Momoko's Apartment, El Paso, Texas, Saturday

[weldedtomyspine]

Saturday morning cartoons started way too early. Milagro "wasn't into that kiddy stuff", but she was still up early enough to watch some shows from that time block. Which meant she was up before Jaime. Which meant that there was no way he could sneak out of the house without her noticing that something really weird had happened over night.

He knew because he'd tried.

Unfortunately, girl!him was shorter than boy!him. And had a different center of gravity. And that had been enough to cause him (her?) to misjudge how easy it would be to step over the pile Milagro's stuff had made on the floor when she tossed it there after school on Friday, and falling down was loud enough to hear even over the corny-joke-and-laughter that signaled the end of whatever episode Milagro was watching.

Once she'd finally stopped laughing, Jaime had managed to swear her to secrecy, but she'd managed to extract some pretty extravagant promises for it. It would be worth the price if she didn't mention this whole episode to anyone, though.

With Milagro's silence purchased, all that was left to do was to dash off a quick note to his (her?) mother that he (she?, ugh, this was confusing) was heading over to Momoko's for the weekend to deal with some weirdness that had arisen, possibly connected to Fandom.

Not too much later there was a knock on the door of Momoko's apartment, and the person doing the knocking wore baggy pants, a shirt that was clearly too large (neither of which managed to conceal that said person was female), and an expression that practically dared anyone to laugh. Or even smile in amusement.

[Available for calls or texts or whatever, if people like.]

Comments

[weldedtomyspine]

"That's what I thought." And there was that smirk. It didn't look quite the same on a girl's face, though.

[heromaniac]

"I was trying to make you make a stern face." Momoko eyerolled fondly. "But your smirk is totally cute, too, so I'll settle for now." And keep holding his chin. Oops?

[weldedtomyspine]

That got an eyeroll. "You're a bit obvious when you do that sometimes." Sorry, Momoko. "I mean... out of water?"

[heromaniac]

"I was desperate. I did good at the start, though, right?" She did let go of his chin now, but only because that way she could boop Jaine's nose. "You believed me a little. I saw that worry line on your forehead."

[weldedtomyspine]

Jaime raised a hand to rub at her forehead, then paused. It felt weird having such slender fingers.

[heromaniac]

"SEE!" Momoko hooted and fell against her, all smiles. "You totally believed me a little!"

[weldedtomyspine]

"Did not," she mumbled, not really sounding upset. Just off-balance.

[heromaniac]

"Totally did." Momoko gleed as she reached for Jaime's hand and threaded their fingers together. "It's weird, you know. You're still you. I can feel it on the inside... but it feels so different on the outside." She held up their joined hands, running her free hand over the fingers that today were so different. Hmm. "Still slightly dry but the skin isn't thick," she mused.

[weldedtomyspine]

Jaime just ducked her head, flushing at the idea that Momoko knew him/her so well.

[heromaniac]

Momoko tapped his fingers, completely missing Jaime's blush. "Does it feel different on your side, too?"

[weldedtomyspine]

"Yeah. I mean, how could it not?"

[heromaniac]

Momoko looked at her. "Does it bother you? I'm curious; tell me!"

[weldedtomyspine]

Jaime pursed her lips. "I think it does? I mean, not a lot, since Fandom's always messing with things, but..." She sighed. "Everything feels wrong. Things are the wrong height, my balance is off, my clothes don't fit..."

[heromaniac]

"Even though it's the second time it's happened to you?" Momoko nestled closer. "Hmm. Is it weirder than when you change into Blue Beetle?"

[weldedtomyspine]

"Well, I guess there are some similarities? But... I don't have any control over this. And I'm at least the same height when I'm Blue Beetle." Even if way more were different. Girl-him couldn't see gravity, for one thing.

[heromaniac]

"That is weird. I mean, you're still taller than me, but you're closer," Momoko agreed. "Do you feel like you're not you? Even when I'm Blossom, I still feel like I'm me."

"Being a boy is confusing because I look like Brick. And, well, some of my feelings are different."

[weldedtomyspine]

"In some ways I think I do feel like... someone else? Someone who's... not quite me. Like, someone I could have been, but wasn't."

Which sounded really weird.

[heromaniac]

"Oh. I never thought of it that way. It's always felt like me, just looking different. Maybe because of Blossom." Momoko squeezed his hand. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

[weldedtomyspine]

"But Blossom's part of you, right? That doesn't seem like the same thing to me..."

[heromaniac]

"She is now, but not when I first started. Although I didn't really think about it," she admitted, "Because I suddenly had powers and villains to fight. My dream come true, you know. If I had to be someone else to do it, I didn't mind."

She thought for a moment. "I don't think I even realized I was different at first. I remember thinking people would recognize me if I got too close, even though I had people ask who I was. I stayed away from my family just in case, for example. Had to let the others rescue Kuriko when she got involved in things."

Because of course, her little sister would get into trouble, duh.

[weldedtomyspine]

Jaime thought about that. "You feel like Blossom is someone else? Not just... you looking different?"

[heromaniac]

"More like, Blossom is another me? A better me? Different, I mean. There's lots of things she can do that I can't... Even after all these years of working on getting myself to be a better hero. But everything I can do she can."

She shrugged. "It's not something I mind? Like I said, it even took a while to realize it."

[weldedtomyspine]

"Huh. I guess I never thought of it that way?"

[heromaniac]

"You're on the outside. And your transformation doesn't change you; it's a costume." Momoko stopped fiddling with their hands and just held them. "Is how you feel now anything like how you felt when you first got the scarab? You know. You but not you?"

[weldedtomyspine]

"Not really. That was something being added, not being totally different? I think?"