Tuesday, March 22

They woke up confused, disoriented, unsure of what was happening.  Conflicting
thoughts and feelings swirled about, unable to tell if they were Ryaline,
Caryan, or someone else entirely.  The memories were strange as well, recalling
life as two separate people...

A mental snapping shook them as their minds split apart, and settled back into a
more normal state.  Ryan and Caroline both groaned, feeling their body as one,
then it too separated back into two parts.  Two watery heads formed from the
surface, gasping and groaning as they regained their sense of being and their
bearings.

Ryan rippled and shuddered, and let out a groan.  "Oh gods, that was... it
was..."

Caroline moaned as well, her body shuddering as well.  "Oh... that was insane."
She hugged Ryan, her watery body rippling against his.  "We were merged
completely last night, I was you and you were me."

Ryan started to say something, stopped, then took a deep breath.  "This... is
going to take me time to adjust to."  He rippled once again, then turned into
human shape in the water.  "Definitely take time..."  His form wavered for a
moment, then suddenly a version of Caroline was standing there, then back to
being Ryan.

"Wow, that was unexpected."  Ryan blinked, and tried to clamp down on his
thoughts.  "I'm going to need... a little time."

Caroline reformed as well and hugged Ryan tightly.  "I think I'll need a little
time as well," she admitted.

---

An hour later Caroline walked into the room where Ryan was essentially
meditating.  He even was sitting in a lotus position, eyes closed and a relaxed
expression on his face.  She wondered if she should do anything, but then his
eyes opened and he slowly stood back up.

"Are you feeling more stable?" she asked him, worried about what had happened
earlier.  His smile reassured her, making her feel more relieved.

"I'm feeling more centered, if that's what you mean."  He waved back to the pile
of pillows.  "I learned meditation a few years back, it helps a lot when I've
had rough days dealing with computer users."

She let out her breath, definitely relieved by his response.  "I was afraid
you'd react badly from our merging," she admitted.  "I didn't expect it, but
since I've experienced it before, I knew what to expect."

"It isn't that," Ryan replied.  "I should have expected it as well, given how
close we've been over the last few days.  It's just... a lot of memories that
are yours that I needed to digest, or at least organize."  He gave a wry smile.
"The nice thing is that I probably understand you better than anyone else, and
can appreciate you even more now."

Caroline giggled, and hugged him tightly.  "I'm glad you do, too.  You're the
first I've ever really been intimate with, not even with Gena and Lexi."

Ryan chuckled softly.  "That's because Gena was getting married, and Lexi...
well, she has her moods and it's hard to tell how she'll feel about it."

"Exactly.  But with you, I feel that I can throw my inhibitions to the winds,
and let go totally.  Like last night with you, that was so incredibly insane
being all mingled together with you physically and mentally."

"Guess I'll have to get used to it," Ryan replied with a light tone.  "You're
not going to give me a choice."

"Not a chance," Caroline replied with a feral grin.

---

It wasn't until later on in the morning that Ryan felt comfortable enough to
want to go outside with Caroline.  She wondered what he had planned, as he
hadn't said anything to hint what was on his mind.

They walked in silence until Ryan stopped, the two of them standing in a
clearing.  He looked around and nodded, making Caroline even more curious.

"What are you thinking?" she finally asked.

"Well," he said, "remember when you were a flower?"

She thought back, then giggled.  "Oh, that was fun, merging with one of my
flowers.  You want to do that with me?"

He laughed.  "No, I have something better in mind.  Why be a flower, when we can
go for broke?"

"Go for broke?"

He winked.  "Let's be trees."

---

Ryan stood a short distance away from Caroline.  "Now, watch what I do," he said,
"and then you do the same."  With that, he closed his eyes, and a soft moan came
from him as changes began.

First, he feet began to dig into the ground, the toes turning into roots that
pushed their way out in every direction.  His legs fused together to the hip, as
the skin took on a dark tone and became more bark-like.  Slowly his torso
stretched upwards, the bark spreading up as well, as he let out a moan of
delight.  His arms stretched outwards, turning into thick branches which smaller
branches formed and stretched out in every direction.  Branches also formed at
his shoulders, pushing upwards, while his head stretched, distorted and split
into a series of equally thick branches.  Leaves formed at the ends of those
branches, forming a lush green canopy around his trunk, which had widened to
support his body.

The changes finished as Ryan felt himself breathing differently, the flow of
water up from his roots to the top of his crown, a true living tree.  He rustled
a bit the leaves, and a whispering sound came from him.  "Oh, yes... join me
this way, love."

Caroline didn't need any prodding, as she was already transforming herself into
a matching form.  Minutes later there was no sign of either of them, but two
tall cottonwood trees stood there, feeling the sunlight givin them energy and
the strange sensation of breathing carbon dioxide and turning it into life-
giving oxygen.

They looked over the land from their height, Caroline amazed at what she could
see.  "Oh, this is so great," she said with a rustle of her leaves.  "It's so
relaxing and I feel like I could stay this way for a while."

Ryan would have nodded, but instead his leaves rustled as well.  "It is quite
relaxing, love.  Let's just enjoy it."

With that, they both let the sunlight and the world around them permeate their
being, their moods evolving into one of mutual relaxation in their new state.

Eventually, Ryan noticed that their sense of time was altering a bit, clouds
that previously were just lazily floating past now zipping overhead.  There was
also a sense of the sun moving just a little faster than before, and he made
comment of such to Caroline.

"Is that a problem?" she asked, a touch of worry in her voice.

"Not as long as we keep our sense of self," he replied.  "It's just as trees,
our sense of time is different."  He paused a moment.  "But for now, just
enjoy."

They lapsed back into silence, once again just becoming part of the enviroment
around them.  They watched deer swiftly moving around them, birds flashing
through their branches, their shadows moving across the ground.

It wasn't until Ryan noticed the sun getting close to the tops of the mountains
in the distance that he came back to full awareness.  "Time to return back to
normal," he said, a sigh coming from Caroline.

"Must we?"

"I'm afraid so."  His form shuddered and shrank down, transforming back into
human shape with a groan.

Caroline considered remaining, then sighed again and transformed back to human
as well, wishing she had more time as a tree. It felt so good, so relaxing and
comfortable.  But she also knew she wanted to share it with Ryan, and was glad
he thought of doing this on his own.

Walking over to her, he picked her up in his arms.  She wrapped her arms around
his neck, and gave him a loving kiss.  "That, love, was a wonderful idea."

"I'm glad you liked it," Ryan said gently.  "Now, let's get back home for now."

---

Ryan's laptop was on, and the video recorder was running.  In front of the
computer, a foot-tall two-headed dragon morph sat on a wooden cube, facing the
built-in camera.  The dragon checked the image, then started speaking.

"Hi there.  No, your eyes aren't deceiving you, nor is this some kind of
Hollywood special effect.  What you're seeing is real, and yes, I really am a
foot-tall dragon with two heads."  Both heads grinned a bit, then stuck their
tongues out at the webcam.

"We're going to talk about perspective, and I'm going to start by saying that
being a foot tall is rather interesting.  The world around you is vastly larger,
and you tend to translate that size difference into something you're already
familiar with, like being nearly six feet tall.

"The curious thing is that we all have experienced being small, when we were
just children.  As a child, the world was big and magical, your parents were
giants, your room a vast playground, your bed a huge area to rest in and sleep.

"But as we grew older, we grew taller.  The old room you grew up seems small,
the bed you slept in is now way too tiny for you, and the world isn't so big and
magical any more.

"Now, earlier today, Caroline and I were a pair of tall trees.  Yes, trees,
standing probably good 60, 70' tall over the land.  And the perspective is very
different again, you tower over the ground, everything around you seems so
small, and you can see things off in the distance that being normal height you'd
likely miss seeing.  And again, your mind tries to translate what you're seeing
and experiencing, comparing it to your normal size and failing.

"Part of the nature of being able to transform is being able to adjust to the
changes around you.  Not just your own changes, but how the world around you
changes."

Suddenly a furry chest appeared in the image.  "Are you just going to sit there?
Or are we going to have some fun?"

Ryan grinned at the webcam.  "Time to get some more perspecives," as a paw
wrapped around him, picked him up and stuffed him into that cleavage.  The chest
disappeared from sight, but later laughter and moans could be heard on the
recording.