Power Swap - The Faerie King {open}

[Tim Lyne]

"Please, would someone help me?" called the faerie king standing in the middle of downtown Pilot Ridge. Said faerie king had apparently gotten his idea of how faerie kings dressed from doing a Google search: he wore something loosely resembling a loincloth made out of what looked like green cloth, an impressive looking pendant that hung on his bare chest, and a cheap totally badass crown made in a vaguely elfish looking design. He also happened to have faerie wings sticking out of his back, and he fluttered them every so often, just to prove that he could, mostly. There also happened to be a smattering of dust that fell with each flap.

It probably helped that the guy prancing about downtown didn't look half bad either. He didn't exactly look like your traditional faerie king, but right about now, Tim was willing to accept that. He'd woken up and discovered that the humming sensation he'd come to accept as being other metas living within a mile radius of him had vanished. Figuring that either God or Hammel was screwing with him, Tim had proceeded to the mirror for his daily routine. That was when he saw the wings.

After a short time of freaking out and a few phone calls to various friends (and one calling in sick), Tim had decided that he might as well turn this to his good fortune. Which meant fashioning something loosely resembling a faerie king costume, slapping some glitter on, and hitting downtown Pilot Ridge with a very clear goal in mind: convincing some hot young thing that he'd just strolled out of faerie land to fulfill his her fantasies.

There also happened to be the little sub-goal of not getting arrested.

"Excuse me!" yelled Tim, waving at the closest humanoid that looked female. "I require assistance and aid! Hopefully in the form of a maiden fair!"

Hopefully of legal, consenting age, because something told Tim that faeries likely weren't treated well in jail.

[Elaine Tonaya]

Elaine hadn't noticed anything strange when she woke up this morning. She lived alone, and her power only showed when she was around others--she never noticed her own scent. In fact, the thing that first made her aware that something had changed was when she was in the middle of cooking breakfast for herself and wished she had an extra arm to pour the coffee while she was still cooking the oatmeal. And lo and behold...the coffee had poured itself.

So stunned was she by this turn of events that she could only stare at the pot as she stood in the kitchen. The oatmeal burned and she had to throw it out, but that was a minor detail. She spent a few more minutes wondering what had actually happened, but since it wasn't causing any major problems she decided that it would be smarter to just go to work and hope that everything would work itself out.

She'd parked the car and was heading in to open up her shop when she heard someone call out. She glanced around and saw a man dressed in a fairy costume, complete with wings. Her eyes went wide and she stared at him. But she was the only person around right now, so she figured he must be talking to her.

"I'm sorry, do you need assistance?" Elaine asked, walking up to him. "I don't--" And that's when she noticed it. She couldn't smell him. At all. He just kind of smelled like, glitter...and man sweat.

"Oh my god," she said, slapping her hand over her mouth. "Oh my god, oh no, what's wrong, what has happened to me?!" She started to sniff the air around her, nose in the air, running around frantically. Finally she sat down on the edge of the sidewalk and put her head in her hands.

"What is going on? Where's my...I just..." She'd gone for so long with her power that it had become a part of herself...and now it was gone. And she was terrified.

Looking up at the man, she said, "I'm so sorry. I wish I could help you, but I just...I can't right now." And she sniffed and wiped the tears off her face.

[Tim Lyne]

"Wow, you look like a mom," said Tim, not quite able to keep control of his tongue. Seriously though, there was just a mommish vibe to the woman. Either that or Tim was completely losing it, which, given the whole brand new power thing and faerie garb, might be closer to the truth than he'd care to admit.

So his ploy hadn't pulled someone hot to him. In fact, it seemed like something was bothering her, extremely bothering her. Tim shifted uncomfortably, looked around for a second, sincerely hoping that someone else came along to help out. Anyone? Just the guy with the faerie wings who happened to leak dust? Awesome.

"Look, lady, I'm not," Tim began. Sighing, he walked over to stand beside the woman, almost protectively. He shifted again, once more looking up and down the street, practically begging someone else to show up about now. He'd settle for just about anybody, really. Cop? Nope, just Tim and the crying woman who really didn't count as being his type.

"Oh hell, look, Miss... Missus," said Tim. He bent over. "I'm fine, really. Did you need help with something?" Please say she had a hot daughter. Or that someone else was heading this way. Preferably a hot girl. Wasn't there supposed to be an attractive cop or something?

Tim sighed, shifting and running his hand over his head. What would he do if she were younger? Well, flirt, probably, and attempt to say something humorous to get her mind off her troubles. Or buy her a drink. So he supposed he could try something like that now.

Tim coughed into a fist. "Ahem, the faerie queen does not appreciate any female so fair weeping such in the street. Though I am clearly very confused," no shit, Tim, "I believe in helping a lady. Now, the king commands you to smile and tell him what's bothering you."

Okay, that sort of worked.

[Elaine Tonaya]

Elaine missed the "mom" comment because she was too worried about everything that was going on, though had she caught it she probably would've thanked the man for the compliment. She'd worked hard to cultivate her mom-power.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" Elaine asked, looking up from the sidewalk as he came to stand next to her. "Oh. Yes, I...I think I'm fine...but...I don't know what's happened to me. I used to be able to smell things, I knew things, but now I don't. And I don't know what happened." She sniffed again, partially because her nose was running and partially to see if her sense of smell had returned.

The poor boy seemed so confused. And as Elaine watched him through slightly bleary eyes, she could only smile at some of his antics. "Well now you're confusing me. Are you the Fairy Queen, or are you a king?" But she was smiling, just a bit. "The problem here is that I used to have a special ability, but it's gone. And this morning I was trying to pour coffee, but I burned the oatmeal because the coffee pot started floating."

Elaine could never think about herself for too long, though. "But I am sure I will be fine. Are you all right? You were asking for help. And it looks like..." she looked at the wings, which she was slowly becoming more and more sure were actually attached, "it looks like you could use some help. Would you like to come to my shop, and we can have some cookies and discuss things?"

[Tim Lyne]

Used to smell things. Can't now. See: this was exactly why Tim didn't like actually paying attention to people. Because now he had a sneaking suspicion. Little weird that he used to have this buzzing noise, but now boasted wings in the same period of time as someone who "used to smell things" but now didn't.

"I'm not a queen!" protested Tim. He waved at his body, more specifically his distinctly non-boobed chest and what he felt was quite noticeable difference in the general area between his legs. He nearly protested over her second bit, wherein she explained how she used to have an ability, but now made things float or something.

Another sigh, and Tim extended a hand for Elaine. I'm actually faking it for attention, and you look like you really need help went through Tim's brain, but he wound up shifting instead. He really couldn't help but feel like he shouldn't be feeling guilty for this. After all, he hadn't been the one to do the whole swapping powers thing. He'd just been the one who thought "hey, the buzzing thing that sucked most of the joy from my life is gone now. I'm gonna dress like a dork to celebrate (and get chicks)!"

Still, there was something about a crying woman.

"I can't say no to cookies," said Tim. "Especially not from a lady so fair. Besides," Tim shifted and sighed, "I'm pretty sure I might be able to give you more info."

Dammit, why couldn't he just keep pretending to be a faerie king a while longer?

[Elaine Tonaya]

"All right, the fairy king," Elaine said with a small smile, which was all she could manage right now. She was just so lost...and focusing on someone else, she thought, would help her to regain her sense of who she was.

She took his hand gratefully and let him help her up. And he seemed to be calming down himself, so that was probably a good thing.

"Good, then everything is settled. We'll go get some delicious peanut butter and chocolate chip cookies, and then we'll try to work out what is going on." She smiled at the man with the wings and began walking back toward the door of her shop.

"I appreciate the compliment, by the way. But in the future, you can just call me Elaine." She unlocked the door and pushed it open, then went immediately to get a few stools to set up by the counter.

"Would you like milk? I still have some in the fridge here," she said, calling out from the back room that she'd wandered off to. "And really, you're going to have to explain what you were doing out in the street there. You might've gotten hurt."

[Tim Lyne]

A nod, a helping hand, and the faerie queen and the super mom were standing in the street. Tim could tell a few people were still looking at him, which generally caused him to sigh and roll his eyes. At least his costume had worked. He might have even turned and winked at a few of the more attractive females, but, really, he knew that his ploy was done, at least for the moment.

Peanut butter chocolate chip cookies and a floral shop. Tim had to dodge around some stuff, making sure not to rub his glittery self on anything, not to mention keeping the wings out of the way. The shop looked vaguely familiar, and Tim had to admit that there was a better than average chance that he'd wandered in here to buy flowers to impress a girl before. Either that, or it just reminded him of a place like that. Things had a bad tendency to blur for Tim. Nasty side effect of the drugs and heavy drinking.

Tim strolled up to the counter, taking the stool and perching. Now that he wasn't strutting, he was beginning to realize how chilly his outfit was, though he tried to cover the slight shiver.

"Milk sounds awesome," said Tim, not quite even thinking about how this very much felt like being invited in by your best friend's mom for snacks.

"Oh, that? I was trying to get a beautiful woman to invite me home," said Tim. He winked. "Seems like it worked. I even got some of her cookies. So definitely a win for me."

[Elaine Tonaya]

"Oh, you're too sweet," she called out with a smile. He was too young--much closer to Morgan's age, meaning she was old enough to be his mother--for her to take his flirting seriously, but she appreciated the compliment nonetheless. "I really do hope you like the cookies. And I'm sure that you'll be able to go out and frolic again just as soon as we get you sorted out." She carefully ignored the fact that the main reason why he was here was actually help her instead of the other way around.

Elaine returned with the milk and a few cups, then set them down on the table. She caught a slightly repressed shiver from the man.

"You're cold! Oh dear, let me see if I can dig up a blanket for you. Though I don't know what you expected, wearing an outfit like that. Really, it's getting to be too late in the year for something like that." She disappeared into the back again and reappeared with a crotcheted lap blanket. "Here. It's not much, but it should at least keep you a bit warmer. I kept meaning to enlarge it when I got the chance, but you know how it is. Things just keep piling up."

After a moment more she finally seated herself on the other stool, twisting her hands together in her lap. "So, as you might have gathered, things are not normal for me today. And I'm guessing from your parade in the street that the wings are new for you as well. Do you have any idea what might have been going on?"

If somehow her powers had been changed with someone else...did that explain the new telekinesis with the coffee pot? Though Elaine hadn't really done any further experiments with trying to move things with her mind. Now she looked at the tissue box, located on the other side of the counter and out of reach, and tried to get it to come to her. Shockingly, it obeyed.

With a gasp, Elaine stood, knocking over the chair. "Did you see that?" she asked, pointing to the tissue box that had fallen to the floor as soon as she lost concentration. "It moved, and I didn't even touch it!" Glancing over at the man, she looked worried. "It did move, right? I didn't just imagine that?" The glitter might just be getting to her head. Had she always been this woozy in the morning?

[Tim Lyne]

Tim had already started nomming on the cookies, having decided that they smelled, looked, and even felt too good to pass up. They were, possibly, among the best cookies he'd ever experienced. Not that he was ever going to tell his mother that. Actually, he might, Mrs. Lyne was more known for her pies and roast beef anyway.

"What? No I don't--" Tim tried, very much in vain. Because soon he found himself partially covered with a blanket. One that was actually proving quite warm. Tim shifted, trying to adjust to get it into a pleasant position, and mostly because he was as antsy as ever. With each movement, a bit of dust fell about him, nearly surrounding him in the stuff. Realizing this, Tim reached behind, grabbing onto a wing to steady it. Despite not having this power before today, Tim understood it all too well. Came with his job.

Tim nodded. His powers were new. As for the other bit, he ended up shrugging there. The shrug turned into a jerk as Elaine gasped and stood. Tim stared at her, less because she'd just telekinetically moved the tissues, and more because she'd knocked over the chair. Which said far too much about his work situation.

"Yeah, it moved," said Tim, using the voice he used to talk to the students he found for the first time. "That happens with meta powers."

He took another nibble of the cookie, and proceeded talking, around said cookie. "I'm guessing our powers morphed or evolved or something. I used to have this buzzing thing," he waved his hand at his head. "It told me whether another meta was around. I could even point at them," he pointed at Elaine. A shrug, and another bite of cookie. "So, yeah, we woke up with different power. Weird, huh?"

[Elaine Tonaya]

Elaine raised an eyebrow at the man. He was using a demeaning tone of voice with her, and she didn't like it. "It seems to me that you could be a bit more respectful. After all, if it is a new meta power, it could have been that I am having hallucinations. I have no idea what is going on, and I don't think it's necessarily possible for you to assume something based on just that single observation. Things are too strange for us to be able to assume anything." Just because she was confused didn't mean she was going to let herself be walked over.

She bent down and righted the seat, then carefully sat again. She decided for the time being not to attempt anything more with this new power. Especially not when there were more important matters at hand.

"More than weird. I have never heard of anything happening like this. It's not a simple evolution of a power, as my original power was completely different. As was yours, it sounds like. Doesn't it make you wonder what could have made this happen? If there are any other forces at work?" She sighed. "It all feels more like a dream than anything else..."

But moping around wasn't doing anything. Abruptly she stood. "Well, there's no use crying over spilled milk. What's done is done. And now you are a fairy, but it looks like you might need some help adjusting to your new power. Do you have plans for the day, or would you like to stay with me in the shop and we can try to solve this problem together?"

[Tim Lyne]

Bit more respectful? Yeah, she definitely had super mom powers, because for a few seconds there, Tim was actually thinking of muttering an apology. Thankfully it was a fleeting moment. This was a guy who was currently dressed as a mythological figure in the hopes of attracting female attention.

He shrugged, "So it's a group hallucination or something. We're all dreaming that we're butterflies or psychic. Probably something in the water. So knew that was gonna happen."

More milk. More cookies. Tim was almost tempted to see how many of the things he could cram in his mouth at once. Turns out that prancing around as a faerie took a lot out of you. Also turns out that Tim couldn't quite remember when he'd eaten last. Details like that weren't important when you woke up with faerie wings and a lack of the buzzing that had been plaguing you since the puberty faerie smacked you with her wand of blessing.

Another shrug. "I don't care, really. I just know that the buzzing's gone, and that's enough for me. I'm not gonna miss it. Well," he paused, shifting slightly, "might miss it for my job. But I can probably still drag meta kids to school without being able to point them out as quickly."

Another nibble. An offer. Stay here and try to figure things out. Tim was inclined to move along, mostly because there weren't any females of the right age for him here. Sure, Elaine was cool, but she wasn't exactly a milf or anything. There was also probably a code about messing with someone who gave you a blanket and cookies.

"Well, I was thinking about enjoying it, but--" Tim paused, looking around the store, "this is a floral shop. Chicks are going to come in here for flowers. I'm a faerie."

Yes, this was how his brain worked. Scary, isn't it?

"Oh, yeah, I can totally stay and help solve the problem and stuff. Sounds awesome. When do we start?"

[Elaine Tonaya]

Elaine frowned at Tim's newest assumption that it was something in the water. He seemed to take it for granted that there was bound to be something strange going on. She wondered if his assumption was based primarily on the fact that they were near Hammel or if he was suspicious of the world in general.

The poor guy did seem rather hungry, though, and Elaine was starting to wonder if she had anything else she could feed him. Cookies were good, but they would only last so long. Briefly she considered her own packed lunch but decided ultimately that it might be better to just get him some take-out from a real restaurant. She didn't usually eat very much, and he might want a whole pizza to himself. It was something to consider.

"Oh? So you're a recruiter, then? I suppose that makes sense." She thought for a moment to see if she could recall any of the names of other recruiters. She knew James, of course, from Morgan's stories, as well as meeting him a few times. But while she knew many of the teachers it was harder to keep track of all the recruiters, who were frequently traveling around the country. Which meant that she still couldn't identify this man's name. Maybe she could ask Morgan about it later--it seemed a bit rude to ask outright after they'd been talking for this long.

"Well, I suppose we can start now," Elaine said, choosing to tuck away the comment about 'chicks' and 'fairies'. If she suspected that any young women were in danger, she would step in to help. Maybe it was better to keep him under supervision...

"If you would like, you can arrange the display over by the window. Then anyone walking by will be able to see your beautiful wings. I'm just going to be sorting some things out in the back here."

She looked up at one of the boxes on the top shelf, which she ordinarily would have to get a ladder in order to reach. As she focused, though, she watched it rise and settle down to the ground right at her feet. With a smile she opened the box and began to work on putting together flower arrangements for a party later that day.

[Tim Lyne]

"Yep, I find them and bring them in," said Tim. More cookies. "I'm actually pretty good at it."

Mostly because, with the possible exception of flirting hopelessly, finding other metas was about the only thing that Tim was good at, period. Kind of came hand in hand with his usual gift, which loved to make its presence known. But who cared about that anymore? He had wings now! Wings that he got to exploit in a flower shop! It was like Christmas had come early.

Speaking of which: time to start working. Which usually meant "time for Tim to find some excuse not to actually do anything worthwhile." However, this time, he'd apparently forgotten that in his eagerness to look enticing to the lovely ladies who just might be happening by. He practically skipped over to the display.

"Right, I totally got this!" he called. The poor man, not realizing that he'd just been tricked into doing work, started organizing the floral arrangement. He hadn't the faintest idea how you actually did that, so he was mostly moving around plants into different positions, pausing to stare at them, and moving them into yet other positions.

[Sloane Deveraux]

Sloane's craving for pretzels was troubling. Had she not just the other whined about her unattractive flabs? But it was a craving and Sloane didn't believe in depriving herself of anything so with a troubled mind, she trudged up to the mall. It was the only place they sold Auntie Anne's, weirdly enough.

With a piping hot sour cream and onion pretzel in hand, Sloane walked around. If she was going to indulge like this, she should at least attempt at losing a couple of pounds while doing it. She saw the florist that she went to for Mother's Day and a smile appeared at the corner of her lips. She should step in to say thank you since her mother and grandmother had commended her on the arrangement.

Notably, Sloane did not realise there had been a power swap throughout the town since hers was more or less intact. So when she saw a man with...was that pixie wings?, she only saw that he wasn't wearing proper clothes. Or any at all. A loincloth and a blanket was not clothes. The pixie wing she could understand, she'd once seen a body builder that sprouted dragon fly wings so pixie wings on a man who could have very well been...well, a fairy, she wasn't that fixated on that part of the equation.

She wasn't on the clock, unfortunately, so she couldn't actually arrest him for public indecency. And for another, the owner of the flower shop didn't seem to mind. Strange. Today had just been a very strange day.

"Uh hi, I don't know if you remember me," her eyes didn't leave the offensive loincloth guy. "But I bought two Mother's Day arrangement. With two of your assistants?" She finally looked at Elaine with a forced polite smile. "I wanted to send you a thank you card but...you sell them so I figured I would - Is this your son? Or another one of your assistants?" Sloane had to ask, gesturing the fairy prince at the window.

[OOC: I know, a bit crappy. Don't look at me with that tone of voice.]

[Elaine Tonaya]

Elaine looked up as the new person entered the shop.

"Oh, hello again!" she said, brushing invisible dirt off her trousers as she went to greet her customer. "Yes, I remember. Zac and Estelle were with me that day, a Saturday if I'm correct." But for the life of her she couldn't remember the actual name of the woman in front of her, or even if she'd ever known it.

"Sorry?" she asked, distracted from her attempt to remember the woman's name. "Oh, no, not my son." She had to cover a bit of a smile. Her son wouldn't have flirted so egregiously or seen fairy wings as an opportunity to get women. "He's...an assistant for the day, I suppose you could say. We're attempting to discover why our lives have gone haywire all of a sudden."

She was also unsure if this person was a metahuman, or what her opinion was on metahumans, and so it seemed pertinent not to say anything specifically about their specific problem.

"It was kind of you to come in. Was there anything else you needed while you were here?" She remembered that the woman hadn't been particularly fond of baked goods the last time she was here, so while Elaine left the cookies on the counter she didn't draw attention to them.