InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "Inane does not equal insane."

Syd(ney) Barrett (_donttouch) wrote,
@ 2017-05-17 21:08:00

And, as they had discussed, the next day was back to work. She had gone to Cary first, the intention to find Kerry, but with a pleasant sidetrack of talking with the scientist. He did, in fact, have some poking and testing that he wanted to do --something about more theories that the journal brought up -- so Syd forced herself to stay still for the prodding. It worked, for the most part, particularly after Cary saw her trying and eased the tension with a little talk. Simple stuff, how he thought she could continue harnessing her ability and an unknown echo of
what Hank had said about part of it being psychological. The conversation also turned toward the light saber, with questions about whether she felt any after effects and if she'd like to continue working with that. Knowing all too well the stability that came with knowing the person you cared about could take care of herself, Cary saw nothing wrong in giving both Sydney and David that peace of mind. Just in case. Hope for the best, but prepare for the worse.

Syd, naturally, was pleased to continue being his guinea pig in that respect.

Afterward, it was Ptonomy she found next, which was actually perfect because she needed to bribe him into a favor soon. And what could she possibly offer the memory man? Pancakes. He loved them but couldn't cook them. Baking was apparently more his bag. So favor was exchanged for favor, and she couldn't quite help herself in innocently asking about yesterday afternoon, which had him looking at her suspiciously before she flitted away.

It all led her to Kerry, who had been heading over to Cary and her punching bag. But sparring was so much more fun. So that was exactly what they did, an hour and a half of moving and trying to best one another, moves and tips given from the younger girl as Sydney tried to get one over her. Still didn't work; the student still had much to learn from the master. They were about to switch when Kerry brought up a good point; had she tried with someone else? Other than David, because Kerry liked not having an explosion to worry about, thanks. Syd snorted, giving a shrug, but then she got to thinking about it. Maybe she should change it up. "I should find Rudy or Ptonomy and ask."

"Yeah, you should." Kerry thought that could possibly be interesting, grinning. "You get a hold on telekinesis and could toss things at me." Rudy wouldn't.

With that thought in mind, Syd wandered over to David's bedroom, figuring he wasn't there yet but would pop his head in relatively soon. She debated telling him about the newest plan, or letting him suss it out. Mostly because she was curious whether people were the same to him when they were switched. Humming, she plopped on the bed and sat cross-legged, going over various ideas in her head as she waited.

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_donttouch
2017-05-19 08:44 pm UTC (link)

You don’t go switching other people’s bodies all willy nilly either. Syd stared blankly for a moment, which might have been a bit more intimidating coming from a not-petite version of her, but Rudy looked unfazed. And like he was going to say something about that too. “No way.” Sydney-David pointed a finger at the Oliver-type, not at all upset – she knew he couldn’t help it any more than she could help it when she was David – but still! None of that, thanks.

He lifted his hands in surrender, amused. “I promise I’m not trying. I suppose singing might come in handy.” Whether he meant that he would be singing in his head or Sydney should sing so that he only heard the lyrics, he didn’t elaborate. Ptonomy groaned, the put-out expression dangerously close to the Disappointed Look she and David had been taking about earlier; there he was without any type of protection at all! Rudy reached out, patting the other man’s – woman’s – knee. “There, there, dear.” Dry humor between the two men, since they were in the married couple’s bodies.

Syd squeezed his-her hand back, taken aback by the feeling. It was similar, but still rather different, which was funny. Backwards, but in a good way. She didn’t let go, only moved them so they were tangling between the both of them, and snorted a little. An area of effect was the last thing she was expecting. A lopsided smile appeared, tilting half of their mouth, and she was about to say as much when attention shifted to Kerry’s voice, Cary’s words.

“Is it strange that I’m not used to my own ability on other people?” Because Science Speak out of the visually younger Loudermilk was just odd. Her free hand went to move to the ends of her hair, but there was no hair on her shoulder. So back up it went, ruffling through once more. David and Oliver were right; the best, and really only, thing they could do was wait it out. She felt bad for Melanie, though. The nicest Christmas present ever.

Laughing quietly, because there wasn’t much else she could, Syd sighed and nodded. “Okay.” Looking over everyone, she shifted a little. “Things are going to be a little fishbowl the first ten minutes or so. And objects will be closer or further than they appear.” Cary and Kerry probably wouldn’t have too much of a problem, but the others were going to be a bit like fawns learning how to walk while doing simple things. Which actually would probably be a bit amusing.

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xgene
2017-05-19 11:33 pm UTC (link)

Huh. So that's what he looked like when he wasn't amused. David blinked, only able to stare for a moment, completely amazed. This was something else. It was one thing being back in Syd's body again, having already done this before for a couple hours, but seeing himself? Hearing himself speak, but saying words that weren't his own... well, he'd kind of been there before. Hearing himself, being a passenger in his own body while stuff happened. But seeing? That was still new. Seeing and looking up to. Being 5'2 and looking up at his 6' self was a hell of a thing.

And then Rudy was going and making Ptonomy uncomfortable and it was kind of amazing. There was another moment of gratitude, of altering that little fact in time and space. Rudy deserved better than what had happened to him and David was glad that only he and Kerry really remembered what the world was like without him. Rudy might know he would have died otherwise, but he never experienced it, never had to cross over into whatever came next. No, instead he got to be here, in Oliver's body, making Ptonomy-as-Melanie make the most entertaining of expressions.

Taking a moment to simply look at their hands together, David let himself have another moment to compose. Okay. This was okay. Time to put up and shut up -- he'd given a vote of confidence that this would be sorted, time to act on it. They were all smart, capable people, but for now all they could do was weather the storm and see what happened. Eventually Melanie would wake up and would hopefully be okay.

"If you swapped a gender, don't overthink how you walk. It's gonna be different." That was David's helpful advice before a big grin came despite himself. "Kaybye!" At that he didn't wait any longer. This was awkward and stressful enough and making distance would probably be the better choice for Syd, so, keeping their hands together, he went right for the door, opened it, and stepped right back out the way they came, tugging Syd-as-himself along for the ride. Time for some air, he explained, swiftly making way at least get to the main windows of the complex, a big enough area for the 'air' but without the winter's cold that had struck outside.

A quick look told him that snow was on the way. Gross.

Once it was just the two of them, he stopped and turned to face... himself. Syd. "You okay?" He asked, trying to keep all the cool in the world to focus on Syd. This was a big deal. A big, kind of scary deal. So he wanted to know if she was all right -- in all aspects. Dealing, not dealing, two seconds away from flipping, processing, all the above and more.

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