Carol (the name change that would make him officially Carl was going to go through the next day) bit back his first reaction when he saw the image of Levar's destined form Levar was circulating around the support group. That reaction was "wo, you're going to be hot!" Just because you're a guy now, he thought to himself, doesn't mean you have to be an asshole. It obviously wasn't something that Levar, breaking down in tears, needed to hear at the moment.
But yeah, she was going to be hot.
Dr. Burton was actually ambivalent about Levar's actions. It was bad that he was upset but it was good that he was letting himself cry rather than try to be a stereotypically male stoic hardass about it. Jocks like Levar had been, whose lives revolved around masculine toughness, were some of the hardest Second Puberty cases.
"Would you like a hug?' Levar nodded yes. Dr. Burton gave a hug, then one of the new cases, a nerdy girl named Cassie who had just recently started showing symptoms. Last was Carol, who Dr. Burton figured was ready to leave the program after another session or two. He hesitated, then after Levar gave a tiny nod stepped up to give him a firm hug. Levar cried even harder, but not because he hadn't liked it when Carol hugged him.
Levar was crying because she had.