Power Swap: This Is A Dream, Right? (Open)

[Paul Wilkerson]

Paul sat in the cafeteria. His lunch was untouched. Something wasn’t right. Paul looked around the cafeteria. The other students continued on their way like nothing was really really really strange. Maybe it was all in Paul’s head.

Paul had gym class before lunch. Yeah he sweated like he always does, but this time it wasn’t orange. Yes, Paul was very happy that he wasn’t turning into an oompa loompa. But something else happened. He went to hit the volleyball and three-inch spike came through his hand. Paul totally killed the volleyball.

The confused the boy played with his newfound powers. It hurt when the spike came out, but this power was much cooler than what he did had. Something was really strange. A dream. That’s it. “I’m dreaming. Right?”

[Samuel Knight]

Samuel had gone about his morning routine normally enough-- gotten dressed, made sure his gloves were on so he wouldn't get any weird visions, ridden to school with Lukas... But the grating feeling of almost going into a retrocognitive vision was strangely absent. Maybe he was just getting better at controlling his power, he told himself. That's what he was going to Hammel for, after all!

But as he prepared for gym, he began to pick up on the fact something was very... not right. He was way more flexible than he should have been, freakily so. Usually he had to stretch to a point until it got mildly uncomfortable, then just hold it there, but during stretches, it got to a point where he had to decide to stop, for fear of actually physically hurting himself. Despite the fact it hadn't hurt to pretty much do the splits.

Then there was the boy who usually sweated rainbows. At least, Samuel had thought he did-- it was something he didn't usually forget, as a people watcher especially. But the guy hadn't sweated rainbows that day, and had grown a spike in his hand instead. Were their powers changing?? Sam finally gave in to his wonderings after gym, and ended up intentionally taking his glove off and touching the wall. The wall should give lots of memory visions, right?

But nothing came.

So when he spotted the boy playing around with the spike thing in his hand, he edged over to the table. He usually wasn't one to do this... but he was confused by this point, and wanted some answers. Maybe his fellow student would have some...

"I'm dreaming. Right?" he heard the boy murmur.

"I don't know, are you?" Sam asked as he set his tray down on the table. "Is it all right if I sit here?" he added cautiously.

[Paul Wilkerson]

Paul looked up at the sudden question. “I don’t that’s why I’m asking.” The boy speaking to Paul looked very familiar. Where did Paul see that face? Oh, gym class. “Yeah, have a seat.”

Paul might as well eat his lunch. He picked up his sandwich. Paul looked at his sandwich. He kept opening and closing his mouth. He wanted to ask his classmate if he had noticed anything strange, but Paul was afraid that his classmate would think that Paul was crazy.

He bit into his sandwich. Once he swallowed, he spoke. “How are you?” Paul figured that if he could somehow bring up the weird topic without directly saying it, then he wouldn’t look like a mad man.

[Samuel Knight]

A good enough point about the dreaming. Samuel didn't push the matter. He was fairly certain neither of them were dreaming, but anything was possible around here, he guessed. He'd have to ask Lukas about it later. So instead, he just gave a quiet, "Thanks" before seating himself and fiddling with his spoon.

How on earth was he supposed to start this conversation? I thought you sweated colors, not grow spikes, didn't sound exactly the best conversation starter.

How are you?

Oh. Well, yes, there was that conversation starter. He shrugged. "I'm all right... Feeling a little... off, I think." He studied his bare hand as he gripped the spoon. So strange to be able to hold things without his gloves... He glanced up. "Sorry, but... Your power. Didn't it used to be something... different?" Oh jeez, this was going to be awkward anyway. Might as well have it out. "Is your power being... not right today?" He was perfectly aware this question probably sounded totally weird, but... The day had been totally weird so far, so did it really matter?

[Paul Wilkerson]

“Yeah, my powers aren’t normal. Why do you ask?” Paul scrunched his eyebrows. He eyed the boy suspiciously.

Yup, it was official, something was not normal about this school. Well, not normal for Hammel. Hammel was pretty weird to begin with. Maybe this guy knows what the hell was going on. Maybe he could answer some of Paul’s questions.

Paul ditched the idea of not looking like a mad man. Paul got right to the point. “Do you know what’s going on? Something isn’t right here.” Paul hoped that he one – didn’t sound like a mad man, and two – didn’t sound like he was being rude, which he couldn’t help. He was a little freaked out about his power changing.

Granted that his new spike thing power was awesome compared to his rainbow secretions “powers.”

[Samuel Knight]

That had been a more to the point reply than Sam had been expecting. However, he was relieved more than surprised. This would make things much less painful and awkward. "I just noticed that... well, when you killed the ball, I thought I'd remembered you having a different power than that. It just made me curious..."

And suddenly an unreserved question. That helped matters too. "I don't know what's going on!" he answered, leaning forward a bit as he did. "I noticed the same thing with my power, though... It isn't there anymore, but. But I think I have a different power now. Look." He stretched his arm around behind his head in an impossible contortion that surprised even himself. What on earth kind of power did he end up with now??

Of course, whatever it was, it was way better than what he'd had before... Seeing visions of peoples' pasts when he touched something? Yeah, no, super flexibility was way better.

[Paul Wilkerson]

“You saw that? I guess everybody saw.” Paul ran a hand through his hair. Why was gym class always embarrassing? If it wasn’t one thing, it was another.

Paul listened to what his friend was saying. So, it wasn’t just Paul then. He scrunched his face at what the boy was doing with his arm. “Nobody should be able to do that. I don’t care if it’s a super power or not. No. That’s creepy.”

He put his sandwich down. Paul leaned a little closer. “My powers were rainbow secretions, at what Hammel calls it, but now,” Paul held out his hand. A spike came through. “It hurts really bad when I do it. What’s going? What happen? Why did it happen?”

So many questions that needs answers.

[Samuel Knight]

Samuel shrugged. "Kinda hard to not notice the ball getting killed. I didn't really care though," he added. Volleyball, well, sports in general, had never been his favorite sport, so seeing the ball get destroyed gave him sort of a grim triumph. PE was a pain in the neck, no matter what anyone said.

"It is a little creepy," he admitted, rubbing his arm and restoring it to a less creepy position. "It's better than my other power was though." Creepy or not, he actually really liked this new deal. He was sure it would have it's side-effects too, eventually, the more he used it, but hey, they couldn't be as bad as what he'd had to deal with before, right?

Rainbow secretions though... That wouldn't be a fun power either. He could just imagine the teasing that would be paired with that. He also couldn't help but wonder if it stained clothing too...

"I don't know!" Sam frowned and studied the spike protruding from his friend's palm. "Maybe we should ask a teacher. Or one of the older students-- maybe it happened to them before." He hesitated at that suggestion. Why had he said that? No, asking a teacher would be better. "My foster dad works here, maybe we could find him. Was at gym the first time it happened to you?"

[Paul Wilkerson]

Why did Paul think of asking a teacher or someone about this? Oh, that’s right. Paul didn’t want to look like a crazy person. But now that there’s someone else was also experiencing the same weird this-is-not-my-powers thing, maybe it wasn’t a bad idea to go to a teacher. Plus it would be his friend’s foster dad. His foster dad wouldn’t think these two were two looney bins who belong in a funny farm, right?

“Yeah. Well, uh, yeah that gym.” Paul was NOT going to explain when he goes to the bathroom. That’s little personal. Paul did notice something was a little off when he went to the bathroom, but it wasn’t until gym class did Paul found out that he now has spikes. “Maybe talking your foster dad wouldn’t be a bad idea.”

[Samuel Knight]

When weird things were happen, adults were generally Samuel's first go-to. When things were really weird, of course. Otherwise he tried to deal with it on his own. But not having his power anymore, and instead having a totally different one, definitely could be categorized as weird. Maybe there was a weird sickness going around or something...

"That's where I noticed mine, too." He considered. "I wonder how many other students have this going on." He glanced around the cafeteria, curious now. Surely he and his fellow student weren't the only ones. He'd discovered that people were pretty much never actually really alone in their problems.

He nodded in agreement to the comment of talking to Lukas not being a bad idea, returning his attention to the boy he was eating lunch with. What was his name, anyway? He felt sure he'd heard it before, given they were in gym class together, but he'd forgot. "I'm Samuel, by the way," he offered. "My foster dad is the History teacher."

[Paul Wilkerson]

Since Paul sat down in the cafeteria, he didn’t notice anyone else acting weird. Paul couldn’t be dreaming, right? Seriously wasn’t just him that was experiencing the weird voodoo magic. They both were in agreement about going and talking to someone about this. It made Paul feel a little better.

It wasn’t until Samuel said his name, did Paul realized that he didn’t know Samuel’s name. The two were in the same gym class and yet, they didn’t know each other names. That was a little embarrassing. “I’m Paul.”

Maybe Samuel’s foster dad will have some answers for the two boys.

[Samuel Knight]

Sam smiled a little as Paul introduced himself. "Nice to meet you." He poked around at his food a little more, forcing himself to eat despite his nerves. He was small enough-- he needed to eat so he'd actually grow and not look like a kid his entire life.

A moment later, he noticed his shoulder was a bit stiff, where he'd stretched it earlier. Had he hurt himself, then? Or... maybe it was just a side-effect... Hopefully that. It'd be uncool if he'd already hurt himself with his new power. He glanced across at Paul. "You think this'll be permanent?" he asked. Oh god, he hoped so... "Don't you think it would be great if it was?" Paul hadn't seemed to like his power too much, so Samuel felt fairly secure in asking this without offending him.

Imagine not having anymore visions... Now that was something to be excited about.

[Paul Wilkerson]

Paul stopped in mid chewing when Samuel posed his questions. He finished what was in this mouth before answering. “If this is permanent then this is fantastic. Being able to have spikes come out of me is sooo much cooler than my other power. Yeah, it hurts to the high heavens when the spikes pop out, but still.”

Paul’s face lit up when a thought came to him. “Do you think I could like Wolverine? I could have three spikes come through my knuckles and I can be Wolverine. I haven’t tried making more than one spike. Do you think it could work?” Paul was totally serious. That would be so cool if Paul could imitate Wolverine. Now Paul was really living in the world of X-Men.

“Say, what was your power before this happen?”

[Samuel Knight]

Samuel smiled and nodded in agreement, glad that Paul was of the same opinion. That he wasn't the only one who was pretty ungrateful when it came to his power. Really, wouldn't most people think it was cool to have a superpower? Even if it was inconvenient? Seemed like it, anyway...

"I... I don't know!" Sam said in answer to Paul's question. Dude... if he could grow claws like wolverine, that would be amazing... He echoed the thought aloud with, "That'd be pretty awesome." Before posing a question of his own, "Does it seem to be pretty controllable? Most of the time it seems like when a power manifests people don't really have much control over it.. but for some reason mine is pretty controllable already. You should totally try it." Of course, maybe that was just because of what type of power it was. How could being super flexible be hard to deal with in the beginning? He didn't know.

He pushed his glasses up on his nose as he answered the next question, "Retrocognition. I could see visions of memories people had when they were touching a specific thing... Like, if I had a vision while touching this spoon, I might see a vision of someone eating, or having a conversation while holding this spoon or something. It was a pain in the neck..."

[Paul Wilkerson]

Paul hadn’t thought about control over the new power until Samuel mentioned. Paul had noticed his new power during gym class, so he didn’t have a very long time to play with it and test his limits. The little bit of playing Paul seemed to have good control over his awesome power.

“Good control I guess. I have to play with it some more to know.” Paul answered the question.

He listened to Samuel explain his old powers. Paul thought his old power sucked, but Samuel had it worst. “Everything you touched? That’s sucks and I thought my sucked. No, your old power sucked, mine was just lame. You must be very happy with flexible limbs.”