The Dreamwalker

The day Steve Rogers arrived in the Nexus he was wearing a suit, and by God he's wearing it again today. After all, this is an incredibly important moment for Harrowheart, the man currently borrowing his body. It's his first visit to Earth aside from the incredibly vivid-feeling dream of Brooklyn he'd visited with Steve the night prior. But this is different! This is real, actual Earth! He'll be meeting a family of Earth mages! And, moreover... Isidor.

But Light! First he has to get over this apartment! He thought the last one was fancy. This is extravagant, and so well-designed. Part of him is terrified of eventually seeing the family manor. He can't think about that right now. No, there are other things to busy himself with. Like window gazing! If there are any immediately obvious he's running right to them. If there aren't, he's on the hunt.

"Whatever you want!" he shouts back as he goes.

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Steve has let Viatorus pick his clothes for him, and that almost certainly means being dressed in restrictive clothes that are much finer than anything he's ever known. He did his best to brush his hair properly before they left but now that they're here Steve feels mostly relief.

Knowing they're going to be swapped back soon is more than a little comforting. The apartment...if something the size of a modest house could be called such...is certainly nice but Steve's attention is more on Viatorus. He's doing his best to emulate the posture the other is keeping in Harrow's body. He wants to cause as little trouble as possible, and if that means not shaming his family over a commoner in his body, then Steve will do his best to at least look like he's trying not to drag Viatorus' name and body through the mud.

He is curious as to what London looks like...but he's certain they'll see plenty outside.

"I'm not hungry, at the moment." Steve assures Viatorus with a small smile. "Mostly just nervous. Meaning no offense, but I'm ready to be back in my own body again."

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There's a balcony for Harrowheart to go out and admire Belgravia and all the beautiful architecture that it holds. Except that it's a somewhat grey day to be admiring the scenery. Maybe he can enjoy looking at all the cars and people walking by, phones in hand. The excited figure nearly makes Viatorus dizzy to keep track of, so he smiles gently at Steve instead.

"I think we'd all be glad to be back in our own bodies." And, honestly, he's more than a little nervous too. Telling Isidor about all of this isn't something he's looking forward to. "So, I think we'll talk to Isidor, PINpoint to the manor, and get busy looking through the notes there. Isidor can call in a specialist while we search for answers. That's... That's a plan, isn't it?"

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Harrow absolutely invites himself to step out onto the balcony. These two Earthians can scheme of bodyswaps and magic inside. Outside there's so much to be taken in! Clean, white and brown buildings with grey and blue roofs. Trees, some of which he's sure he recognizes. Solid roads of a single black stone, and driving on them strange cars that are twice as tall and twice as long and twice as red as he's ever seen. People dressed in jeans and coats, mounted men in bright yellow parkas. There are metal lamp posts with electric bulbs and gold-tipped iron gates. He gasps at the sight of a bicycle. What a strange and wonderful invention! It really is another planet. Another world. In some ways so much like Stormwind, in others entirely foreign.

A revelation dawns on him. "Everyone is human," he whispers to himself. And it's true. Humans everywhere. Only humans. Brown and black and white, but only human. Humans who shaped this entire world, from the perfect topiaries to the roaring automobiles. Now and then the sounding of a car horn or an emergency vehicle causes him to jump, but each time he laughs it off.

He rubs at his eyes before he chances looking back to the others. Hopefully they aren't close enough to see the emotion on his face. When he feels he's looking a little more presentable he returns inside from the balcony and joins the others.

"Steve," he asks, clearing his throat. "How good are you at puttin' on a Viatorus accent? 'Cause you gotta sound the part too y'know."

Edited (Didn't leave you much to tag in on oops) Date: 4 February 2016 05:24 pm (UTC)

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"I uh..." Steve looks between Viatorus and Harrow, suddenly very nervous. His palms go sweaty and he must lose about five shades of color at the realization that he hasn't been talking like Viatorus at all. "I've only met Isidor the one time, I..."

Internally he is screaming.

"G-good morning sister? How are you today?" It is the worst (best) attempt at a Brooklynite doing a British accent in the history of forever.

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Viatorus cringes before he can help himself. Trying to become more like him isn't something he'd put anyone through, not even trying to imitate his voice. He tries to hide his reaction, instead frowning as he decides what to say. "You... ah, you... need to speak softer, and the vowel sounds... I think we should tell Isidor what's going on, and she can help you learn if you need to. Maybe you won't have to talk to anyone else at all."

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Harrow smears his hand across his mouth to keep from laughing. That attempt was terrible, but there's no way he could do any better himself. People in glass houses, and all...

He quickly changes the subject. "Speakin' of Isidor... Does she already know we're switched up? She ain't gonna come in here and hug Steve and slap you for bein' an undead jerk, right?"

But then he thinks to ask something. He squints at Steve, eyes him up and down. Right, he's Viatorus. Eyeing people to discern things about them doesn't work so well when nobody's in the right form. "Steve, you got any brothers or sisters? Maybe you oughta play this up and see what it's like to have one?"

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Steve goes from an ashen white to a fully flushed blush of embarrassment in less than a second. His shoulders hike up and he drops his gaze to the floor, to the door...really anywhere but the two of them.

"I could just pretend you were made mute." Steve sighs and buries his face in his hands. "This is never going to work..." But hopefully he can get by with just polite nodding and soft murmurs of 'ehllo' and the like. Why didn't he think of this sooner?

"Only child." Steve replies with the shake of his head. "And I rather doubt Viatorus would want me to try fooling Isidor for my own curiosity."

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He hadn't thought of it like that. The notion that Isidor would react badly to him because of this body completely slipped his mind. A little guiltily he answers, "Well... Not yet... But when she arrives I'm going to tell her."

"I'm not sure any of us could fool Isidor." It's offered as some sort of vague consolation. Even if Steve had to write, Viatorus suspects that the words and sentence structures would have key differences between how the two of them write.

The conversation of what to do is rendered somewhat moot by a knock on the door. There's no way they could figure out how to convince anyone of anything between now and the time it takes to invite someone in. With a hesitant glance to his friends, Viatorus takes a moment before going to the door and opening it. The mildly troubled face on the other side turns into a deathly cold stare. It's not an expression he's used to seeing from his sister, and certainly never directed at him.

"What are you doing here?" The question is one that suggests he should explain what's going on. Fast.

Suddenly back to his jittery self, he steps aside and welcomes her in. "Please, come inside. We need to talk to you. It's urgent."

The voice is wrong. The demeanour is wrong. The request for help is unexpected. Still, Isidor eyes 'Harrowheart' suspiciously as she moves past him, only taking her eyes off of him when she spots 'Viatorus'. Quickly, she strides to moves over to her brother. "Viatorus, what's going on?"

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Well there's an enlightening experience. Watching in third person as the lady you'd like to get to know gives your body a killer stare. If he were looking in her eyes when she gave him that look he might have tried to defend himself, but as he watches from Steve's body he only feels... sweaty.

He stands at the perimeter of the group, stark still and totally, absolutely dead-ass quiet while he watches Isidor stride toward Steve thinking he's her brother. It's only a matter of time until she finds out who he is, and then...

All pretenses of the confidence Jim suggested he have are slowly deteriorating. Oh well. The best laid plans of mice and men-children.

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Steve's eyes go wide when Isidor locks gaze with him. He doesn't know what to do. What to say. His mouth has gone dry.

No. He knows what to say. There's a way to diffuse all of this very quickly. He clears his throat and smiles. It's not Viatorus' smile.

"Steve Rogers, actually." Not a hint of a British accent to be found. "Viatorus was the one who answered the door, and our friend Harrowheart is over there in my best suit from 1941, so don't hold it against him for it being out of fashion." He takes a step back and puts his hands on his hips. "We've had a very long twenty four hours, so rather than being upset and glaring daggers at your brother, would you be willing to hear us out? We did want your help."

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That's certainly one way to get her to stop and look around. It's only then that she spots 'Steve', who is... Harrowheart? This small piece of an explanation clearly disturbs her, and though something is clearly wrong, she's still confused about what she's being told here. She doesn't back down, but she does look around at the three of them as Viatorus steps back into the room, staying a safe distance away.

"What do you mean?" She speaks slowly, warily, trying to figure this out, uncertain of what she's dealing with here. "What's going on?"

"We were in the Nexus, and... something happened, and... we've swapped bodies," Viatorus explains nervously. "Steve is in my body, and Harrowheart is in Steve's body, a-and I'm in Harrowheart's body."

Isidor just... stares, mouth slightly agape in disbelief as she slowly processes this.

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Steve just said it. Harrowheart is partly in shock that he was so forthcoming with it all. But then again, Steve is wise, and brave, and he is the leader. It's his job to clear these sorts of things up. Once again he is the glue that holds this team together.

Then Isidor's eyes sweep over him and he feels a rush of fear and excitement. The fear is mostly for Steve's body: He wouldn't want her to resort to any of those powerful and violent magical maneuvers Viatorus said she's capable of in order to get an unwelcome invader out of her midst.

The best he can do is wiggle his fingers in the most non-threatening greeting he can muster.

"Heh, hey Isidor," he says with a quiet and anxious laugh. "Didn't expect to be seein' you again, uh, so soon..."

Take note, Steve. This is how you snare the ladies.

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Well, Viatorus had said he'd planned on telling her anyway. Steve doesn't see any reason to delay her time in helping them think of a way out of this. And he saw that grimace and laugh, you two. No way is he going to knowingly make a fool of himself trying to fool Isidor when he knows it would not only not work, but also probably backfire spectacularly.

"Viatorus is telling the truth. We sorta hoped it would wear off by the morning. Since it hasn't, we're trying to find a way to correct the...whatever magic caused this." Steve gives a vague gesture and a shrug because yeah, he still doens't get magic.

"You should know however that Lyall has been here the entire time and can corroborate our explanations. Not to mention the three of us have been as safe as we possibly can be since this has happened, so no harm has come to your brother or his body." He remembers how protective she was last time they met.

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Harrowheart's greeting gets a strange look, because it does make her wonder momentarily if Viatorus isn't in Steve's body, since that's the one acting the most anxiously. But they all seem so certain of what they're saying. They're even willing to have her check with Lyall. They also clearly know what her priorities are going to be.

Hesitantly, Isidor looks at Viatorus. She needs to check that it's him. Really him, and not some imposter. "Your token...?"

"Steve has it. It's in his jacket pocket," Viatorus answers instantly, though he quickly raises a hand that curls back as soon as it's got her attention. "D-Don't use it. I don't think it will end well."

That seems to be an acceptable answer, because she takes a deep breath and looks at each of them in turn. "So... You're Viatorus... And you're Steve... And you're Harrowheart..." It looks like this is finally sinking in now, and she's making sure to remain calm and think this through. "Oh gods... Okay... What... What did this to you? Do you have any clue what might reverse it?"

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She's not going to attack. Maybe he was right. Steve's small, baby bird body is disarming to women. Or maybe not everyone takes someone else's moment of weakness as an opportunity to kill them? Interesting notion. He pushes it aside.

"Doctor Hill," Harrow blurts out. If Steve's going to be helpful by spilling beans then so is he. "He's some kinda super-powerful psychic caster. Like a shadow priest, y'know? He changed up our minds, but not our souls I don't think. He said we could all get right by bein' empathetic, but –" He scoffs smugly and runs a hand through his hair. "I think we been plenty empathetic and we ain't turned back to ourselves yet. So we figured you with your... considerable power and knowledge? Might know how to change us back."

How can you say that and not sound like you're mocking the woman?

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"The only clue we were given is 'empathy'. To walk a mile in another's shoes. Quite literally, apparently." Steve shakes his head and shrugs again. "I know plenty of stuff about lots of subjects, unfortunately when it comes to magic, curses, or whatever's been done to us I don't know anything about it."

"Harrow's right. We tried doing things our way. Now it's time to confess we need a helping hand to put us to rights." Steve sounds so sure of himself when he says it. Then again, Isidor is the best chance they've got at getting this fixed, so being anything less than confident isn't going to do them much good.

This time he gives Viatorus a glance then looks back to Isidor.

"I have it on pretty good authority however, that I can't really accurately talk like your brother does. So if it involves going back to your home, perhaps a little white lie that I've been rendered mute wouldn't hurt matters if we're keeping this under wraps."

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The compliments-that-may-or-may-not-be-compliments, get a frown from Isidor, but she remains focused on the matter at hand. She can't afford to smartmouth people when her brother is in trouble like this.

"Doctor Hill?" She looks at Harrowheart's body, taking a second to swallow down the discomfort that comes with seeing her brother in that body. "Isn't that the man you consulted with?"

"Yes, but... He's perfectly nice, really. I... I think he's just..." Viatorus hums thoughtfully before settling on, "He needs to learn better methods of teaching his point."

"Right..." She holds her hands out in a placating gesture. "Let's think. Bodyswapping means we need information of out of body experiences, possession, projection, and meditative states... Which we'll find plenty of in the Archon's manor. We should start there, and... I'll contact the Necromancer. He might be able to come and help us. But..." She meets her brother's now blue gaze again. "Did you forget about tonight?"

"Tonight?"

"The dinner you're meant to be at? With the Archon and his guests?"

Viatorus' expression drops and he feels a sense of dread wash over him. "Oh gods..."

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"Dinner!" Rather than understand the deep implications or feel the sense of squashing doom that Viatorus does, Harrow smiles! "Great, 'cause I'm gettin' kinda hungry. I forgot how high-maintenance it is to be alive. There's gonna be Earth food there, right? I really wanna try some! Y'all ever had pizza? I'd like to taste it while I got this body."

Then, casual as can be, he turns to Steve and says, "Except, wait. I don't think you oughta pretend to be cursed silent. What happens if you accidentally speak? Or what if you need to speak? I think we oughta get more creative with this and say you got cursed to have a Brooklyn accent. We'll say you ran into an American wizard that wanted to make everything American. That way you can talk if you gotta, right?"

Hey, nobody ever said he was the ideas guy.

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The look Viatorus gets is making Steve nervous. Mostly because he's the one in V's body right now, so anything Viatorus is supposed to be doing is going to fall on his shoulders now. They're really going to be relying on his acting skills after all now?

Steve's not sure he can do this. He swallows hard and sucks in a deep breath. Then another.

"I don't think keeping silent is going to be hard, Harrow." Steve finally manages, biting at his lip. "I'll be too busy trying not to throw up from nerves."

Edited Date: 8 February 2016 06:12 pm (UTC)

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"L-L-Let's focus on trying to get into the right bodies," Viatorus suggests eagerly along with some placating hand gestures.

That's not really a very forward thinking solution, but Isidor sighs and nods, hands resting on her hips. "Fine. We'll go to the manor. You and I can start looking for solutions." Her eyes slide over to look at Steve and Harrowheart. "Those two can get something to eat. Both those bodies need it anyway." And then her attention turns back to Viatorus. "But if we can't find anything in the next couple of hours, we need to work on a plan for dinner. You, or... Your body, anyway, needs to be there."

"But Harrowheart needs to stay around Steve in case he has an asthma attack... and I need to stay around Harrowheart in case..." It's only then that he realises that mentioning the whole worgen thing might be a bad idea. Swallowing hard, he looks over at Harrowheart and tries a different point. "In case he needs direction on how to act around the rest of the family."

"This is getting more complicated by the minute," Isidor mutters with another sigh. "Let's just keep it simple for now. Food for you two, study for us. Everyone agreed?"

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Harrow nods once. He's totally serious and ready to commit. He even makes a little fist of solidarity. "Right. And if anyone asks why there's a little livin' dude or a big dead one hangin' around, we'll just say we're Viatorus's guests. Maybe here to help with the muteness spell? I'll... I'll be a visitin' mage, and V, since he's in my body, can be my undead minion. Mostly I'll try not to talk to much or say anything that makes me sound like a peasant."

It's a half-baked plan, but he's already looking more confident.

"So let's get our asses to manor, read, get our grub on, solve this shit. 'Cause as much as I love ya, Steve, and as much as you're my bro now, V, I wanna be back in my old body."

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"You and me both." Steve says in shaky, shallow breaths. Viatorus' body has to be at some big family get together tonight. Do not want. Do not want. He's not sure if Viatorus is just unnaturally nervous about everything that's making Steve more on edge, or what. But the idea of dining with rich magi family is enough to make him sweat profusely.

Steve worries at the end of his sleeves while shifting from foot to foot.

"Is...is there anything I can do help? I mean, after food and the like?" Isidor and Viatorus are getting glances. So is Harrow. Why is he so calm about this? Well, obviously, he isn't going to accidentally wreck Viatorus'entire image or upset his family if he moves a tow out of line.

Edited Date: 8 February 2016 10:32 pm (UTC)

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"You can help us look for a solution. There are plenty of files to look through." Isidor is happy to suggest ways to put help to good use, even though Viatorus is frowning hard at the idea. She looks to Harrowheart, looking him up and down thoughtfully in a considerably less suspicious way than she has done previous times. Perhaps being in a human body really is in his favour. "You'd better not. If you have to deal with asthma you don't want to be sifting through dusty old books and papers. And let's not lie to people about a silencing spell if we can help it. Lying about magic is not something you want to do in a house of lineaged mages."

While Isidor talks, Viatorus roots out his PINpoint again and finds the right co-ordinates. "Maybe we'll... we'll work it all out before... before anyone notices anything. Or has to do anything."

She looks around at Steve and Harrowheart again. "Any other questions, or are you ready?"

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