Despite Lokkir being the one to prompt Aeris into reattaching her prosthetic arm, it was a different matter actually seeing the arm reconnect to senses and nerves that by all rights should belong only to the realm of flesh and blood. At the very least it was a quick procedure, but the soft whirring and initial uncanny motions unnerved him all the same. 

	He obediently turned around when Aeris motioned for him to do so, doing his best not to flinch (and failing) when her cold arm touched his warm skin. However, like dipping into a cold bath, he got used to the sensation faster than he anticipated as his mind began to wander and idly wonder whether her metal arm could feel him. In truth the world of Qaeltine medicine was a subject that he had not delved too deep into, partly because of a lack of reliable information up until the recent alliance and partly because their teachings were still considered heretical, but perhaps that way of thought could be changed. He still barely understood the full functionality of his own prosthetic eye. Another item to add to his ever-growing list, but like with many things he could at least start by changing his own views.

	Then with a final tug and a quick knot and a tuck, Aeris finished binding his chest. Lokkir looked down and patted it down, satisfied at how his modest breasts were once again reduced to nothing more than barely noticeable lumps. He took an experimental breath, one which he let out in slow relief in the fact that he could still breathe properly. Still, this was the first time anyone beside him, Alfi, or Eyvind. Unfortunately Eyvind had an "unfortunate accident" while he had been sidetracked by an errand Sanngrid had given him, which left Lokkir bereft of a personal valet until he recovered, which meant that for the last two months Lokkir had to bind and clothe mostly by himself. Alfi would help once in a while, but the king was strict and his orders were absolute.

	[color=ECA8FF]"It is good for the most part,"[/color] Lokkir replied as he was fiddling with the binding still. [color=ECA8FF]"It could be tightened a bit more if you were inclined to do so, but 'tis nothing a bit of extra clothing won't help hide."[/color]

	Once he was finally satisfied, Lokkir started picking up the clothes discarded from the night before, but stopped and gave Aeris his full attention when it sounded like she wanted to discuss something serious. He didn't reply right away when he finished, instead choosing to slowly regather all their garment strewn on the floor, making sure that she had fully gotten across what she wanted to ask and so he could gather his own thoughts.

	In truth, the subject was one he already had to constantly think about ever since the learned of the concept of gender and the fact that he was supposed to be different from his sisters and was supposed to be more like the king despite physically being the opposite. It was never something he had to really put into words before, however.

	[color=ECA8FF]"Yes,"[/color] he started, [color=ECA8FF]"and no."[/color] He straightened out, holding a small mountain of fabric that was all carefully draped over one arm. [color=ECA8FF]"I've never really had a choice in deciding what my body would be. I was born a girl, but raised a man because I had to for my line to continue. There are times where I hated that. That I hated how little control I really had over my life. How my fate was all decided before I was even conceived of in this world."[/color]

	Lokkir placed all the garments on a nearby surface to the doorway into the dressing room. He smoothed out any of the wrinkles as best he could before sitting down in a nearby chair, his feet placed unconsciously wide apart. [color=ECA8FF]"Yet at the same time, this life is all I've ever known. Certainly there are days where I wish I was a man, but only because then I would no longer have to continue playing this charade and could live a normal life. Or at least, a life where I wouldn't have to lie to the face of everyone I have or will ever meet. There are days where, yes, I wake and am surprised to see breasts on a person that is supposed to be a man, only until I remember the reality of how I am just a person playing the role of man in a way that has been arbitrarily codified and defined by my culture."

	"But then even when I play the role of woman, and I have on a scant few occasions, I've felt no strong pull or desire to do so afterwards. It was simply another mask I donned."

	"When I mentioned last night about how my mind did not accept mine own body, I suppose I meant it in a way where I have no idea what my 'real body' should be. Should it be that of a man because that is what is expected of me, or should it remain that of a woman because it is what the gods and my parents had seen fit to birth me with?"[/color] He shrugged. [color=ECA8FF]"I do not know."

	"Regardless, this is the life I now lead no matter how much introspection and philosophizing I may do. Much like how you must live with an arm of machinery and metal, I must live as a born woman playing a man."[/color] Lokkir turned toward Aeris and only now realized just how much he had been talking. All of his siblings had a habit of pointing out how frequently he let his tongue wander on even the smallest of subjects. A bright red blush colored his face as he cleared his throat and turned away, closing his legs when the cold morning air started nipping at his legs and loins. Still, his curiosity must be sated. [color=ECA8FF]"Anyway, is there any particular reason why you wished to start the morning on so heavy a topic?"[/color]