This is going to take some getting used to...[For Verity, open to Ixis]

[smartass_captain]

There's an awful lot of commotion going on in the tower. Sounds like Ixis has his tail in a knot over something or another. It almost sounds like he's arguing with someone. Guess he's going to head up to his quarters and sulk for a good while.

Typical, right?

Except 'Ixis' isn't upstairs at all. He's looking around the entryway on the ground floor, scowling at everything he sees with equal contempt.

"Well, this is just great." Honestly? Jim doesn't know what to do. He's got his phone in one of the magi's pockets. He supposes the first thing he should do is text Verity and see where she's at. Being all but herded to the ground floor before Ixis went storming upstairs hasn't left him with any more answers than when this whole fiasco started.

Wow, trying to grab his phone with his claw hand isn't going very well. He's just standing there like a doof.

Comments

[smartass_captain]

Something inside Jim snaps. He's been more or less rational since this stupid fiasco started. Ixis is the one having the hissy fit. Making the demands. Dictating how and why and when things are going to happen.

But Jim would rather kill his body right this second than die from radiation poisoning again. His jaw is clenched so tight that they can hear his teeth grind. And is it just them, or is something smelling an awful lot like being on fire?

No, Verity's cooking is fine, Jim himself has started smoldering, a fire quite literally in his eyes.

"You piece of shit." It's really barely intelligible since Jim has to force it out in a hiss through his grit teeth. Better to finish the job now. He won't die like that again. The nightmares aren't real. He won't let them become real.

[brave_heart_verity]

She really needs to remove the word 'rational' from her vocabulary when these two are involved.

Explaining about Satan and devils is just going to have to wait, Grandpa, sorry. Nobody wants to see anyone go up in flames. Right? Right.

Not that she knows how to stop him.

"Jim, please. Please stop that. There's no need to hurt yourself or anyone else right now. Everything's going to be okay, I promise. I swear to you. Please stop." How much magic can Naugus do right now? Because they may need a lot more ice than she could ever hope to conjure.

[ixis]

The smell of smoke doesn't register until he sees those licks of flame. Then his eyebrows go straight up.

"What? Are you-...Vale's bones, You're angry. You're angry enough that you're conjuring flames." And he's a little jealous! Look at that guy, getting to be on fire and doesn't have to deal with burnt fingers. Also, he looks magnificent when angry. Look at that smouldering hatred. What a beast. Lovely.

"I said nothing's happening to your body because of my staff, boy. Control yourself."

[smartass_captain]

"He's going to poison me again and that's fine?!" Jim turns from Ixis to Verity. He's not angry with her. He's terrified. "Do you know what that's like?! I won't do it again. And especially not for this asshole. Go ahead and take his side." Jim is breathing heavily now, adrenaline turning rage into terror quickly.

The flames flicker out with the shift in moods. He's hyperventilating.

"Don't-please don't. I can't...not like that again." Everything hurts. Not because of the fire, gods no. Naugus' body can turn into the elements themselves, they don't harm their master. But Jim can't control it. He doesn't know what's happening to him and it's scaring him even more. He wants to punch Ixis' face through a wall but he knows that's his body. With nothing to lash out at and nothing to quell the pent up emotion churning inside of him, Jim punches the wall next to Ixis as hard as he can.

"I won't die like that again."

[brave_heart_verity]

"Nobody's going to die." She's trying to convince herself as much as anyone. Punching walls is not great, in fact, it's very bad, but right now she needs to just enjoy the fact he's not on fire anymore. "I'm not taking any sides, Jim. There aren't even sides right now, you both want the same thing."

Ver takes a half-step away from them both, rubbing the back of her neck nervously. "Can I leave you two alone for a few minutes without you trying to kill each other? Because I um. I need a minute."

[ixis]

The best part is that punch is solid. The stone cracks under his knuckles. Just slightly, but it's there. What's it like being unnaturally swole as all hell, Jim.

Naugus, meanwhile, does flinch slightly at the punch landing next to him, eyes going big and looking at where it hit. Then back at Jim. Well, himself. Jimself. "...Who said anything about dying? You're not-...I felt down the stairs and singed a few fingers! That's hardly death! And if anyone was going to die from exposure to a chaos emerald, I'd be in the ground ages ago, as would the founder of my caste, as would Enerjak, as would the Quickster, as would the Guardian, as would a whole slew of heroes and legends. What makes you think it's going to kill you? Because you're Overlander?"

[smartass_captain]

"Fine." Jim doesn't look back at Verity. He's still shaking, ears and tail drooped as low as they can go. "Go." Whatever she needs Jim will feel awful about later. He's managed not to tunnel vision so hard that he's ignoring her at the very least.

"That thing emits radiation. As in, energy that rips apart human DNA and kills you from the inside out. Have you ever had to feel yourself melting inside? Having your cells rip apart and die off while you struggle to breathe?" He isn't shouting anymore. Just staring into his own blue eyes with as much intensity as he can.

"I wouldn't wish it on anyone. Not even you. Don't. Make me experience that again."

[brave_heart_verity]

She'll just be elsewhere for a few minutes. She was serious about not killing each other, so please don't make her regret trusting them alone.

[ixis]

He watches her go, but shortly turns his attention back to Jim, especially with the way he's got a lock on him.

"...You speak of the poisonous sort. The kind that rots you from the inside out."

His voice has gotten...softer?

"The doctor's city was bathed in the stuff at one point. While my righthand man was hidden in the sewers beneath. Her and Kodos both died slow, lingering deaths from the exposure. His brain likely sloughing into nothing but blood from the madness they say took him. Her just growing weaker and in more pain until she succumbed. A horrible death for a warrior as great as her. She deserved a better one.

"You speak of THAT radiation, then? You've felt it?"

Flashback means icons *sage nod*

[smartass_captain]

"That. Is how I died." He's shaking. Hard enough to make his teeth chatter slightly.

"I fought my way into a chamber full of the stuff, and kicked it until it was back in place so my crew wouldn't die. I died in the chamber alone, burning form the inside out. My first officer had to watch form the blast door or it would have killed him, too."

Don't cry, Jim. No feelings. Just focus on anger. That's the safe emotion to feel.

"That I'm even alive today is thanks to some crazy shit that might as well have been magic. I don't know how. I wasn't there for that bit. But I did wake up. And that's worse. Because now I know what it's going to feel like if you do that to me again."

:( Sads icon.

[brave_heart_verity]

Ver is going to feel guilty, later, that she isn't there for them right at the moment.

On the other hand, neither of them need to deal with her own freaking out, so. Hiding in the bathroom it is until she can get a grip on herself again.

[ixis]

Huh. He's frowning, but in thought. Consideration. He furrows his brow a great deal; poor Jim, first he's gonna burn your body, now he's gonna cause accelerated wrinkles.

"Nothing of the sort is going to happen. I'm not like the doctor."

A morbid part of him is TOTALLY thinking he could certainly kill Jim's body just to experience it. He IS wondering what that's like now that the boy has said he knows the sensation, even if it's a death as miserable as what he described. But what good would that do? It'd be a short-term goal with no real payout other than satisfied curiosity, and then he's stuck with the situation of being a spirit and having to find a way back into his occupied body. Not worth it.

"Chaos energy is raw power, not the poison leaking off a foolish method of powering machines. And asking me to work WITHOUT it is going to be a long and grueling process."

[smartass_captain]

"Do you know that for sure? Has Verity been exposed to it for long?" Shit, if Ixis did that to Verity. Jim has to sit down. Right on his behind, damn the tail getting pinched. He might be sick.

"Oh god, Verity..." Jim puts his head in his hands and just. Sits there. His tail curls around himself protectively, as if he's trying to shield himself from anything and everything about the outside.

He doesn't say anything else. At least he's not lighting anyone on fire or breaking things?

[brave_heart_verity]

You know what's good in times like these?

Chocolate.

And Naugus knows where her stash is, if he's interested.

[ixis]

"She's fine. Vale's bones, if you thought it was that dangerous, everyone I've ever come near in the Nexus would be in danger. These artifacts have shaped civilization and progress and power on Mobius since the dawn of time. They're highly sought after and rigorously researched. The echidnas harnessed it to make their nation a floating island and their longterm exposure and use of the emeralds made them the most advanced society to ever exist. What do I have to say to convince you this is a non-issue?"

He totally heads for where he knows that chocolate is kept. And...opens it up and starts eating it himself. Then stops.

"...Am I going to die because I put chocolate in your ridiculous body?" If even strawberries are a danger, who knows what else there is!

[smartass_captain]

Jim could argue the differences between acute radiation poisoning and prolonged exposure to lower doses. Could talk about the cancers and other conditions it leads to. That Naugus has no concrete proof that humans aren't affected differently than other species.

But he wants Ixis to be right.

"...No." He doesn't take the bait. It would help if Jim even had an idea of how this happened. But Dr. Hill is gone, and Naugus won't let Jim be in the know about anything. Jim pulls himself up slowly. He doesn't want to be here anymore.

[brave_heart_verity]

Verity would want Naugus to be right too, if she knew what they were talking about.

Good thing she missed that.

The thing about glasses is, everyone knows when you've been crying because of the spots on the lenses. She's going to take a moment to wash hers off before coming back out.

[ixis]

"Don't be so glum. The look doesn't suit me at all." At least he can eat chocolate in peace. The box it set on the kitchen table, where he spots the jar of strawberry jam.

"Now that's just cruel." Reminders of what will never be until he is back in his body! Maybe he should take the jar and put it on his desk to keep him motivated.

[smartass_captain]

Still feeling queasy, Jim sighs and slowly gets to his feet. Ixis is probably right. And what choice do they have, really? If he needs to use the damn thing to get them switched, it's a risk he needs to be willing to take.

He's made much riskier gambles before, but he also hasn't known ahead of time just how bad the consequences would be in every intimate detail.

"Whatever. Sorry for yelling. What's...what's our plan for fixing this? How...long do you think we'll be stuck wearing each others skins?"

[brave_heart_verity]

"It wore off Samus pretty quick." When did she get back? Well, just now really. She's quiet in those slippers of hers. "But she wasn't tied up with anyone else that time."

She's not going to be meeting their gazes yet; pretending to be busy drying her glasses seems better than having to explain what just happened. "Lunch is going to be ready soon, and please don't eat all my chocolates."

[ixis]

"I wasn't!" He says as he sneaks another into his mouth. See, there's still some. A few. Three. What the hell, Naugus.

"Well, like I said, I've had some experience with spirits inhabiting other bodies. Though not in terms of a clean swap between a pair like this. But I'm confident I can figure something out within a few nights. Though I don't see why you're the one so eager for it; you've clearly gotten the better end of the deal here. Meanwhile, I'm stuck in a soft-skinned body with no ears or tail OR magical acclimation." He's gonna grow a beard. Just you try and stop him.

[smartass_captain]

"I got the better end of the deal only if there's a furry convention in town." Jim mutters while Ixis stuffs his face with chocolate. If he weren't in such a somber mood, he would take a big spoonful of the strawberry preserves and eat it in front of Ixis.

But since he is, it's a passing thought that gets discarded in favor of sighing.

"So..there's nothing I can do to help. Great." He can't run his hand through his hair because he doesn't have any hair. Ugh. "I'll hang around for lunch, but then I'm out of here. There's got to be something I can do." Sitting in Ixis' tower twiddling his thumbs for 'a few nights' is so not going to happen.

Don't threaten him Ixis, Jim is not afraid to shave his beard.

[brave_heart_verity]

Letting Jim wander off when he's in this state sounds like the worst possible answer. She's not keen on that idea at all. But first she needs to save her chocolates because seriously, Grandpa, and it gives her time to think.

"Why don't you go to the farm for a few days? There's plenty of things that need doing around there. Maybe we can convince Clint to take a few days off to help?"

[ixis]

"Farm work? My magnificent body being put to farm work like a simple peasant?" What a horrifying thought! What if someone SEES him!

[smartass_captain]

"Well, I've been thinking..." Jim looks back up at Verity finally. "I wasn't the only one on scene when this happened. Other people might have got caught up in the...whatever this is, too. Shouldn't we get stock of who all has been affected, so when Naugus figures out how to fix it, we can administer aid as is necessary?"

Amazingly, given the temper tantrum Jim just got done having, he has been doing something other than feeling sorry for himself since this swap happened. Or maybe Jim just doesn't like feeling helpless. Equally plausible.

"I'm none too eager to head to the farm looking like this. We have aliens, but nothing this alien in Iowa. If my neighbors saw me, i'd be arrested on sight."