6.2. Am I Growing Wings?! - Part 2

"Is it that bad?" I ask. "Can you take a photo and show me?"

I'm astonished how calm he seems about it. I guess he must be used to much weirder shit at his work. Still, it takes him three attempts to unlock his phone because he keeps missing. Is he nervous because it's me?

"Kurva," I swear in Czech and my head spins when I see it. I'm glad my stomach is empty because I'd probably throw up again. "Is it... a tumour?"

The swelling got even bigger, it's really huge now. I can see that my back is swollen in two distinct places, right under my shoulder-blades.

"Tumours don't grow in a matter of days," Liana assures me but her tone is anything but sure.

"Will someone explain to me what the hell is going on?" Erik demands.

"We don't know either," Liana sits on a chair in front of my 3D projector. "We all play Draconia Online—I'm sure you at least heard of it—and two days ago weird things started happening. First, there was unnatural tiredness, then physical symptoms."

"How can some fucking game do THIS?" Erik dramatically points at my back.

"Let me take a look," Fefnir offers. "I study physiotherapy so I might discover something."

"You're not touching my boyfriend!" Erik acts defensive.

Oh, I see why he doesn't want Fefnir to touch me. He's concerned that I might project my emotions to anyone who would touch me. He's so cutely protective. I just love him.

"Oh, come on now," Fefnir grows impatient. "First, just for your information, I'm 100% heterosexual. Second, I do professional massages. Third, I have basic medical training."

"SO-DO-I," Erik cuts every single word and to prove his point, he touches my back.

The pain is so intense that I scream and collapse—luckily on my soft bed. Erik winces, startled.

"He needs to go to hospital!" he insists. "Why didn't take you him there in the first place? Do all gamers lack common sense or what?"

"Because he's scared... we all are," Ingri gulps.

"Erik," I pull him by his sleeve when the shock of pain mitigates. "Let Fefnir do it. He might be able to find something out."

Plus, I can't go to hospital, they could find out about me, I tell him telepathically. He finally realises why I'm so against it and bites his lip. Don't worry, I'm in control now, I add.

"I should be able to tell if it's just a normal swelling," Fefnir says, confident. "So far we think that our symptoms are purely psychosomatic. The brain is confused from VR and does funny things. If it's just a rash, however ugly, it should be okay in a few days of rest."

After a short consideration, Erik finally allows him to sit next to me on the bed. But he keeps holding my left hand. Now that I can also enter one's mind, not only 'feel and listen,' I'm afraid I might project some of my pain into him. I want him to let go but he clutches me even tighter.

"Don't worry, I can take it," he whispers into my ear. From my friends' points of view, it probably looks like he gives me words of encouragement.

"Do you have some cream, Aefener?" Fefnir asks. "Any lotion will do."

"In the bathroom locker."

Fefnir runs off. Erik cleverly uses that brief time to kiss me, not caring that ladies are watching. I feel a surge of excited enthusiasm from Ingri. Once a fangirl, always a fangirl—I'd actually laugh if I didn't feel so miserable and scared.

"Okay, I'll be gentle, but brace yourself," Fefnir warns me. Erik isn't happy that he has to take off my t-shirt completely in front of three unknown people but it's necessary.

Fefnir's touch is indeed professional, certainly not as clumsy and sharp as Erik's, but it still hurts like hell. But it's somewhat bearable. If I know when to expect pain, it's easier to contain. Fefnir is inspecting my whole back extremely carefully and he's using the cream as he would oil so it does resemble a massage. Even though he's acting tough and rather carefree, I can feel he's as panicky as the rest of us.

But it's not Fefnir whom I'm craving. I access Erik's mind and it sooths me. I try not to send any of my pain to him and it seems to be working. Erik is aware that I'm hurting but he doesn't perceive it as his own sensation so he's fine.

"So?" Liana grows impatient.

"I... I'm not sure," Fefnir shakes his head. "I'd swear I can feel something hard under the skin. But it's too low so it can't be a shoulder-blade. A cyst maybe?"

"That would be a reasonable explanation I guess," Erik nods. "We get lots of these in the hospital."

"So... it's not a tumour?" I sigh out, relieved.

"Most probably not, tumours really don't grow in a matter of days," Erik reassures me. "Or it might be inflammation?"

"But I can feel strange tickling as well," Liana reminds us. "Ryuuto said it started as tickling at first. How can we have the same symptoms?"

"These things can be psychosomatic," Fefnir suggests. "VR helmets could have stressed certain parts of our brains that sent confused signals to the rest of the body."

He presses my back again. This time I don't expect it and the pain startles me. I let out a suffocated cry and something under my skin suddenly moves. I can't see it, of course, but Erik and the others do. And they widen their eyes.

"W-what the...?" Fefnir flinches. "Cysts don't move."

God, what if it's a parasyte? We've had some cases, Erik is thinking frantically. He doesn't say it aloud in order not to scare me but he forgot I can hear his thoughs when he's touching me.

"It's not a parasyte!" I exclaim. Just a second later I realise I aswered Erik's thought in front of everyone. Shit, will they think I acted weird? Fortunately, it seems they were thinking the same.

"I've seen a documentary with under-skin parasytes," Ingri gulps. "It wasn't nice."

"Say no more, Ryuu is scared enough already," Erik stops her.

"Try touching it again," Liana proposes.

Fefnir nods and presses against the swelling again and under both shoulder-blades at the same time. I gasp and now I feel like I'm actually moving something myself. Fefnir presses harder which makes me streighten my back.

"Shit!" Fefnir yells, astonished. "I think I saw... a bone structure?! Erik, did you see it too?"

"I did... see something," he says slowly. "It definitely wasn't a parasyte."

"Guys... don't think I'm crazy but... it kind of looks like wings!" Ingri whispers.

"Don't be ridiculous!" Erik purses his lips.

"Well... he does play as a Celestial," Liana is thinking out loud. "And Fefnir complains about his tailbone."

"What are you talking about?" Erik is completely lost.

"Celestials have wings in the game and Ryuuto and I play as Celestials. Fefnir plays as a Dragonkin, they have tails," Liana explains briefly.

"And I feel tickling in my palms and feet where the Earthborn have rooty tentacles," Ingri adds. "So we all feel strange in spots of our virtual limbs?"

"If I didn't see it myself, I'd think you're crazy conspiracy people," Erik's voice trembles.

There's a solid silence for at least a minute.

I wait for Erik to have a hysterical outbreak because he's totally freaking out in his mind—I'm not far from it myself—but he doesn't say anything. Instead, he lies and hugs me, careful with his hands around my swollen shoulder-blades. His tenderness calms me.

"What kind of creatures are Celestials?" he finally speaks again, his voice cracked. "Draconia is a fantasy game, right?"

"We don't like that term but basically angels," I try to explain as simply as possible.

"Oh, good... I was afraid you'd change into a dragon or something like that," he almost sounds relieved.

"That would be me." Fefnir, strangely, doesn't seem that worried about his prospects. "Dragonkin don't have wings, though. We're too heavy for flying."

"Ach du lieber Himmel!" Liana swears in German. My always rational, always reasonable, always practical viceroy. She loses it.

"Wissen Sie was... Do you even get what that means?" she screams.

I'm really thankful that my apartment is soundproof now. She looks at everyone in disbelief.

"No, you don't. At least not fully yet," she shakes her head violently. "WE ARE CHANGING INTO OUR AVATARS! FOR REAL!"

Fefnir nervously giggles. Oh, so he's lost it after all. He certainly has a funny way of showing it. Ingri sits down, leaning towards the wall. She hides her face in her palms and starts to sob.

Surprisingly, the first person to calm down is Erik. He caresses my hair and kisses me. For a while, I get lost in his mind but from the outside it probably looks like a long kiss.

With a deepened intimate connection I get to understand why Erik isn't as freaked out about the whole thing as he should be. After my confession about telepathy, his bar for strangeness got much higher than normal.

"And your white hair?" he asks. "Hard not to notice."

"My avatar has silver hair," I say but I can't keep my eyes open any longer. My consciousness sinks into darkness.