External Wounds and Internal Scars (Solo)

Austin waited impatiently in the infirmary, his feet dangling off the edge of the bed he sat on. He had been in a sour mood ever since he woke up 5 inches shorter that morning. Naturally, he was unable to shift back up to 5’10”, so he would be stuck with the height of a tween until further notice. And what’s worse, he was only wearing his boxers overnight, so the rest of his clothes no longer fit him. Fast forward 15 angry minutes and the only person of comparable height that he could find was a girl down the hall with an obsession for pink, which brings us to the present. An angry Austin swinging his legs over the side of an infirmary bed wearing a pink track suit that had the word “Juicy” scrawled across the butt in silver cursive letters. For once, Austin wouldn’t mind shrinking down to nothing.

The mansion staff wanted him to get a checkup on the bumps and bruises he had received on, and sent him to the hospital wing with his only instructions being “wait for Doc Prof”, whoever that was.

Austin picked his head up when he heard a door open to his left. A man who looked to be between 50 and 60 years of age walked in with a smile already on his face. “Good morning!” He said brightly. “You must be Austin. Welcome to the mansion.” He extended a hand in passing which Austin barely had time to reluctantly shake before it was pulled away as the man whisked off to pick up a clipboard from a nearby table. Austin deflated further when he noticed that his hand had been engulfed within that of this man who couldn’t be more than 5’9”.

“Thank you.” Austin mumbled half-heartedly.

“As you may have guessed,” the man said as he mulled over the papers, “I am Doc Prof.” He pulled up a chair to sit across from Austin. “And we are here to see how badly you got banged up on your way here.” Austin nodded. “Ok then, let’s get started. Would you mind removing your…sweater?” He said, motioning to the pink track top.

Austin grabbed at it and began to take it off, all while explaining its presence to Doc Prof. “It isn’t mine. None of my clothes fit me today.” He said. When he had the top of he looked back to Doc Prof who was arching an eyebrow.

“Just today?” He asked. Austin nodded.

“I shrink sometimes. I can’t control it, or when I go back to normal.” He explained, succeeding in hiding his embarrassment and maintaining the mature adult conversation. Doc Prof paused, and set down the clipboard, leaning in to hear more.

“And this is your mutation?”

Austin nodded once more. “Sometimes I grow too, but not by much, and not nearly as often.” Doc Prof scoffed in amazement.

“Remarkable. I’ve never encountered an individual with an ability quite like yours. I can only imagine what that experience must be like.” He said, his blue eyes gleaming in his imagination. Austin sighed in response, looking down over the various bruises and cuts marking his body.

“Yeah, well, it certainly isn’t a safer world down there.” He said as he motioned to his plethora of minor injuries. Doc Prof hummed in agreement.

“I see. That must be how all this happened?” He said, motioning to the wounds. Austin only nodded. “Well,” Doc Prof started, “pros and cons.” He said with a wink. “As you get older you’ll learn to manage the cons more handily.” He said, moving in to begin treatment.

“I don’t want to manage. I want it to go away.” He said bitterly. Doc Prof stopped and slowly retreated, looking back at Austin with a quizzical look. When he didn’t say anything in response Austin felt the need to explain himself further. He shook his head, exhaling heavily through his nose, then continued. “I never would’ve wanted to be a mutant. And my mutation isn’t even something useful. It’s just dangerous…and embarrassing. I just came here to learn how to control it, because the no matter how hard I try I can’t keep it out.” Doc Prof watched him with genuine sympathy. His words seemed to hurt him empathetically. He opened his mouth to speak, but it wasn’t for a couple of seconds until he finally responded.

“I would argue that your mutation makes you special. It is a part of you, and you can choose to hate it and hide it, or learn to accept it as who you are and find a use for it. I certainly can think of many circumstances in which I would be jealous of your mutation.” He said all this with a smile and a loving eye. For a moment, Austin let himself imagine that maybe his father would have looked at him that way. “And even if you did learn to control it just to keep it out,” he continued, “the first step to keeping it out might in fact be letting it in.” He said with a knowing smirk. Austin only stared at him, soaking in all that Doc Prof had given him to absorb. Maybe he was right. Maybe the only way to learn how not to shift was to first learn how to shift. Even so, he couldn’t do that if he tried at the moment.

All the while, Doc Prof watched the gears in Austin’s head turn with amusement, knowing that he would make the right choice about himself. “Now,” he said suddenly, snapping Austin out of his trance, “let’s see about this injuries, yes?” He asked. Austin looked at him blankly for a moment, trying to figure this man out, before silently nodding his approval. Doc Prof smiled at him once more, before moving in to tend to his wounds. Meanwhile Austin looked ahead at the blank wall, considering it all. Perhaps there was nothing to be figured out. He could just be a genuine old man. And what if he was right? Could Austin dare to believe that his mutation was a blessing? He shook his head slightly. He didn’t want to think any more on this now. Either way, his first step was to learn.