Now a band of three — two teens and a disguised lizard — the trio walked the mall without gaining any more attention.
Ty began to wonder what Narissa wanted him to do, when the lizard/woman stopped to sit at the mall fountain, with Ty and Krissy sitting on either side of her.
"Krissy..." Narissa looked around conspiratorially. "I have a very important question to ask you."
"Oh?" She said solemnly, still bummed out about Dustin and his breakdown, knowing that she had promised herself she wouldn't stay with an abusive drug user.
"Do you still fantasize about... changing?"
The question seemed to take Krissy out of whatever thought she had been in and she looked for all the world like Narissa had slapped her right across the face. "H-How could you..."
"It's all right." Narissa said reassuringly. "Your thoughts are exciting. And you definitely don't need to hide them now that Dustin is out of the picture. Nobody will judge you for what you like."
At this, Krissy blinked several times. As Narissa had explained earlier, once Krissy began to suspect that Narissa was more than what she appeared, in her mind's eye the disguise began to slip a little. Krissy caught a momentary shadow around Narissa that suggested what she really was, only for a quick flash, and for a moment, Krissy was staring into a pair of yellow reptilian eyes.
"Whoa..." The girl rose from the bench seat, backing away slowly. "What the hell are you, lady?! For real??!"
"Easy." Narissa whispered gently. "I don't want to hurt you."
"Y-You... you did something to Dustin. You made him crazy!" Krissy pointed, trembling in terror. "It was you!"
"You know deep down..." Ty whispered, gulping as he found the courage to speak. "You know what a terrible person he was. You never deserved him. He got his punishment, just for a while. Maybe it'll scare him straight."
"N-No..." Krissy waved her hands over her face frantically. "This... this isn't happening."
"Listen..." Narissa said carefully. "I can see how it would have turned out. You were right. You would've wound up a broken and battered spouse. A trophy wife. Your mind reduced to whatever Dustin wanted you to be. Your will and your spirit would have been broken. Maybe not right away, but eventually."
Krissy stopped dead and stared in disbelief. "You... you can see that?"
"As definitely as I'm not a human being." The lizard said with a slight smirk, dropping human Narissa slightly so she was more shadow than woman, halfway phased between her true self and the disguise.
"Oh my God." Krissy realized, staring around the mall for the reactions. But none came.
"Nobody can see this but you." Narissa explained. "It's a bit complicated, but I know you're curious. You've imagined something like me for a very long time, and yes, aliens and monsters really do exist."
"W-What is she?" Krissy whispered to Ty, catching Narissa's playful grin and the dark shadow thing surrounding her. Much bigger than the woman sitting on the bench.
Ty looked at Narissa, who nodded matter of factly. He turned back to Krissy and shrugged. "Uh... an interdimensional lizard woman. She's actually very friendly. So far."
From her perspective, Krissy blinked and Narissa was sitting there as she really was. She immediately saw the seven foot lizard creature and broke into a warm and terrified sweat, shaking in absolute terror. Like Ty, however, she had indeed always felt there must be something else besides human intelligence. She stared for a few moments more, and then turned away. "Make it go away. Go back to... human." She said, staring down at the floor tiles as she tried to come to grips with it.
"It's all right." Narissa said instantly. "I've got my mask back on."
Krissy turned and jumped as Narissa was back to a human woman. She stared at Ty, she stared at Narissa, and then carefully she approached Narissa, who smiled as the teen reached forward and touched her face tenderly, blinking in disbelief. "How are you doing this?" She asked in shock. "You feel so real."
Ty broke into a smile.
* * *
Now back to walking the mall, Krissy was in a state of mental shock, staring off into the distance.
"You saw my mind?" Krissy whispered, leaning into the woman/lizard's ear.
"Yes." Narissa raised an eyebrow, smirking patiently.
"You saw... my... entertainment?" She blushed warm red.
"Yes." Narissa smiled wider, making Krissy shrink back in embarassment. "Interesting ideas."
Krissy gulped. "What you were saying before... about... making it happen."
Narissa pointed to Ty and chuckled. "He can do it."
All three stopped and Ty looked in confusion. "I'm not... following."
"He can change things." Narissa whispered to Krissy. "Ask him to do something."
Krissy blushed in moritification and gently approached Ty. She stared at Narissa, who urged her on with a nod, and blushed deeply as she leaned down and whispered into Ty's ear. Of course what Ty heard Narissa heard, and she went wide eyed at the request.
Ty, for his part, blushed harder than even before with the lizard as Krissy asked him to make her an animal. Slowly. Besides being so close to Narissa, Ty had never been this close to such a beautiful and kind girl before, let alone one two years older than him. And now she was requesting something so strange Ty couldn't help but be genuinely overwhelmed.
"Not here." Narissa whispered. "But we can go play somewhere more private..."