The Roof, Thursday Morning

[endsthegame]

It had been another restless night. Whatever peace Ender had managed to garner for himself had evaporated, and the resultant anxiety that settled somewhere in his chest had driven him upwards, up the stairs, to the roof.

He had sat there. He'd been awake when the change had happened, but it had been nothing more than a blink, a shift of his weight, like this had been his body all along. Except it wasn't, and he was painfully aware of it with every movement that brushed bodyparts he hadn't previously had against the inside of his blanket.

He had heard about these changes, so he didn't worry. They'd be gone in the next morning. His mind was busy with other things, and he was missing the steady work of Eros more than ever before.

Maybe he should have brought something home from work last week. Just to study.

[ open roof, guys ]

Comments

[inthereflexes.livejournal.com]

Jack (still Jack, not a Jacqui), padded up the stairs to the roof. He'd been staring at the plants the last time, wondering if anyone watered them. This time, he brought a small bottle of water.

[endsthegame]

Ender was aware of someone else's presence on the roof, but it was someone he didn't recognize. The roof hadn't seemed to hold the same social expectations about acknowledging each other through greeting, and he felt too tired to offer Jack anything other than a quick look, intended mostly to determine exactly where he was.

[inthereflexes.livejournal.com]

Jack gave the other person the guy-nod and went to the garden patch. It was just...peaceful, watering.

When he was done, he sat back on his heels, wondering if it'd be ruder to speek or to stay quiet.

[endsthegame]

Well, Ender wasn't going to make his life easier. He'd already done off Jack as something incidental, his now-female fingers curling into his blanket. He supposed the still-rising sun was beautiful, but making judgements about that wasn't really in his nature.

He really should have brought something. Sitting around only got one so far.

[inthereflexes.livejournal.com]

Jack wasn't really paying attention to the blanketed figure, as now he was paying attention to the garden, sinking his hands into the dirt a bit, getting his fingers a bit muddy as he moved it around, almost playing. If anyone asked, he was weeding. Really.

Well, enough of that. He stood, brushing his hands clean in that almost-loud almost-clapping way. The stairs were all the way over there...it'd be rude if he didn't at least say hello more formally than the nod earlier. "Morning," he said, quietly. Too early in the day to be loud.

[endsthegame]

"Morning." It was an idle statement of a greeting, reflexive more than anything else. He'd enjoyed the silence, and even quiet tones felt like an intrusion. But the school had its own social codes. His mind was wakening from the torpor of the preceding night, and a greeting wasn't that much of an effort.

[inthereflexes.livejournal.com]

Sometimes, Jack knew when not to talk. It wasn't often, but this felt like one. It wasn't up to him to interrupt someone else's morning constitutionals. Not until the sun got bright and everything else was awake.

"Enjoy the day," he said, wondering if he should at least introduce himself. Didn't look familiar. Might just be better heading for the stairs.

[endsthegame]

"Enjoy yours," Ender replied, distractedly. He wasn't sure if he would, but he also wasn't going to fully rebuke any human display of decency.

[vkandis-son.livejournal.com]

After waking up not quite himself with a roommate who was not quite herself , Karal snuck up to the roof, creeping along behind Altra in the hopes he wouldn't see anyone he knew.

So rattled was he by being a girl, it didn't occur to him that anyone who saw him wouldn't know they were looking at Karal. Altra hadn't bothered to point it out, and he made no attempt to hide, even though he was the one incontrovertible bit of evidence that this was, indeed, Karal. For him, the whole day was pure entertainment, and he intended to enjoy every minute of it.

Karal froze when Altra spotted the girl on the roof, the sighed. "Good morning," he called, vaguely disturbed by the delicacy of his voice.

[endsthegame]

That was a little more direct.

Ender's head turned to see who'd just approached, and it didn't take a great deal of crossferencing between the Firecat, his own personal circumstances, and the girl behind the cat to come with an educated guess. "It's a Fandom-wide thing?" he asked, with an intellectual curiosity.

[vkandis-son.livejournal.com]

"I, yes," Karal replied, following as Altra sauntered over to study the girl. "My roommate is a boy, I am a girl, and there is no point trying to pretend I'm not Karal, when I need Altra to find my way." He sighed again. "You do look very familiar, but I know I've never seen you before, so you must be similarly afflicted."

[endsthegame]

"It's Ender," he said. A hint of wryness coloured his tone accordingly. "From what I hear, this only lasts a day. Altra's a lucky cat."

[vkandis-son.livejournal.com]

Karal processed that, then dropped down to sit next to Ender, oddly graceful despite his lack of care, and sighed. Again. He could see both of them from where Altra was sitting. "I could have done without experiencing this, even for only a day," he muttered, pushing his hair back and trying to shove it behind his ear. "Why is Altra lucky?"

[endsthegame]

"He's not in on this," Ender replied, letting his blankets go. It wasn't as cold as it had previously been. "And he gets to watch us deal with it."

[vkandis-son.livejournal.com]

Altra looked extremely smug as he curled his tail around his paws. :I'm a Firecat. None of this affects me.:

"Except for the time you began speaking as if you'd hit your head, and the words appeared in the air above you," Karal pointed out, laughing lightly.

Altra ignored him, and began grooming a paw. "It was quite entertaining," Karal said to Ender. "And I suppose this could be worse. It's certainly easier to deal with than when Evey woke up as a boy."

[inthereflexes.livejournal.com]

Jack remembered that there was a kitty on the roof with that curly-haired guy one morning. Maybe it was the same cat. She must be his roommate, taking the cat for a walk or something. He waved.

[vkandis-son.livejournal.com]

The movement caught Altra's attention, and he turned towards Jack. Karal waved half-heartedly in return, shoving his hair behind his ear from where it immediately escaped.

[inthereflexes.livejournal.com]

Well, at least it wasn't a feline version of Hoshi's mutt, trying to attack him.

"I gotta meet more people," he muttered to himself. "And their pets."

[decoder-rings.livejournal.com]

After waking up a girl (and a hot one at that), Hannibal had spent some time looking at himself in the mirror (shut up) and then headed off to show himself off.

What, he didn't think this would happen again. He had to take advantage.

So, that was why he was on the roof, still getting used to the new center of balance and the boobs (oh, they were nice) and the hair and the...everything.

[endsthegame]

"I didn't think a roof would get this much attention." After three people, Ender had chalked that one up to yet another oddity of the school. "Guess I was wrong."

[decoder-rings.livejournal.com]

"No way am I staying in my room when I look like this," Hannibal said happily. "Might be a once in a lifetime opportunity. Roof's just as good a place to start showing off as any."

[endsthegame]

Ender looked up to take in the new arrival's appearance, but that brought him no clues as to his identity (it was clear he'd been changed for certain, though). The way he spoke was familiar, but not enough to pinpoint anything. "I don't see what's so special about it," he said, "But have fun."

[decoder-rings.livejournal.com]

"Oh, I am," he said and smirked. "And it's early. I'm just getting used to things now. I think I'm having more luck than my poor roommate, at least."

[endsthegame]

"What happened to your roommate?" It sounded like a prompting to ask, and Ender wasn't feeling contradictory right now.

[decoder-rings.livejournal.com]

"Ended up a guy," he said and snickered. "Kinda surprised her as much as it surprised me."