'Sure,' said Simon, 'it seems to work well enough. But you've got to tell me what it's like.'
'Why?' Bryan said with a slight frown. 'It's not going to hurt, is it?'
'I've no idea, it didn't come with any instructions,' Simon said. He motioned towards Jay. 'He's still asleep, though, so it can't do. We need to keep our voices down, as well,' he added, in reduced tones. 'We don't want to wake him up just yet; he might freak if he sees you changing, let alone looks at himself.'
Bryan looked at the device doubtfully. 'All right, what the hell. Go for it.'
Simon brought his arm up slowly, and pointed the emitter at Bryan.
'Wait!' said Bryan suddenly, in a panicked whisper. He looked at Jay again, scanning him briefly, before turning back to Simon. 'If Jay's clothes are anything to go by, it will hurt after a bit; his stuff was baggy, and his shorts are elasticated.'
'Ah, yeah, your jeans will definitely kill after a while. A sixteen-year-old wouldn't be able to get half a leg in those.'
Simon saw Bryan smile at that prospect. 'Dude, that sounds awesome. Alright, bear with me'.
Bryan sat down and started taking his jeans off awkwardly.
Simon examined Jay again as his friend made efforts to be as silent as possible. He couldn't believe how much he had changed through puberty. Propelled three years into the future, Simon could tell that sixteen-year-old Jay had kept up his athleticism. In fact, Simon mused, with his top and shorts as out-grown and taut as they were, Jay looked as though he were a triathlete.
Bryan had quietly placed his jeans to one side and was standing up expectantly.
'Well, we know now why he's on the swim team,' Simon whispered to him, pointing to Jay's much larger feet. 'He won't be able to wear these any more, though,' he said, picking up one of jay's flip-flops and placing it for a side-by-side comparison. 'He's, like, double the size now!'
'Whoa!' exclaimed Bryan voicelessly, looking down at his own sock-covered feet. 'Well, I'm not complaining,' he grinned, as he balanced on alternate feet to remove them.
'Alright, ready?' said Simon eagerly, after Bryan had finished.
'Go for it,' said Bryan, just as excitedly.
'Alright, here goes.'
Simon lifted the device, pointed it at Bryan's chest, and pressed the button.
Bryan jerked slightly, and then stood still, looking at Simon.
'How do you feel?' Simon asked hesitantly.
'I'm fine. It just felt like a static shock, you know? But, like, a body one.' Bryan looked down his shirt to his legs. After a pause he looked down his arm to his hands, turned them over, and then back to his legs, picking up a leg to examine the calf, and then his foot.
'I don't feel anything.' He looked at Simon expectantly.
Simon glanced at the timer briefly before concentrating on Bryan again. 'Well, you've got a while yet,' he said.
Bryan shifted uneasily. 'Feel something?' Simon asked quickly. 'Yeah, self-conscious wearing just a shirt and boxer shorts.'
Simon frowned. 'It's not like we haven't seen each other get changed for phys. ed, or anything.'
'Yeah, well...' Bryan trailed off. Simon frowned slightly, and looked at Bryan. He looked again, and realised why Bryan suddenly felt abashed. All the time he had been monitoring Bryan, he hadn't really looked at his attire.
He suddenly grinned ear-to-ear. 'Superman boxer shorts?' he said, incredulously. Bryan reddened. 'I was in a rush when Jay knocked to get changed,' he said. 'How was I supposed to know that I'd be stripping when I...' He broke off and reached down to his groin, his mouth hanging half-open.
'That's not to cover the emblem, is it?' said Simon. 'Are you alright?'
'Yeah, it's fine. My balls just ached slightly, like they'd been hit, or something. But it didn't hurt,' he added hurriedly after seeing the expression on Simon's face, though it quickly turned from a slight grimace to excitement. 'Look at your stomach!' he said, pointing.
Bryan looked down, and saw the faintest outline of a midriff showing. As they watched, the gap became increasingly wider as Bryan's body stretched, and his shirt rode up his torso.
'This feels so strange,' said Brian, catching himself as to not speak too loudly. 'My muscles... They're pushing down on me.' He pulled his hand in front on his face, and watched as his palm and fingers all expanded, the pressure briefly whitening the skin as the invisible force sent his fingers to lengthen. He met Simon's fascinated face with his own, grinning wildly. 'Simon, this is amazing! You have to feel this!' Breathing in suddenly, Bryan looked down, and shifted to the balls of his feet. 'Man, they feel like they're in clamps, or something.' They both watched as his feet slightly flattened out, then slowly lengthened for some moments, till Bryan sat them back on the floor and wiggled his toes. 'Awesome,' he said under his breath.
Simon gave a cursory glance to the timer. There were still a couple of minutes.
Bryan was marvelling at his new length, turning his limbs this way and that. He turned to Simon. 'Ah, dude, look!' he said, placing a larger hand on Simon's head and measuring it against his chest.
'How do you feel?' asked Simon, fascinatedly taking in his friend's new height. 'Heavier,' Bryan replied, 'although my skin is crawling a bit. Actually, it's crawling a lot.' Simon put the emitter down and moved over to him as Bryan sat down to examine his shins. As Simon knelt in front of him, he could see Bryan's shins take on a new appearance as hairs began to lengthen, slowly moving up his legs. Bryan brought his forearms down beside, and they followed the drifts as they moved as one on the four limbs, the hair lengthening upwards, before dispersing beyond the joints. 'Sweet!' enthused Bryan, watching the hair tinge and darken.
'Cool, you look older now,' said Simon jovially, and rubbed at Bryan's shin with his knuckles. Bryan grinned. 'How much time is there left, anyway?'
'Hang on,' said Simon, standing up. He left Bryan rubbing his shins as he went over to the display. 'A minute and half,' he said, turning back to Bryan, who was admiring new hair under his sleeve. 'I guess I need deodorant, now,' he said, happily. Simon across looked at Jay. 'Yeah, just you two better not stink up the place in the mean time.' Bryan dropped his sleeve and grinned. 'Yeah, yeah. Speak for yourself soon; there's no way you're not doing this.'
'We'll—' Simon started, before noticing that Bryan's grin had disappeared and his hand had dropped back to his crotch.
'Ah, I can guess what that must be,' Simon said with a smirk. Bryan shot him a smirk back. 'Yeah, but this one feels a lot weirder. It's more—' His expression flickered. Then, after a brief pause, he stood up to look at himself, and his mouth hung with surprise. 'Now you look more like Jay,' said Simon, his smirk widening. 'You two definitely need to find some bigger clothes, because that doesn't look comfortable.' 'It's not,' said Bryan, reddening and pulling at his boxers. 'And I already found these uncomfortable.'
'That's alright, we'll find something,' said Simon, enjoying his friend's embarrassment. 'Jay's got his sports practice stuff with him, and that's designed to stretch. I'll see what's in his bag.
'Cool,' said Bryan, and they both stopped, stunned.
'Cool,' he said again, as his face filled with delight. 'My voice! Ah, man, this is awesome!' He felt his throat, and was met with an adam's apple which became more defined. 'You sound completely different,' said Simon, looking impressed. Bryan was massaging his throat. 'It feels completely different. Sorry, I'm still trying to get how to talk quietly like this.'
Simon picked up Jay's bag. 'Well, you might want to get the hang of it soon,' he said, noticing the sleeping figure stir slightly.
He opened the bag, and was about to sift through its wad of clothes when Bryan started shifting uncomfortably on the spot. 'Ah, I've got pins and needles,' he said with a soppish smile. 'I must have sat awkwardly.'
Simon put the bag down and looked at him. As Bryan fidgeted, trying to pace the sensation off, Simon noticed his frame was very gradually matching itself to his new height. His calves were pushing slowly outward, becoming more defined, while his thighs slightly expanded to fill out his boxer shorts.
'Dude, you're not finished yet,' he said with a wry grin, nodding to Bryan's new muscle. Bryan looked down his exposed stomach to his legs, and lifted his calf in wonder. He opened his mouth to speak, but his attention was quickly drawn elsewhere as he held up his arms. 'Oh, this really feels strange,' he said as quietly as his mirth allowed, and watched excitedly as his biceps rose modestly.
Simon grabbed the wad of clothes and went over to the emitter as Bryan gingerly prodded his new muscles in amazement. 'Not quite like the sportsman over there, but still awesome,' he said, feeling around his back as the muscles broadened, pulling his shirt taut.
'You've got ten seconds left,' said Simon, looking at the display of the emitter. He looked up at Bryan, and noticed his jaw become subtly more defined with the last seconds. 'What?' said Bryan, noticing Simon's stare. He reached up and touched his cheek. 'Oh, hell yes!' he said gleefully, running his fingers against the short fuzz which covered his cheeks and neck.
'That's it,' said Simon. 'You're sixteen. How do you feel?'
'Dude, just look at me! And my voice! Do you have a mirror?'
'Yeah, there's one in my room.'
'Cool, I'll be back in a bit,' said Bryan, taking Jay's clothes from Simon before dashing from the room.