Power Swap: Wingless and Witless {Open}

[Gryphon Matsuoka]

Voices. Voices everywhere. It had taken Gryphon a while to realise--- well no, it didn't. It took a while for him to confirm what was going on here, it took him less than a minute to realise something was amiss. The freakout caused by a lack of wings was one thing, and then the headache that followed with the steady trickle of overlapping thoughts as everyone (including his opinionated boyfriend) woke up. He couldn't manage. He didn't want to hear all the stuff he was hearing. Apparently someone in his apartment building was cheating on someone else, another person had forgotten to top up their medication and was panicking about that and someone.... yeah, he really didn't want to know about that one but alas, it was too little, too late. So what was the logical thing to do?

Hide, obviously.

Gryphon had taken buses (wearing earplugs - it hardly helped the head voices, but it helped... somewhat) and arrived up at the overlook of the town. It was mostly deserted, considering the time it was, which Gryph was very happy about. He let out a laugh of relief before flopping into the dewy morning grass and relaxing with a sigh. No one. Thank God. Maybe he should have mentioned where he was going to Kodi, but that would mean he'd follow. Maybe. He wasn't sure, and Gryphon had been in too much of a rush to let him know. Woops. All the same, the distressed and mentally exhausted man dragged himself closer to the edge of the overlook to take in the view and try to blank his mind of... everything.

[Deleted]

Oriel tilted his head, considering the mysterious appearance of a couple of feathery things upon the back of his lovely lover. “Congratulations, little duckling. You’ve managed to turn yourself into a beautiful swan.” Oriel offered a less than enthusiastic golf clap to celebrate the occasion. Oriel hadn’t been able to understand a word of his fiancee’s since the morning began(which wasn’t too long ago, at least not for him), only exacerbating his confusion.

He raised his phone and snapped a picture of Phoenix’s back. Oriel fiddled with the phone for a moment, then pressed the send button.

Hey Butterball. I think I found something you lost.

Below the text was the picture he’d just snapped.

[Gryphon Matsuoka]

Gryphon sighed with somewhat content. The view... it was as normal as always. Maybe that helped, maybe it didn't. Maybe if the apocalypse was occurring, Gryph would feel more at home with this horrific nightmare, but... no, nope, it was bright, if a little brisk, and otherwise normal as well. There was nothing wrong with this day.

God, the normality made his head throb harder. His phone beeping hardly helped but it caught his attention; he slipped out his phone - Oriel? What now? He hoped to the heavens it wasn't anything bad. Gryphon unlocked his phone and sat in shock, touching the screen as if he could reach through to his wings. Oriel was all too accurate - what the hell? And yes, of course he could tell that they were his own wings, he knew what they looked like. It took a while for the shock to wash away, but when if did, Gryph began typing, shaking his head;

Please tell me this is a prank. I want my wings back :c Did you do this?

He studied the words for a few moments before hitting send and lying back into the fresh grass. Screw today. Time to try and wake up - this had to be a dumb, realistic dream.

[Deleted]

Oriel received a reply about as quickly as he expected. That is, if Gryph was anywhere near his phone when he got Oriel’s message. He ruffled Phoenix’s hair, hoping to comfort the former pixie. He’d always be Oriel’s Squishy, at least. <3

He looked at the message and snorted a laugh. Really? Gryph thought Oriel was responsible? He shook his head.

Yes, cuz I sudenly gained the abilety to change meta powrs. r u stupid?

That was a stretch even for Gryph to come up with. Why was it always immediately Oriel’s fault whenever shit happened? Also, Oriel had some strange deja vu feeling, like something similar had happened before, but he couldn’t quite place what it was. (hint: it was the body swap)

[Gryphon Matsuoka]

The reply made Gryphon sigh in exasperation. That wasn't helpful whatsoever. His back itched from the loss of his beloved feathers;

Shut up, I don't know what to think. Just imagine you woke up without your arms and you might understand. At least he still has wings... is he okay? He didn't look happy.

In the picture. Phen actually looked a little flustered, maybe upset, which he could clearly understand. Gryph had enough to deal with on his end anyway. He thought for a couple minutes before typing another message;

What about you? You haven't woken up part-bird as well, right?

Gryphon would truly hate that.

[Deleted]

Based on what made sense, how was it Oriel’s fault that this happened?

….scratch that, it happened and that didn’t make sense regardless, so maybe it wasn’t a stretch to assume Oriel had something to do with it. Oriel just didn’t like being the ‘go-to’ guy for whenever something weird happened. “He thinks I did this,” Oriel told Phoenix, pointing at his phone.

Phoenix just cooed sadly.

he can’t talk. guess he stoll the birdtalk thing too?”

That was the only reason why Oriel figured they were Gryphon’s wings rather than someone else’s. Oriel recognized that nonsense talk anywhere…..not that he’d heard a lot of it. He looked himself over, wondering if maybe he’s sprouted a bunny tail without realizing it. Nope.

nope. I have all my tos and figners intackt.

Oriel had yet to notice his absolute lack of meta power. He rarely used it, after all.

[Gryphon Matsuoka]

This situation didn't make sense at all! What else was Gryphon supposed to do, other than assume possibilities? He wasn't an academic person, he couldn't think up the realistic explanations - that was Kodi's job.

He wondered how Phoenix felt. Gryphon's wings were a lot bigger and a lot more cumbersome than his dainty butterfly wings, he probably wasn't used to the weight. What if he was able to speak bird as well...? Well, his question was answered. He raised an eyebrow, before frowning. He could be sympathetic, now that he could think straight, somewhat.

I suppose so. Tell him to calm down, sit down, it should wear off eventually.

Hopefully, for his sake. He knew how getting stuck in bird speak was frustrating and upsetting, it was probably tenfold so for someone like Phen, who had never experience it before. Poor guy.

Sounds good, I think. What about your power? I think I'm being possessed by Sean or something rn, I keep hearing voices everywhere.

He sent that, pausing a moment before writing again,

Don't call me a loonybat.

He probably still would. Darn Oriel.

[Deleted]

Eventually. Right. That was reassuring. That could be a minute from now, an hour, or a frigging week if not forever. Still, he told Phoenix, who seemed about as a mouse about to be thrown into a pit of cats. Nope. Oriel wrapped an arm around the boy, hoping to offer more reassurance with some physical contact, at least. He continued to text with his arms wrapped around Phoenix’s neck as he knelt on the bed behind him.

your advise is useless

At the next text though, Oriel quirked an eyebrow, having never considered that there might be something awry with his own power. He gave a simple touch to the tattoo on his wrist - he would have noticed eventually, as it’d become habit for him to check that it was still there every so often, as if it would fall off if he wasn’t careful. The result was….nope. Nothing. Couldn’t feel it. It was there…it just wasn’t….tangible. That sent a small jolt of panic into his heart.

seems i got a power outage. also your a turkey not a bat

Jokes were what was going to keep him calm in this situation. Sorry Gryph, it’ll be at your expense.

watever they tell you bout me is a lie. dont go into the lite. bring me cookees