InsaneJournal

Tessa had a day off, and was out running a few unavoidable errands, hoping that the world would behave itself for just an hour or two until she got back home. So far, the worst luck she’d had for the day had been the fact that her shoelaces kept coming untied. She could live with that.

Nate, on the other hand, had about had it with the day. From a duck to a swan, to a dog and a princess, from a king of hearts to a superman, he kept having his clothing switch out as if to costumes. And it was getting old. He sighed as he walked along toward the small chocolate and sweet shop,

He planned on getting something for Elaine and Cora to thank them for their hosting him this week. He hoped they would like something from this place. He headed in, glancing around, currently dressed as a dolphin, with the head off, and smiled as he saw Tessa. he headed over to her.

“Hey! How’s it going?”

Tessa's whites were still pink and splotchy, but she'd put on a raspberry colored button down over the white tee, and made it work, almost like it was tie dyed. She'd thought about buying a different pair of shoes, but figured there was just as much chance the new pair would turn into fuzzy bunny slippers or break a heel, and she thought better of it.

She smiled when she recognised his face under the dolphin head, and waited for him to come over. "Hey. You look like you could use a lemonade, or something."

“I could. Days like today make me wish I could and would drink. I can’t and won't, but I almost wish it.” Nate shook his head and sighed. “How are you?”

“How about I buy you a soft drink, then?” Tessa offered with a sympathetic smile. She noticed that her jeans suddenly had a hole in one knee, but that didn’t worry her too much. “I’m all right. I think my boyfriend’s had a worse time lately than me.”

“Sounds good.” He smiled. “Oh yeah? I hope he has things get better. “ Nate smiled and blinked as his dolphin outfit became a disney princess. He sighed, took a step, and wobbled. “Oh for the love of.” He reached out for Tessa, losing his balance on sudden heels.

“He’s feeling a lot better now that he has all the right bits,” she said, widening her stance as she reached out to help Nate catch his balance. “He was having some shifting issues of his own.”

“Oh yeah? Is he a shapeshifter?” Nate nodded and smiled, holding her hand until he stood normally again. “I gotta say, today is being annoying with these changes.”

He nodded toward the closest shop. “Maybe I’ll sit down for awhile when we get there.”

“Yes and no,” she said, “I mean, he’s not like a werewolf, or anything, but his alter-ego can change forms if he so chooses.”

She stood still until Nate was ready to move again, walking close to him in case he tripped on his ‘slippers,’ and carefully in case she stepped on her own laces again. “Sitting is good.”

He walked with her to the cafe and ordered with her, then sat with her in a booth toward the back, unhappy about his princess costume and the ‘cute girl’ comments. “So much fun, this clothing thing is, yes.”

“Hm...” Tessa grumbled wordlessly on his behalf. “Let’s see if I can’t avert some of the stares. If I can make myself invisible to people I don’t want to deal with...”

She focused on Nate, reaching for that illusory power that she’d begun to recognize, hoping to make people at least think that he looked normal, even if she couldn’t actually, physically change his clothing back to what it was. If not that, then maybe she could at least make it so their eyes sort of slid past him without noticing.

Or at least that was her intent.

Nate nodded. “Thanks. I appreciate it. This is all very odd.” He was just tired of it. But it didn’t hurt him. “Only do it if it doesn’t hurt you.”

“No promises as to how long I’ll be able to hold my focus while multitasking,” she said, “If I get tired or distracted, the illusion will probably just dissolve without much ado. But I’m okay for now.”

“Don’t strain yourself, please.” Nate smiled gently at her. “You’re an awesome person. And nice. Definitely the best Superhero ever.” He nodded, grinning at her.

She made a face at him--as if she were the ten year old, and he the grown up--but she didn’t argue any further. “I have my moments,” she said, “Though I guess we all have good days and bad days. I hope this one gets better for you.”

“Me too.” He felt a sudden breeze and glanced down only to roll his eyes and sigh. “At least this one’s not so bad.” He was not shirtless and in a grass skirt with a loin cloth on and sandals. “This is actually kind of comfortable.”

“Well, there we go!” Tessa smiled at him. “Ask and ye shall receive.” Hopefully they wouldn’t get asked to leave because of some ‘no shirt, no shoes, no service’ policy. She slid her chair back a little so that she could tie her shoelaces again, and discovered that the laces were completely gone. She wasn’t sure if that would be a good or bad thing when they started walking again, but for now, she was optimistic.

“So, aside from the costume parade, how have you been? Are you still enjoying adult education?”

“Yep. I start college this summer, and so far I am looking forward to it!” He grinned at her. “I just want to be able to learn and help people.” He nodded. “Like you do.”

Despite clothing weirdness, he was enjoying this little encounter.

“Good!” Tessa knew how much Nate had needed positive experiences to help him cope with and move past all the trouble he’d seen in such a short time. She was happy for him. “Something tells me you already help people, just by being who you are. And with that outlook, I don’t think you’ll ever stop learning.”

Nate blinked, then shook his head. “Nah. I’m just a kid. Mostly I wander around, and have adventures.” He chuckled. “some more interesting than others. This week has definitely made it so.” He smiled softly. “I hope the same always holds true for you, too.”

“I’ve had adventures, all right,” she said, thinking for a moment of Zach. She hoped he was having a good day. “I’m kind of looking forward to seeing where life takes me.”

Nate smiled. “Good for you. Want to go for a walk? Maybe get some air?” He smiled to her. She was pretty cool.

“Sure.” She smiled back, and gestured for him to lead the way. She didn’t have to be anywhere in a hurry. “Anywhere particular you want to go?”

He reached out a hand to take one of hers and shook his head. “Nah. Just hopeful for a quiet walk with a friend.” He grinned at her.

Even as he did so, his clothing changed again, and now he was wearing an astronaut’s outfit. “Huhn... okay. I can live with this.” He would walk funny, but oh well.

Tessa knew she could manage walking in heels just fine, but she walked slowly so that Nate could keep up in his new duds. She couldn’t really figure out any rhyme or reason to the changes, and she didn’t really try. She just tried to be ready to improvise.

Nate was chuckling as a number of people around them seemed to be struck by changes all at once. “Seems like it’s getting antsy.”

“You noticed that?” Tessa asked, half wishing there was a way that she could hide them from it. She didn’t think there was, though.

Nate nodded and started to talk and in the next step was completely naked. “Oh For the love of...” And he was not the only one. A good dozen people all lost their clothing at the same time.

He reached out with his powers and everyone else saw a fully clothed kid walking along, even Tessa, unless she fought it. “Man, I am going to have such a headache when I get home.” He glanced at Tessa...

And she was topless for a fraction of an instant, until she called up her powers and thought change . She'd only meant to change her clothes, but perhaps since she didn't have a shirt to change, or maybe because it was an intensely charged moment, she changed her entire appearance. Instead of being a topless, curvaceous woman, she was now a scruffy, shirtless man who could have been her twin brother.

Nate gaped for a moment, both the toplessness and the change startling him, then he grinned. “Now that is a really useful power!” He shook his head. She was gorgeous, and he was still ten, and life was being super-weird.

“Let’s get out of here before more weirdness happens.” He’d come by bus today.

Tessa nodded. She could only imagine how much T&A the kid had seen in the past week. “You want a ride?” she asked, nodding down the block in the direction of where she’d parked. “I’ve got some spare clothes in my car. Not sure if they’ll actually fit you, or how long they’ll last, but it’s worth a shot, right?”

Far more than he had ever wanted, even in his aborning fantasies. Nate nodded. “Thanks, yes please.” He shook his head. “This can be funny, and annoying both.”

“When my brothers and I used to pull pranks, my old man used to say, ‘Once is funny, twice is silly, three times gets a spanking,’” Tessa mused, “It’s too bad there doesn’t seem to be anyone to discipline the powers that be.”

She led him to her car, and unlocked it, grabbing a couple of generic, loose-fitting t-shirts from a gym bag in the trunk, along with a pair of basketball shorts. “Here. These have a drawstring, maybe they’ll cinch down small enough to stay on you. You can change in the backseat if you want. At least you’ll be partially out of sight.”

Nate chuckled. “With the way things have been happening, it might just enjoy that sort of thing.” He smiled at her as he hopped into the back seat. “Thanks.” He made sure to check for others, and then he started changing.

When he was in her clothing, he waited, and sighed in relief when nothing happened. “I’ll get these back to you one I wash them, after this craziness is over. He nodded and climbed into the front seat.

Tessa just shook her head, and pulled her own t-shirt on. As she covered herself, her form shimmered and returned to its usual, feminine shape. Her hair lengthened, and her skin became smooth, and she slid into the driver’s seat with a smile. It seemed her powers were getting stronger after all.

“No hurry,” she said, “I’ve got other workout clothes where those came from.”

“That’s still a neat trick. And thanks.” He grinned and settled back in the seat. That had been enough adventure for one day. “Can we stop for burgers on the way home? I’ll buy?”

“Thanks,” she said, “I’ve been getting in a bit of practice--defensive camouflage, mostly. I guess I just leveled up.” She grinned back as she eased her car into traffic. “Burgers sound really good about now. Any particular place you would prefer?”

“IN and Out?” He smiled at her as he settled in more comfortably. “I like their burgers and their shakes.” Maybe he made shakes, but he could still enjoy other peoples’.

“Sure.” She headed toward the burger joint, the radio filtering softly through the speakers. “You sure do like your shakes, huh?”

Nate grinned. “Yep. they’re a little better for me than a lot of things, and during Lent I stayed away from soda, so I have switched my poisons, I think.” He smiled at her. “What’s your favorite drink?”

“Oh, that’s a tough one,” she said, “But I might have to say root beer. When I was little, my dad and my brothers and I would make homemade pizza, and then we’d have root beer floats for dessert. It was kind of a special treat for us, and eventually, my brothers learned how to make their own root beer to give as gifts at the holidays and stuff.”

Nate nodded, listening. “Cool! Maybe someday, I can meet them, and exchange really good shakes for really good root beer.” He nodded again. Sounded like fun to him!

“That would be fun,” Tessa said, an idea sparking as she realized something. “Isn’t there a picnic in the summer, for firefighters and their families? One of my brothers is a firefighter, and Alex Summers--he’s your uncle, right? Maybe we could all meet up at the picnic.”

“Yeah! he is! And there is! He told me about it already! This is cool! I’d love to!” He bounced and smiled at her. “I’ll bring my whole shake-making rig and we can all have fun!”

“Awesome! I will make sure to be there, and introduce you all around. My dad might even make an appearance.” Tessa gave Nate a grin as she pulled into the In & Out parking lot. The Firefighters’ Picnic was always a blast. “You want to go inside, or should we play it safe, and hit the drive-through?”

"Drive through, please. I've had enough of flashing the world for one day ." He nodded.

“I agree.” She circled around through the drive-up, and put in their order, letting Nate pay for the meal when he insisted. “One of these days,” she said, passing the food--and his milkshake--over to him, “You’ll have to let me treat you, instead. And by ‘treat,’ I don’t mean hook you up to an oxygen mask in the back of an ambulance.”

Nate laughed. “I hope to never have that sort of thing necessary again, and I agree. I am entirely in your hands, milady.” he winked at her. It was fun to be playful with friends.

He took his food and settled back, tired. “I am definitely ready to go home.” He gave her directions to the Mallory house.

“So do I,” she said, thinking for a moment of Thor. “It gets worrisome when someone ends up getting rescued more than once. I’d much rather see you like this.” Without the nudity, that is.

She offered another smile, and headed in the direction he described. “Hopefully the rest of the day will cut you some slack.”

“I’m hoping so, too.”
When she arrived at his current home, he edged over and hugged her close, then smiled. “Thank you, Tessa. It was nice meeting you again.”

Then he hopped out and waved.

She hugged him back, reminding him to call if he ever needed a paramedic, or a valkyrie as she waved him inside. He seemed to be in a much happier place than the last couple of times they’d met, and that was a good thing. She had a feeling Nate was going to be okay.