strangetrip | GP: April Fools!

It didn't take any sort of precognitive abilities to predict some kind of shenanigans on the first of April. Many of the people stuck in the bubble world of the Madonna Inn were from times and places where April Fools' Day pranks were normal, expected... (in many cases) minor annoyances. And then there were the residents who remembered the strange egg hunt from a year ago, and the sometimes confusing explanations of the two holidays falling on the same day and how that related.

Also, life at the inn could be interminable. After a while, people started hoping for some kind of strangeness to happen, just to break up the monotony of being trapped in a kitschy no-snow globe.

So, no. You didn't have to be a mutant fortune teller to expect some kind of joke being pulled. But Emma was, and even she had no idea what was coming, other than it was going to be frustrating and topsy-turny, and the visions she'd been getting from the tarot – and way more reversals than was usual or healthy in her experience – were even less clear than usual.

She definitely didn't foresee waking up without the powers that were as much a part of her as her heart. Or just as suddenly having powers she had no idea how to control. But she did, and she had*, and she was far from the only one. The same thing was happening to people all around the inn.

(*Not to worry. The singe marks should be gone in a day or so. Right?)

[Powers swap GP! Tag in. Tag around. It's a time for out and about at the inn coping (or not) with powers gained (or lost).]

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Emma had known something was wrong from the moment she picked up her deck for the quick three-card throw she did every day, just to get a vague idea what to expect. She couldn't really describe the feeling of her mind slipping or clicking into place when she shuffled the cards, but she knew when it wasn't there. And while she could interpret the traditional meanings of the cards she drew, today she hadn't Seen anything in them.

Maybe she was lucky there was plenty to do in the kitchen to keep her busy and not worrying about whatever had happened to her powers. But things quieted down after lunch, and she had gone outside with her cards to one of the metal tables near the pool to see what she could figure out.

Frustration built, and with a wave her hand, a fireball formed – not the first today, and her heart hurt every single time – and flew off to the side. Fortunately right into the pool.

“Ain’t that a fuckin’ kick?” Rocket hauled out one of the chairs at Emma’ table and dropped into it, not as awkward as he had been right after he’d woken up and no more given to casual politeness. He was dressed in jeans and a T-shirt courtesy of Quill’s help, and his voice sounded right, even if everything else was wrong. “You get to blow shit up, an’ I just get to be fuckin’ bald.”

Emma was dreading having to give the welcome to the Madonna Inn speech, when she realized the voice was familiar, and then he said he was bald, when he obviously wasn't, and oh. Oh.

"Rocket? If I'd trade you the blowing stuff up if it meant I could actually See what's coming." She waved toward the cards that continued to be unhelpful.

“Yeah, it’s me. Hi. Fuckin’ revolting, right?” Rocket was actually more or less sure that this humie shape qualified as ‘attractive’, but he wasn’t happy enough to give it compliments. He leaned over to look at her cards, and thank whatever, they were as much pretty nonsense pictures as ever. “I can’t See shit either. Wherever your eyeballs went, it’s not here.”

"Waking up as something other than who and what we are? Yeah, that's pretty revolting." There was nothing wrong with Rocket's current appearance except it didn't look like Rocket. Emma tried to imagine how she'd feel if she'd woken up looking like a raccoon. Even if it was a cute raccoon, it still be unsettling.

"I knew something was coming. But I had no idea it could be something like this. Even when my powers are working right, I'm a crap precog. Seeing things I can't change, and not seeing things we could all use a warning about."

She sighed, scooped up the cards into a neat stack. "Don't mind me. I think whatever's going on has me crankier than usual. I could use a drink. And maybe to blow up some stuff."

Edited 2019-04-03 21:02 (UTC)

“You think I mind cranky?” He didn’t. Especially when everything was fucked up. “I can probably get behind a drink, though. Bein’ a gangly fucker at least means I can get at the good shelves easy.”

"I mind being cranky." She just didn't seem to be able to do much about it.

"I was going to offer to get it, but if you want to take advantage of being able to reach the high shelves..."

At first, the absence of her magic had sent Regina into a panic. Then a rage. Then tears until Dyson's chest was soggy.

Then messages had started showing up--people losing their powers, gaining others--and Regina calmed herself. It was the inn, scrambling things again. It was then that she realized her addictions had left with her magic. Her day went from shit to glory in seconds.

Until she realized someone else probably had her magic. That...could be a problem. So she went looking.

It was midafternoon when she saw a fireball in a hand that didn't throw them, frowned softly, then strode over to Emma. "It's tied to your emotions," she offered, making to show her before realizing she couldn't. A wry smile quirked at the corner of her mouth. "I can teach you enough to keep it safe, if you'll give me half an hour."

"Before I blow up something the inn won't fix, you mean?" Of course it would be tied to her emotions. Emma should have figured that out for herself. And she should have been able to get a handle on that part of it too. If she'd been able focus on any of the Askani forms.

Emma let out a slow breath, and found a smile for Regina. "I'd appreciate that. If it was anything but fire... Emotions are complicated."

"If you want to put it that way, yes," Regina replied as levelly as she could. It didn't matter that her magic had left her for now. She still needed to practice patience and kindness. "I was more thinking before you hurt yourself or someone you care about."

She smiled then. "Either way, I'm happy to help. If you tell me a little about your usual abilities, I may be able to find a way to bridge them. I often have to translate my magic into Corbie's system or hers to mine, so it's a familiar process."

Someone, whether herself, someone she cared about, or anyone else around the inn, had been what Emma meant mostly with her 'something the inn won't fix,' but she didn't point that out to Regina. Her intentions didn't matter, when they were talking about the same thing, and Regina could help her get a handle on what was, obviously and why hadn't Emma realized earlier, Regina's own powers.

"I'm a mutant. I can see the future, and the past, and I can project and manipulate tangible psi energy in the form of images, specifically from the tarot, but that could be because those are most meaningful and familiar to me. I'm also friends with people who can create or manipulate fire, or teleport – and a bunch of other things I haven't done myself today – but all I know about magic is what I've seen since getting stuck here. Well, and Illyana, but no version of Illyana is very chatty about magic."

"It's not my experience that Ms. Rasputin is particularly 'chatty' about anything," Regina replied wryly.

"Anyhow, yes, I think I can see a way to teach you." She moved to gather up her magic and tele-- Her arms dropped and she shook her head. "We'll have to do this the old-fashioned way." In her voice, there was something that sounded very like she was teasing someone, herself, perhaps.

"Join me? We'll have to walk to somewhere more congenial for target practice."

"Normally I'd fly, but..." Emma commiserated. "I did teleport once today, but since I didn't exactly mean to and I'm not sure how I did it, I definitely wouldn't trust trying it again with someone else. A walk will have to do."

GP: April Fools!

Emma Colbert - OTA (afternoon)

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Rocket & Emma C

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Emma & Regina

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