The Second Date

"It's shocking, isn't it?" the man asked us, his lips pressed into a thin line. "That's why I'm out here today. People need to know what these Polymorphs are like."

"Huh? What do I you mean...?" I asked. "They're just... people, like anyone else." My eyes flicked over toward Rose, and I saw that the color had drained from her face - she looked really uncomfortable. "Come on, Rose; let's go." I started to walk, but Rose just stood there, staring at the pamphlet sitting on the table.

"They're not like us, though!" the man continued, with his eyes narrowed. "They're dangerous. A friend of mine told me he saw one of them get into a fight at a bar last week. The Polly guy evidently didn't like the way the other guy there was looking at his girl, and my friend said the Polly just... jacked himself up and let loose on the him - damn near sent him to the hospital." Rose's mouth drooped into a frown at that, and her cheeks turned pink as the man continued. "I just want people to be careful."

"Rose," I pleaded, grabbing her hand. "Come on." She still didn't move, just stared at the man as he continued, his features softening a bit as he continued.

"I get it, guys; I used to think Pollies were just like everyone else, too, but... after I learned about that fight, I started doing some research. What I found was pretty eye-opening... and concerning," the man continued, pointing a finger toward the leaflet. "It's all in here. All those... chemicals and hormones floating around in Polymorphs' brains... changing them? They're... they're just time bombs, waiting to go off. Just... piss them off enough, and you get this." He scooped up the pamphlet and shoved it toward us.

"Have you ever actually met one?" Rose finally asked, the question simmering with heat as it left her lips. The man shook his head, and Rose held out her hand toward him. "Well now you have. I'm Rose." The man's eyes widened, and his reply came out in a panicked stammer.

"W-wait, y-you're a-?" The question trailed off, and his earlier bravado had disappeared completely.

"Yep," Rose answered, flatly. To prove her point, Rose drained the color from her hair, once again leaving it stark white in a matter of seconds. The man just stared at her, slack-jawed and speechless. He looked about as surprised as I had been when I had seen it happen last week, but I was starting to get used to it. Rose frowned at the man as she spoke up again, and it was clear from her tone that she was feeling hurt by the whole thing. Her eyes turned chocolate brown for a moment, then became blue again just before she spoke up. "You know, just because one asshole got into a fight doesn't mean we're all like that." The man at the table just sat there, and his cheeks turned pink as he eyes fell to the stack of pamphlets. Below the table, Milo panted happily and nudged Rose's hand with his head. She bent down and ran her hands through the dog's fur before shooting his owner a smug smile. "Do I seem dangerous to you?" That done, she stood back up and took the pamphlet from him, and the man just stood there in shocked silence for a moment before he finally shook his head. "So, you said you did your research, then?" Rose raised her whitened eyebrows at him as she asked the question, and the man's cheeks turned pink as he nodded at her. "Let's see what the truth about me is then, shall we? I'm very curious." The man ran a hand through his hair as his cheeks reddened even more. "First of all, this woman on the cover isn't 'pissed off,' she's panicked. Blackened irises are an indication of the fight-or-flight response in Pollies - it doesn't happen often, mind you, but it's known as 'blacking out.' In most cases it happens in a life-or-death situation, but there are other triggers as well. If this woman was actually angry, her irises would be gray. Maybe even a pretty dark shade of gray, but not black." The man met her gaze again and stared at her silently, his lips pressed in a thin line.

"R-really?" he finally asked, weakly. Rose just nodded in response, and her lips curled downward into a slight frown. She opened up the pamphlet and took a few moments to scan the contents, then let out an exasperated sigh.

"I'm not sure where you got your 'research' from, but this information is... wildly inaccurate," she said, through narrowed eyes. "It's almost impressive just how wrong it actually is. Seriously, where did you find this stuff?"

"I, er... found it on the... internet."

"Where at?" Rose asked, as she arched her eyebrows. She looked down at the pamphlet again and frowned. "Let me guess - PollyWatch?" The man was silent for a moment before he looked her in the eyes and nodded.

"Er, yeah. T-They're... credible..." he answered, stammering a bit. Rose just rolled her eyes, then stared at him, and I could actually see his confidence wilting by the second under the weight of her stony blue gaze. "... a-aren't they?" The question tumbled out of his mouth in a hesitant squeak.

"Hell, no. All their articles are fearmongering, anti-Polly bullshit spread by Purists to stir up hatred toward us," Rose snapped. "PollyWatch is shorthand for Polly Watchdogs, for God's sake." The guy's eyes widened as he stared at her, dumbstruck.

"Oh, shit. R-really?" the guy asked, his voice faltering. Rose's eyes flicked down to the pamphlet for a moment, then she met his gaze again and nodded. "Is... any of this stuff true, though?" Rose just rolled her eyes and let out a small sigh.

"True enough to trick people, unfortunately," Rose said, her tone colored with frustration. I reached down and grabbed the pamphlet I had set down earlier, taking a moment to skim through it. My eyes widened as I saw information that went way beyond the admittedly very basic overview of CPM I had gotten back in high school. The pamphlet talked about hormonal balance and chemical regulation in Pollies, its effect on their moods, and even mentioned the potential for wildly enhanced strength, speed, and reaction times. My thoughts drifted back to Rose's hug from earlier, and it gave me a bit of pause. My eyes widened as I noticed a section talking about how Pollies even have a healing factor - it was the first I'd heard of that, too.

"Some of this stuff is technically true, but it's blown way out of proportion here," Rose said. "I mean, yes, I can make myself stronger, but lifting a car? Really? We're not superhuman, man. Besides, I can only maintain that level of strength for a minute or two, anyway." Rose gave her head an incredulous little shake, and the guy nodded slightly. "I can't shrug off a gunshot wound, either. Maybe if it grazed me, but even that's up in the air. I can take care of smaller cuts, scrapes, and burns pretty easily, but a gunshot wound is definitely going to land me in the hospital." She kept on reading. "This part about re-growing missing limbs isn't accurate, either. Again, it's possible, but it would take days; it's definitely not instant."

"Well, what about the link between CPM and volatile moods?" the man asked. Rose's eyes flicked over to the other side of the pamphlet, and I glanced over and read through that section along with her.

The pamphlet pointed out a connection between CPM and problems with chemical regulation having to do with emotion, leading to problems such as unpredictable and rapid mood swings, increased likelihood for depression, fits of rage, and more.

"That one is as true of Pollies as anyone else, really. A number of different factors go into that, though, and none of them have anything to do with CPM - that connection was proven false a couple years ago."

"R-really? The articles had sources, though, and they... seemed legit."

"Did you... actually read them, though?" Rose asked, incredulously. The man just frowned and shook his head ever so slightly. "Yeah, I figured as much. And, er, how many of these things have you given out?"

"Um... just those two, actually... there aren't too many people out today," he replied, a bit sheepishly.

"Yeah, you picked a hell of a day to peddle these things," Rose said, flicking her eyes up toward the gloomy sky above us. The guy's cheeks turned red again, and he sighed. "Look, I know there's a lot of misleading info out there, and I don't want you to get the wrong idea about Pollies just because of some lies you read on the internet, man."

"I... see," he said, as he stared at the pamphlet in his hand. He looked back at Rose. "I really had no idea it wasn't true; I promise. Sorry about what I said earlier, by the way."

"I appreciate the apology," Rose said, flashing a small smile as she bent down and gave Milo another pat on the head. "Thanks for listening, too. It's not often that I meet someone who's actually willing to own up to their mistakes, so I really appreciate it. If you want, I could point you toward some resources that are actually legit."

"Really? That'd be awesome," the guy replied, suddenly perking up a bit. Rose set the pamphlet down on the table and took a moment to fish a pen from her purse. She scribbled down a few things on the back of it and handed it to the guy.

"I wrote down a few sites for you to check out. They've got all kinds of info on them that's based vetted and up-to-date research; it's all pretty digestible and easy to understand, too. There are also some solid groups on social media to check out, and I also put a couple of books on there, too, if you'd like to check them out from the campus library."

"Oh, thanks! I'll definitely run by there soon. I actually need to return a couple books I had to read for class, anyway," he said, as he grabbed the pamphlet and glanced at Rose's notes. He smiled at her as he folded it up and stuck it in his back pocket. He looked down at his display and let out a sigh. "Well, I should probably pack this up. I think it's supposed to rain pretty soon, anyway. I'm gonna toss all these pamphlets and check out those sites you suggested when I get home... maybe hit up the library tomorrow, if the weather's better." He started to gather up his pamphlets and stuffed them into a backpack he had lying on the ground. "I hope you guys have a good rest of your day. I'm really sorry about all this, but I appreciate you pointing me in the right direction. Thanks again."

"No problem," Rose said, flashing him a small smile as her eyes turned a dark shade of green for a second. "Anyway, have a good one." She glanced up at the sky for a second; it definitely looked a bit darker than it had been just a few minutes ago. "Make sure you get home safe." The guy flashed us a thumbs-up as he continued to pack up his stuff.

With that, we both gave him a little wave and continued on through the park. After we had gotten far enough away that we were out of earshot, I spoke up.

"Well, I wasn't expecting to run into a Purist today." Rose shook her head.

"Nah, that guy wasn't a Purist - a Purist wouldn't have given me the time of day when I called them out on their bullshit. That guy was just... misinformed, and thankfully heard me out."

"Yeah, I gotta say, that went... surprisingly well. I'm glad he listened to you, but I'm honestly a little surprised that you even bothered to hear him out - I don't know that I would've; he was saying some really shitty things at the beginning there, after all."

"True. He was, but I always try to give people a chance to learn and grow, you know? Thankfully, he was receptive, but trust me, if he had doubled down on his hateful bullshit, I would have just left. It's frustrating; the Purists are so convinced that we need to be policed that they'll do anything to make it happen - even spread lies about us to make get people scared so they'll vote in favor of heavier regulations." She let out a sigh and shook her head, her eyes a bit downcast.

"Well, at least you managed to convince that guy, right? Now there's one less person going around spreading that stuff." Rose looked over at me and smiled weakly as her eyes flashed a dark green.

"No, no, you're right. There are times where it just feels a bit like a lost cause, is all. But sometimes all it takes is one person to make a difference."

"Well, you certainly did back there," I said, grinning at her, and her smile widened as we continued to walk. A little bit later, I turned and spoke up again. "By the way... that healing factor you have? Did you use that to fix up the jab from your plasma donation this morning?"

"Yup. I took care of it back on the fountain when I changed the rest of the way. Actually, speaking of that..." Rose let the sentence trail off as she smiled at me, and another wave of color crept down her locks. This time, though, it was black, and by the time her hair had changed completely, she had left thick streaks of white among all the black; it looked much like it had when we had left the bar last week, except this time it was clearly an intentional choice on her part. "You like?"

"Y-yeah," I said with a nod as my cheeks turned pink yet again. Rose smiled at me as her eyes once again shifted from blue to green, then back again.

"Good. I figured you would dig the highlights," she said, with a wink. "By the way, I saw you reading the pamphlet back there, too. Did you know that stuff was fake?" I was silent for a moment and shook my head as my cheeks grew hotter.

"I-I had no idea, honestly. I hadn't even heard about most of that stuff; I didn't even know you could heal yourself. I really didn't learn a ton about Pollies and CPM back in high school, just very basic stuff. I'm from a really small town, and the education I got there was... pretty lackluster. Since I'm an English major, I haven't taken had to take any science classes here yet, either." Rose's lips were pressed in a thin line as she nodded.

"You never tried to do your own research, though? There's all kinds of resources out there, you know."

"I guess I just... didn't really know where to look," I said. Rose let out a small sigh.

"I mean... there's always the library. There's plenty of info on Pollies there."

"Oh my God, how did I not think of that before?" I asked, as my cheeks turned pink. "I'm feeling really dumb right now, not gonna lie."

"Well, hey, nobody's perfect, remember?" Rose said, with a wink. "Anyway, I guess that explains why you don't know much about Pollies. Actually, if that guy back there thought all that stuff about us was real, at least you didn't stumble onto any bad info. If you have any questions, I'm always happy to answer them, Matt," Rose said as she flashed me a smile.

"Unless you decide to skip them," I said, with a wink and a smirk.

"Well, that depends entirely on the question, Matt," she said, smirking right back at me.

"Fair enough. Oh, I do have one, actually!" I piped up.

"Yeah? What is it?"

"You mentioned re-growing your arm earlier and said it takes a while. What about last week, when you... made more? That didn't take long at all."

"Oh, right," Rose said. "So, there's a difference between growing extra limbs and replacing missing ones. It takes a hell of a lot more energy to replace something I've actually lost versus just making an extra one. It's sort of like... building a house from the ground up versus adding a room. Make sense?"

"Yeah, I got you. Thanks for the explanation."

"No problem," Rose said, as she took my hand again, and we continued on toward the bookstore.

We didn't take any more breaks on the way and ended up at our destination about ten minutes later. The bookstore was called The Nook, and it was situated in a small, two-story brick building. There was a mural of an owl painted on the bricks, and the two o's in 'Nook' were made to look like its eyes. I saw Night Owls a bit further down the street, and I found it funny that there were two owl-themed establishments so close to each other.

The sky above us had darkened even further and the wind started to pick up again as a few stray raindrops started to fall. Rose and I quickened our pace as we headed toward the building, and I was relieved that I would be out of the wind (and now the rain) soon enough.

About a minute or so later, we hastily ducked into the building to get away from the drizzling rainfall, and it was like stepping into another world. Rose smiled as she took in the place, and I had a similar reaction as I looked around; I had to admit, it was pretty cozy, albeit in a chaotic sort of way.

There were baskets stacked next to us to hold books in, and it was a good thing, too; there were books everywhere. Surprisingly tall shelves formed aisles around the room, and they were positively crammed with tomes of varying sizes, shapes, and colors. There were stepstools on the floor, presumably where people had left them after grabbing a book from the higher shelves. Handwritten signs above the aisles denoted the subjects, and from what I could tell, the first floor seemed to be nonfiction only. There were sections for secondhand textbooks, cookbooks, self-help books and more. Owl-shaped floor lamps were situated next to comfy-looking chairs at various points of the room. They looked perfect for curling up with a good book and relaxing for a little while.

A spiral staircase near the back that led to the second floor, and there was a sign next to it with a perched owl on it that let us know that the fiction titles were all kept upstairs. There were silhouettes of owls in different stages of flight painted on the walls around the staircase. I kept looking around, and my eyes widened as they landed on the counter where the clerk was standing; it had a creepy taxidermized owl sitting on a perch next to it, and the thing looked so real, I almost thought it was alive at first glance.

"Hey look, another creepy animal. It's been a bit of a theme today," I murmured as I looked over at Rose and pointed out the owl. She looked over at it.

"Yeah, just a little. I think it's kinda cute, though." I couldn't say I agreed with her on that front. "Should we take a look around, then?" Rose asked as looped her arm through her handbag to free up her hand and grabbed a basket from the stack next to us.

"Definitely. I'm gonna head upstairs and check out the fiction books," I said.

"Sounds good. I'll take a quick look down here, then come find you up there."

I nodded at her and headed toward the staircase at the back of the store. I looked over to see Rose heading toward the aisles of the biology section. I glanced back at the stuffed owl, and I could have sworn its unblinking eyes were following me as I walked through the building. It really was a bit creepy.

I arrived at the staircase and began my ascent to the second floor. The ornate metal railing was cold in my hand as I made my way up the staircase, and I glanced at the owls painted on the walls as I went. Soon enough, I arrived at the top, and found that the second level was much the same as the first, with more overstuffed bookshelves, comfy-looking reading chairs, and owl-shaped lamps. I walked along the ends of the aisles for a bit, scanning signs until I found the romance section.

I turned into the aisle and found romance books of all kinds filling the shelves. I walked along slowly and scanned the titles to get a feel for the various options. The shelves were in alphabetical order and contained everything from Harlequin romances and vintage classics to long-running romantic sagas, contemporary rom coms and even some erotic romances thrown into the mix, too. That done, I headed back to the rom com section and slowly pored over the titles, looking for anything that piqued my interest when I was startled by Rose's voice next to me; I was so focused that I hadn't even heard her walk up.