"You can hide at my place until it goes away," Todd offered, shrugging. "One of my roommates is still around, but he stays in his room. He won't see you."
Nancy looked down. "You think it'll go away?"
"The growth did," Todd pointed out.
Nancy fell silent as she thought. Todd seemed nice, but he was a stranger nonetheless. Going back to his apartment seemed risky, but there wasn't really anywhere she could go. Her new arms were squeezed against her side as tight as she could manage, but Todd's coat was the only reason that made them not visible. The moment that came off, it would be very clear something was off. And she had no idea how long she could keep her new arms in their current position before the muscles cramped and became painful.
She would have to trust that Todd was as nice as he seemed. He had, after all, been level-headed about her growth and willingly lent her the coat. She was as much a stranger to him as he was to her, there had been no guarantee he would get the coat back, but instead he had chosen to help her.
Finally, Nancy nodded. "Okay. Let's go to your place."
Todd smiled pleasantly. "Alright." He pointed towards the bus stop. "It's not far from the bus route. It won't take long to get there."
They walked to the stop, Nancy holding the coat closed all the while. With the winter air, she simply looked like she was trying to keep warm. As a cool breeze wafted past them, sending a chill through the tears in her pants, she shivered, only further adding to the image.
"What is even happening?" Nancy asked, bouncing on the balls of her feet as she watched for the bus.
Todd shrugged. "Been splashed with any weird chemicals?" Nancy gave a short laugh and shook her head. "Or hit by any weird experimental laser beams? Maybe you were bit by a radioactive caterpillar."
"Nothing like that," she said. "It doesn't make sense."
The bus arrived and they climbed aboard. With only one other person seated at the front of the bus, they went towards the back. Once seated, Nancy checked to make sure the other rider was not looking at them. Seeing her attention was on her phone, Nancy took the opportunity to shift her new arms an relieve them of being so still.
They said little on the short ride, neither wanting to risk being overheard. Even casual conversation was sparse, as Nancy was too distracted by the strange situation.
Once they arrived at their stop, Todd stood up. Nancy followed suit, and the two disembarked. Before long, they found themselves at Todd's door as he fished in his pocket for his keys.
"And your roommate is here?" Nancy asked.
"Yeah, his car is in the parking lot," he said. "But he'll be in his room until he goes to get dinner. He likes his video games."
"Okay."
Once inside, Nancy shed Todd's coat and handed it to him.
"Hey, Mick!" Todd called.
"Hey, Todd!" Mick called from his room.
Nancy waited a few seconds. Once Mick did not appear and it was clear he would be staying in his room, she relaxed. She unfolded her new arms, allowing them to reach down past the hem of her shirt. She shook them out before raising them up in front of her to look at them, the motion pushing her shirt up and exposing her navel. "This is so weird," she muttered.
"I'll say," Todd said.
Nancy looked at her shirt and grimaced. "I can't believe this shirt is ruined. I really liked it." She sighed and then looked at Todd. "Do you have scissors? I want to cut arm holes."
Todd nodded. "Yeah, I'll go get them. Make yourself comfortable."
Todd went back to his room. Once he found his scissors, he stopped and pulled out the remote from his pocket. Now seemed like a good opportunity to change her some more.