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Interludes in Suldenessellar - Chapter 2.3


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#1 Guest_VigaHrolf_*

Posted 22 February 2004 - 04:22 PM

Author's Note: The continuation of the tale of Viga and his companions as they take their ease in Suldenessellar.

Disclaimers: The usual occaisional bad joke, some adult situations, nudity

 
Sunlight streamed in through the curtained windows, Nature’s universal way of informing the world that it was time to wake up. With an annoyed grunt, Viga heeded the call. Shooting the window a baleful glance, Viga tossed off the sheets and swung his legs around. The sun had yet to wake Jaheira, who was still comfortably buried in a pile of sheets and pillows.

Smiling a bit enviously at the still slumbering pile, he stood. He regretted it as soon as his feet hit the floor. His vision swam as he tried to retain his balance. Reaching out, he grabbed for the dresser like a drowning man for a lifeline and tried to shake free the fog that had settled over his mind. Ugh. I had only one cup of wine last night. I can’t be hung over. Ugh. By Tempus it feels like it though. Damn.

Once he was surer of his feet, he trudged over to bathroom, shoving the door open. Some water would help clear the senses. Deliberately, he walked over to corner where the sink pedestal and mirror hung. Leaning on the sink for support, he turned the silvered tap and watched the basin fill with cold water. Once the basin filled, he cupped his hands and splashed a big handful on his face.

The bracing water felt good yet somehow strange. His face felt… wrong. Shaking his head, he grabbed another handful of water and splashed himself again. The cold caused his skin to tingle and the fog to start to clear. Another splash followed and he rubbed his hands down his face.

It still felt wrong to him, like it was a mask. Shaking his head to try to clear his still groggy brain, he grabbed a hold of the sink edge again and looked up.

There, in the silvered glass, was an image that could not possibly be right. Viga shook his head again and closed his eyes, thinking Okay, there must have been something strange in that wine. No way that’s right. Must be seeing things.

Convinced it was simply an illusion, he reopened his eyes. And the image was still there, looking back at him in disbelief and shock. Panic gripped his chest as he stared at the mirror. Eyes locked on those of the image before him, he backed away and waved his hands at it, trying to banish it. So absorbed in the image on the mirror, he took one step too far and the back of his knee connected with the stone lip of the bath.

His balance already unsteady, he cried out as he tried to keep his footing, but his bare feet found no purchase on the marble floor. Windmilling his arms, he tumbled backwards, hitting his head on the small shelf of bathing oils before dropping into the tub with a loud but fragrant crash.

The fall dazed him, leaving him lying sprawled and groggy on the bottom of the tub. He stared uncomprehendingly at his legs, which stuck straight up in the air. The fall left him folded up in the tub, his back against the far side of the tub and his butt against the near side. Flailing out in a futile effort to get purchase against the now oil slicked tub, he heard the sounds of movement from the other room.

The door flew open with a shout. “Viga! Are you all right? I heard a crash and a…”

The voice trailed off as the figure burst into the room. Viga stared up through his bare legs at the figure standing at the door. It looked just like him. Or more properly, it looked just like how he should, how he remembered how he looked. Not like what he had just seen in the mirror.

The skyclad, standing Viga looked equally stunned, gawking at the figure in the tub. While Viga managed to lever himself up to a position to see more clearly, the shock faded from the standing figure. He watched ‘his’ body drop into a combat pose, hands in a guard position and eyes narrowed, then heard ‘his’ voice challenging, “By Silvanus, what is going on? Who are you? Speak quickly!”

Still dazed, Viga shouted, “No, its me! It’s me, Viga. I think…” he said, trailing off. His voice didn’t even sound right.

His own voice growled back, “What kind of fool do you think I am? You can’t be Viga, you look like me!”

Blinking from the throbbing pain in his head, he barked, “And you look like me. And sound like me. Just check your face. Look in the mirror.”

While Viga managed to turn himself so his legs, if they were his legs, were no longer sticking straight up, he watched ‘his’ body turn and look in the mirror. ‘His’ body took a step back, hands flying to ‘his’ face. Voice quiet from shock, the standing ‘Viga’ sputtered, “What.. what sorcery is this? I.. I have a beard?! I have.. I have your face.”

Tentatively, Viga struggled to his feet, ‘his’ legs still wobbly and his footing uncertain amongst the pool of fragrant oils. Trying to wipe away some of the extra oil and only managing to spread it more evenly, Viga asked, “I have no idea about what is going on, but is that you, Jaheira?”

‘Viga’ turned around, eyes wide in shock, hands still buried in his braided beard. Nodding, ‘Viga’ replied, voice still shaky, “I… I think so. I mean.. I know I am Jaheira, even if the mirror shows me that I have your, Viga’s, face.”

“That’s not all of me you have. You have my body too.” Flicking away a piece of bottle crock and looking down at the tan, taut body he now seemed to inhabit, he continued, “And, it seems that I have yours.”

Jaheira/Viga replied, “This can’t be real. It feels real, but how can we be in each other’s bodies? It is impossible.”

Viga/Jaheira rubbed ‘his’ face, wishing he had beard to scratch. “Honestly, love, I have no clue. I woke up with a terrible headache, looked in the mirror, and I saw well, I saw you looking back at me.” ‘His’ brows knotted as he pointed to Jaheira’s body, “Or you looking back at me. Or is it you looking back at you?” Viga/Jaheira groaned, “Really this is too much for this early in the morning. It’s bloody confusing. And making my head hurt even more.” He rubbed the back of ‘his’ head where it had hit the shelf.

Jaheira/Viga nodded, slowly regaining her calm. “Perhaps this some illusion, some spell, just cloaking us in the other’s form.”

Viga/Jaheira reached down and pinched a handful of tanned flesh. “Jah, it feels real. It feels just like your hip, not mine.”

He looked up to see Jaheira tugging on ‘her’ beard braids. “Indeed. These feel real as well. Just like your beard usually feels to me. And I can feel it on my face.” Thinking, she cocked ‘his’ head slightly, a normally comforting image for Viga made disturbing seeing it in his own body, “Maybe it’s a complex tactile illusion. Something a powerful illusionist like Jan would come up with. Something we can’t tell just by physical contact.”

Viga/Jaheira scratched ‘his’ temple, fingers trailing through Jaheira’s braids. “Strange spell, but if that’s the case, then we should be able to tell from other things.” Cocking an eyebrow, he asked, “My.. I mean your left knee, does it hitch a little when you flex it?”

Jaheira/Viga lifted ‘her’ left leg, flexing it in a kick. Bending it back, she stared down at the heavily muscled leg. “Yes, under the knee cap. This is from when you fell down the shaft at Nashkel, right? Too busy trying to prank Imoen, if I recall.”

Viga/Jaheira blushed slightly and curled ‘his’ lips ruefully. “Hey, how was I supposed to know that rock was loose?”

“You could have looked.”

“Good point.” Shrugging ‘his’ shoulders, he continued, “But, you felt it? The hitch in the knee?”

Jaheira/Viga nodded. “Yes I did. Do you feel any pain in the left elbow?”

Viga/Jaheira flexed ‘his’ left arm back and forth, trying to find any soreness, but he couldn’t. Cradling the elbow, he said, “No Jah, nothing. Your elbow seems just fine.”

“Interesting, so the spell isn’t adaptive. There isn’t anything wrong with my left elbow, well nothing beyond the wear of adventuring. I just wanted to check.”

“So, somehow, we really are in each other bodies?”

“Viga, it would certainly appear that way. Somehow, our souls got switched.”

Viga/Jaheira cursed, “You know, I’m getting really tired of people messing with my soul. I finally get it back where it belongs, and someone decides to go and bloody move it on me again.”

Jaheira/Viga took a step forward and put a comforting hand on her body’s shoulder. She looked down at Viga/Jaheira, still boggling at the improbability but sounding confident and concerned, “My love, I understand. But no one stole it from you. They just moved it.”

Viga/Jaheira nodded and dropped ‘his’ chin to ‘his’ chest. Quieter this time, he said, “You’re right, I guess.”

Ducking ‘her’ head to look into the green eyes that Viga now hid behind. “I know so. And we’ll get ourselves back in the right bodies. That I swear.” Then smiling and even chuckling a little, she added, “Look on the bright side, if you’re going to get stuck in another body, can you think of a better one to be in than mine?”

Viga/Jaheira looked up and even laughed, “You have a point. I’d hate to wake up and find myself in Boo.” He looked down admiringly at Jaheira’s body and smiled, “Instead, it’s a body I’m intimately familiar with.”

Both of them managed a laugh, but Jaheira’s laugh died sooner, ‘her’ eyes going distant, lost in thought. She mouthed, “The others…” but Viga/Jaheria was not paying attention. He seemed almost meditative, staring down. She turned towards the door, while Viga/Jaheira still stood in the middle of the bathroom, eyes looking down.

Halfway out the door, Jaheira/Viga realized that Viga/Jaheira wasn’t following ‘her’. Turning around, she saw her body cupping her breasts and admiring them. Shaking ‘her’ head and sighing, she turned back. Setting ‘her’ hands on ‘her’ hips, she harrumphed, “Viga?”

Not looking up, he replied in a quiet, enraptured voice, “I have breasts. Wow.”

Jaheira/Viga put ‘her’ hands to ‘her’ face and shook ‘her’ head. Men. So simple. Sighing, she took a step closer and said firmly, “Yes, right now you have breasts, Viga. And right now, I have a penis. But no matter how disturbing, fascinating, or exciting I might find this, we have things we need to take care of.”

The spell broken, Viga/Jaheira looked up but didn’t drop ‘his’ hands. “What do you mean?”

Exasperation crept into ‘her’ voice. “Well, if this happened to us, it might have happened to the others. We need to go check on them, and if it did, try to make sure no accidents happen.”

Viga/Jaheira nodded, “Right. Let’s go.”

Sighing again, Jaheira/Viga said, “You are going to have to let go of them. And be gentle or you’ll be regretting it later.”

Viga/Jaheira looked down again and saw that his hands were still cupping. Sounding apologetic, her replied ruefully, “Oh. Yeah. Right.” Viga/Jaheira dropped ‘his’ hands and tried a charming half smile. ”But they are nice.”

Snorting, Jaheira/Viga tossed a towel at his head. She couldn’t keep all of the amusement out of her voice as she admonished, “I know, love. Now clean up.”

Viga/Jaheira toweled off quickly while Jaheira/Viga disappeared into the other room. He could hear her rummaging in the other room. When he finally got the oil and bits of crockery off, he walked back into the bedroom and saw Jaheira/Viga pulling on a pair of his trousers. There was a small pile of clothes on the bed, which Jaheira/Viga nodded to. Some of the pieces he was not used to putting on, but having taken them off, he figured it them out in short order.

Doing up the laces on the green linen tunic Jaheira/Viga had given to him, he looked over and asked, “Do you think it was just us, or do you think this soul switch happened to everyone?”

Tugging on one of Viga’s boots, Jaheira/Viga cocked ‘her’ head in thought but her reply was drowned out by a scream from the lower floors. It sounded like Keldorn.

Jamming Jaheira’s boots on, ‘he’ jumped up and looked at Jaheira/Viga, who was doing the same thing. Nodding toward the door, he shook ‘his’ head and said, “Well, that answers that question.”

Viga/Jaheira whipped open the door and both of them pounded down the stairs, heading for the source of the scream.




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