Yisini curled herself up on the sofa while she watched Arkadin make himself some sort of meal. She had not even bothered asking whether she was allowed in or not and had just let herself in with a spare key, but Arkadin wasn’t really bothered. He was just glad to have everyone off his back for a little bit. So far though, they’d both just sort of gone about their business in silence.
“Soooo… what’s your new, feminine form gonna look like, little sis?” Yisini suddenly asked as Arkadin dumped a lump of butter into a saucepan.
“I’m already wearing it…” Arkadin replied.
Yisini tilted her head to one side, trying to work out what was different. The Thantophor was his normal yellow and black self, taking the form of a medium-sized Rethavok. The only noticeable difference was that Arkadin’s voice sounded a bit higher pitched.
“No you’re not.”
“I am!” Arkadin protested.
“You look exactly the same as you did yesterday!” Yisini argued back, climbing off the sofa and slithering into the kitchen. “You said you’d become feminine!”
“And I have become feminine!” Arkadin continued to protest. “I’m a feminine Rethavok! As feminine as a Rethavok I can be, since they don’t really have male and female forms.”
Yisini tutted. “You’re cheating. Rethavok are intersex, they have both male and female parts. All of them. You just look like a cross between that Elkay guy and that really attractive Retvik, and I can say for certain that Retvik is not feminine in any way what so ever!”
“Clearly you know nothing about Rethavok then…” Arkadin sighed. He poured some flour into the pan of now-melted butter, mixed it up then began pouring in some milk, whisking as he did so. “Retvik is considered feminine.”
“BOLLOCKS!” Yisini shouted as she leaned over the counter to see what Arkadin was doing. “If Retvik is feminine then I’m a massive throbbing dick.”
“You’re basically shaped like a spermatozoa with arms and you have multiple penises…” Arkadin growled. “I should know, I’ve had the misfortune of accidentally seeing them.”
“When did you see my dicks?” Yisini asked.
“When I walked in on you fucking Epani…” Arkadin shook his head in disgust and returned to his cooking. “Either way, I’ve already taken a female form. I even made my armour slightly bulkier, the way Retvik’s upper arm plates and codpiece armour are.”
The Allbirther sighed to herself. “You know that your skirting the rules is going to piss everyone off, right?”
“I’m following the rules.”
“No, you’re currently half male and half female. Not traditionally feminine at all.”
“Femininity depends on race though.”
“Not in THEIR eyes. Or mine.” Yisini tutted again. Arkain also tutted, then started pouring grated cheese into the pan. Yisini realised that the Thantophor was making macaroni cheese as she spotted a bowl full of cooked pasta on the side behind him. “Look, you clearly have no idea what femininity actually is. So let me help you craft a new, feminine look that you’ll like.”
Arkadin stopped stirring the sauce in the pan and stared at Yisini. “Did you just… offer to help me?”
“Well yeah.”
“This isn’t some sort of fucking trick, is it?”
“No.”
“Because frankly, you’re lucky you and I are still on speaking terms!” Arkadin went back to what he was doing. He finished stirring in the cheese then slowly began to add the pasta. “I’m not letting you touch my body anyway.”
“There’s no need for me to touch you! I’ll just make a clay representative and you just shape-shift yourself into it!”
Arkadin hesitated, then sighed again. “Fine. I’ll let you make some suggestions…”
Yisini clapped her hands with glee. “Awesome! Let’s start with some simple questions! Name someone you’re sexually attracted to.”
The Thantophor stared at Yisini.
“What?”
“What does that-”
“You like feminine things, right? You’re straight, you fuck female creatures!”
Arkadin looked away awkwardly. “Uh… that’s a… complicated matter…”
Yisini rolled her eyes. “Okay, fine, scrap that. I forgot you haven’t had sex yet. Okay, name me a female, an actually female being that you like the look of.”
Again, Arkadin looked away awkwardly.
“FINE!” Yisini was getting frustrated. “You like that Phovos girl, right?”
“Kinda. Not as much as Kairos does.”
“You like how she looks when she’s not fat and bloated and cranky, right?”
“That’s mean…” Arkadin muttered.
Yisini sighed. “I’ll take that as a yes…” The Allbirther started moulding a piece of grey clay in her hands. The clay quickly began to take form, into that of a being similar to a Ksithan. Yisini glanced at Arkadin, then made the form more feminine, giving it large hips and breasts.
“I… I kinda don’t want breasts…” Arkadin muttered.
Yisini shrugged. “Really?”
“They get in the way.”
“Eh, your choice…”
Yisini finished sculpting the body, then started adding armour plates, similar to the plates Arkadin already wore. Finally, she gave the sculpture some extra weight and chunkiness, then breathed all over it to harden the clay.
“Here you go!” Yisini smiled as she handed the sculpture to Arkadin. “A handy reference for you. Shall I leave you to get… changed?”
Arkadin stared at the sculpture. He genuinely quite liked it. Far more than he cared to admit.
“Yeah, sure…” Arkadin hesitated. “I… I might need a moment…”
Yisini grinned, then patted Arkadin on the head. “Let me know when you’re done. I’m sure the siblings would love to see your new form…”