Jonathan thought about what Sei asked him and found himself at a loss for way in how to answer. From his perspective, it had been seven or eight years since the gnomes had robbed him of eleven years of his life, his masculinity and had trapped him as a statue. Much to his horror he been aware during the whole time. And during all of it, he'd watched people, a little girl, a grown man, and someone that looked like a gorilla had been bred with a human, come and go as they walked through the garden, overhearing snatches of their conversations. But none of what he'd heard could help him in any way, as it had all been the useless blather of day-to-day life stuff.
His young face took on a pinched look as he tried to come up with an reply. Deciding to focus on the first question Sei had asked, Jonathan took a deep breath, nervously fidgeted with his dress before quietly saying, "I know this is hard to believe, but as I have said before, I really am Jonathan," and before he could change his mind, he began to tell Sei everything that happened to him, then all he knew of their friendship, somethings so close to them, that there was no way anyone could actually know unless they had been with the five friends.
As he listened to the little girl talk, Sei was at first skeptical she was who she claimed. But slowly, as she told about the time they went skinny dipping, had their clothes stolen, and had to nick a number of things off a couple clotheslines, the incident when they had tried batting other things besides a baseball with a bat and how it had ended up with them breaking a couple windows on an old, abandoned building, the times they snuck out together for beer, and the few times each had gotten to first base with a girl, among many, many things, he began to come around to the notion that, somehow, she was Jonathan.
When he'd finished, Jonathan smoothed his dress and looked at Sei. A serious look on his young, feminine face, he explained, "I know what I have said is hard to believe. I can understand your doubts. Heck. I would doubt it myself. Especially if it were you who told me you were Sei. Except for the one thing is that, in the garden, I could faintly make out who you were. And plus, I had seen you transform from my friend into a girl who," a shrug, "I dunno, might be nine-years-old," and looking down, his hands clasped firmly in his lap, reminding him of what he'd been turned into as he felt them pressed into the garment, causing the fabric to press into his now flat groin, he found the whole situation ridiculous. Hearing Sei move about as he attempted to get comfortable, Jonathan heaved a sigh, thought how the two of them might undo what had happened to them and suddenly remembering the others, he asked, "Um, you don't think anything happened to Ryan, Mike and Erick, do you?"
"I'm not sure," Sei whispered after thinking about it and standing, he started pacing, before turning to Jonathan and saying, "What I am sure of is that we need to do two things. We need to find a way to turn ourselves back to out normal selves and find a way out of this place."
A nod from Jonathan as he affirmed, "Yeah," and standing, he pulled on his hat and reached for his coat.
As his friend pulled on the outerwear, Sei adjusted the robe he was wearing. When the two were ready, each looked at the other and before he could stop himself, Sei blurted out, "That really is a pretty outfit you have on. I wish I could wear something like it, instead of going about in my sleepwear," then, realising what he said, he looked away in embarrassment.
"It is very pretty," Jonathan explained as he reached for Sei's hand, "But it's a pain to do much in because of how much I have on," and leading his friend, the two exited the indoor cabana.
Outside, they stopped and stared at the pool. There was something about it that both almost felt as if the cool, blue water was calling to them. With some difficulty, the two friend edged away from it and toward the far end of the room. Searching for a door that wouldn't take them back out into the garden, it was Sei who commented, "Is it just me, or is there something about the pool. Almost like it is trying to get us to, I dunno, drown ourselves or something."
"I hear it too," Jonathan whispered. "Only, it isn't something that I can actually hear, but more of a feeling. It's hard to describe. All I know is that if I wasn't dressed the way I am, I would probably give in and jump in."
Sei, who had glanced at the water, nodded and replied, "I know what you mean. If I were to give in, I'd strip down to nothing and jump in."
Scared, Jonathan gripped Sei's hand tighter. His friend reciprocating the gesture, the two hurried and when they found another door, just as the call of the pool was starting to get to them, they were glad it wasn't locked. Finding themselves in a long hallway, neither moved as they stared at dimly lit corridor before them. Each thinking the same thing, it was Jonathan who finally asked, "Where do you think we should start looking?"
A shrug from Sei before he venture, "The second floor maybe? I mean. I think that's were whatever was done to me happened. And who knows. We might run into Mike along the way. Or even find Erick or Ryan, if they haven't had done to them what's been done to us."
Thinking this was a good idea, Jonathan began to lead the way. The two slipping silently down the hallway, it was Sei who eventually said, "What'll we do if we run into somebody? I mean, I think it might be pretty hard to explain why two girls, one wearing an outfit that hasn't been worn in a hundred years or so and the other in nothing but her sleepwear, are wandering around a supposedly abandoned building."
Confronted with this truth, Jonathan almost stopped. Trying to think of a solution, he eventually whispered, "I do not know," as he nervously fidgeted with the front of his coat.
A sense of worry set over them, each scared of the prospect that they might run into someone, both soon felt like they should skip searching for a way to be turned back and simply leave. But, since the other didn't seem so keen on voicing the opinion that they should get out, both instead kept their thoughts to themselves. Wandering down hallway after hallway, passing doors, but never entering, turning corners at random points, each beginning to stumble in exhaustion as their young bodies demanded sleep, it was Sei who eventually stopped and looked about. Noting that nothing seemed to have changed, that everything appeared same, he whined, "I don't think we're getting anywhere."
"Yeah," Jonathan yawned. "It feels like we have been walking for hours. Shouldn't we have come to front of the house by now?"
A quick nod from Sei and he replied, "Yeah. And if not that, we should have found a set of stairs going up," and glancing furtively about, desperate to see what he wanted, he found himself feeling a sinking sensation as he thought, "We're lost."
As if he could hear what his friend had thought, Jonathan voiced aloud, "I think we're lost," then added, "But, that doesn't make sense. That would imply that, somehow, this house is bigger on the inside than the outside. Which no house is built like that. It's not possible," and stamping his foot angrily, he glared at the walls, almost as if challenging them to contradict him.
Sei, who thought Jonathan was acting like a petulant little girl who had stayed up past her bedtime, and was instantly reminded of how Sarah had acted when she'd been little, he almost told Jonathan this. Instead, he commented, "I think there is something off about this place. I mean, you said it yourself. From the way you viewed things, you were a statue for what, seven or eight years. That shouldn't be. Considering we only came into the manor this very night. So I guess it makes sense that if you spent such a long time as a statue, wouldn't it also make sense that somehow the house is bigger inside than outside?"
"I dunno. I guess," Jonathan meekly replied and dropping into a sitting position, he asked, "What are we going to do? Are we going to wander these hall forever, looking for something we aren't sure what it looks like or if it even exists?" then softly, added, "I don't want to be a little girl. I want to be a big boy," as he started to cry.
Alarmed by what he saw, Sei flopped down next to his friend. Hugging his friend, comforting him and feeling comforted by the closeness he was sharing, Sei whispered, "Shhh. Hey, it will be all right. You'll see. As soon as we find a way to transform back, we'll both be big boys again. No more girl parts and girl clothes and girly thoughts about liking pretty dresses. We'll have icky boy parts and do things only boys do," unaware that, like Jonathan's speech, his had slipped into something closer to how a girl would speak.
Sitting there in the middle of the hall, the two remained like that for some time before Jonathan sniffed and nodded. Softly saying, "Thank you. For being here with me. For believing me. For everything," and hugging Sei, something he would have never done as a guy, he slowly stood, adjusted his hat and coat, and said, "I think we should press on."
A nod in agreement from Sei as he also stood. Taking each other's hand, the two looked back the way they came, glanced in the direction they were going and after a moment of a hurried conversation of whether they should continue forward or turn around and try one of the other halls they had passed, both agreed to continue on. Slipping quietly down the corridor, they again passed door after door, chose what they felt was the right direction when they came to a new corridor and as the hours slipped by, it was Jonathan who announced, "I think we should stop and wait till morning."
"Yeah," Sei said and glancing at a door up a little ways on the right, he asked, "You think we should hide in one of the rooms?"
Jonathan, who wanted nothing more then to lie down and go to sleep, but was afraid that doing so would lead them to getting caught, tried to think about how to answer and instead nodded and said, "Let's see what's through there."
Silently, the two tiptoed down the hall, which was easier for Sei as he had no shoes on, and upon reaching the door, both looked at each other, pressed a finger to their lips and made shushing noises. Opening the door, they peered into the room and were disappointed it was too dark to see anything. Creeping forward a couple steps, a child's fear of the dark stealing over him, Jonathan whined, "Please don't let the door close," before edging forward, patting the air and using his feet to search for anything. His buckle-type boots making a soft thudding noise on the wooden floor, he grunted when he abruptly ran into something.
From where he stood in the open doorway, Sei, who had been leery about entering another room, his experience from the last time still fresh in his mind, immediately called out, "What is it?" the instant he heard what sounded like Jonathan running into something.
His friend meanwhile was examining a piece of furniture that he soon figured out felt like a rather fancy couch. Glancing back in the direction he guessed he'd come, he announced, "I think I found us some place to sleep," and starting to tap his boot on the wood floor, he said, "Follow the sound of my shoe."
Hesitant to enter, Sei listened to his friend. Another yawn escaped him and his need for sleep won out in the end as he stepped over the threshold. Listening the thumping sound of the boots his friend was wearing strike the floor, missing completely as the door behind swung silently shut, Sei blundered across the room until he ran into Jonathan, who directed him to his find. Confirming what his friend thought, Sei sat down, yawned and shrugged out of his robe. Wearing nothing more than a pair of boxers, a tank top and a pair of panties under the boxers, he shivered and muttered, "Kind of cold in here."
From where he still stood, Jonathan heard his friend as he shucked off the hat and overcoat and tossed them on what he hoped was the back of the couch. About to lay down next to his friend, he stopped. Something about sleeping in the clothes he had on didn't feel right and after a moment, he sat down, fumbled to get his boots off, stood when he finally had and proceeded to take off everything he was wearing, except his undershirt and slip, with the dress only causing him minor issues. Hearing his friend shivering, Jonathan lay down next to him and pressing as close as he could, the two huddled on the couch, both equally aware of the other's female body, but not to concerned as their shared body warmth kept them from shivering. As a moment, Jonathan asked, "How long do you think it will take us to find a way to turn back into big boys and then find a way out of here?"
Drowsy, Sei yawned, "I don't know," as he spread his robe out over them as a make-shift blanket.
His breathing slowing as he started to sink off to sleep, Jonathan whispered, "I hope it isn't too long," but didn't get an answer, as his friend had already fallen asleep. Staring into the dark, Jonathan had one final thought about what it might mean if the two were stuck the way they were before falling into a worrisome sleep as dreams about horses, Ryan, three women who looked off somehow, and him and Sei wandering lost, forever, chased him down into a deep sleep.