Before time skip:
Summary
So much had happened in a short while.
Through Erek’s little self eulogy, Hayden was uncharacteristically quiet, eyebrows furrowed as he tried to take a mental picture (as opposed to a physical one) of the scene around them all.
Jake Berenson. Mom called him a “distrust fund baby.” Hayden couldn’t speak enough of his mom’s hatred for the wildly successful company.
And finally the little debrief outside. Hayden raised his hands up and shrugged as Carmen argued that he, alongside some of the small group would be better off not being the Guinea pigs (no pun intended) for this little powers test of theirs. Fine, but he definitely called second dibs when it was certain this wasn’t some slippery slope into radiation poisoning or something.
Fast forward to the shed.
Hayden shifted around a bit uncomfortably, more used to indoor, air confirmed spaces than creepy sheds cut in the woods.
As if to accentuate his discomfort, a mosquito bit him on the arm.
“Ow!”
He hissed through his teeth, brushing the bug away. The mosquito crawled around slowly for a moment, almost…drowsily? Before it buzzed away.
Hayden brought his attention back to the others, mulling over the options Nate had presented. Even if he had already been ‘voted out,’ as it were, for first volunteer, he still regarded them with interest.
“Well I feel like being a fish wouldn’t be very helpful…maybe the cat? People love cats!”
Hayden had a bad experience though when a stray cat tried to eat his ferret, Bingo. Fun times.
His arm began to itch from the troublesome insect’s intrusion earlier.
Darn mosquitoes… he thought, squinting a bit as he imagined the thing flying around with his blood.
Then his eyes widened.
Quite literally.
(Minor body horror, in which Hayden thinks too hard about the mosquito):
Summary
His eyes began to expand, ballooning out of his head like the world’s worst infection.
There wasn’t any pain, but as his vision began to shift, Hayden let out a worried noise.
“Uh…guys?” He began, then sputtered as his mouth fused together and pushed outward, as if it was forced through a narrow tube.
He let out a muffled scream and scrambled backward, breathing heavily, yet as quickly as it began the horrific changes reverted and soon he was a regular kid once again. Except now he looked like he wanted to cry, throw up, or both.
Well, now it was evident this power of theirs worked.
@/Animorphs (technically mentioned?)