Bodyswitch plot: for Aidan

[happy_dsign]

Daphne blinked her eyes open, frowning as she lay in bed. The light looked weird and--wait, she hadn't fallen asleep at Wilke's last night, what was she even doing in a hut?

It was then that she realized she could hear. She couldn't identify what she was hearing, but there were so many sounds, it was almost overwhelming. "Whoa. I can hear," she murmured. It was strange to hear her own voice, loud and clear.

She blamed the newly-recovered hearing for the fact that it took her almost a full minute to realize she wasn't alone in bed. She turned over, still expecting Wilke even though the hut looked different--and shrieked when there was someone else in bed next to her. She scooted away and managed to fall out of the bed in the process.

That was when she realized she was naked, and did her best to cover the body that...wasn't hers. This just got better and better. She was so not awake enough to process all of this.

Comments

[likesthestooges]

Aidan had been sleeping soundly when he felt the body next to his scoot away, followed by a loud 'thump' as Rachel feel off the bed and hit the floor. He knew that some nights Rachel didn't sleep well but it had never been so bad that she had actually fallen off the bed.

Rolling over he leaned over the edge of the bed and gave her a lazy smile, still trying to wake himself up.

"So very graceful," he said with a chuckle.

[starchilde_lost]

Daphne just stared for a second. Wow, he was...hot. Especially when he smiled. She shook her head, telling herself to focus, blushing a little. "Um. This is awkward, but...I'm not who you think I am," she explained, still trying to cover herself up. "Could you--look away for a minute until I put something on?"

[likesthestooges]

Aidan gave her a puzzled look, wondering if this was some sort of weird role playing Rachel was doing. The fact that it was both a really boring role play and happening right as they woke up made him wonder though. It definitely wasn't Rachel with her memories gone because she wouldn't be acting like this, she would likely be beating the shit out of a strange guy who woke up naked next to her.

"Sure," he said, giving her another smile before rolling the way from the edge of the bed. "Do you want to stay there and cover up with the sheets and I can get you an outfit? I'm Aidan by the way."

[starchilde_lost]

"Yeah. Thanks." Daphne grabbed at the sheets and dragged them around herself, covering up. "I'm Daphne. It's nice to meet you, although this isn't exactly the best circumstances." She laughed nervously, running her fingers through hair that ended sooner than she was used to.

[likesthestooges]

"Nice to meet you Daphne," he said, trying to remember if he had heard that name before. He didn't think that he had, which probably made things a lot less awkward.

"And sorry about all the nudity, but being two grown adults Rachel and I generally don't fall asleep with a lot of clothes on. Do you, uh, do you sleep somewhere safe?"

Aidan slipped on a pair of shorts before grabbing the most sensible underwear and clothing he could and tossed it at Daphne behind the bed.

[starchilde_lost]

"No, it's fine, I understand." Daphne grinned a little and shrugged. "I just wasn't expecting to wake up naked with a stranger." She grabbed the clothes that were thrown at her and started dressing quickly, doing her best to keep the sheet in place as she did. "I usually sleep in the compound. "Do you think she might be in my body?" She hadn't caught the name of the person whose body she was borrowing yet. "If so, she's in for a surprise." She grimaced.

[likesthestooges]

"What kind of surprise is Rachel in for?" he asked, feeling his stomach sink. He really, really didn't want Rachel to be too freaked out or in any danger. If she was at the compound though, it couldn't be that dangerous, could it?

"And are you hungry? Rachel... her body is probably hungry. We can get some food at the compound while we check on your body."

[starchilde_lost]

Daphne finally stood now that she was decent, putting the sheet back onto the bed. "Um, well. I'm deaf," she explained. "My body is, I mean." It was weird, hearing what words sounded like, still needing to watch lips to know what was being said while she figured out the sounds of words. "And I could definitely eat."

[likesthestooges]

"... would it be easier if I signed for you?" Aidan asked. It was a weird question since she obviously had been having a conversation with him just fine but he imagined that it might be tricky to make the adjustment. He had no idea if Rachel knew sign language so he made a mental note to grab a piece of paper so she could write things down when they found her.

[starchilde_lost]

Daphne's eyes widened a little. "You know sign language? Yes, if you don't mind. I can read lips, but...signing would help." It was a little embarrassing to admit, but it was true. There was a lot going on, and being able to just focus on signs would make this a little easier.

[likesthestooges]

"Yes, although I'm a bit rusty," he said, starting to speak a bit slower as he signed. It would help her read his lips and also he needed the time to remember some of the things he wanted to sign. It wasn't a skill that he used very often.

"So try not too laugh too much at how slow I am or if I make a mistake."

[starchilde_lost]

"It's fine, I appreciate you making the effort," Daphne assured him with a little smile. "At least until I can figure out what different words sound like." She'd never really thought about that, that even if she could hear she still wouldn't be able to understand speech--but then why would she have? It wasn't like she'd ever expected to get her hearing back.

"So...compound?" Because she really was hungry, and she wanted to check on the poor woman whose body she was currently in and see how she was faring. Also to check on Bay and let her kind-of-sister know she was all right.

[likesthestooges]

"Compound," he said with a nod. As much as he would have liked to help Daphne feel comfortable and settled, he always excelled when trying to help others, Aidan was worried about Rachel. She was probably fine but when you cared about someone that sort of thing could override your good sense.

"Have you ever had anything like this happen to you before?"

[starchilde_lost]

Daphne nodded and headed for the door, keeping Aidan in view as they started out. "Not exactly like this, no. I once woke up about seven years old, with all of my subsequent memories gone, but I was still in my body." She smiled and shrugged. "You?"

[likesthestooges]

"No, not this," he said, shaking his head. It wouldn't be so bad on the island, really. Whoever woke up in his body wouldn't be a vampire, just a human. His body was fine, it was his mind that he wouldn't want anyone to have to share.

"I've always just been in this body."

[starchilde_lost]

"That's good. Dodging the island's craziness should be a skill they teach a class on, or something." Not that there was any skill to it. As far as Daphne could tell it pretty much just came down to dumb luck. "This place definitely challenges your definition of 'normal', doesn't it?" she observed wryly.

[likesthestooges]

"It does, although after 250, I've had my definition of weird altered a lot," Aidan admitted. Not that it was the same sort of weirdness as the island and not always the same scale, but he was pretty used to some stranger things.

[starchilde_lost]

"250?" Daphne repeated with a confused frown. "250 what?"

[likesthestooges]

"Years," he clarified, giving a small smile. It wasn't entirely unusual for someone on the island to be that old but it was still novel for him to be able to tell people."

[starchilde_lost]

"...Oh." Daphne laughed, shaking her head. "Right. Gotcha. So...what were you, before?" She wrinkled her nose. "If you want to tell me, I mean. If that's too nosy, forget it."

[likesthestooges]

"I don't mind, I was a vampire," he said, scrunching his face up a bit at the nose wrinkle. Rachel made that same gesture it and was so damn cute he couldn't stand it. It made him want to pull her close and kiss her, but this wasn't Rachel.

"Did they have those in your world?"

[starchilde_lost]

"Vampires? No," Daphne said with a chuckle. "Or, well, not that I know of. We had lots of stories, but they were just fictional." Of course, this place made you wonder, when you were surrounded by fictional characters every day. "But I know another one here, on the island. He taught me microbiology," she added, grinning.

[likesthestooges]

"We were... very good at hiding ourselves," Aidan said. He generally assumed that worlds where people 'didn't have' vampires were just from places that didn't know about them. Most people from his world wouldn't know about that sort of thing.

"For all we know, you and I could be from the same world. Who was your teacher on the island?"

[starchilde_lost]

"That's why I said not that I know of." Daphne shrugged and grinned. "And it was Edward Cullen." She was about to ask if Aidan knew him, but it just seemed a little presumptuous. Kind of like the people that would assume she knew their deaf cousin or something. Much like there wasn't some massive deafie database, she guessed there probably wasn't much of a vampire support group going on here. Then again, maybe there was.

[likesthestooges]

"I know of Edward," he said. Of course, he knew of Edward because of his world. He hadn't gone out of his way to avoid the other vampire or anything but it wasn't like he was in any hurry to get to be friends with him. Not many vampires had a great view of the guy and being confronted with him as an actual person would be odd.

"What does he teach?"

[starchilde_lost]

Daphne nodded. "I knew of him before I came here, but...it's different knowing someone personally, versus reading about them in a book, you know?" She laughed softly, because this place was insane on so many levels that at some point you just accepted the insanity.

"I think he teaches a few classes. I had microbiology with him, and I'm friends with his wife. I met Bella working in the bakery. Plus my boyfriend kind of lives next door to them."

[likesthestooges]

"I know the island is small, but it's still pretty interesting how many ways people are connected," he said. Even so, it wasn't so small that the girl who ended up in his girlfriend's body wasn't a complete stranger to him. In a way, it was kind of nice to know that you could still meet new people? At least that's how he was going to think of it.

"Who's your boyfriend?"

[starchilde_lost]

Daphne found it more interesting how many of her fellow citizens were stories back home, works of fiction that she knew and sometimes loved, but she nodded her agreement. "Um, do you know Wilke? He has a jet ski, lives on the beach, works at the casino. That's my boyfriend."

[likesthestooges]

"I think pretty much everyone knows the guy with the jet ski," Aidan said with a grin. He didn't know him all that well, just that the kid had a jet ski and was willing to let people use it. That pretty much made him island famous.

"He seems like a nice guy. You meet him here or did you know him back home?"

[starchilde_lost]

Daphne laughed a little and nodded. That was true enough, even people that had never met Wilke had probably heard about the jet ski available to use.

"I knew him back home. He's my biological brother's best friend and the bass player in his band."

[likesthestooges]

"He's dating his best friend's sister? Brave of him," Aidan said with a chuckle. He hoped it was the sort of situation where Wilke would have the guy's blessing if he were here. That had the potential to get ugly.

[starchilde_lost]

"Kind of. It's complicated," Daphne explained, wrinkling her nose. "Do you know Bay?"

[likesthestooges]

"She's pretty talented with paint," he said with a nod, remembering the mural and the stuff she did on the beach. "I've talked to her a few times."

[starchilde_lost]

Daphne smiled, pleased to hear that. "Yeah, she is. Has she ever told you about...what happened back home?"

[likesthestooges]

"No," he said with a shake of his head. "We've mostly just discussed art and music. I don't think I know anything about her life back home."

[starchilde_lost]

"Well, she and I...we were switched at birth. She grew up with my biological family, and I grew up with her bio mom and grandmother. We didn't find out about it until we were fifteen." Daphne smiled ruefully. "So when I say 'my brother'--he's really more Bay's brother. I'd only known him for a few months when I came here."

[likesthestooges]

"Wow," Aidan said, raising his eyebrows at the notion of it. Working in a hospital he knew that sometimes babies were given to the wrong families but he'd never actually met someone that had it happen to them and knew about it.

"How did you find out?"

[starchilde_lost]

Daphne sighed, thinking back to the moment when the phone had rang--and everything they'd found out since. She kept the story to its most basic, though. "Bay did blood-typing in her science class at school and found out she had a blood type she couldn't possibly have. So they did DNA tests and...that's how we found out." Well. How most of them found out.

"My mom and I moved into their guest house so we could all get to know each other better."

[likesthestooges]

"Wow. That's... wow."

Aidan couldn't imagine finding out something like that. He'd almost rather not know if something like that happened. As a parent, you'd love the child you raised no matter what but it had to have created some issues.

"Do you all get along?"

[starchilde_lost]

She couldn't help it, that question made Daphne burst out laughing. "Oh...we have our good days and bad days," she admitted once she'd calmed a little. "Bay and I get along pretty well here. Things were kind of tense back home though, a lot of the time."

[likesthestooges]

"So it was like a normal family then," he said with a bit of a laugh. It made Aidan wonder if the tension was mostly between the mother's then. That had to make for an interesting dynamic.

[starchilde_lost]

"I don't think I'd go that far," Daphne wrinkled her nose, still chuckling a little. "Nothing about the situation could really be called normal. But...we were making it work, as much as we could." Until the truth about Regina came out, anyway, but she didn't want to think about that.

[likesthestooges]

"That's usually the best way of going about things," he said with a nod. While it was still kind of weird to hear all this come out of Rachel's voice, but it also made it easier to seperate her from Rachel.

"So waking up one morning and having your whole world change is something you're used to."

[starchilde_lost]

"Kind of, yeah," Daphne agreed, nodding with a wry smile. "Even before the island. And of course there has been plenty of that here, too."