The Gloaming

Chapter 2: The Refresh

  Sandy awoke with a start when Glen, the kind man who'd helped her with Jared earlier, put one hand on her shoulder to wake her.

"They're stirring." He said, softly. "They should be coming around soon."

"I'm so sorry for falling asleep. You really didn't have to stay back too, Glen."

"I wanted to. I have a feeling these boys are gonna need someone to talk to who's been through the gloaming too."

"How long have they been out of it?"

"Been about three and a half hours, almost four." He said. "They're waking right on time."

"Right... the Refresh Period." Sandy nodded. Recalling her prior Glow experiences and what was taught in schools. The 'refresh period' for a glommed pair took approximately 4 hours, she remembered.

She then noted the twinkle in Glen's eyes, and wondered at it. Then she recalled her 9th grade teacher's words as to why the refresh period was called that to begin with.

--While the newly glommed pair is in their comatose state or the 'Refresh Period' as it is commonly known, for approximately four hours... their bodies can be minutely to drastically changed by the Glow; making the pair perfectly compatible for the other in every physical way. Sort of like reconfiguring their programming, or 'refreshing' the prerequisites in their very DNA. Even if the pair reject the Gloaming, or the Glow, or being glommed, to name a few other terms for it... their bodies will never return to the way they were before the Gloaming... It is permanent. --

"What happened to them? Don't tell me one turned into a woman?" Sandy asked. Half-joking, but still unsure exactly how far a Refresh would go.

"No." Glen laughed. "But there have been some changes, I think both of them may be happy with."

Sandy quickly scrambled from the comfortable chair and rushed to Jared's side first. At first, she didn't see anything different about him, then she looked closer and gasped. Jared was bigger, much bigger.

When they'd entered the diner last night, Jared had been his usual 6 foot 1 inch lanky, lean and muscled self, perfectly attired in his high-end designer sleeveless shirt, jeans and leather shoes. Now she could see how his clothes seemed to be straining at the seams, and the hem of his jeans ended higher up on his legs. Spotting his shoes on the floor near the bed, she picked one up and saw how the leather had been split open.

"I took off his shoes and undid the fastening of his pants to keep it from cutting into his waist." Glen said. "But I swear I did not touch him inappropriately or take any of his property. All the belongings he had in his pockets I laid out on the table right there."

"Oh hush, Glen. I could never think that of you, especially after all you've done. You are a good man."

Glen blushed, huffing and clearing his throat, at a loss for words. Sandy just smiled at him, then turned back to frown down at Jared. She didn't know why the refresh would make him so much bigger, and she blushed as she wondered if he was bigger in all ways now. She laughed quietly to herself, at the naughty turn her mind was going to.

"Brace yourself when you take a look at Jensen." Glen said.

"Jensen?" she asked. Glen pointed at the other man. "Oh my God, there I was telling Chad to respect Jared's mate and I didn't even bother to find out his name!"

"You had a lot on your mind, dear."

"Jensen what? Do you know him well?"

"Jensen Ackles... and yes, his family has lived down the block from me for as long as I can remember. In fact, they should be here any time soon."