PowerSwap: No more headaches and goodbye glasses! (Paul)

[Salem Hirch]

A loud shout from a neighboring room had startled Salem from a deep sleep. Though he had just received a rather rude awakening, the boy felt strangely refreshed, like he actually had a full nights rest. As he slowly stood from his bed, he noticed that his vision was not blurred like it was most mornings. This wasn't entirely strange, but it had been awhile since the last time he didn't need his glasses. Shrugging it off, he dressed and made his way out of his room and into the hallway, where a younger student ran past in a panic.

Looking up, he noticed that a lot of students seemed either scared or overly happy and others, just really confused. It wasn't until he got closer to the student lounge that he heard people saying things about powers being swapped or just gone. In that moment, Salem had a realization, his head had not hurt him all morning. Quickly, he ducked into the room and stared at a nearby table, focusing all of his power on it, trying his best to make something-anything appear. Nothing happened. He didn't even feel that odd warmth that came from behind his eyes when it did. 

A wide grin appeared on his face, the corners of his mouth turned up so high that they started to hurt a little. It was like a weight had been lifted from the young man's shoulders and he bounced a little. "Oh thank you!" He clapped and flopped back in a nearby chair. Salem's power itself didn't bother him, just the side effects, so having them gone was a major blessing to him. In his happiness, he glanced around the room to see if anyone else in the lounge was as happy as he was.

[Paul Wilkerson]

Paul walked around the school. He was having fun with his new power. He since his power changed Paul was in a better mood. Paul had been playing with his power, learning his limitations. It was totally different for him because his rainbow secretion was involuntary body functions. This new spike power Paul was in complete control over it. Sure it hurt to the high dickens when the spikes popped out, but it was a lot more fun than rainbow secretions.

There was a whole lot of commotion in the student lounge. Paul adventured to the lounge. There were a bunch of students talking to one another. What was going on in here? Paul took a seat next to a boy. He seemed pretty happy. “What’s all the commotion?” Paul asked the boy next to him.

[Salem Hirch]

Even though none of the of the others seemed as jazzed about all this as he was, it didn't matter. Salem was bound and determined to enjoy this while it lasted. Rubbing his eyes, he smiled brightly and relaxed a bit more. Some of the others talking to him about his power, asking what happened. Some of them saying how unfair it was, others just seemed...scared. Then, another came to join the small crowd that was gathering and he took a seat next to Salem.

When he spoke, the blonde glanced over at him and smiled. The other looked familiar, like he knew he'd seem him at school but just wasn't sure of his name. "Ahh, they're all just freaking out over this whole strange power situation thing." Salem gave a soft chuckle and casually patted the other's knee. A friendly gesture. "Me, I couldn't be more happy about this! My powers are gone, what about you?" The blonde boy seemed almost overjoyed.

[Paul Wilkerson]

So it seemed that this weird power thing was going around the school. It was everywhere. Some students were enjoying their newfound abilities and others not so much. Paul still had a lot of question about what was going on, but he just accepted his new power and was enjoying it immensely.

“Check this out,” Paul held his hand out with his palm up. A three-inch iron spike came out of his palm. “Isn’t that cool? It hurts when the spike comes out and in, but still. This is a lot better than before.” The spike returned into Paul’s palm.

He smiled at the blond boy for a couple of reasons. One, because Paul was happy that he didn’t have his sucky rainbow secretions. And two, the other’s gesture didn’t go unnoticed. “So what power do you have now?”

[Salem Hirch]

Glancing down at the other boys palms, he winced and jumped back. "That was pretty awesome, glad it doesn't hurt though." He had to chuckle, the other was definitely happy with his new power, that was for sure. Salem could understand, some people didn't like the powers they had. Oh, he knew he'd miss his power after awhile, but for now he was enjoying the headache free life.

With a bit of a laugh, he held out his hand then yanked it back. "Sorry, was gonna shake your hand..but...just in case." Another little smile let the other know he didn't mean anything rude by it. "Name's Salem by the way."

The next question caught him by surprise. It took him exactly that amount of time to realize he didn't get anything in exchange for his. So, he shrugged. "Apparently, I got nothing. Ya know, I'm totally okay with that."

[Paul Wilkerson]

“Probably a good idea.” Paul had good control over the new power, but not shaking hands was a good idea, just in case. Paul would of felt so bad if he accidently stabbed someone with spike.

“No power?” Paul knew that people had got their powers swapped but this was the first person he met who lost their powers and got nothing in return. It must be nice to be a normal human. “That must be nice. I’m Paul. I don’t think I said my name yet.” The teenager chuckled.

[Salem Hirch]

Salem nodded politely and was glad that the other was not offended by not shaking hands. Though he did appear to have good control over the power. Smiling, he relaxed and nodded again, "Yep, no power and I have to admit it is nice."

With one hand he tapped his head. "My power used to give me terrible headaches and made my eyesight horrible, so yeah...it is nice." Turning his head he smiled at Paul. "Well it's nice to meet you. Kinda sad we haven't met until now though." Another smile and Salem relaxed against the back of the couch.

[Paul Wilkerson]

That must be great not to have powers anymore. In some ways it was kind of like Paul didn’t have powers because of his rainbow secretions. It was an involuntary bodily function power so Paul had no control over his rainbow secretions. But having the iron spike power he had now was awesome.

The Hammel Institute had many students. Paul had walked through the hallways with the other students many times. The faces of the students were familiar but he didn’t really know who they were as people. Salem’s face was familiar from the two passing each other in the hallways. “There’s a lot of people at Hammel.”