capsule hit my tongue. I tried to move it away from my throat, but it ended up going down anyhow.

After I was done eating, I turned back and asked him: "what was that capsule I swallowed for?"

"You'll find out once it kicks in," Machiavelli replied.

"That's what's worrying me," I replied. I followed him through the ship to an indoor park, and what I saw was truly stunning and somewhat scary at the same time. There was a decent size cavern with snakes the size of titania boas, and other creatures were playing as they surrounded them. In another area, there were a plethora of those smaller snake creatures coiled around human beings, some covered in infested, other covered with fur. "Um, Machiavelli, why are some of my kind covered in fur?" I asked him.

"In some cases, their caretakers let them choose; in others like yours, we knew what you'd like the most. I knew you wouldn't try to upset me when you woke up in that new body, but when I saw how much you like the feeling of dragon saliva on your Infested, I knew what I'd do," he replied.

I kept looking around until he found the rest of the group. "Machiavelli, good to see you could make it," one of them said to him.

"It's good to be here. I brought Nathan as you recommended. Nathan, why don't you get acquainted with the others I think you'll find some familiar faces," he said to me.

I sat down with the other children, and as I did, one of them said: "Well, if it isn't the commander's kid. Good to see he hasn't given you much trouble, unlike me. My caretaker's constantly having me turn into my snake form and hid under the sand before her next client comes. I've barely had much time to myself because when I finally get on the couch, she gets me into my serpent form and gets under a blanket with me."

"Maybe she's trying to get you used to sleep under the covers with someone else," I replied.

"Hey, at least we all still have caring families. I don't mind the fur, and if anything, I and my brother find comfort in our new home," another one told us.

"Have you all already forgotten your families? They cared for us before all this," I replied.

"Nathan, not all of us are separated from our families. I'm still with my mom and dad, and the caretaker with us has just been like an uncle," one of them replied.

"I haven't seen them yet, and I intend to find them," I replied.

"He'll bring you to them. You just have to hold out hope," one of them replied.