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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The fox crouched in the shadow of a chair, making himself small pressed against the baseboard, and watched the area around the door with bottle-green eyes.

How the fuck did Rocket manage? Except how he was bigger than Mildmay found himself now, and his paws were more like hands than the useless things at end of the fox's legs. So he waited, and hoped nobody would see him.

Finally someone opened the door. Mildmay didn't care so much who it was or where they were going, he was just glad it meant going through the door. The bitchkitty, on top of all the others about this, was he wasn't used to being a fox. And the building frustration plus wanting to get out the door before it shut plus wanting to go slow and stealthy.

Yeah, he shoulda known better. It was all his fault, when he ran smack into his door-opening savior's legs.

(Mildmay hasn't quite figured out the shapeshifting part of his "swap" yet. Or any of the other parts. But he'll be getting unstuck in his next tag. Threading with a nonverbal animal isn't usually fun for anyone involved.)

Edited 2019-04-03 20:39 (UTC)

Ororo had learned that it was very different to fly with wings as it was to use air pressure to fly. It would have been easier to count the number of times that she'd got it right, instead of crashing.

She'd given up and decided that she'd needed a break. As she opened the door, her mind had been on her predicament and not on the red fox that just ran into her. "Mack?" No, that was dismissed almost as soon as she'd said it, he had three tails and not one like this one. That meant probably a wild animal that had got trapped inside the inn. Ororo stepped aside to let the fox pass. "Hope you find your home."

If he'd been lucky, or as lucky as you could get when you suddenly had weird magic powers and got stuck as a fox, Mildmay woulda stayed a fox long enough to run off. But the problem with asking Kethe to help you out in a jam – and Mildmay had been asking him for help – was Kethe would, and fuck you over in the process.

So of course, whatever it was that made him a fox, wore off or gave up or something, and the next thing he knew, there was Mildmay the Fox, but not a fox, on his hands and knees there in the doorway. "Fuck me sideways," he muttered. He knew from experience, standing up was going to hurt like a bitch.

Ororo couldn't help the small laugh that escaped at his comment. "I have felt like that many times today. I see I am not the only one dealing with something strange."

"Not the only one," he agreed, voice gruff, but working as usual to make his words clear enough to understand. He hadn't really talked with her before, and between his accent and his scar, people could have trouble until they got used to him.

"Guessing you're not getting stuck as a animal, huh."

Storm had to struggle to understand what he was saying, but it wasn't as hard as it could have been before her time with other mutants. It didn't help that English was her third language, but after picking up every second or third word, she was able to piece together what he said.

"I am not turning into an animal." She agreed with a hint of amusement, "but I have sprouted butterfly like wings."

There were people here with wings, Mildmay knew. But mostly big, obvious, raven kinda wings.

"What's it like? Flying?" Could she even fly? Butterflies were pretty delicate. He wasn't sure they'd be able to support a person. But the thought of being able to fly...

"It's different than what I'm used to. I am normally connected to weather, so I don't fly with wings." Ororo smiled, "but it is just as freeing and if awkward with spills because I'm not used to it." She thought about the flying with these wings and what it was like.

"Though the wings are delicate, and I'm not used to them, they are surprisingly strong. I have been on strong currents and the feeling is the same for me."

"I ain't used to any of this ho- magic stuff." People with powers – other than magic. He'd had to get used to that. – was weird enough. But those powers getting shuffled around and passed out again like so many hands of Long Tiffany? That was fucked.

"I can't fly. Not that I know anyway. But I keep freezing sh- stuff. And there was the..." Mildmay waved a hand generally toward the floor around the door, where he'd been, up to a minute ago, a real fucking fox.

The more Mildmay spoke, the easier it was for Storm to understand him. She still had to concentrate hard, but the reminder of Xavier's school and some of the other students there was strong.

"When I first got my mutant powers, it was very difficult to control. I can try to help you control yours through my hits and misses when I was younger if you'd like."

Mildmay'd blended into the background while Felix talked – let's face it, a lot of the time it was more arguing than talking – magic with other wizards. He knew how hard it could be getting them to understand each other, and they were all talking about the same stuff, just with different metaphors according to Felix. If that barely worked half the time, he wasn't sure how her figuring out weather powers – mutant, he knew, was like Emma somehow, but what she could do most of the time wasn't like neither of 'em – would help him figure out what he didn't even know he could do.

He shook his head. "Nah. You got your own new shit today."

A pause, then, "I'll manage. But thanks."

"Okay." Ororo knew what it was like. She'd relied on herself more years than she had having help. It was a comfort zone for her and likely others.

"Well, I should probably go and let you try to figure out how not to turn into a fox and as for me, I'll try to figure out how to get through a door if the wings pop out." Her smile was one of fond memories of Xavier's.

GP: April Fools!

Mildmay (OTA)

Mildmay & Storm

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