Tapping his finger against the table, Marcus thought about how he was transforming, but that his change was a slow one. He thought about how he had lost a large amount of weight and how his ears had at some point moved and now seemed something more close to being horns. And then, gradually, it came to him that something about the tapping noise his finger was making was off. And looking down, he soon realised what.
As he stared at his fingers and then took in that all his fingers had apparently undergone the same transformation at some point, Marcus marvelled at how much the tips of his fingers now resembled claws and glancing back at the table, he noted with indifference that the claw of the finger he had been tapping against the table had left a minor divot in the table. But, he didn't really see this as a problem and thinking, "What's mom going to do? Ground me," he stood and holding onto the waistband of his pants, he headed out of the kitchen and back toward the bathroom.
But as he passed his father's study, Marcus found himself pausing and entering the room, he looked at the two, floor-to-ceiling bookcases, filled with books and approaching, he reached up and selected a random book. Flipping it open to the first page, which had the title The Omnivore's Dilemma, Marcus began to page through the book, moving faster and faster the more he read.
Placing the book back on the shelf, he picked up another one, Cradle to Cradle, and quickly walked through it. Replacing it, Marcus selected a third, read, choose a fourth and before a half an hour had passed, had found himself finishing the last book in his father's private library.
Still hungry for more literature, not caring what it was, Marcus exited his father's study, but then stopped when he saw the clock in the kitchen. Realising what he had just done, he asked himself, "Was that normal?"
Finding himself at a lost as to what was normal now and what wasn't, he started to head back to the kitchen table, but changed directions and headed for his parent's bathroom. Inside, he stepped on the scale and watched the digital readout jump up to a hundred and sixty two point six, and staring at it for a moment, he slowly came to the conclusion that his weight had stopped dropping, but wasn't sure how he knew this, just that it was a fact.
As he stepped off the scale, Marcus paused when he saw his feet and sitting down on the edge of the bathtub, he raised his foot up and gazed at the shredded remains of his sock, realising that it wasn't just his fingers that had developed claws, but his feet as well.
Pulling off his socks, his feet feeling freer, he wiggled his toes and after a moment, stood and walked toward the bathroom sink, liking the sound of his claws clicking on the bathroom tiles. Gazing into the mirror, he took in his reflection once again, noting that his nose looked a little different and opening his mouth, he stuck out a tongue that didn't appear human, but more reptilian. Noting that his teeth were hard to see, Marcus reached up and pulled down on his lower lip and then pushed up on his upper lip.
What he saw nearly made him let go as he took in the two rows of tiny, needle sharp teeth and withdraw his tongue and closing his mouth, but still onto his lips, Marcus marvelled at how the two rows of teeth did not interlock with each other, but sort of laid flat against each other, taking on an appearance that made it look like they had folded back a little and the sharp edges was now pointing into his mouth.
Releasing his lips, liking what he was seeing, Marcus titled his head forward a little bit to see if there were any other changes and turned his head to the one side and then the other. As he did so, his pants finally slipped and puddled around his ankles. Gazing down, feeling indifferent, Marcus stepped away from his jeans, thought about putting them back on for a couple seconds and in the end, reached up and pulled off his underwear, feeling like he was making a good choice as he did so.
As he stood in his parent's bathroom, holding his underwear and staring at his pants, which were still lying on the floor, wearing nothing but a shirt that was now several sizes to big, Marcus eventually squatted down and picked up his pants and the remains of his socks. Tucking the garments underneath his arm, he exited the bathroom and headed for his room, where he dropped the articles of clothing onto his bedroom floor, thinking, "Something about this room looks off," as he did so and not really sure what it was, he turned and exited the room, heading back towards the kitchen.
Inside the kitchen, he opened the fridge and freezer and began to poke about, but found himself disappointed that there was really nothing edible to him within. Closing the door, he looked about the kitchen and suddenly curious about his weight, he headed for the living room were his mother had a bunch of her sewing stuff sitting on one end of the couch.
Taking out the clothe tape measure, Marcus unrolled it and careful so his claws didn't tear it, he pinched one end under his feet, again being careful with his claws, and holding the other end up to the top of his head, he began to take several measurements.
After a couple minutes, he concluded that it wasn't just his weight that had dropped and that what he had seen in the mirror had been correct and that he was nearly a foot shorter, he now stood about four foot five, he rolled the clothe tape back up and placed it back where he had found it. Suddenly feeling confined and not wanting to stay indoors a second longer, he drifted back to the kitchen and slipped out through the patio doors.
Standing on the back patio, listening to the sounds around him, realising that all was sounding a lot clearer, he squatted down and began to survey the area. Sniffing the air as he sensed for his next meal, sure that there was nothing in the area that couldn't really harm him as he did not hear or smell another dragon that was bigger then him. After a couple of minutes of remaining like this, Marcus stood and slowly began moving through the backyard, the smell of some animal and the possibility of another meal drawing him out of his backyard, away from his formal home and into a large, open field that the neighbourhood kids sometimes played in, but weren't today.