LOG-086.

  Bubba hummed to himself quietly behind the counter, idly tapping his fingers against the register, waiting for the next new custo-

  Ding!

  Annnd boom. The sound that had drilled itself into his head over the past few months rang out as the doors to his little slice of the world opened. The next words out of his mouth were almost instinctual, even as he slowly began to look up to see whoever was coming to bug him today.

  "Welcome to Ocean Town's newly founded Big Donut branch. How can I help you today sir or mada-aaam...?"

  His words caught in his throat, tongue tying around itself as he watched the tall, weirdly dressed lady duck her way through the open door, her arms seeming to flutter for a moment in a strange, graceful wave.

  "Hi! Hey! Hello! Just a second, I'm still ah-still getting used to this! Man this is neat."

  Almost idly, he noted that she was...turquoise. Or at least somewhere around that general area of colour. The tone of her skin was attention grabbing, yeah, but another part of him decided that the fact both of her arms somehow seemed to split into two other arms just a little beneath her shoulders was the more distinctive feature, if he was being honest with himself.

  Really, it was downright bizarre. But he kept his mouth shut for three...or rather four reasons.

  The first was that the strange multi-armed turquoise lady was pretty. Seriously, the wild style hairdo she had going on was definitely working for her. And the outfit she had on was...yeah. Enough said there. Pretty four armed lady. Thanks hormones.

  The second was that he actually had paid attention to those customer service videos, and sort of knew how to avoid making a fool of himself in most situations.

  The third was that she looked big enough to chuck him through a window pretty easily, so pissing her off for no good reason didn't seem like a prudent choice.

  And the fourth of course was that Bubba's momma had raised him right, and judging people based on their skin colour or the amount of limbs they had was just downright rude.

  So instead, the (technical) manager of the Big Donut (newly founded Ocean Town branch!) stuck to his basic training. Plastering a smile across his face, the lone worker gave a small wave.

  "Take your time, miss...?"

  Two eyes glanced his way even as the tall woman finally managed to finagle her way through the door, somehow managing to avoid hitting anything despite her jittery, excited looking movements. "Still figuring that out myself actually! I'm thinking Moonstone, maybe. Though that sounds a bit too fancy. Oh, or maybe Dianite! Yeah, that would definitely fit better! Can shorten it to Diane as well, if I want to go incognito or something..."

  His smile twitched slightly, as she reached a hand down to her stomach, somehow managing to pull out a wallet from the smooth looking rock attached to her belly in a flash of light that prompted an involuntary blink from the young man.

  "...Dianite?"

  Another glance, this time coupled with a bright smile that, for all his embarassment, caused a slight heat to rush up towards his cheeks at just how sincere it seemed.

  "Yep! Feels appropriate. So!" Two hands, both on her right side, rose up and snapped their fingers in rapid succession, even as her left hand, unoccupied with holding the wallet thanks to the one below it, pointed behind him.

  "Can I get ah...two sugar donuts! Oh, and two chocolate ones as well?"

  The request, thankfully, caused his body to move automatically, hands swiftly bagging up the desired confections even as he worked out the appropriate price. As he did so, he tried not to stare at the teardrop shaped rock just below her left eye, sitting pretty on her cheek, only for one of her hands to gently pat at it, a knowing smile flashing his way.

  "Neat, ain't it?"

  Bubba inclined his head slightly.

  "Very beautiful. Suits you."

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  For whatever reason, the patting hand darted forward at that, running a single slender finger against the gemstone's surface, which in turn caused Dianite's face to flush a darker hue compared to her usual complexion.

  "It is...isn't it?"

  Silently shrugging off the weirdness, he gestured to the register, prompting the tall woman to pick through her wallet's folds and pull out a couple of bills, one of her other hands reaching out and plucking the bag of donuts off the counter. He tilted his head as she did so, letting his voice express just a little of his bemusement.

  "New to this town? Can't say I've ever seen anyone like you around here before."

  Dianite nodded quickly at that, head bobbing up and down like a bird or something.

  "Mhm! I'm on a date!" Then she paused, expression turning confused, or maybe contemplative, her eyes seemingly staring at nothing at all.

  "Or...I am a date. Woah. Mindfuck."

  He stared, even as the possibly high tourist slapped the handful of bills down against the counter, snickering to herself.

  "Keep the change!"

  Bubba glanced down, then promptly choked a little.

  "T-this is fifty bucks!"

  But Dianite was already ducking her way out the doors again, a turquoise (or maybe teal, now that he was looking at it properly) hand waving at him happily.

  "Get yourself something nice! I know I'm gonna!"

  He watched as she finally escaped the boundaries of the building, then continued to stare as some water from a flask he'd just noticed was somehow strapped to her hip ripped its way out of the container, forming into a pair of wings at her back.

  The apparently magical lady gave him a brief wink through the closed doors, before taking off, leaving Bubba to stare at the empty space she'd just been in before silently pocketing the generous tip she'd apparently decided to give him.

  Cash was cash, after all. And Bubba's momma didn't raise no fool.

  ---

  "Woohoo!"

  My body continued to soar forward, propelled by elongated wings even as I allowed three of my hands to dip downwards, just barely skimming across the surface of the relatively calm ocean below me.

  The almost forgotten sensation of so much water around me caused a pleased shiver to run through my lightform, even as I reached into my bag and pulled out the spoils of my brief pitstop.

  Munch.

  The effect was immediate. My eyes widened as the flavour ran across alien tastebuds I'd borrowed from one of my components, everything slowing down for a moment as I processed the familiar yet fantastically new sensation.

  I chewed. Swallowed. Considered how I felt about what had just happened, even as my hands idly ran over the rest of my lightform, making minor adjustments. Tightening my jacket here. Smoothing out the folds of my dress (Or maybe skirt? Sorta looked like a skirt now that I thought about it) there. Occasionally poking one of my gemstones, prompting a slight mental thrill from its respective owner.

  But regardless, both of my components agreed.

  "This is freaking awesome...!"

  With a thought, my wings let out a not necessarily required but most definitely satisfying flap, increasing my speed while I all but devoured the rest of the donut, giggling to myself in between each bite.

  Then I let out a squawk of surprise as a sudden wave jolted upwards, dousing me in water, which in turn just prompted even more laughter after the fact.

  ---

  "Ehe...ehehehe..."

  I'd landed on a hill. Wasn't sure where. Didn't really care either. It was raining, though any droplets that might have hit me were instead being redirected towards the bubble of water I was steadily forming around myself as I acquired more material, cutting myself off from the rest of the world.

  "Hehehe..."

  My eyes looked up at the growing liquid barrier, then back down as I glanced at my chest for a second, before slowly poking it, trying to figure out the conflicting patterns and bodyplans my components were giving me. One suggested plumage, curious whether I could pull it off with the help of Viridian's updated knowledge in shapeshifting, even if she couldn't.

  The aforementioned Pearl suggested a more mammalian setup. Similar to what the humans had.

  "Heh..."

  All in all, I was driven by curiosity, mostly. Gems couldn't really feel lust after all. At least not in a typically organic way. At best, I was just kind of...attracted to myself. I guessed. In like, an emotional way. Or something.

  ...Huh. Was that narcissistic?

  "Ehe...

  ...Nah. Plus it was a neat thing to experiment with! I'd already messed around with my hair a little, growing a long ponytail and then pulling it back, adding a few faux feathers here and there, which had resulted in a funny look when I'd checked out my reflection in a nearby puddle.

  Then of course I'd moved on to messing with my size, shrinking down to the shape of a teal coloured Pearl for as long as I could before exhaustion had forced me back into my larger shape. I'd repeated the process as a Lapis Lazuli, giggling at the sight of an off colour Brim decked out in my mixed up clothes.

  I sighed happily at the new batch of memories I'd built up, stretching my lightform slightly as I contorted myself against the patch of grass I'd chosen to rest on.

  "Hm..."

  A spare hand brought up another donut, and I stared up at it for a moment as I pondered the amusing new topic now occupying my mind, even as Brim broached certain ideas and Viridian responded to them in turn...or at least I assumed that's what they were doing. It all just kind of felt like background chatter to me, if I was being entirely honest with myself.

  Taking a bite of the chocolate covered ring, I chewed, swallowed, then poked my chest again, focusing.

  ...

  ...

  ...

  "...Boob."