65th: The Swapping of Sokka Thunderaxe

[markofthewise]

[And now Sokka was a girl. Worse than that, he was Haruhi Suzumiya. After an enlightening conversation with that Malnosso girl, he and the real Haruhi had come to the unhappy conclusion it was better not to tell anyone what happened. Which Sokka hated the idea of, but the potential consequences of not doing it could be worse. Besides, if Haruhi could figure out how to fix all of this, he'd be back in his own body by tomorrow! Or a few days, anyway.

This, unfortunately, means having to live like Haruhi. And dress like her too. Girly top, a dress, and that stupid ribbon in his hair. As much as he wanted to just tie it all behind his head in a ponytail, she wouldn't let him do that. Can't blow their cover, after all. And then he has to follow Haruhi's schedule for things.

He leaves the house undetected that morning, eating breakfast on the go. This leaves him to try and do things that Haruhi would do. Which he is not at all thrilled about. Since he doesn't want to run into people, he ends up hitting the library to read about things that would help him be Haruhi. Like things about Japan. He'd never cared about Japan, but it seemed like he ought to know things on it by now.

After lunch (which he spends tucked away privately in the back of one of the restaurants), he swallows his anxiety and goes to visit Winry. But then he decides to look in on Shiki first at All Passions, like instructed. After that he'll warily enter the smithy, feeling oddly out of place there, to visit Winry. When these 'appointments' are finished, he'll arrive at the Brigade building. Early. Twiddling his thumbs until people arrive. Fortunately he wrote down a cheat sheet for who everyone actually is.

After the meeting (which is probably short), he'll be left with nothing to do for a few hours. That's when he opts to just hit the barracks and try to train. He'll be incredibly frustrated at the fact he seems to have lost his skill at just about everything. While he's not horrible, he's nowhere near his "A Game".

In the evening he faces the second worst part of the day - cooking. Being only skilled at cooking meat, he'll try his darndest to make a decent meal. It will be edible Shiki and Beat, don't worry. It will just be incredibly bland and very heavy on the meat. Sort of a boring exercise in chewing, really. Given that Katara has drilled family dinners into him, he'll be at the table expecting a group dinner.

Later in the evening he'll spend some time on the roof, grumbling about his fate, and working secretly on carving a piece of wood into a new boomerang. Day one was a nightmare. He doesn't think he's going to last another one.]

((OOC: Okay! So lots of teal deer up there. Hit him up at any time during the day. You can forward date stuff to later in the week if you want. His routine will be more or less the same the rest of the week. Replies will come from wisebent!

MORE IMPORTANTLY this is a body swap plot! It involves some of Haruhi's reality bending powers, so it's not an experiment/Mallynapping thing. As explained here, this means that Sokka and Haruhi's friends shouldn't notice things being that odd. If they do, it's something they'd quickly dismiss. I hope you guys will play along!))

Comments

[so_shik]

Oh don't give me that. You know I'm not good with logic. I hate those games. You only win because I'm worse than you are.

[wisebent.livejournal.com]

[You know between this and that time at the slides, he's starting to put together a picture about Shiki. This isn't really much of a put down, but still, confidence is key. It's what he told her before. He moves the ladder to set up the next bracket. As he does, he decides to try and.... poke about. Innocently.]

You just don't give yourself enough credit.

[so_shik]

[And because she's had these conversations with the girl before, she doesn't think much of it. Instead she's moving out of the ladder's way.]

I give myself enough credit in the things I'm good at. Doesn't that count for something?

[wisebent.livejournal.com]

[Bracket up! It's a success. Now she just needs the actual shelf.]

Sure, sure. I guess it does. As long as you're confident.

[so_shik]

[...now why did that sound familiar.] ...sure. You know me. Confident. [She'll be turning and handing up that shelf though.] Here, test it out.

[wisebent.livejournal.com]

[Once it's up there, Sokka presses some weight on to it. Yes! It's nice and secure. And he did it even as Haruhi. Manly pride + 1.]

That should do it. Not a problem at all.

[so_shik]

Perfect! [She's going to back away from the wall to admire the craftsmanship.] Totally perfect. I have two more to put up, but those can wait. Thanks.

[wisebent.livejournal.com]

[Sokka does the same, quite happy to have this all done. That wasn't so bad after all!]

Well, I suppose I could help you with those later. [... that sounds too generous for Haruhi.] But you'd have to make it up to me later.

[so_shik]

You're kidding. Like how?

[wisebent.livejournal.com]

Just... a favor. I'll decide what it is later.

[so_shik]

Fine, sure, whatever...are you going to head out and see Winry?

[wisebent.livejournal.com]

[Oh right! An excuse! He still has time left on his schedule for Shiki, but...]

Right. I can't keep her waiting. See you at dinner?

[so_shik]

Yeah, I'll try to be home on time. Say hi to Winry for me.

[wisebent.livejournal.com]

Right, sure, you've got it. [And... wave. Yeah, okay, he's going.]

[so_shik]

[Byebye 'Haruhi'. Shiki will just wave the girl off before going back to reorganizing her shop.

And she won't see her until later in the evening. She knows she's probably late for dinner, but she kind of threw herself into her projects so she didn't have to spend so much time at the house. By the time she gets home, she can already imagine that a.) dinner's been made and b.) Haruhi's not going to be too thrilled she missed it. Oh well, off to the kitchen to see if the brunette's still there.]

[wisebent.livejournal.com]

[Not so much angry as he is glad to have Beat gone because that was the most awkward dinner ever. Being stuck in a girl's body to have dinner, alone, with some guy is an experience Sokka was previously happy to have never previously experienced. So much for that. When Shiki arrives, he's a tad bit frustrated. Especially since he's washing to dishes and he keeps getting his shirt soaked. He's used to being taller and having longer arms.]

[so_shik]

[She's just going to approach her, leaning against the counter and watching the dishes there. And Mr. Mew has magically made his way up onto the table.]

So what'd I miss?

[wisebent.livejournal.com]

[Oh hi Shiki, now you show up.]

You missed dinner. But that's fine. You know... I just... hung out with Beat. [Most awkward dinner ever.] What kept you?

[so_shik]

[Inward wince. Yeeeeah that was probably a bad move on her part, especially since Haruhi ad Beat are still getting to know each other.] Sorry. I got wrapped up in a project I'm working on and lost track. I should look up more often.

[wisebent.livejournal.com]

[Handwave.] Next time we go looking for you.

[By which he means he'll just go send Beat on search and rescue. Eating alone would be better, probably.]

[so_shik]

Think that's really necessary if I'm only going to be in one of two spots?

[wisebent.livejournal.com]

Why not? Your shop isn't that far from here.

[so_shik]

I mean I'll show up eventually, so going out to look doesn't make sense...unless it's like that time Minamimoto attacked me and broke my leg. Looking for me could have been useful then.

[wisebent.livejournal.com]

[... he has never heard of this happening.] See? Better safe than sorry. Just pay attention to the time from now on. [He's about to harp on about the merits of a schedule. But. He's Haruhi right now, not Sokka.]

[so_shik]

[Probably not, seeing how it happened two summers ago but Shiki just assumes Haruhi knows.] Okay, okay...[Her eyes stray to the kitchen sink then.] Do you want some help, or...?