The X-Project

Cyndi takes Marie out to have fun at Silver, and of course they run into/are hit on by Mark. The talk that follows is pretty much what you'd expect when you put Mark and Cyndi in a room together and add in a hot guy who's technically a girl.



"Y'know what sucks about the Dork being a girl? Y'know what really, really sucks?" Cyndi pulled at the collar of the shirt that would theoretically have been stretchable if there'd been anything to stretch over, "We swapped out an entire chromosome and there is no noticeable difference."

Marie glanced over at the girl (who for once was actually a girl) next to him and wondered how he'd let himself get talked into this. "Right, because Haller's body not changing much is the absolute worst possible thing that happened from this little encounter." Holding up his hands, Marie made a face at the gloves on his hands. "They don't make nice gloves for guys. Ah mean, look at these. They're hideous."

"I dunno, they definitely say something. I mean, I think that something's 'butler,' but a statement's a statement." They passed the coatcheck. "Man. I'm glad there was no hassle and all, but I'm a little scared by how okay the bouncer was with 'we're post-op' as an explanation for the totally inconsistent ID."

"Tells you something about the venue," Marie said and then paused. "And makes me wonder how many people come through here with that excuse." A petite blonde chose that moment to wink at Marie, causing him to blush wildly out of control. "Ok, if anyone asks, you're my girlfriend. Because Ah am so not getting hit on."

"It must be nice to have dreams." Cyndi grinned evilly. "Seriously, you-didn't-hear-this-because-it's-not-like-Jimmy-pays-attention-to-this-kind-of-thing, but you're a hot guy, so we got a problem. Me, I say we just work the wiles and kill time with an indirect 'Gay or Straight?' poll of the crowd, but y'know. I'm a pretty bad person."

"No wonder you're only allowed out with a chaperon," Marie muttered. "And Ah'm kinda uncomfortable by that assessment," he said a little louder. "Ah don't wanna be a hot guy. Ah don't wanna be a guy period. 'Course, some of the other folks in my head are pretty happy with the change."

"Glad I ain't the only one of a couple minds about it. There was definitely some choking noises coming from Jemmy's half of the brain, but y'know. Being stuck on the wrong end of the gender-pool, not exactly new. So." Cyndi shrugged and drew out a tube of lip gloss from her pocket and slicked it over her lips simply on the grounds that she could. Not that she'd technically ever couldn't, but now that she was a woman the looks she got were a lot less weirded out. "Might as well get some mileage out of it while we got it. Only drawback is while people more or less gave up on the Dork looking like he didn't dress himself in the dark as a boy apparently everybody and their beard-having mother decided there may still be hope for him as a chick." She popped the tube back in the pocket of her leather pants. She also continued to really, truly not want to know under what circumstances Jean had bought them. "Too bad Garry skipped out on prom. The yearbook fodder we coulda got out of matching tuxes, man."

Marie had been doing her best not to think about the fact that Haller was wearing a snug pair of leather pants, which was harder to do when she followed the motion of Cyndi's arm to tucking the lip gloss into a pocket. "Ah think it's safer that he's not here. He's still learning to deal with the weirdness...seeing his girlfriend as a boy just may break his brain." Walking over to the bar, Marie got some strange looks as her hips swayed. The bartender didn't bat an eye as Marie ordered a girly, fruity rum drink.

Cyndi wasn't normally prone to looks of serious reflection, which was why it was just as well Marie's back was turned. "Meh, yeah . . . there is sometimes that feeling like you're maybe you're just a little too hard on somebody's sanity." The look faded quickly; the alter shook herself and moved up to the bar with Marie. "Whiskey sour. --So you still going to prom? Stag, and also,y'know, a dude?"

"Well, Ah'm still the one organizing it and one of the head chaperones, so yes." Marie cocked his head and glanced at Cyndi out of the corner of his eye. "You wanna go with me? Or are you already goin' with Lorna? Not that there aren't enough of you in there to have more than one date."

Cyndi paused, one finger on her chin. "Sure, you can rent the gay-boyfriend-as-a-girlfriend services for the night. But just so you know, I am so not doing black and slinky. First, not my style, and second, way too many impressionable young minds. Also I cannot be held responsible for anything the Dork'd do in heels."

Oh lord, what have Ah done? "You could just wear flats?" Marie suggested, happily accepting the drink from the bartender and downing most of it in one gulp. "And Ah think avoiding the slinky is good. Ah gotta go rent a tux Ah guess." Marie's face contorted and he ran his hand through his hair, the hand going past where the hair ended out of habit. "Ah guess Ah gotta cancel my hair and nail appointment...unless you want them."

"Um, yeah. Haller's into embracing spontaneity and things you can't change and crap, but the mani-pedi? Too weird." Cyndi accepted her drink with a grin at the bartender and took a swig. "Besides, we so cannot take cosmetic charity with Pietro like, right there. I get that months of being on the run from supervillains cuts down on the nonessentials, but dude. X-Kato won't even unbend enough to change his clothes. I'm about to call Wanda for an intervention."

"Glad to know even y'all have a weirdness quota that can be filled," Marie said wryly. "And by the way, warn me if y'all are gonna try an intervention for Pietro. So Ah can be as far away from it as possible." Finishing the rest of her drink, Marie set it on the bar and then walked a few steps away from it. "Care to dance?" he said solemnly, turning to hold his hand out to Cyndi.

Cyndi downed the rest of her drink in a way that no amount of reality-warping could make delicate and feminine and set the glass squarely back down on the bar. "You are such a temporary gentleman," she said, resting one hand over Marie's glove. "Oh yeah, and sorry in advance about the elbows."

"Ah'm really not sure if that was a compliment or a criticism and Ah don't think Ah want to know," Marie said, leading Cyndi out to the dance floor. Dancing in a male body was not something Marie was used to and at first he tried dancing like he normally did. It didn't take long for him to figure out that he needed to try out some different moves - after eyeing a couple of the other guys on the dance floor, he started trying out some new moves.

"Think one of them's a beard?" Mark asked Larry as the bartender handed him his drink. Mark was leaning against the bar, eyebrow raised at the two newbies on the dance floor. They both carried themselves with the awkwardness of people who didn't get out often. "Question is, which one's the beard and which one's the 'mo? Only one way to find out. Cheers." He raised his glass at Larry, downed the drink, and headed over to the couple.

She had to admit that dancing with a marked shift in her center of gravity and existent hips was a little consuming, but Cyndi was not at all surprised to notice Mark suddenly arms' length away. Despite her talk Cyndi was no expert in these things, but she judged that Marie had taken abrupt manhood well enough that a spontaneous Mark wasn't that big a surprise. Cyndi grinned at the DJ. "Hey," she said, though given the volume of the music it was more for the principle of the thing than an actual greeting.

Marie looked over his shoulder and groaned. He should've known they'd run into someone from the school or Snow Valley - and it would have to be someone he hadn't even met in his own body. He should've just let one of the boys in his head drive until the switch wore off. Of course, that would've involved trusting one of them enough not to do anything stupid, which is why Marie was keeping control if it killed him. Nodding at Mark, Marie turned the rest of his body to face him, one hand going to rest on his hip.

"Wanna dance?" Mark asked both of them. The gangly girl at least seemed like she'd fit in perfectly. The guy might take a little work, but in Mark's already alcohol-befuddled mind, he knew that he was willing to put in the time.

"Sure," Cyndi agreed, seeing no problem with this. Due to the fact she had spent the entirety of her existence clinging to womanhood in spite of every shred of contradictory evidence David's body could provide there was a considerable failure to sync to the potential major identity issues. She waved a hand at the young man standing next to her. "You met Marie yet? You'll be cool. Just, y'know, no touchie."

Mark didn't even bat an eye at that. He'd seen way too much, even before Snow Valley, to be affected by a manly man with a girl's name. "Nice ta meetcha," he said, sliding up close next to him but keeping just far enough away not to be touching. He'd play coy. For now.

You've got to be kidding me. Ah wonder if Garrison would be jealous or disturbed. Probably both. "Pleasure to meet you as well," Marie said cautiously, painfully aware that Mark was flirting with him and taking a step back that he somehow managed to make look like a dance move.

Mark followed in kind, but kept far enough away that it could look like the three of them were dancing in a group. The way this guy was moving, Mark figured that the girl was his beard. It made sense, really, since she was kind of boyish and looked like the kind to help a closeted guy stay in Narnia.

Cyndi managed to maintain the delicate balance between dancing and sulking, minorly irked that her friend was more interested in flirting with Marie. It was offending Cyndi's need to be the center of attention. She pouted and looked at her options.

Her hand was above her head, arcing its way up and down her body in time with the music. Briefly igniting the air in the wake of movement occasionally caused a slight accident when she misjudged and singed herself, but sometimes you had to make sacrifices for showmanship. Cyndi shrugged to herself and began tracing her motion with brief, mostly harmless flame, drawing undulating lines of gold up and down Silver's darkenedd ancefloor.

Marie paled as he watched Haller's body generate the fire. "Cyndi, do you really have to do that? It makes me nervous." Turning his attention back to Mark, Marie sighed. He should've known Cyndi wouldn't take it on herself to explain. Now what to say besides 'Well, usually Ah'm a girl' since that could be interpreted different ways here. "You know Haller, right?" she asked instead. "That's him. Except he's a she right now. Just like Ah'm a he even though Ah'm generally a she."

Mark stopped in his tracks, his mouth hanging wide open. "Wait, Cyndi?" he finally squeaked. He cleared his throat and repeated himself. "Cyndi? What are you . . . Did you escape again and make another body for yourself? Wait, no, don't tell me. Same gypsy curse that has Doug as Dougette?"

Cyndi blinked, the momentary confusion stopping the light display before the connection happened. "Oh, duh. Dorkbody-chick does not equal me-chick. I don't know how I keep forgetting. I mean, you'd think I couldn't miss the fact we're still freak-tall. Yeah, it's me. Also, for the record, reality warper . Way less chanting involved." She fluffed needlessly at her short hair. "Whoa, I've been in a different body like, the last three times you saw me. That's kinda messed up."

"Huh." Mark wore much the same expression he did when he first met astral-projected Cyndi. "So you?" He turned to Marie. "Also at Xavier's? What the fuck is wrong with you all that you can't just stay in one body? Srsly."

"Well, this is my first time having a new body. Generally Ah just have different minds." Marie smiled, wondering if Mark would end up having a heart attack by the end of the night. "And yes, Ah'm of Xavier's. As for what's wrong with us, well, if you can figure it out, you'd be the first. But you're over at Snow Valley, right? So it's not like y'all have a lot of room to talk."

"Seriously, I think I gotta shield my eyes here, the double standard is so blinding." Cyndi blew her bangs out of her face, which was now more than just affectation since something about the swap had apparently encouraged David's hair to adopt slightly more of the basic laws of gravity. "Also, I thought you had an ex who was trans. It's wrong to discriminate just 'cause our thing was involuntary." She gave Marie a look of blatantly fabricated hurt that displayed just how badly Cyndi did when it came to emotional manipulation. "And in the line of duty. Really, we're like veterans."

"Hi, Kettle, I'm Pot," Mark admitted with a smirk. "So, I've gotta ask because Dougette wouldn't tell me. How are you all, er, 'experiencing' life as the Other? 'Experiencing' in quotes, nudge nudge wink wink."

"Considering Ah've got more men than women living in my skull? Um, it's been ok. Just gotta get used to the whole not having hips things. 'course, in here, people don't seem to find it too odd that Ah keep swinging 'em, even though they're not there, so..." Marie shrugged. "Although Ah do have to say that peeing standing up isn't all it's cracked up to be."

Cyndi pfft'ed at Marie's naivete. "No, no. He totally meant like, sexy experiences. And Mark, dude, awesome restraint. I kept waiting for 'I volunteer to help you explore this new and confusing reality' or something."

"Well, sweetie, last time I offered to help you explore anything, I got a face full of green hair pulling you away," Mark retorted. "So who knows what I'd get with Marie here? But for the record?" He offered Marie elevator eyes. "What Cyndi said."

Marie's cheeks reddened as her eyes widened at the implication. "Um. Thanks. Ah think. But no. Trust me, Ah'm more trouble than Ah'm worth. Plus Ah have a boyfriend and he doesn't take to kindly to sharing." Marie glanced towards the bar, realizing that he desperately needed another drink.

"Aw, you can still have fun when you're taken. Okay, not like, tongue-fun, but I say Garry should lose some privileges for the length of time he abandoned you during your trial of extreme weird." Cyndi made 'can you believe this?' motions with her hands. "Her boyfriend totally ditched on her for prom. For Canada."

Mark wore a look of shock and disgust. "Canada? What the hell's up there besides gay marriage and medical marijuana?" He paused. "Actually, considering your situation, it makes perfect sense. He's just getting ready to pop the question but needs to get stoned first, I bet."

If he'd had a different power, flames would probably have been radiating from the heat coming from Marie's face. Change the subject, change the subject... It was like a mantra in his mind. "Well, if he were here Ah wouldn't have the pleasure of takin' you sugah," Marie said to Cyndi. Oh lord. That's not gonna help.

"It's true. You're like the only person in the mansion with more people in your head than David, so it's just common sense. I'm your closest ballpark unless you hook up with Old School Nate." Cyndi added at the ensuing mental images, "Except don't." Then the pyrokinetic promptly forgot she had just been espousing the various comparative voice-to-brain ratio of her coworkers as something else struck her. She turned to Mark, eyes wide in admiration. "Dude, I just realized you're gonna be DJing. You scored a gig the one week Xavier's becomes just your scene."

"Xavier's was always my kinda scene. S'full of mutants. Underage, but I do have my limits, thanks." Mark accepted another screwdriver from the bartender without even asking and took a sip from the glass. "Yeesh. The way y'all talk, you'd think I'm some kind of crazy subversive sex-crazed maniac. That's only a partial truth."

"Hey, just keep the leather to the official business and we're good. We do." Cyndi stretched her hands over her head, then let her arms drop down at abruptly. She grinned at Marie, who still looked markedly uncomfortable. Given the crowd, the company, and the situation Cyndi couldn't really blame him. Weird wasn't necessarily bad, you just couldn't throw someone into it cold and expect them not to flounder. Much like meeting Mark for the first time.

The girl stepped up to her coworker and extended a hand in clear invitation. "All right! Plans have been made. Now is the time at Silver where we dance. You in?"

There was the barest moment of hesitation before Marie reached out his gloved hand to rest in Cyndi's bare one. After all, this was a once in a lifetime experience...or at least it had better be.